Begin Again

by Nicole Pyland

  They’d chased one another around the unfinished hotel, with some contractors giving them questioning glances as Chris tried to get her paint-covered hands anywhere on Paxton’s body. She’d succeeded, but only because Paxton eventually gave into her laughter and couldn’t breathe anymore. Chris had pressed her now nearly dry hands to Paxton’s ass, cupping it as she did so, and leaving only small marks behind. Paxton had kissed her then. They’d been out on the deck; the place where they’d first made love. Everything – despite the sounds of construction going on behind them – had been perfect. Then, Wes had interrupted them, told them how gross it was, and left for his tennis practice.

  They’d gone back to Chris’s apartment, changed their clothes, and went to see a house together with Kinsley. It was a modest place. Four bedrooms, but one of them was on the small side and could have easily been called a walk-in closet more than a bedroom. It was a ranch-style, with a finished basement, which was where two of the bedrooms were located. Chris had smiled at Paxton when Paxton suggested Wes could have the finished basement basically to himself when he came home from college. It hadn’t been an off-handed comment. Paxton had meant every word. She’d even tried to identify ways to give him as much privacy as possible by adding a separate entrance to the exposed back of the basement. The lot was smaller than some of the others Paxton had visited, but she didn’t think that mattered. They wouldn’t need a lot of yard space, anyway. Neither of them, apparently, liked mowing the lawn.

  “You got paint all over me just so we’d shower together hours later, after we went to go see about a house?”

  “Kinsley’s my agent. It’s not like I’m trying to impress her.” Paxton ran her fingers along Chris’s spine as she stood behind her, watching the water roll down her girlfriend’s back. “Did you like it?” she asked softly; referring to the house, not the motion of her fingers.

  Chris turned in her arms and replied, “Pax, I did like it. But it’s more important that you like it. I know you want me to live there with you one day, but it’s still your house. I don’t know what’s going to happen with us in the next few months.” She wrapped her arms around Paxton’s neck. “I know I love you. I know I want to be with you. I believe that one day we will get to the part where we live together. But I’d hate it if you bought a house that you only liked instead of loved because I liked it.”

  “But you liked it?” Paxton asked with a smirk.

  “You’re useless,” Chris replied, kissing her lips and erasing the smirk.

  When Chris deepened the kiss, Paxton knew they weren’t leaving this shower until they’d both come at least once. The way Chris was kissing her neck, Paxton wondered if they’d maybe come at least two times before they left the shower. Chris touched her first. Her fingers grazed Paxton’s sex; just gently touching the hairs there. Paxton spread her legs to allow Chris to press those same fingers to her clit. Chris moved into her more, pushing Paxton against the back wall. Paxton came the first time with Chris’s soft and slow strokes. The second time was because of Chris’s fast and deep trusts as Paxton’s teeth practically dug into Chris’s shoulder. She’d definitely have a mark there later. When she turned Chris around to take what she wanted, she knelt in front of her, and for a moment – just one moment, she wasn’t thinking about sex. She thought about how she’d likely get down on one knee for this woman in the future. She’d be fully clothed, of course, and she’d be holding a ring.

  “What’s wrong?” Chris asked, obviously picking up on Paxton’s wandering mind.

  “Nothing. Absolutely nothing.” Paxton smiled up at her, kissed Chris just below the belly button, and then went to work lower.

  ◆◆◆

  After leaving the shower, they climbed into bed together. Paxton pulled out her laptop, did some work, checked in via email with her team back in Seattle, and emailed Kinsley that she’d like to see the house again, along with a couple more. Chris pulled out a book and started to read until her phone rang.

  “Hello?”

  “Is this Christina Florence?”

  “This is she. Who’s this?”

  “This is Lakeview Memorial. You’re listed as the emergency contact for Wesley Florence.”

  Chris shot up in the bed and asked, “What happened? Is he okay?”

  “Your brother’s been in a car accident.”

  “What? Oh, my God.” Chris flew out of the bed, dropping the book to the floor.

  “Chris? What’s wrong?” Paxton asked, moving the laptop off her body and leaning forward.

  “Is he okay? Where are you, again?” Chris asked, ignoring Paxton’s question.

  “Lakeview Memorial. Your brother is stable. That’s all I know. I’m the station nurse. You’ll want to ask for his doctor when you get here. He’s in room 411, on the fourth floor.”

  “I’m on my way,” Chris replied, hanging up the phone at the same time she put her head on a swivel looking for her pants. “Where are my jeans? Where did I throw them?”

  “Chris, talk to me. What’s going on?” Paxton stood from the bed and walked over to her. “Is Wes okay?”

  “He was in a car accident. He’s in the hospital. I need my jeans, Paxton,” Chris repeated as she continued to move around the room quickly, looking for her pants.

  “Babe, they’re in the laundry hamper. They had paint all over them. I was going to wash them for you,” Paxton replied. “Wear something of mine. Second drawer; take whatever you want.”

  Chris heard her without really hearing her. Paxton moved to the dresser with her, pulled out a pair of pants for Chris, passed them to her, and then grabbed a pair for herself. She slid them over her legs as Chris did the same.

  “What are you doing?” Chris asked after she slid on a borrowed shirt.

  “Getting dressed,” Paxton answered.

  “You don’t have–”

  “You’re my girlfriend. I’m going with you. In fact, I’m driving, because I don’t think you can right now. Plus, I care about Wes. I want to make sure he’s okay, Chris.”

  “Okay,” Chris said softly. “Thank you.”

  “Don’t thank me for this, Chris.” Paxton moved into her, kissed her forehead, and looked into her watery eyes. “I love you. He’s going to be okay.”

  “He’s my baby brother, Pax. I can’t–”

  “You won’t. Come on. Let’s go see him,” she said.

  CHAPTER 27

  “My name is Christina Florence. My brother is in room 411.” Chris leaned over the first counter she saw the moment they entered the emergency room of the hospital.

  “His name?” the woman behind the counter, who wore pink scrubs, asked.

  “Wesley Florence,” Chris replied, slightly annoyed.

  The woman typed something into a computer without looking up and said, “Room 411.”

  “I know. I just said that,” Chris argued. “I–”

  “Where’s the elevator?” Paxton interrupted, pressing her hand supportively to Chris’s back.

  “Down the hall to the right.” The woman pointed.

  “Thank you,” Paxton replied, ushering Chris with that same hand in the direction of the woman’s finger.

  When they arrived on the fourth floor, Chris walked briskly as her eyes glued to the small plaques that indicated the room numbers. They made it about halfway down the hall before she spied 410 and then 411. She made her way through the open door, with Paxton hot on her heels. She passed the small bathroom on the right, and then the room opened up to reveal two hospital beds. A woman was sleeping in one. Wesley was in the other.

  “Chris, hey,” Wes greeted with a smile for a second before the smile disappeared and he held up his arm that already had a navy-blue cast on it.

  “What happened?” Chris rushed to his side.

  “I chose navy-blue for you, Pax. I thought it would be funny,” he said.

  “You’re in a cast, Wes. Nothing about this is funny. What the hell happened? Did your car act up and cause you to lose control or some
thing? What else is injured? Do you have any internal bleeding we need to watch out for? How long does the cast have to be on? Oh, God! You can’t play tennis with a cast on. Why is there a tube coming out of your other arm?” Chris asked in rapid succession as her eyes flitted over every part of him she could see.

  “Chris, calm down, okay?” he said and reached for his sister’s hand. “I’m okay. I have a few cuts and bruises. I don’t have any internal damage; they already checked. They said six to eight weeks for the cast. I only broke the arm in one place. No surgery is required.”

  Chris exhaled deeply and asked, “Wes, what happened?”

  “I was driving home from practice, and grandma called me. She asked if I could pick her up and take her to the grocery store.”

  “She what?” Chris asked.

  “She’s old, Chris. Plus, she’s still trying to get used to things out in the real world. She needed a few things and also wanted to see if I wanted to have dinner with her. I said yes. I picked her up. We went to dinner first. We just went to Donoto’s. Then, I took her to the store. It took her, like, thirty minutes to find everything she wanted, even with my help. They had farms and stuff there, I guess. She didn’t even realize how many different types of cereal there are now.” He chuckled before stopping at her stern expression. “Anyway… We were driving back to her apartment, and she kind of had an anxiety attack, I think. I don’t know exactly what happened, but she grabbed her chest and told me it was hurting. I tried to pull over to help her. She accidentally leaned over, though, and kind of landed on my arm that was holding the wheel. I lost control for only a second. But the roads are so narrow here, it was too late. We went off to the side. I ran into a tree. I was only going about forty, though. I guess that was lucky.”

  “Lucky? Are you kidding me?” Chris asked.

  “Wes, where’s your grandma?” Paxton asked.

  “I don’t know,” Wesley said. “I asked the nurse. She said she’d check for me but hasn’t been back yet. I told her she’s my grandmother.”

  “She’s hardly your…” Chris stopped herself, squeezed his hand, and gave him a small smile. “I’ll check with the nurse.”

  “I’ve got it. You stay with Wes,” Paxton offered. She leaned over, kissed Chris’s cheek, and added, “Love you.”

  “I love you, too,” Chris whispered back.

  Paxton winked at Wes. Then, she turned and left the room.

  “Love, huh?” Wes questioned.

  “Stop it,” Chris said through a light laugh.

  “I’m happy for you. Why can’t I be happy for you? Pax is awesome, Chris,” he said.

  “She is. You, however, have a lot of explaining to do,” she said.

  “I do?” he asked.

  “Wes, what about tennis?”

  “I know…” He hung his head. “My season is over, but there’s next year. That’s senior year. That’s when it really matters for scholarships. I don’t know if Paxton has anything I can do one-handed for a while, but I’ll still work.”

  “Wes, it’s not about the money.” Chris sat in the chair next to his bed. “You love tennis. I hate that you’re going to miss it.”

  “Me too. But maybe I can still help the team out or something. I’ll have to talk to coach tomorrow.”

  Of the two of them, Wes had always had the more positive outlook. Chris had, somehow, ended up with the pessimistic attitude while he’d gotten the optimism in the family.

  “How’s your car? Where is your car?” she asked.

  “Still attached to the tree.” Wes shrugged, winced, and grabbed his hip. “I have a bruise here, I think.” He leaned back against his stacked pillows. “It’s going to need some work. I’ll use the money I’ve made so far from Pax to get it repaired. Hopefully, it won’t take too long. I hate having to borrow your car all the time.”

  She watched as he closed his eyes and held onto his broken arm with his uninjured one. She wished more than anything in that moment that she had been better for him after the death of their parents. She had put her worries about money and the future on her kid brother, because she’d had no one else to put them on or talk to them about.

  “Wes, I’m sorry,” she said.

  “For what?” he asked, opening his eyes and looking at her.

  “I don’t want you to worry about that stuff anymore, okay? We’re not millionaires, but we’re okay. I like my job with Pax. I thought it would be awkward, and it hasn’t been. I want to remain on, like we’ve planned. And I think that will make us okay, Wes. I know you’ll still need to get a scholarship or take out a loan – depending on what college you want to go to, but I don’t want you to stress about that stuff anymore. I just want you to focus on being a high school student. Get good grades. Play tennis. That’s it, okay?”

  “And find the girlfriend we were talking about earlier, right?” Wes smiled at her.

  “That can wait,” Chris replied with a laugh.

  ◆◆◆

  “Hello?” Paxton said through the open door.

  “Hello,” a woman replied.

  Paxton took a few steps into the room. She spotted two hospital beds. In one, there was an older man, who was watching the television hanging in the corner. Chris’s grandmother was resting in the other bed. She had a bandage above her left eye, another one over most of her left arm, and her right arm was in a sling. She had bruises on her jaw, a cut on her bottom lip, and her right leg had an ice pack on top of it.

  “I’m Paxton Williams. I don’t know if you know who I am,” she said after approaching the bed. “I’m a friend of Christina’s and Wesley’s.”

  “How is Wesley?” the woman asked immediately.

  “He’s okay.” Paxton smiled. “He has some bumps and bruises, but he’ll be fine. How are you?”

  “I think my bumps and bruises take a lot longer to heal than his,” she replied.

  “Chris is in with Wes now. He asked about you. I told him I’d check to make sure you’re okay,” Paxton offered after a moment of awkward silence.

  “Christina is in with him now? That’s good,” she said.

  “I should get back to them. I just wanted to–”

  “Can you ask her to come in here?” the woman asked hopefully.

  “Sure. I can ask her.” Paxton nodded. “I don’t know if she will, though.”

  “You know about what…”

  “I know.” Paxton ran her hand through her hair. “I’ll see if she can come in, okay?”

  “Thank you. Paxton?”

  “Yes?”

  “This may be inappropriate, but Christina told me that she’s…” The woman cleared her throat.

  “Gay?” Paxton guessed. “Yes, I’m her girlfriend,” she added.

  “I see.”

  “I love her very much. She’s an amazing woman that I hope to spend my life with. I don’t know what you believe about all that, but–”

  “I don’t know what I believe anymore,” the woman interjected.

  Paxton didn’t know what to say to that. She stood in silence instead.

  “I’m an old woman, and I have no idea what I believe about most things in life.”

  “I guess the thing to remember is that you can always get to know yourself. It doesn’t matter how old you are,” Paxton offered.

  “I guess so,” she replied with a small smile so as not to open the cut on her lip.

  ◆◆◆

  “How is he?” Paxton asked when she caught Chris leaving Wes’s room.

  “He’s okay. He’s ready to be discharged. The doctor just stopped by to check on him. We can take him home,” Chris said. “Well, back to my place. I need to stay with him tonight. I’m sorry,” she added, wrapping her arms around Paxton’s neck and pulling her in for a hug.

  “I’ll drop you guys off. I assume he has some prescriptions he needs to be picked up?”

  “Just some pain meds, but they’ve got a pharmacy here. I’ll run down and grab them before we leave,” she replied, kissing Pax
ton’s neck lightly. “Thank you, though. And Wes asked that you stay over tonight. Is that okay?”

  “He did?”

  “I think he feels bad about messing up our night. He also just really likes you.” Chris smiled into Paxton’s neck, loving the feel of the woman’s arms around the small of her back, rubbing up and down.

  “If you’re okay with me staying over, I will.”

  “Stay over, Pax,” Chris muttered against Paxton’s skin. “I need you there, too.”

  “Okay.” Paxton squeezed her hard, offering even more support. “I visited Cheyanne,” she added.

  “Thank you for not calling her my grandma,” Chris said.

  “She asked to see you.” Paxton pulled back to look at her girlfriend.

  “I don’t want to see her. She’s the reason he’s in that room.”

  “She’s also all alone, Chris. I may have lied to the nurse that I ran into outside her room and told her I was family. I was told she’ll be ready to be released tomorrow if her tests check out okay.”

  “And?” Chris asked with a lifted eyebrow.

  “And my girlfriend isn’t heartless.” Paxton kissed her forehead. “I’ll go help Wes get ready to go.”

  CHAPTER 28

  Chris had a hard time sleeping that night. Even with Paxton’s comforting and relaxed breathing to her right, Chris couldn’t manage to calm her brain enough to sleep. She tossed and turned for a few hours before she gave up. She made her way to Wes’s room first, where she checked to see that he was sound asleep. Then, she moved into the living room after pouring herself a glass of water. She stared at the TV she hadn’t turned on for a while, trying to think about her parents and what they’d want from her right now.

  It was a difficult thing to figure out. Her mother had never spoken of her grandmother as being a horrible person. She hadn’t agreed with Cheyanne’s choices, and she had left when she had been able to arrange it, but Chris didn’t think her mother had hated the woman who had given birth to her. She probably still loved her, despite what Cheyanne had done. Chris’s father hadn’t ever had kind words to say about the woman, but they’d moved on in their lives by the time Chris was born. It was likely they never wanted to talk about it in order to put it all behind them and start over with their own lives and their children.