by Dani Wade
“Thank goodness,” Christina said, echoing all their thoughts.
A doctor came into the room and called for their attention. Everyone turned. “Luke has asked to see his family, and I’ve granted permission, but only immediate family for now, please. He’s not in serious danger, but I’d like to keep him overnight to observe him. The rest of you will get your chance soon enough.”
Murmurs of relief spread through the room. There were hugs before the men gathered near the door. Aiden spoke quietly with Christina, who came and took Avery’s hand, leading her down the hallway with the men. Avery’s heart pounded. After all, she wasn’t family.
“Christina, maybe I should go back,” she whispered.
The other woman squeezed her hand. “Don’t be silly.”
Maybe Christina didn’t know what had happened the last time she and Luke had seen each other. “Christina, really, this is a bad idea.”
The men paused outside a door. Aiden turned to look at her. “No, Avery, it isn’t. Luke needs you here, just as much as he needs us.”
Only he didn’t.
There was no time to explain as everyone moved inside. The beep of monitors made Avery wince. She’d been around many patients before who were hospital-bound in serious condition or in a coma. But this, this was different. This was Luke. Thoughts of him hurting and near death were almost her undoing.
He lay still on the bed, bandages around his head and one arm. Avery studied his body, looking for signs that would tell her about the damage, but couldn’t find them. Her gaze traveling back up, and she found his amber eyes open and trained directly on her. Then his unhampered hand lifted, reaching out to her.
Despite what had happened between them, Avery couldn’t stop herself from moving forward. She parted the crowd, resting with her hand in his, fingers laid lightly against his wrist so she could feel that life-giving pulse for herself. Even so, she couldn’t lift her eyes to his. Then he might see the utter devastation she’d been through over the past few hours. She blinked away the wash of tears. But she couldn’t let go of that hand.
Not yet.
“Good to see ya, brother,” Aiden said. Jacob murmured the same.
Luke let his bandaged head drop against the pillows with a wince. “Glad I’m still here to be seen.”
Christina’s tears were much freer than Avery’s. She skirted around Jacob to give Luke a hug. “The doctor says everything will be okay?”
“Yep. There was absolutely no reason for them to med-flight me here. An ambulance would have been perfectly acceptable.”
Jacob smirked. “Especially since Luke hates flying.”
“Well, it did wake me up hella quick.”
“I bet.”
Avery could see Luke’s hard swallow before he asked, “The mill?”
“Zach is there to evaluate the fire, last I spoke to him. If everything’s sound, the plant floor and outbuildings will be saved with only smoke damage. The admin building wasn’t so lucky. It will have to be rebuilt.”
“I got electronic copies of the emails. Zach has the log-in info. Make sure the police check his home computer.”
Aiden straightened, his height imposing. “Then we’ll nail Mark’s ass to the wall.”
“He made it out?” Luke asked.
His heartbeat sped up beneath her fingertips.
Jacob nodded. “From what the police chief said, he had a spot all picked out to shelter in when the bomb went off, so he could claim it was an accident. Didn’t work out so well for him.”
Luke glanced around, then zeroed back in on his twin. “Why?”
Jacob looked to Aiden for confirmation before he said, “Part of the concrete wall came down on his legs.”
Avery gasped, shocked, but found little sympathy in her heart. Mark had made his choice; he got what he deserved.
Christina laid her hand on Aiden’s arm. “I think that’s enough business for now, right, guys?”
Aiden covered her hand with his own. “She’s right. I’m glad you’re gonna be okay, Luke.”
“Me, too,” Jacob added. “This is one hospital too many, in my opinion.”
“Mine, too,” Luke agreed.
The others turned to the door, but Luke refused to let go of her hand.
Avery studied their clasped hands, unsure of what to do or say to avoid tears she wouldn’t be able to stop.
“Thank you for coming,” Luke said.
“I couldn’t not come,” Avery conceded.
Because it was the truth. No matter how Luke felt about her now, she wouldn’t have been able to stay away, knowing he’d been hurt. She wanted to ask about his legs, his previous injuries, but she daren’t open that can of worms.
“I appreciate that, Avery. Especially after the way I treated you the last time we were together.” He squeezed her hand. “I’ve been trying to find a way to apologize, to let you know I didn’t believe those things I said, but I didn’t know how. So I took the coward’s way out and stayed away.”
“If you didn’t believe them, why did you say them?”
“Because I was angry. And, I think, because it gave me an excuse to dismiss your concerns without having to evaluate their merit.” He kissed the back of her hand, drawing her tears closer to the surface. “I wanted you to support me, to agree with me wholeheartedly. When you didn’t, I lashed out. I’m sorry.”
Avery wished the apology meant more. Luke had almost died. She didn’t want him to be sorry. She wanted him to say he loved her, that he would stay for her. But she couldn’t ask him for that, wouldn’t.
“Does it really matter?” she asked. The yes bloomed on his face, but he’d just been through a terrible experience. Two in a year. He was thinking about now. She was thinking about the future. She squeezed his hand. “I just don’t think I can do this, Luke.”
Now that she knew he would be okay, she had to find the strength to end this. “I love you, more than I ever thought I could, but my life is here. My home, my job, these people.” Her throat closed, choking her for a moment. To her chagrin, a tear marched a single line down her face. “Your dreams are elsewhere. And I don’t want to be the one who holds you back.”
Luke lay against the pillow, exhaustion graying his face. She was a horrible person to do this now. But she simply couldn’t support him through recovery, then watch him walk away from her.
“I’m so sorry, Avery. The other day I made a mistake.”
“I did, too,” she said with a sad smile. “But I can’t say I’ll ever be sorry.”
She made it to the door, but she couldn’t force herself to open it. Maybe deep down, a part of her still wished he would say he loved her. That she was worth not walking away from. But she knew that wasn’t the answer in the long run, either. So she took a deep breath and put her hand on the doorknob.
“It really was fun, wasn’t it?” she asked.
He nodded, his face grim.
She let herself out the door, down the hall and out to the parking lot. Her car provided the solitude she needed. She cried all the way back to her house. Only when wrapped tightly inside bedsheets that still smelled like Luke did she close her eyes, and let herself wish it was all a dream.
* * *
Luke finally spotted that unique combination of blonds in Avery’s gorgeous hair at the far side of the ice rink at Rockefeller Center. He’d been searching for an hour in the crowds of New York City holiday visitors. The doorman at Aiden and Christina’s New York apartment had been extremely helpful, since he’d recognized Luke and had helped Avery plan her route before she’d left today.
When Luke had finally returned home for the woman he couldn’t live without, it had never occurred to him that he wouldn’t just waltz into Avery’s clinic and sweep her off her feet. What an arrogant dumbass he was.
<
br /> Now he was hot on her trail, rueful and jealous. He’d have loved to have traveled with her, but he’d never told her that… He’d never told her a lot of things.
How could she reciprocate when he’d offered her nothing in the first place? Not even a phone call since he’d left Black Hills. So she’d set out to find adventure on her own.
He’d resorted to begging his brother for info. The connection between Luke and both his brothers had strengthened in the past month. Though he and Jacob had always been close, they were now never out of touch for more than a day. He and Aiden texted a lot, and called more often than they ever had.
Luke had missed them while he was in North Carolina, more than he’d thought he would. He’d gone home to share his news, and was grateful that Christina had helped him find his little homebody in New York City for the holidays. Now he only had to convince Avery to accept his humble Christmas gift.
She stood twenty feet from him, wrapped in a thick suede jacket and wearing black gloves. But that gorgeous hair was loose to the cold breeze in his favorite style. Not a hair band in sight.
As he angled toward her, he caught a glimpse of her face. Her gaze jumped around as she took in the people skating below her, then it moved up the giant Christmas tree and across holiday decorations. She seemed interested, happy, but not engaged in her surroundings.
An observer, not a participant.
Like she’d always been, from the first time he’d known her. Little Avery that watched everything from the sidelines. Never jumping in with both feet. Never forcing people to notice her. Never owning the excitement and life that were hers to enjoy.
Except for a short time…with him. He wanted to see that Avery again.
She’d turned in the other direction, so he navigated the crowd until he found a spot next to her and leaned against the rail. “Happy holidays, Avery.”
Startled, she turned to him. He got to glimpse a few seconds of welcome, of excitement, before that beautiful face shut down, hiding her emotions behind a polite mask.
“Luke. I didn’t expect to see you here.”
“I didn’t expect to see you here, either,” he said. “I thought I’d find you in Black Hills, at the clinic.”
A slight frown wrinkled her careful expression. “Why would you expect to see me anywhere?”
Because I can’t imagine going through one more step of my life without you. Hmm…maybe a bit much. He should start slower.
“Because I couldn’t imagine sharing my big news with anyone but you.”
She nodded slowly. “The big meeting was this week?”
“It was.” Luke had met with his racing sponsor. Avery’s sad eyes told him she expected him to expound on the incredible deal he’d accepted. But… “After all the wining and dining he’d done, I don’t think it went quite how he’d planned.”
Avery took a slow breath in, exhaling a white puff of air after a moment too long. “What do you mean?”
“I told him I’d love to represent their company…in two seasons. Not one.”
Avery might have the calm bearing of a sphinx, but he could tell he’d startled her. Still, she wasn’t jumping through his hoops very fast.
“What did he think about that?”
“Well, he was a little shocked.” To say the least. “But I had a few offers of my own up my sleeve.”
He slipped a little closer, his heart speeding up just from being near her. “I offered to shoot a comeback movie chronicling my journey back to racing, at my own expense, for them to use for promotional purposes. I’d already talked to Bobby Joe, who agreed to stay on for an additional year.”
Luke could read the shock in those beautiful blue eyes, but he wasn’t through yet. “All for a stake for each of them in my new racing venture.”
“You see—” Luke grinned, so at peace with his decision that it seemed unreal “—I’ve arranged to purchase that old racetrack outside of town. I’m creating a racing experience that allows people to experience driving a race car at a professional facility, along with professional and amateur training. Jeff is going to help me.”
She shook her head. “Luke, you can’t give up your dream—”
“That is, when I’m not racing myself.”
The mask dropped, giving him a glimpse of the sheer misery she felt, but she remained silent.
“I managed to convince them I was worth the wait. And that they should develop the whole me, not just the racing me. So I win, they win and the town wins.”
“Wow. That’s awesome,” she said. Her breath shook a little. He could tell she truly was excited for him, not just saying the words, even though her eyes quickly darkened again.
“I figure it will be something I love, that I can do from home in my off-season. And it’ll help bring more jobs and revenue to the town,” he said. “And it’s all because of you.”
Those beautiful blues widened. “Me?”
“Yep. You and that hour back on the old track. I never would have thought of doing this if you hadn’t planned something so special for me, Avery.” To his surprise, his throat tried to close.
“I just—I knew that would be special for you.”
Of course she had. Because she understood what he needed, even when he was being stubborn and stupid.
She glanced out over the skaters. “Your family will be thrilled that you’ll be around more often.”
Luke nodded, not quite trusting his voice. When he finally had his emotions under control, he said, “I hope you will be, too.”
A look of sheer panic bloomed on her face and she started to shake her head, but Luke was having none of that.
“As you already know, I can be persistent when I want something really bad. And right now, I’m after something that I want more than anything I’ve had in my life.”
Her voice was barely above a whisper. “What’s that?”
“You.”
She wasn’t giving an inch. “What if I can’t do this?”
“Then I’ll be the saddest, loneliest man Black Hills has ever known.”
Right there in front of God and country, he got down on his knee. Avery blushed, trying to pull him up, but he wasn’t budging until she said yes.
“Avery, I love you.” Reaching into his coat pocket, he pulled out something a little less traditional than an engagement ring. Instead, he’d had a custom key made, engraved with their names and the year. A key to something far more important than a car—no, this was a symbol for the commitment he had a hard time putting into words. But he had to try. “I’ve spent my entire life running, not realizing I was looking for a home. I found it—in you. Will you be there with me, every day, as I build a new life? Knowing I’m leaving the key to my heart with you, safe and sound?”
Seeing her excitement light her up was the greatest gift he’d ever been given. But her next words gave him pause.
“On one condition.”
“What’s that?”
“That you continue to drag me into all kinds of adventures. You know, someone told me once fun’s the only thing that makes life worth living.” She grinned big this time, letting the love he’d felt from her all along shine in her gaze. “After all, who better to show me how to have fun than Renegade Blackstone?”
Oh, yeah. “It’s a deal.”
* * * * *
If you liked this novel, pick up these other sexy Southern reads from Dani Wade
HIS BY DESIGN
A BRIDE’S TANGLED VOWS
THE BLACKSTONE HEIR
All available now from Harlequin Desire!
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ISBN-13: 9781488001857
The Renegade Returns
Copyright © 2016 by Katherine Worsham
All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.
