You were nothing to me, Sean. Ever. A good lay, and that’s about it...
She hadn’t backed down, even when he turned from the man she’d loved into a monster that scared the hell out of her. So why was she backing down on the small stumbling block of finding Ethan?
Find another way. Memphis isn’t that big. The world isn’t that big, depending on how much you want it.
Dakota walked to the register and dug out a five-dollar bill.
“Did you want anything else?” Bertha asked.
“No, thanks. I don’t suppose there’s more than one newspaper in Memphis?”
“Well, no, not any major ones. Just The Daily News. Why? Were you looking for something in particular?”
“I was trying to find the name of someone who writes for the paper. A sportswriter.”
“Sorry,” said Bertha, with a shake of her head. “Don’t follow sports too much. I can’t help you.”
“It’s okay.” Find another way...
“Ooh, look at this.” Bertha reached for the remote and turned up the volume on the miniature television that sat beside her register. “They were talking about this before. A car chase over on the interstate.” She angled the tiny screen so that Dakota could see. “Look at that!” Bertha bent closer to the screen. The picture was grainy and static ran across the bottom of the screen. Still, Dakota could make out a car driving at high speed, pursued by a police car. It wove in and out of traffic, and then, without warning, ran right into a line of barrels set up at an exit. Water exploded everywhere. She winced at the impact. No wonder the cops hadn’t gotten back to her. They’d probably all been called to this accident.
The crash played again, in regular time, and then a third time in slow motion. Bertha gave a great gasp each time the car smacked into the barrels. “Those poor people,” she gushed. “Hope no one was hurt.” But her eyes sparkled with excitement.
The scene changed, and a reporter appeared in place of the crash. In his wrinkled shirt and tie, dressed as if he’d rushed to the scene straight from bed, he stared into the camera. “Authorities have not released the name of either the driver or the passenger at this time.”
With a heavy sigh of disappointment, Bertha turned back to her register and counted out Dakota’s change.
“The passenger was taken into police custody,” the reporter continued. “The driver is being taken to Baptist Memorial Hospital as a precautionary measure....” In the background, an ambulance screamed to a stop. Two EMTs jumped out and hurried to a spot off-screen.
“Here you are,” Bertha said. She counted change into Dakota’s hand. “Sure you don’t want a paper to take with you?”
“No, thanks.” Dakota folded the bills into her pocket. On the television, the car chase replayed another time. This time, though, the feed came from a vantage point in the sky, and it didn’t end with the car running into the water barrier. Both car doors opened. Two men emerged. One held a gun. The other held his hand up to a bleeding face. The camera honed in as they stumbled from the crushed vehicle, and for just an instant, Dakota could see every detail of both men’s faces.
Her legs wobbled, and she managed to set her coffee on the counter right before she fainted.
“HERE WE ARE.” A NURSE helped Ethan from the wheelchair when they returned from x-ray. “Guess you’re waiting on a CT scan now?”
“Yeah.” Ethan tried a few steps. The leg felt okay. Sore, but it held his weight. He hopped to the bed as the nurse jotted something on a clipboard and then left. Ethan took a long glance down at himself. Bruises had begun to form on his leg and arms, and if he reached back, he could feel a lump near the base of his skull. His hair felt stiff and the hospital gown flapped around his knees. Maybe it was a good thing Dakota wasn’t there, after all. One look and she’d probably run screaming from the room.
He rubbed his eyes, feeling better than he had an hour ago. His headache had settled down from raging to annoying and now the rumbling in his stomach reminded him he hadn’t eaten much of anything since six o’clock the previous night. Ethan limped to the door and peered through the window. No sign of Mike. A doctor whizzed by the room, followed by two nurses. Static buzzed on the intercom system. He pulled open the door. He could probably remember the way to the coffee shop. Maybe he could sneak out and grab a bite to eat before someone else came back to whisk him off to a different corner of the hospital.
Or at the very least, maybe he could find Mike and convince him to bring him back a cup of coffee. He needed some caffeine after all. He couldn’t stand staring at four white walls too much longer, that he knew. Something had changed in him overnight, something he didn’t even know he’d been waiting for. It was as if Lydia had sung him to sleep in his dreams every night until he was ready to face life on his own. It had been thirteen months, and his friends were right. He didn’t have to marry again. He didn’t even have to fall in love again. But he had to take a chance, and Dakota had brought that chance with her. The only thing he wanted to do now was leave this room and try to find her.
Ethan ventured into the hall. “Mike?” The place seemed deserted. He shuffled along in his bare feet, trying to ignore the body aches and the way he couldn’t get his right leg to move the way he wanted to. One foot in front of the other. Looking down, he measured the steps. One. Two. Three. Less than ten more to the waiting room door. Four. Five.
A door banged open and footsteps clicked into the hallway. Voices laced with worry floated out from a room a few feet down. He thought about looking up and changed his mind. He edged to one side and waited for the person to pass.
“Wait a minute,” a female voice said. “Ethan?”
He lifted his gaze, ready to explain to the nurse, the intern, whoever was waiting to scold him for leaving his room. Then Ethan blinked. For a minute he thought maybe the concussion had affected his sight after all. A few feet away, staring at him, stood Dakota’s friends.
“You’re Ethan, right?” the blonde said. “From the club last night.”
Sarah. He remembered her name after a minute. Beside her, stood Gunnar, a little worse for wear after his fight with Howie. One hand rested on Sarah’s shoulder. A neat row of stitches wound down his cheek.
“Is Dakota—is she here?” He couldn’t hope for that kind of luck. Not after everything that had happened.
Sarah didn’t speak for a moment. Her gaze moved over Ethan, taking in the injured leg, his face, the scrapes along his arms. Then she stepped close and took him by the hand. “You’d better come with me.”
“HONEY?” A DARK BLUR bent over Dakota. Something cold and wet pressed against her forehead. “Are you okay?”
She tried to sit up, but strong hands pushed her back. “Wait just a minute.” That was a male voice.
Dakota strained to make out faces in the bright lights above her. Where was she? Beneath her, a lumpy cushion. Around her, nothing but white. After a minute, she remembered. The hospital. The coffee shop. Sean and Ethan on the television screen. Someone—Bertha? a doctor? a passerby?—must have moved her to one of the padded benches in the foyer outside the shop’s entrance. She closed her eyes again. Maybe I’ll just lie here for a minute or two.
“Is she going to be okay?”
Someone lifted her eyelids, first the left and then the right. “I think so. Looks like she just passed out for a few minutes. I could run some tests to make sure, but—”
Dakota pushed herself to one elbow. “I’m fine.” With both eyes open, she could see the face of the doctor who crouched beside her. Nice, pale, acne-scarred in places. On the youngish side, maybe a few years older than she. Behind his shoulder stood Bertha, hovering like a mother hen. The woman’s mouth hung open.
“I just turned around, and the next thing I knew she was lying on the ground.” Bertha wrung the front of her purple volunteer smock in both hands. “We were watching that car chase on the news, see...”
Dakota lay back. Her vision tunneled and she wondered if she was about to faint aga
in.
“Miss?” The doctor lay a hand on her arm. “Sure you feel okay?”
“Yeah. Just give me a minute.” She took the wet cloth that Bertha held out and placed it over her eyes. Sweet darkness. Much better. Just let me stay here for a while, she wanted to say, though some part of her imagined that a woman lying prone outside the hospital’s coffee shop might not be good for business. Again she saw Ethan burst from the crushed car. Again she saw the fear on his face. How had he ended up in a car with Sean? She folded her arms over her face. He’ll never want to see me again.
“Can I talk to her?”
The voice came from her right, and Dakota opened her eyes to find that she wasn’t so lost after all.
***
DIZZINESS WASHED OVER Ethan followed Sarah and Gunnar down the hall. He limped as best he could, and they waited for him, but it still felt like the hundred-yard walk took an hour. They made their way through one set of doors, down another long corridor, and into the foyer he recognized almost as well as his own living room. The last few weeks with Lydia, he’d spent hours here, drinking cup after cup of coffee and making small talk. Hell, it was almost his second home, and not in any kind of good way.
Then he saw Dakota sitting there, and the room turned into a place he’d never seen before, brand-new and pulsing with possibility.
Sarah bent to hug her friend. She whispered something in Dakota’s ear and both turned to look at him. Ethan flushed. He was a writer by trade, yet he couldn’t think of a single word to say. I want you, came to mind. You scared the hell out of me, did too. But most of the words crowding his tongue had no meaning other than to get in the way of what he really wanted to do, which was kiss Dakota until they both had to come up for air.
He took one step toward her, and then another. Sarah pulled Gunnar into the coffee shop, pointing at an enormous stuffed frog that Ethan guessed would be going home with them.
“Hi, there.”
“Oh, Ethan.” Dakota’s gaze dropped to his leg, bruised and swollen. He sank to a seat beside her on the padded beige bench and ran his fingers through his hair. He wanted to reach for her but didn’t know how. He wanted to explain what had happened but didn’t know where to begin. A current sizzled in the space between them, humming with desire.
“I saw it, on TV. The car wreck, and...” She trailed off and tears shone in her eyes. “Ethan, I’m sorry. God, I’m so, so sorry.”
“Not your fault.” He lay one hand on her bare knee. He meant it, too. It didn’t matter what had led to that terrifying race for his life. She hadn’t forced him to stand up to Sean. He’d do it all again just to see the look on her face right now. Just to know there might be a chance he could hold her again.
“I didn’t think I’d see you again. I was looking through the paper, trying to find your name, your last name,” she said. “It was so stupid that I’d never asked, that I didn’t know.”
“I didn’t think I’d see you either.” But oh, how I wanted to. You’ll never know how much.
A strand of hair fell into her eyes. Her smile widened, even more breathtaking in the daylight than it had been under stars. Ethan couldn’t speak. He had no words left. Around the corner, Mike appeared. He opened his mouth to say something, saw Dakota, and whistled under his breath instead. The Memphis sunlight rose another inch and pulsed through the plate glass, shooting golden sparks across the floor. Ethan took Dakota’s hand, turned her palm over and pressed a kiss against it.
Like a kid on his first date, just learning the ropes, he thought, and realized it wasn’t too far from the truth. Somehow, in a handful of hours, she had brought him everything he thought he’d lost when Lydia died. Happiness. Hope. A chance to start over.
“Don’t go yet,” he said, through a voice hoarse with emotion. He brushed his thumb over her injured cheek and she winced.
His gaze moved to the white bandage on her shoulder, and he wanted to touch that too. He wanted to take care of her injuries. He wanted to clear away the pain. He wanted to watch the bruises fade until they were just memories they could both deal with.
“Stay in Memphis. A week or a month, or I don’t know how long. Just stay.”
Eyes of brown and blue flashed upon him, and though she didn’t answer, he knew what she would’ve said if he hadn’t crushed her lips with his. He didn’t care who saw him. Didn’t care that here in the hospital, where he’d mourned and raged and wished himself dead only a year ago, he held onto her like a man with new life. New hope.
This is where it ended. This is where it needs to start again.
Voices rose behind him: Gunnar and Bertha’s cooing with pleasure, and Mike and Sarah’s, tumbling over each other. Giddiness filled the room. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Ethan thought he heard Lydia too, cheering him on. He closed his eyes, said goodbye and she faded. So did the emptiness. When he opened them again, all he saw was Dakota, warm and real and waiting for him.
“You know, Sarah said the same thing to me about staying,” she said. “I told her she was crazy.” Before he could protest, she added, “But I’m starting to think that crazy’s okay once in a while. Maybe you’re both right. Maybe I need to get to know you and this city a little better.”
There’s life here, Ethan thought as he tightened his arms around her and kissed her again. Life and maybe a chance to heal. For both of us.
One Month Later...
“This guy,” Ethan said. He held out the Sunday paper. Dakota snuggled next to him, her feet tucked under his leg. The room smelled of coffee and cinnamon rolls, the third weekend in a row she’d made them from scratch. “We went to high school together. He was a bigtime stud even then. I think he probably has more notches on his bedpost than all of major league baseball put together.”
“That sounds like a little bit of an exaggeration.” She took the paper and looked at the article on the back page. “Steele Walker? That’s a weird name.”
“Family name, I think. They own the biggest paper in San Francisco.”
She looked from the paper to the news story on Ethan’s phone. “He’s involved in the Morelli kidnapping?”
“Well, not involved, involved. But he’s inside the house right now. And shit, he’s with the actress that disappeared years ago. Remember Isabella? She just took off one day?”
“I do, yeah. She showed up again?”
Ethan nodded as he scrolled down the page, reading the details again. “Hell. Steele’s in the house with Morelli’s mother and kid doing a play-by-play while Morelli’s about to be killed on the other side of the world.” He wasn’t sure if he envied Steele or not. On one hand, that kind of first-hand experience would make one hell of a story. On the other hand, Ethan had had his share of adrenaline rushes this month.
“That’s crazy.” Dakota shook her head. “This thing with Morelli is insane.” Noah jumped on her lap, and the cat’s purring started at once, the way it had the minute Dakota arrived in the house. She’d charmed every one of its occupants, including a plant that had been on death’s door until two weeks ago. Ethan still couldn’t believe how much had changed in a few short days. His life. His heart. The future, and plans he’d never imagined.
She petted the cat, her hand drifting every so often onto Ethan’s bare leg, and then beneath Ethan’s boxer shorts, until he forgot all about Steele and the “News Breaking!” headline that was scrolling across every screen in the country.
When Dakota touched him, the world went away. All he needed was her. From this day on. Only her. Forever.
Want to know more about Steele Walker, Isabella Morelli, and what’s happening inside the Morelli mansion?
Read another COUNTDOWN story now!
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About the Author
Allie Boniface is the USA Today best-selling author of over a dozen novels, including the Cocktail Cruise, Hometown Heroes, and Pine Point series. Her b
ooks are most often set in small towns and feature emotional, thought-provoking, sensual romance with relatable characters you'll know and love. A graduate of the University of Rochester and Case Western Reserve University, Allie currently lives in a small town in the beautiful Hudson Valley of New York with her husband and their two furry felines. When she isn't teaching high school and community college English, she likes to travel, lose herself in great music, or go for a long run and think about her next story.
Visit Allie online at www.allieboniface.com. While you’re there, make sure to sign up for her newsletter, so you don’t miss a single announcement about new releases, sales, contests, in-person appearances, and free opportunities for readers!
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Countdown: Ethan Page 18
