Page 10 of Never To Forever

“Playing that card, huh?”

“Yeah, I am,” she snaps. “Garrett, seriously, you have a fractured shoulder and a concussion. You’re out of your mind if you think I’m going to leave you be alone right now. So, are you going to willingly come home with us, or am I moving in with you while you recover?”

I glance back at Christian, who looks startled.

“Woah, Haven, sweetheart,” he says. “We didn’t talk about you staying with Garrett…”

And I definitely don’t want her in my house.

“Enough, already,” I grumble. “I’ll come home with you guys, okay? Everyone just relax.”

Haven looks pleased at my acquiescence.

“Good choice,” she grins. “Let’s get going.”

Gathering the few things I have with me, I drop into the wheelchair that’s been brought for me and allow myself to be wheeled out of the building. Christian pulls up his truck, and after helping Haven inside, he moves to help me as well.

“Don’t you dare,” I growl, giving him a pointed look.

He puts up his hands in surrender. “You got it, buddy.”

Easing into the backseat takes a moment. I’m awkward and clumsy when it comes to moving around because my arm and chest are both cast to keep my shoulder stable. But damn it, I’m determined to do it myself. I don’t need to be babied. At least within the next two weeks, the doctor will hopefully remove the cast and get me into a sling instead.

That should make things easier.

As we drive to their sprawling acreage outside of town, I sit back and half-listen as Haven chats away in the front seat. She can fill the silence. That’s no problem for me. I’m already tired and don’t have the energy to be engaging or social. Plus, the sunlight stings, so I close my eyes. Once we get to their house, Haven walks me inside and ushers me into the living room.

“Sit down,” she orders, pointing to the couch. “I’ll go get you something to eat and drink. You must be starving after three days of hospital food.”

I can’t argue with that. “That sounds good. Thanks.”

“Oliver will be at daycare for a few more hours, so we can get you settled before he comes in with his crazy toddler energy,” she explains.

I chuckle at the thought of Oliver coming in with nothing but excitement as he tells everyone he sees about his day at daycare. The boy doesn’t lack energy, that’s for sure. “I look forward to his wild toddler energy.”

She smiles and I can see the relief in her eyes before she turns and hurries off to the kitchen. That makes me feel a little better about being strong-armed into this arrangement. If it puts my sister’s mind at ease, I can put up with a few days of babying, but just a few.

Haven will drive me batshit crazy if I let this go on for too long.

Christian comes into the room and settles into an armchair next to the couch.

Sighing, he looks at me. “Thanks for agreeing to stay here. Haven wasn’t going to let the issue drop if you kept saying no.”

“I’m aware,” I snort. “I’ve been dealing with her stubborn ass a lot longer than you have, remember? She’s a caretaker, though. She took on that role for our mom, and I don’t suppose it’s something she can give up on that easily.”

“Yeah, that’s a good point,” Christian murmurs, glancing toward the door leading to the kitchen, where we can hear Haven busying herself with whatever she’s cooking. “I’ve been working on convincing her that it’s okay for people to take care of her now and then, but it’s not an easy thing for her, sitting back and not taking care of everyone around her. Hell, even taking these few days off from work so she could be in Houston at the hospital with you has made her a little stir crazy.”

It’s one of my sister’s best and worst qualities. She can be so selfless and caring, but she sometimes takes it too far and forgets about her own wellbeing. When Mom got sick, Haven dedicated pretty much her entire life to taking care of her and the rest of us. She insisted she didn’t need a relationship of her own or a real life of her own—she was perfectly happy with her self-appointed role as caretaker. I’d always wanted more for her. A family of her own, someone to love and take care of her, and our mom wanted that too.

Thankfully, Haven met Christian, and though their relationship didn’t start off as a love story (more a mutually-beneficial business arrangement), it ended that way. Was it difficult to wrap my head around my sister and best friend being together? Yes, yes, it was. Do I still cringe and want to throw up a little when they get lovey-dovey with each other? One hundred percent. But my sister is happy, and I know Christian adores her, and ultimately, that’s what matters most.

“So,” Christian continues, breaking through my runaway thoughts. “What are your plans now?”

“What do you mean?”

He shrugs a shoulder. “Do you still want to go back to working in the oil fields once you’re healed up?”

The question catches me off guard a little.

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