Page 5 of Crazy in Love

“Of course. We drove straight here right after they called. I was at Mrs. Sullivan’s funeral.”

“The high school teacher? I had her for English Lit.”

“We all did. She was sick most of the year and finally passed last week.”

“That’s too bad. Wasn’t her daughter on your championship basketball team?”

“Yes. Our point guard. Her name’s Faith.”

“That the ditsy one from your wedding?”

“We do not speak of that day,” Tess ground out, brows narrowing.

“Sorry. I forgot.” He never had learned the whole story of why Tess’s marriage broke up after barely a year. But apparently, it was still a sore subject.

“But, yeah. She’s pretty much a dingbat.” Then after a pause, “She’s also my best friend, so, you know, I have to stick up for her.”

Nick only had a couple of memories of Faith Sullivan. One was an episode in high school where he witnessed her bullying another girl. He hadn’t said anything—Faith hadn’t actually touched her—but for some reason, the image of her towering over and getting in the face of a smaller student stuck in his mind.

The second was catching her skinny dipping at the lake one summer night. That glorious mental picture had lived rent-free in his head for the last ten years. At the time, she was sixteen. He’d been about to leave for his sophomore year of college and was walking home from a friend’s house after one too manybeers. There’d been a full moon, and he’d detoured to the lake, thinking he could get a cool picture.

Coming through the trees, he spotted something in the water and paused. In his tipsy stupor, he thought it might be a lake monster and had laughed at himself. The laughter stopped abruptly when Faith emerged, naked as the day she was born.

He’d fled, scared she might see him and think he was some kind of creeper. But the memory had stuck with him. Even after all these years.

Tess was saying something about his partner, and he refocused on the conversation. “I talked to your boss in the lobby on my way in,” she said. “Andy’s funeral is tomorrow.”

“Can I go?”

“We can double-check, but the doctor was pretty clear your chest wound requires immobility for another couple of days. I’m sorry.”

“I need to call Crystal. Let her know. Is my cell around?”

“Here.” She dug into the bag and handed him his phone. “I charged it while I was taking out the trash and grabbing some clothes for you. I brought your book too.”

“Yeah, I didn’t think that through. Since I can’t move one arm, it’ll be impossible to hold it and turn the pages.”

“One step ahead of you, Bro.” Tess pulled out a contraption that worked like a mini-easel and propped a tablet onto it. Then placed it on the bedside table and swung it around to face him.

“This is mine, but you can use it as long as you need to. I already downloaded the book you had on your nightstand. You should consider catching up to the twenty-first century and getting an e-reader. I can pick one up if you want.”

“I like real books. But this is great for now. Thanks, Tess.” He struggled to lift the arm not tied to his chest to test it out. Even that hurt.

“I was worried your lack of movement might be an issue,” Tess said, going back to the bag. “So I stopped by the electronics store and got this.” She unpackaged a little black box, messed with it for a second, and put it in his hand. “Now you can turn the pages just by pushing the button.”

“A remote-control page turner? How lazy has society become that this is a thing?”

“Maybe they make them specifically for injured readers.”

He chuckled. “I love that you’re so pragmatic. It’s perfect.”

His parents entered.

“Oh good, you’re awake,” his mom said. “We need to talk about what to do with you.”

“Doc says I’m stuck here for at least a week,” Nick said. He’d also predicted walking would be difficult for months and that Nick might need a cane for the rest of his life. He’d be damned if he let that happen but put it aside for now. “I can figure something out by then. Hire a nurse or something.”

“Nonsense.” His mom walked to his side. “We’ll go home and prep a room for you at the house. When you get released, we’ll take care of you there.”

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