Page 4 of The Unknown Colton
Every minute he was away from her, he ached for her. It had been even worse when he was lying in that hospital bed waiting for feeling to return, praying that it would. If it hadn’t, he would have even less to offer her.
While she’d gone to college after high school andhad a bachelor’s degree in business and accounting, he’d chosen to go straight to work to help support his younger siblings. Mom had already been working two jobs after Dad passed away. He’d been injured on an oil rig, too—but fatally. Mom hadn’t wanted Troy’s help, though. She had insisted that she had everything under control.
And she probably had. She’d always been strong and resilient. But Troy hadn’t wanted her to keep working so hard. He would have felt guilty if he’d left her to manage on her own. As the fifth of seven kids, he used to feel a bit lost in the shuffle. Helping her and his younger siblings made him feel useful to her and his family in a way that he hadn’t before.
Until he’d started helping his mom, the only person he’d really felt useful to was Lakin, as first her friend in elementary and middle school and then…
Then in high school, he’d realized that his sudden attraction to his best friend wasn’t just unruly teenage hormones but that he really loved her. That he had probably always loved her.
Just like the Coltons had fallen for her when they first set eyes on the little girl their friends had been fostering. With her thick dark hair and big, deep dark eyes, she was physically beautiful, but there was also a spiritual beauty to Lakin. She had this sweetness and kindness about her that drew people to her. Some bad, like the old playground bullies who’d mistaken her kindness for weakness, but mostly good, likeTroy hoped he was. And yet he still worried that he wasn’t good enough for her.
Wanting so badly to see her, he hastened his step as he started across the parking lot toward the office. But the faster he moved, the more he limped as those tight muscles in his back and legs cramped.
“Troy!”
He recognized that voice and turned to find his sister Hetty standing behind him. Then she started toward him, limping even worse than he probably was.
“What happened to you?” he asked, his voice gruff with emotion at seeing his tough sister hobbling. Hetty was only two years older than him, but she’d always seemed so much older and wiser and tougher to him than he would ever be.
“I was shot,” she said, matter-of-fact.
He gasped like a bullet struck him along with her words. “What?”
“Exactly,” she said. “How the hell don’t you know? Where have you been?”
“Working.”
“Bullshit,” she said, her eyes narrowing with suspicion. They were the same green as his and their father’s. “I saw you get out of the truck. You look like you’ve been shot, too.”
He shook his head, then winced as a twinge went from the base of his skull down his spine. “I had an accident. That’s all.”
It was her turn to gasp. “Dammit, Troy. Do youknow how Mom would feel if we lost you like we lost Dad?”
He knew. That was another reason he hadn’t wanted to contact anyone after the accident. Not until he knew how much—if at all—he was going to recover.
Hetty answered her own question. “It would kill her.”
“I’m not the only one with a dangerous job. And you’re the daredevil in the family,” he reminded the pilot. “How the hell did you get shot?”
She sighed. “It’s…a long story. There’s been a lot going on since you’ve been gone.”
“But you’re okay now?” he asked, his heart beating fast with concern.
Hetty smiled, and her eyes lit up with a happiness he hadn’t seen in her since their dad died. “I’ve never been better. I’m in love.”
“Really?” Troy asked. She’d always been so tough and independent. “Who’s the lucky guy?”
“Spence Colton.”
Shocked at her declaration, Troy whistled between his teeth. “Did hell freeze over?” For years, she’d fought with and complained about the RTA tour guide, probably mostly because Spence had been so popular, especially with their female guests.
She laughed. “Well, getting seriously hurt puts things in perspective,” she said, then narrowed her eyes again. “Doesn’t it?”
Troy nodded. He just wasn’t sure how tohandle that perspective, or how to even move forward with a future that was still so uncertain. Maybe he shouldn’t have come to RTA or even home to Shelby. Maybe he should just stay away from Lakin.
She had so many dreams. She wanted a business of her own, one they could build and manage together. When he’d finally emailed her, he realized she messaged him much more frequently than he did her.
But when he was on the rig, he worked such long hours that he fell into bed exhausted at the end of a shift. In her emails she’d told him about the old Shelby Hotel going up for auction. Unfortunately the date of the auction had already passed. Not that they would have had enough money to buy it and invest in the extensive remodeling the two-story building needed to make it operational again. Those extensive renovations would also require a lot of manpower.
