Page 6 of The Other Side

Brett coughed on the sip of punch he’d just swallowed. “We were supposed to bring gifts?”

Everly chuckled and waved him to his feet. “Not really. Colt and Remi don’t need anything.”

“Whew.” Brett stood and tossed the rest of his punch down his throat. “Let’s do this.”

He followed Everly to one of the Sunday School classrooms where a table filled with wrapped gifts waited for them.

“Liar. I was supposed to bring a gift,” Brett said as he extended his arms for Everly to stack them.

“You know Colt and Remi. They’re not materialistic, and they’ve technically been married since September. They didn’t even have a registry. I bet half of these are really for the baby.”

Brett adjusted his hands around the bottom gift. “I’m still having trouble processing Colt and Remi having their first kid. I mean, they’ve had Abby and Ben for six months now, but a baby is different.”

Everly’s smile widened. “I know. They’re going to be awesome parents to this baby too, and Abby and Ben are excited about getting a sibling.”

When they’d gathered all the gifts they could hold, Brett followed Everly to the side door of the church. Colt’s truck was parked near the door, and Everly unlocked it.

“Biggest gifts in first,” she said as she placed the boxes in the backseat.

“You think we’ll need my truck too?” Brett asked.

“Probably not. I already moved the kids' seats over to Stella’s car. They’re staying with her tonight.”

Snow floated down in the darkness, and Brett closed the truck door as Everly shivered.

“Let me take the rest. You don’t need to be out here in a dress. It’s too cold.”

Everly wrapped her arms around her middle. “Thanks. I’m ready for spring.”

Headlights lit up the parking lot around them, and the roar of a truck engine jarred the otherwise silent night. They both turned as an older truck slid into the parking lot, sending puffy snow flying as the brakes locked. The passenger door opened before the truck rocked to a stop, and a limp woman fell out onto the thin layer of snow.

The force of the woman hitting the ground had Brett’s shoulders tensing immediately. She hadn’t even tried to break the fall.

Brett bolted into a run as he shouted over his shoulder. “Get Jameson!”

The truck peeled out of the parking lot and back out onto the road. Brett didn’t even check to see which way it went. His attention was locked on the woman lying lifeless on the ground.

Brett slid to her side in the snow. Blood was tangled in her dark hair, and he pushed it aside to shout, “Ma’am. Ma’am!” Her silence heightened the sickness in his stomach as he slid his fingers into her matted hair. Gently, he turned her head toward him. Where was the blood coming from?

He pressed his fingertips to her neck and closed his eyes. He needed to settle the loud pounding of his own heart so he could feel for hers. Her skin was cold beneath his fingertips, and he prayed for a pulse. When he sensed the rhythm beneath his fingertips, he released a shaky breath. He leaned forward to listen for the woman’s breath, but he couldn’t hear anything. Were her breaths just light, or was she not breathing?

Giving up on the breath, he pushed the wet hair from her face, searching frantically for the source of the blood. Multiple quick footsteps behind him signaled help was coming.

Good, because helplessness was growing big enough to strangle him.

When his fingers brushed over her hair, revealing the face behind the fear, everything in Brett’s world stopped. Everything around him disappeared, leaving only the familiar face in front of him. The bruised and cut features of the woman he’d been missing for years.

“Thea.”

The word was small as he prayed the scene before him was all a twisted nightmare. Then, the tingling of adrenaline surged through his entire body, releasing a terrified scream. “Thea!”

Someone was beside him, pushing him out of the way, but he scrambled back to her side. “Thea!”

It was Jameson this time, shoving a hand against Brett’s shoulder. “Give me some space.”

“That’s Thea! Help her!”

Someone else knelt on Thea’s other side. Noah Harding. Of course. Noah was a paramedic too. Brett had forgotten he was at the wedding. Between Jameson and Noah, could they save her?

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