Page 56 of Want You Back

“Ask me to stay. Tell me you want me to stay and fight.”

God. Splitting my chest open and laying my heart on the picnic table might hurt less. I wanted with an intensity that stole my breath. I wanted him. I was always going to want him.

As we stood there staring at each other, emotional deadlock, our phones trilled at the exact same moment. Dread washed over me even before I answered Dolores’s call, a sticky, sick feeling that something terrible had happened. Maverick stalked to the other side of the patio with his phone in hand.

I listened to Dolores’s report while watching Maverick from across the patio. The color drained from his face. I quickly plated steaks that would undoubtedly go uneaten now. After Dolores finished, I lined up the vegetable skewers on another platter to keep my hands moving until Maverick returned to my side.

“Faith’s been in a car accident,” he said woodenly. “Guess you know that.”

“Yeah.” She’d been airlifted to Durango. She was alive, but it certainly wasn’t sounding good. Our deputies had responded to the scene, which was the reason for Dolores’s call. Sure, I was known to be friendly with the Lovelorn family, but I was Sheriff Jennings first. “Faith is gonna get charged with at least a DUI as well, Mav, and I can’t stop that from happening.”

“I’d never ask you to use your power to get her off the hook.” Skin gray and eyes haggard, Maverick looked like he’d aged ten years in five minutes. “I need to go to her. Alone. I don’t want Hannah there until I know what we’re dealing with. Can Hannah stay here with Willow?”

“Of course.” That was the least I could do. I couldn’t stop the shitstorm headed Maverick’s way, and I wasn’t at all certain our connection could survive the crossroads we seemed to be at. However, I would always care. That much was a given.

“We’re not done with this conversation.” Maverick’s stare bore into me, finding every doubt.

“Focus on Faith and Hannah.” I clapped him on the shoulder. I wanted to pull him into a full hug, but his rigid body language didn’t invite that. “I’ll wait.”

“You shouldn’t have to. That’s my whole point.” He raised his voice only to lower it again quickly, defeated. “But yes, I need to go.”

“I’ll be here.” And I would. Always. Perhaps not in the way Maverick wanted, but I would always be here, trying to do right by him. Trying to do right by everyone, even if it meant losing out on the man I loved.

Chapter32

Maverick

After I receivedthe call about Faith’s accident, time blurred. I phoned Adler to tell him what had happened while still at Colt’s house, and Adler had insisted on driving me to Durango. Probably smart since my whirling brain could barely piece together the words to tell Hannah, let alone drive to Durango. I stuck to the bare facts for Hannah. Faith had been in an accident, but we didn’t know how bad her injuries were yet. I was going to go be with her. We both teared up, and I promised to send updates via Colt.

However, for the longest time, there were no updates to send. When we got to the hospital, Faith was already in surgery. Her injuries included a possible head injury, a broken leg, and broken ribs, with likely internal injuries. The trauma surgical team was working to stabilize her, and we were directed to an ICU waiting area by hospital staff.

One of Colt’s deputies, a woman with long dark hair in a braid and cheekbones that could chisel a mountain, briefly stopped by as part of her accident investigation. Toxicology wasn’t back yet, but Faith’s erratic speeding near the fairgrounds had been reported by multiple witnesses. The passengers of the two other vehicles involved had, thankfully, very minor injuries, but that likely meant additional charges beyond a probable DUI. After the deputy left, there was nothing left for me to do but pray for hours that felt like centuries.

Adler fetched coffee and muffins I couldn’t bring myself to touch and helped me find a charger for my dwindling phone battery. As night fell, the hospital took on a certain stillness with fewer announcements, fewer people in the halls, and quieter voices. I was startled every time someone passed by our waiting area, but no one stopped until a young trauma surgeon with a riot of curly dark hair tucked into a tie-dye surgical cap came to sit next to me. The badge hanging off her scrubs revealed her to be Dr. King.

“Mr. Lovelorn?” Dr. King had kind but weary eyes.

“Yeah.” My breath got caught behind a boulder in my throat.

“Your sister made it through surgery.”

“Thank God.” I exhaled so hard I collapsed forward, hands on knees, breathing hard.

“She’s not out of the woods yet by any means,” Dr. King continued in her vaguely southern accent. “She’ll be transferred from recovery into the ICU on this floor. We’re keeping her sedated, but you should be able to see her soon. No visitors under eighteen.”

“Thank you.” My voice wavered. Never had two words seemed so inadequate.

After Dr. King left, I texted an actual update for Colt to pass on to Hannah. His reply came quickly.

I’ll tell her when she wakes up. Girls actually managed to go to sleep in Willow’s bunk beds.

I texted back, adding the honesty I could only express around Colt.

Good. I don’t know what to say when I see Faith.

You don’t have to say anything. Just be there. Say what you need to say, even if it’s nothing.

His reply made me need to swallow hard before I could type again.

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