Unintentional (26 page)

“I didn’t have anything to do with it!” Rodney shouts.

I close my eyes briefly. Oh, Rodney. What have you done?

Chapter 25

Cade

“Cade, wake up! Jeremy is awake.” Mattie is shaking my shoulders. Is this a dream? I look around the now familiar waiting room. Nope, not a dream. Wait… “What did you say?”

Mattie’s face is flushed. “He’s mumbling, Cade! They think he may be waking up. Come on. He’s going to want to talk to you. Let’s go.” She starts dragging me by my arm.

“Hold up a second. I’m still half asleep.” I laugh. This is a very good sign. We’ve been waiting for him to regain consciousness. I stop halfway down the hall. “Mattie, you don’t still want me to tell him I’ll marry you. He’s going to be okay, so that won’t be necessary now, right?”

Mattie looks thoughtful for a moment. “You’re right, his prognosis is much improved. The doctors are hopeful he’ll make a full recovery. Could you maybe just agree to everything he asks, just for now?”

“Sure, just this once.” I shake my head. “You’d do anything for
that guy, wouldn’t you?”

“Yes. I don’t want him to worry, even for a moment.”

We enter Jeremy’s room, and I’m happy to see he does look a lot better. Some of the tubes have been removed, along with his respirator. He still has the cast, along with a lot of bruises, but, besides that, he looks much improved.

“Hey, honey, it’s me.” She bends down to kiss his cheek. Jeremy has a pained expression as he tosses in his bed.

He’s not fully conscious yet, and he restlessly calls for her. “Mattie, Mattie.”

“I’m here. It’s okay,” she soothes.

“Don’t go. Stay with me. I don’t want you to go,” he mumbles, half asleep.

Mattie looks at me, worried.

I tell her, “I think this is normal. Do you want me to get the nurse?” I try to calm her, hoping my instincts aren’t right. Jeremy doesn’t seem well and I’m worried.

“Yes, can you?”

“I’ll be back in a minute.” I rush out and find the first nurse in the hallway. I’m feeling a little anxious as I hold onto her arm,
“Jeremy is waking up, but he seems distressed. Can you come and see if he’s okay?”

The nurse give me comforting smile, pats my arm, and follows me back into the room. She takes his vital signs and tries to talk to Jeremy, but he’s fallen back asleep.

Mattie asks, “Is it normal for a patient to be restless and upset when they first wake from a coma?”

“Oh yes.” The nurse reassures her, “Most patients don’t know what happened and can be very agitated when first waking.”

Mattie sits back down in the chair next to his bed, taking his hand. “Oh, Jeremy.” She stifles a sob. “I don’t want him to be upset.”

“He won’t be, Mattie. It’ll only be until he gets his bearings again. He’s going to be all right. That’s all that matters.”

We wait for another twenty minutes until he wakes up again.

Laurel

“I heard Jeremy is waking up,” Scott tells me.

I’ve just returned to the hospital after giving my statement to the police. Hopefully, they can put whoever is responsible behind bars
soon. Until then, I won’t be able to relax.

“That’s great news! Is Cade with them? I haven’t talked to him in a few hours.”

“Yeah, he went back with Mattie about forty-five minutes ago. Since you’re Cade’s wife,” he winks at me, “I’ll bet they’ll let you go visit for a few minutes.”

“This is such good news. I’m so excited. Yes, I think I’ll sneak in for a visit.” I have a huge smile on my face as I make my way to Jeremy’s hospital room. I’ve visited him a few times before, so I know just where to go. I pause for a moment. I hope they haven’t moved him. I stop in front of his room, or the room I think he’s in. Good, I can hear Cade’s voice. They haven’t moved him.

“Yes, Jeremy. I’ll take care of Mattie.”

I pause. This is a private conversation. I shouldn’t be here, but I can’t seem to make my feet move.

“And the new baby, yes.”

Mattie is pregnant? I can’t hear Jeremy’s questions, but I sure hear Cade’s answers.

“I’ll marry her and take care of her. You don’t have to worry.” The blood leaves my head. I can’t think. Did he just say that?

After everything that’s happened in the last few days, the last shred of energy leaves my body. I can’t pass out. I need to move before that happens. Little black spots appear before my eyes. It’s like someone pushed the mute button and all the hospital sounds are now only soft murmurs. I need to get some air, but I still can’t move. I love him, I really love him. Why didn’t I listen to my instincts? Happiness wasn’t meant for me. There have been so many broken promises in my life, so many let downs. I don’t think I can bear another. I was too happy. It was too perfect. My throat starts to close up as my breathing becomes rapid.

I feel my shoulders shaking. It’s Cade. He’s shaking me. I want to ask him why, but he’s holding me. What is he saying? All I can hear is the blood pounding through my ears.

Cade

Right after the words leave my mouth, I see her. Laurel is standing in the doorway. Her expression, I can’t even explain it. No, this isn’t happening. Her shocked and sad expression is twisting my insides. How could I be so stupid? It’s taken me two years to get her to trust
me, and I just blew it all to hell in one sentence. She’ll never believe me. She heard me say the words with her own ears. I can’t lose her. I just can’t.

She stands motionless, staring straight ahead, eyes dazed. It’s no surprise after what she’s been through the past couple days. She finds out someone might be trying to kill her, and now this. Her eyes fill with tears, and she looks at me, but it’s like she’s looking right through me. I shake her shoulders. I need her to listen to me. I take her in my arms and start to cry. I don’t want to lose her, but I know I just did.

∗∗∗

Damn it all to hell. Why can’t things just go as planned for once? I’ve spent so much time and energy on this project, and that stupid Jeremy guy has to go mess it up for me. I’m not concerned with the police; I’ve covered my tracks well. They won’t be able to prove anything. I might have lost this round, but I’ll form another plan. I won’t give up. My dad always told me persistence pays off. Next time, I’ll make sure there aren’t any mistakes.

Laurel

“It was unintentional, Laurel. I didn’t mean to hurt you.” The words cut through the fog.

“Unintentional? What does that mean?”

Cade is crying. Why is he crying? I’m the one who’s hurt.

“You weren’t meant to hear that. Mattie asked me to agree to anything Jeremy asked. It wasn’t true, Laurel. Any of it. Don’t let this hurt you, hurt us. Please, I need you to believe in us. Please, believe in me,” he pleads.

I look at his face. I really look at him. All the months, all of our conversations, come back to me. I remember the funny stories, the sad stories, the slow unfolding of trust. I remember the last time I doubted him, when his sister visited. I see truth in his gaze. Cade’s honest. If he wanted to be with Mattie, he’d tell me.

I take his face in my hands, wiping away the tears. “Okay,” I whisper.

“What?” he asks, and his face goes still.

“Okay. I believe you.” My entire life I’ve spent not wanting to trust the people around me. My parents lived a lifetime without love.
But, does it mean I should live in an emotional bubble, guarding myself against possible pain? No. I’m done living that life, being that person. The bricks that I meticulously constructed around my heart have been secretly falling off one by one this past year without me even realizing it was happening. I know why. Cade. I look into his wide open, scared yet hopeful eyes, and I feel the last brick fall, shattering into glorious, crumbling pieces. I feel free.

“You aren’t going to run?”

“No, I’m done running, Cade. I finally found my home. It’s with you.”

“Laurel,” is all he can say as he holds me.

Cade

Relief fills me completely. I’ve never been so scared in my life. Two years ago, when Mattie told me she was getting back together with Jeremy, it was bad. I felt awful. But if I had lost Laurel, it would have been a hundred times worse. I could never have understood the complete, soul awakening type of love before now. The type of love that grows deeper and truer as time goes on. She brings me a sense of peace, calm, and happiness I’ve never experienced before. The
connection was instant, but we both tried to ignore it for too long. We wasted so much time. But never again. I’ll never waste another moment without her.

“Thank you.” I‘m still unable to let her go yet.

“For what?” she asks.

“For not believing the worst. For staying with me. For trusting me. I can’t tell you how much it means to me. I’ve never loved anyone the way I love you, Laurel. I honestly don’t know if I could live without you. Life would lose its joy, its meaning. I realize now, I never felt alive before I met you. Should I continue?”

Laurel laughs. “Yes! By all means. I’m enjoying this beyond words!” She gets serious for a moment. “You know, I feel the same way. I didn’t ever think I was capable of this much happiness.”

“I want to tell you something else that was unintentional.”

Laurel lifts a brow.

“Falling in love again. I fought it, denied it, struggled, and resisted. No matter how hard I tried to shut down my feelings, you were there, pulling them out of me. This is hard for me to admit, Laurel, but I was scared. I didn’t want to feel again.”

I cup her face, placing my forehead on hers as I whisper,
“You’re worth it, Laurel. You’re worth all the ups and downs, the self-doubt, and, well, agony.” I smile, remembering everything we’ve come through to get to this point.

Laurel takes my face in her hands and whispers back, “Oh, you are so worth it.”

∗∗∗

Mattie cautiously approaches us. She places a hand over her heart, and closes her eyes briefly, “Oh, my God, Laurel. I am so sorry. This is all my fault. Will you ever forgive me? I can’t believe I made Cade do that! I was so worried about Jeremy, I didn’t realize something like this could happen. I thought he’d just help Jeremy feel better until he heals.” She looks at me. “Cade, you are such a great friend. Thank you. Jeremy seems so much calmer. I apologize for putting you in this position. If you and Laurel broke up over this, I would have never forgiven myself.” She hugs Laurel. “You’re so strong. I admire you so much. I knew the girl who captured Cade’s heart would be very special – and you are that girl. I look forward to getting to know you better. I know we’ll be great friends.”

“Are you all done with the love fest here?” Scott asks. He’s
dressed in the required scrubs.

“How did you get back here?” I ask.

“I’m now Laurel’s brother, who is wife to Cade, who is brother to Mattie.”

“They let you back here with that lame excuse?”

“I told them I had important news. First, how’s Jeremy?”

“He’s in and out of consciousness. The doctors are hopeful he’ll regain full mental function. He’s healing, but it’s going to take a while,” I explain. “What’s the news?” Hopefully, it’s good, we could certainly use it.

Scott shrugs. “The detectives are waiting for you. They have some developments. They wouldn’t tell me, since I’m not related to the case.

Laurel

The detectives are waiting for us as we enter. We exchange pleasantries.

Cade finally breaks in. “So, what do you have for us?”

Detective Hanson speaks first. “We have some good news and
some bad news. We’ll start off with the good. We have a set of prints we lifted from the Slim Jim we found in a garbage can two doors down. It’s a good lead. The bad news is we don’t have anyone in our database that matches. Through exhaustive research, we do know the exact tool that was used to cut the brake lines. So if we can find the tool, we’ll have a good lead to a possible culprit. Cade, you use a rare, imported brake fluid, so making a match should be easy. Once we find the suspect, it shouldn’t be too hard to move in on him.” He looks back and forth between Cade and I. “We still don’t know which one of you they were after, so you both need to be careful. Do you have a secure place to stay?”

“Not really,” we both respond.

Cade puts his arm around my shoulder, drawing me near. “We’re already thinking alike. We’ll be finishing each other’s sentences soon.” He kisses my cheek.

I offer him my lips.

He looks at them hungrily. “Don’t tempt me, Laurel. You know what happens when we get started.” Ah, yes.
That
. In spite of everything, I feel a warm, tingling sensation, starting at my head and ending at my toes.

Cade continues. “You don’t have to worry about anything Laurel. I’ll keep you safe.” He lightly brushes his lips against mine. He was right, now I want more. The warm tingles have turned into sparks threatening to combust at any moment.

“Sir? I still have some questions for you.” Oops.

Cade shifts his attention back to the detectives. “Yes?” he asks politely.

“We interviewed Rodney, Miss Ricci’s assistant. Thank you for letting us know about him. He’s a very nervous guy, but I question whether he was the mastermind behind this. He did supply us with some interesting information though.”

“What did he say?”

“He’s received a few anonymous calls we’ve been able to verify. Both calls were made with disposable phones, which aren’t traceable. This is suspicious in itself. I’ll tell you about the calls. Maybe it will strike a chord with you.”

“Cade!” calls a loud voice from the other end of the room. It’s his sister, Allix, the girl I thought had broken my heart. I’m excited to finally meet her now that I know who she is.

She rushes to Cade, and, just like before, takes him in a huge hug. “Cade, I’m so sorry to hear about your friend. Mom called and told me about it. Is he going to make it?”

“Hey, Allix. Thanks for coming. The doctors are optimistic he’s over the worst. We’re all still on guard though, because, with brain trauma, things can change quickly.” He glances around the room to make sure Mattie didn’t overhear.

He takes my hand. “I’d like to introduce you to my Laurel.”

I blush at his possessive introduction, even though I love it.