Page 112 of Succeeding Love

“Me too,” I patted his cheek, avoiding a long cut near his nose. “I need to get home to the kids. Are you going to be okay until your mom comes?”

“I’ll manage.”

Smiling tightly, I smoothed my thumb over his cut cheek again. “Call me if you need anything. Preston will probably come by later with Jessie. I’ll send dinner with them.”

“Okay. Thank you.”

Standing up, I squeezed his hand one last time before heading out. He needed rest, and I needed to make some apologies myself.

I didn’t want to live with regrets like Nick did. Surprisingly, I had none towards my ex. Well, except that text. But I had all kinds of regrets about how I handled things with Vin last night. I would not let things fester any longer.

I headed home, barely putting my car in park before jumping out to hurry to Vin’s house. I was bouncing on myfeet as I knocked on the door, ready to jump in his arms and apologize until I ran out of breath when he answered.

As the door swung open, I smiled expectantly, but that smile slowly slipped off my face when I was met with a tall, brilliantly blonde woman with sultry eyes and tanned skin.

Leaning back, I checked to make sure I had the right house. Looking over the familiar shingles and brick, I definitely had Vin’s house.

“Hi?” the blonde woman looked at me curiously. “Can I help you?”

“Um, hi? Is… Is Vin here?”

“Vin?” she tilted her head to the side.

“Who is it, dear?” I heard Velma’s voice.

I let out an anxious breath, feeling reassured I had the right house. Vin’s mom just had company. Really pretty company, but this was definitely the right house. I had my doubts for a second, thinking I had gone crazy and driven to the wrong house.

“Oh,” Velma smiled widely when she saw me. “Feighlynn! What a pleasant surprise. Have you met my son, Kevin’s girlfriend? This is Mindy.”

Kevin’s girlfriend?

My heart dropped to my stomach and my body broke out in a cold sweat.

The beautiful woman smiled, looking relaxed and not correcting Velma at all. “Hi. It’s nice to meet you.”

What Can I Do?

Vin

“Okay. Thanks,” I muttered into the phone before hanging up.

I’ve called several hospitals, but couldn’t find where Lynn and her ex-husband might be. Maybe because I didn’t exactly know what to ask for when I talked to the receptionist. I didn’t even know what I was planning on doing when I found them.

Preston said his dad ran into a wall with his car. Preston knew Nick was going to be fine, but didn’t know the extent of his dad’s injuries. He was waiting to hear from his mom when I talked to him.

I called Lynn and even texted her. I still haven’t heard back. Seeing two outgoing texts from me and no reply from her made my stomach twist every time I looked at it. She read my text from last night, but hadn’t read my new one yet last I checked. Maybe Nick was keeping her busy.

That thought had my hands twisting my steering wheel, imagining it was his neck.

I needed to get it together before I saw them. I couldn’t have a repeat of last night. He was still Jessie and Preston’s dad. I get it now. That didn’t change how much I wanted to strangle him, but I was going to hold it in. I was going to do better for Lynn.

I bought a bouquet for the prick. You know, as a get well gesture. It was a spur-of-the-moment idea, but the more I looked at the bouquet of brightly colored flowers, the more ridiculous the idea sounded.

No matter how out of line I was last night, that dickwad was still the root cause of all this shittiness. If he hadn’t followed my girlfriend into the bathroom and put his fucking hands on her, I wouldn’t have gotten too pissed.

No, I shouldn’t have tried to hit him. I shouldn’t have lost my cool and hurt Lynn, but that asshole still doesn’t deserve flowers.

I’ll save them for my apologies to Lynn. Nick will get an “I’m sorry” through gritted teeth right before I whisk my girl away.

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