Page 39 of Fractured Hope
“I’m sure Doc will be able to replace the cast. We’ll try and keep it out of the spray, but I don’t think we need to stress about it too much,” I said, smiling down at him. I went over and turned on the shower, letting it heat up.
Bodhi shifted unsteadily on one leg.
“Let me help you.” I quickly placed my arm around his slim waist to brace him as he hopped over to the shower. Checking the temperature, we stepped inside, and I guided him under the spray.
Once we were clean, we got dressed, and I made sure Bodhi had his crutches handy since we decided not to put his walking boot back on. Thankfully it had been easy to clean but would take a while to dry. I was glad I’d gotten my boot dryer out of storage in preparation for a snowy winter and was able to use it to dry the walking boot. I left it there to complete its drying cycle and went to call Doc. He didn’t usually work on the weekend butwas available by phone in case of town emergencies. I knew a broken cast wasn’t an emergency, but Doc would understand.
He answered on the second ring. “Hello, Atticus. You haven’t managed to injure another town visitor, have you?” Doc chuckled at his joke.
“Ha! No Doc, but thanks for the reminder.” Yeah, this would be a running gag for the next seventy-five years. “I just wanted to check in because we.... Ah.... We managed to get Bodhi’s cast wet and now it’s a bit damaged. Do you think you’d be able to recast it for him?”
“What in the world have you been up to?” Doc asked, and I could hear the smirk in his voice. “Sure, you may as well come by the office, let’s say, around two o’clock. I’ll check him over and see what can be done.”
“Thanks, Doc. We’ll see you then.”
Ending the call, I turned to Bodhi. “We have about an hour before we can go see Doc. How about lunch?”
“Sounds good.”
19
BODHI
The impromptu flourfight had been the most fun I could ever remember having in a kitchen. I hadn’t second-guessed myself, freaked out, worried about the mess, or what Atticus might think. I’d just had fun. I was in the moment. It had been so long since I’d been able to simply be myself without fear of the consequences. I was more comfortable with Atticus than I had been with anyone else. I was beginning to feel more like my old self, the person I’d fought to become at eighteen when I’d left school and aged out of the group home.
While the events of this morning had shocked me, Atticus managed to distract me and help me process that fear. Then the laughter and silliness that followed was the icing on the cake, or cookie as it were. All the fun had completely pushed Derek and his threat out of my mind.
I’d kind of expected Derek to try something at some point. I never imagined he would go this far, just for me. He’d always told me I wasn’t worth it. The fact that he had one of his hunting bullets engraved with my name was more extreme than I’d anticipated. I shivered at the implication. He loved his joband the status it gave him; I didn’t think he would risk his entire life just to get me back. He was careful when we were together. It was so unlike him to leave such obvious physical evidence behind. He’d always managed to remove or hide anything damning, and he was exceptional at twisting the story to meet his needs. He had always had his bases covered and story in place in the past, so this seemed too bold for him.
Shaking myself out of my thoughts, I heard Atticus finish his phone call with Doc as he turned to me.
“We have about an hour before we go and see Doc. How about lunch?”
“Sounds good.”
“Are you up for going out? We could go to Jolt. I know Kaydence would like to see you and know you’re okay,” Atticus said as he came to stand by the sofa.
I didn’t want to be trapped by fear ever again. With the crowd at Jolt and Atticus by my side, I hoped Derek wouldn’t really try anything. He did prefer one-on-one confrontations.
“Jolt sounds great. I’d like to see Kay anyway.”
With Atticus’s help, I stood from the sofa and waited for him to pass me my crutches. Then, together we headed for the front door and put on our coats. Atticus paused to grab the wool knit cap I’d borrowed previously and placed it over my damp hair. He then wrapped a thick scarf around my neck to ensure I stayed warm. Smiling down at me, he kissed the tip of my nose before leading me outside and into his truck. Warmth ran through me at his thoughtfulness. He was such a big softie.
We were at Jolt before I knew it, and Atticus hurried me inside as he glanced around. The situation must have him more freaked out than I’d thought.
We stepped inside.
“Bodhi!” Lyric exclaimed as he came bounding up to us, all handsome smiles and sparkling green eyes with Kay trailingbehind, shaking his head at Lyric’s antics. “It’s great to see you.” He hugged me with such exuberance I almost lost my balance as one of my crutches slipped a little with his weight.
“Careful now,” Atticus admonished his brother, all but pulling us apart. “You nearly knocked him over.”
“Sorry.” Lyric winked at me as he danced out of Atticus’s hold.
Kay came up just then and surprised me with a hug, too. His long hair flicked me in the face as he hugged me. “Are you okay?” he whispered. “Seb wouldn’t tell me anything, but he looked so upset.” Pulling back, I noticed the worry lines around his whiskey-brown eyes, even though he was smiling.
“Yeah, I’m okay. Are you free to talk for a sec?” I gestured at a table by the kitchen that was out of the way of the other customers.
“Yeah, I’m actually off today. I was just helping my sister do the inventory.”
