Page 38 of Tracing Her Stolen Identity
“I’d like that,” she agreed with a smile. “It’ll let me clear my head and get it back in the game.”
While he helped push her back to the cabin, she wondered if she’d ever get back into the art game. If they didn’t stop this soon, she would lose everything—including Reece Palmer.
* * *
DINNER HAD BEEN DELICIOUS, as always. Sadie’s meals were the reason Reece found a way to hang out at Secure One at least once a month. She could cook and had honed her skills since marrying Eric and working full-time as a chef for Cal. She usually cared for Mina and Roman’s daughter, Hannah Grace, when she wasn’t cooking. He suspected the Secure One family might be growing, though. Earlier, while looking for a cup of coffee, he’d walked down to the cafeteria to find Sadie in the kitchen looking a bit green around the gills as she fried ground beef. He couldn’t help but wonder if Sadie and Eric would have an announcement of their own to share soon.
He glanced at Sky, sitting next to him on the couch as they watched the latest mystery flick. She was as invested in it as he was, which was not at all. They’d shared a wonderful dinner, laughing and kidding the way they used to as kids. It was hard to remember their years apart now that they were together again. It was as though nothing had changed, since they could still finish each other’s sentences.
“Why did you refuse to date me after we graduated?” he blurted out, groaning at the rough delivery. He’d been thinking about asking it for days and couldn’t hold back a second longer.
“What?” she asked, clearly pretending she didn’t understand the question when she most certainly did.
“Right after we graduated, I asked if you’d go on a date with me. You said no. You told me we could be friends but nothing more. Why?”
“You mean other than being paralyzed?” She pushed off his shoulder and sat up straight, grabbing the arm of the couch to steady herself.
“What did being paralyzed have to do with it? It was months after the accident when I asked. You were back to school and just doing outpatient therapy.”
“Using a wheelchair every day for the rest of my life had everything to do with it,” she said between clenched teeth. “In a split second on that October night, we became different people, Land. You remained you, but I became someone new. Someone even I didn’t know yet. There was no way I would subject you to the kind of life I would lead. It was nonstop doctor and therapy appointments, expensive medical equipment, and procedure after procedure. That was not the kind of life I wanted for you.”
“Wait, what are you saying?”
“I’m saying that I refused to date you to give you a better life. I didn’t want to saddle you with my unexpected circumstances. You walked away from that accident and had a chance to do great things. There was no way I was going to drag you down with me. I wanted you to go out and live your dreams. I wanted you to find a woman whocould do everything you loved to do and give you everything I couldn’t.”
“You’re saying that you decided for me what I wanted out of life? What gave you that right?”
“This,” she said, transferring into her chair and smacking the tires. “This gave me the right. You should thank me for it!”
“Thank you? I should thank you for deciding my future on my behalf without consulting me? How is that fair?” His questions got louder with each one until he sat on the edge of the couch, vibrating with anger.
“Fair? You want to talk to me about fair? You got a broken wrist. I got this!” She smacked the tires again. “Yes, I decided to go out there that night, and I accept that, but there’s nothing fair about this!” Before he could react, she snapped the brakes off and wheeled around him.
“Where are you going?” he asked as she wheeled down the hallway.
“To bed! You’re not welcome to join me. Enjoy the couch!”
The door slammed shut, and he growled, slapping a cushion in anger and frustration. Dammit, why did he have to go and open his big mouth? Flicking off the television, he stormed outside to pace on the small porch that held an old-fashioned rocking chair and a small table made from a tree stump.
“Everything okay over there?” Roman had walked out onto his cabin’s porch and down the stairs.
“Fine,” he growled, running his fingers through his hair.
“It didn’t sound like it to me. I couldn’t hear what was said, but the tone was loud and clear.”
Reece rolled his eyes. “I figured Cal would have better insulation in these things.”
“Well, when the windows are open, sound travels.”
He’d forgotten about the windows. He’d opened them earlier to cool the house off after the heat of the day. “I totally forgot the windows were open. It’s fine. We just had a bit of a disagreement.”
Roman leaned against the railing, pulled a beer out of each jacket pocket and handed him one. They popped the tops off and clinked the necks together before taking a drink. The malty liquid turned his stomach when he swallowed, but it wasn’t the beer as much as it was having upset the woman in the bedroom.
“Want to talk about it?”
“Not really,” Reece said, lowering himself to the rocking chair and taking another swig of the beer.
“Will what just happened somehow interfere with resolving this situation she’s in?”
