Page 90 of Love Me Steadfast
A soft buzzing and Charlotte’s laughter as she pulls away is like coming out of a trance.
I blink at the soft blue sky outside the truck, then at Charlotte reaching for her fucking phone.
“Don’t answer that.” I lunge for it because I’m not ready for the outside world to break us apart, but she pulls back, laughing, her eyes so pretty in the golden evening light.
“Will!” she protests, trying to squirm free.
I tickle her and she squeals, jolting so violently over my lap that I nearly come in my jeans. But she gets the phone from her pocket, her cheeks turning even more pink when she reads the caller ID.
“Oh shit. It’s my dad.”
It’s then I remember her six o’clock curfew. I don’t know what time it is, but by the lowering light, it’s definitely later than that.
“Hey, Dad,” Charlotte says into the phone, still breathing hard, her brows bunching together. “What?” Panic fills her eyes. “Is she okay?”
Fear tightens inside me. Who’s hurt? I wait for more, my eyes locked on Charlotte’s face.
She climbs off me and runs her palm down the back of her head, lost in whatever Ray is saying. “Okay,” she says, all color draining from her face. Her gaze finds mine but her expression is tense, scared. “Yeah, Willcan drive me.”
I slide the key into the ignition. The clock on the dash blinks to life: 6:47. Fuck.
Charlotte pulls on her seatbelt. “We’ll get there as soon as we can,” she says, then nods, as if Ray can see her.
I turn the truck around and head out of the gravel parking strip, yanking my seat belt into place as I accelerate toward the other end of the field.
Charlotte and Ray end their call, and she slumps back against the seat. “It’s Morgan,” she says in a shaky voice. “There was an…accident....” She shakes her head, fighting tears. “She’s going into surgery right now. There was…internal bleeding.”
A car crash? How did it happen?
I reach for her hand. However it happened, it sounds bad. “I’ll get us there as fast as we can. Is she at Evergreen?”
“Yeah.” Her palm slides into mine. She’s shaking. I press a kiss to the back of her hand.
Her lips quiver. “The driver was drunk.” A tear breaks loose but she swipes it away. “This is my fault. I…I lost track of time. If I’d been home, this wouldn’t have happened.”
“We both did.” I don’t want her blaming herself, but I can practically see her mind’s gears spinning out of control.
I’m still holding her hand and I don’t plan to let go. “Hang in there, okay?”
She rubs her lips together and nods. “Okay.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
CHARLOTTE (AGE 16)
William pullsinto the hospital parking lot, only breaking our clasped hands to shift gears. My mind is a kaleidoscope of doom and dead ends. Is Mo going to be okay? Dad said the driver was some guy from school. If I had been home when I was supposed to be, this wouldn’t have happened. Did she call him the minute she got home and realized I wasn’t there? Or did she ditch her friends at the fair and leave with him instead?
Will parks and jumps out. Before I can snap out of my spiral and join him, he’s lifting me out and setting me gently on the ground. Adrenaline spurs me to action, and I take off for the entrance.
William matches my stride. I’m grateful for his steady presence and that he’s not trying to reassure me, because neither of us know if Morgan’s going to be okay yet. The glass doors slide open, and William hurries to the check-in desk, where an older man with red suspenders, thinning white hair, and a nametag that reads “EARL” is talking to another visitor.
“We’re here to see Morgan Hannah,” William says as soon as the other visitor shuffles off, his voice tense. “She was in a car accident. She’s in surgerynow.”
Earl slips his bifocals up and immediately starts tapping at his keyboard. “Go ahead and sign in, and I’ll look her up for you.”
The pen feels foreign in my fingers as I scratch out my name. When I search the wall for a clock so I can enter the time, I’m shocked that it’s past seven.
I don’t see Theo’s name but maybe he’s not here yet. Or he came with Dad. He was supposed to go camping with Maren tonight, but maybe Dad caught him before they left.
