Page 144 of Denim & Diamonds

The guy chuckled. “And you still got nothing better to do than bust my balls, even after you retire. What’s going on, Sheriff Ronin?”

The old man smiled. “Need a favor. You haven’t heard anything about Brock Hawkins, have you? It seems he’s gone MIA for a while, and that’s not like him.”

“Shit. I forgot you started bartending over at Brock’s bar, or I would’ve reached out as soon as the call came in.”

The sheriff’s smile wilted. “What’s going on?”

“Brock was in an accident.”

***

I ran through a set of double doors and up to the window. “I’m looking for Brock Hawkins. He was brought in by ambulance.”

“And you are?”

“I’m his…friend.”

The woman shook her head. “I’m sorry, but we’re unable to give out—”

A familiar voice interrupted, and I turned to find Trevor. He laid a hand on my shoulder and waved to the woman behind the glass. “I got this, Fran.”

Brock’s brother steered me away from the window.

“Is he okay?” My heart pounded. “Is Patrick okay?”

Trevor nodded. “They’re both going to be fine. Definitely a little shaken up, but it seems like nothingtoo serious. Brock has a broken clavicle and will probably have two black eyes from the airbag, but Patrick doesn’t have a scratch on him, thank God. They just took Brock upstairs for a head CT as a precaution, but he’s talking and acting pretty normal, which is a good sign. He yelled at the nurse that he wasn’t leaving the baby with someone he doesn’t know, so he seems like his usual grumpy self.” He thumbed toward a door that I assumed led to the examination area. “Elvin’s in the back with the baby now.”

I couldn’t stop shaking. “How long until they have the scan results?”

Trevor shrugged. “Not sure. But he’s in good hands. I really think he’s going to be fine.”

“What happened? What caused the accident?”

“Guy driving in the opposite direction fell asleep at the wheel and veered into oncoming traffic. Brock swerved to avoid a head-on collision, but his truck went off the highway and crashed into a tree on the side of the road.”

“Oh my God.”

He nodded. “They brought the other guy in, too. Didn’t have a scratch on him. Apparently, he woke up and avoided colliding with anything. Not sure he’ll be that lucky a second time if they let Brock anywhere near him. He looked ready to kill someone when the cops told him what happened. The guy’s wife was also in the waiting room, and I heard her on the phone. She said he’d been working double shifts all week. Doesn’t make it right, but that explains it. At least it seems it was a true accident—no drinking or anything involved.”

I didn’t even realize tears were falling until Trevor shook his head. “Don’t cry. I suck at lady tears, and ifmy big brother finds out I didn’t stop you from getting upset, he’s going to do more damage to me than he did to that tree…which is no longer standing, by the way.”

I wiped my cheeks and sniffled a laugh. “I’m sorry. I guess my emotions got the best of me.”

He wrapped an arm around my shoulder and squeezed. “Come on, let’s go sit down.”

We went to a quiet corner of the waiting room and sat. “I didn’t realize you were even in town,” Trevor said.

“I came for the christening.”

He nodded and opened his mouth to say something, but then shut it.

“What?” I asked.

“Nothing.” He shook his head. “I was about to stick my nose somewhere it doesn’t belong and thought better of it.”

But it was too late; I was curious. “What were you going to say?”

Trevor sighed. “I was just going to point out that you were pretty upset about the accident, yet you two aren’t a couple anymore, supposedly.”

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