Page 5 of Love Unforgettable
Chapter 2
LEXIE - Later that night
Chance is going to be okay, according to the doctor who just left after updating all of us in the hospital waiting room. He has a long recovery ahead of him and won’t be able to walk for a while, but he’s alive.
It took us way too long to find him earlier today. Chance was badly injured with a gunshot wound to the thigh and a brutal barrel roll down a big hill while his hands were tied, but he’s safe now. And I’m sure he has one hell of a story to tell us once he’s able. Especially since we still don’t know for sure what happened to Helen, his crazy psycho ex.
I don’t know what we would have done if we hadn’t happened upon Trevor when we did. He was instrumental in helping us find Chance. He saved the day. Trevor was the only one who recognized that Chance had given us clues as to where he would be. It was Trevor who put the clues together and helped us find Chance. And my heart warms toward him a little too much for my liking because of it.
Kat came back in the waiting room after taking a call from her fiancé, Brad. He’s part of the crew fighting theEl Diablofires near where we rescued Chance, and I know she’s been worried about him all day.
“How’s he doing?” I ask her.
“Good. The fire’s forty-five percent contained. One of these days I’ve got to remember to ask him how they measure that. Big ass measuring tape? A guy on either side holding each end?”
I laugh at Kat’s attempt to make a joke. It’s her way of covering up when she’s nervous or scared.
“Where’s Trevor?” she asks.
“He went to make a phone call or take a phone call, I don’t know. I just . . . God, Kat, I can’t believe he’s here. Again.” I take a deep breath and try to blow it back out slowly to calm myself. “He says he wants another chance. But, I mean, how many chances am I supposed to give him? I already gave him his one chance and he broke me. Now he wants another.”
“Usually I say trust him until he gives you a reason not to. But he kinda already gave you a reason not to when he flew the coop. What does your gut say?”
I hate that question. I never know what my gut wants unless it’s ice cream. I shrug my shoulders in response to her question.
“Do you trust him?”
“I didn’t think I did, no. But then today, jumping in like that to help find Chance, not a lot of people would have put in all the effort he did.”
“I agree.”
“So, when you ask me if I trust him, my first thought is no. But then I think about today and I really want to think yes.”
Trevor returns to the room, his face pinched with an emotion I can’t quite identify.
“I’m going to go distract Remi for a bit,” Kat says and then turns to head toward where Remi is sitting with Chance’s parents.
“Everything okay?” I ask Trevor when he sits down in the chair next to me.
He nods. “Just tough making a transition like this sometimes.”
“You mean, moving from Syracuse to San Soloman? That transition?”
He nods again.
“Assuming you actually do it this time.” I can hear the bitterness in my voice. That was why he was in town months before. Because he was moving from the East Coast to the West. But then he left, and I didn’t hear from him again.
He sighs and runs his fingers through his hair. I watch his shoulders visibly tense and then relax. He turns toward me and takes both my hands in his, running his thumb over my knuckles. The sounds of the hospital float around us like white noise. But not so loud that I can’t hear what he says next.
“Lexie, I bought Doc Richardson’s practice.”
Okay, I didn’t know that.
“He’s retiring and I’m taking over. I’m here for good. I could have bought a practice anywhere. Make no mistake, I chose here for you. To finish what we started. I’m here to get you back.”
I blink at him. He bought Doc Richardson’s practice? That’s definitely a sign of stability. But he still hasn’t explained why he left so suddenly before. Or why he stayed away so long with no contact at all. I open my mouth to ask him that, but he speaks first.
“You have no idea how incredible you are, do you?” he asks.
