Chapter 35

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

The wedding rehearsal had started, and all I had done was pace all over the trailer. Grandpa knew there was something wrong with me, but he didn’t point it out. He watched me walk to my room, outside to the living room, and back again to my room. I was desperate, and time was agonizingly slow, taunting me. It was sink or swim time. Did I go over andtell Max how I felt despite everything working against us, or did I let him be happy with her? It was stupid and so utterly selfish of me, but I wanted him to make a move. A part of me hoped he had canceled his wedding after what happened, but no one said anything. Was I a lousy lay? I shook my head to clear away unwanted thoughts.

“Looks like it gonna rain,” Grandpa announced, not even looking outside.

“I guess,” I responded while I played with my hands and kept pacing our little kitchen. God, give me a sign? Tell me what to do. The more time that passed, the more I felt like I was dying on the inside. I could be impulsive and show up, but then what? What happened after I said my piece? What then?

“Freya, sit your ass down, girl,” Grandpa yelled at me. With shaky feet, I did as he asked.

“Now, I always let you run around and make your own choices. Some of them good, most of them bad, but you ain’t had your mama, and I did the best I could. I watched you with that boy, and he cherished you. Now I ain’t stupid, and I figured you ran because that daddy of his wasn’t too keen on having you be with his son. He visited me once shortly before you ran out of town. He told me to keep you away from Max.”

I gasped, about to ask him why he never mentioned it, but he cut me off.

“You had time to talk. Now let me have my say. I didn’t open my mouth because I figured if I forbade you to see the boy, you would do it to spite me. Besides, that boy would have moved heaven and earth for you. You left this town but took that boy’s heart with you. Max was empty. One day after he came back from college, he came here piss drunk, demanding answers I didn’t have. With taxes rising, my pension wasn’t cutting it anymore, and I wasn’t about to touch your hard-earned money. The last thing I wanted was to sell my land… This land is all I have tooffer you.” MyGrandpa’s voice shook. I knelt in front of him, holding his hands with tears in my eyes.

“I sold it to Max because I knew with him, you’d always have a home. Now stop wasting your time and go stop that boy from making a mistake both of you can’t come back from.”

Wiping the tears from my face, I gave Grandpa a hug and a kiss on the cheek and ran to counter for the truck’s keys.

The rain made it hard to drive, but I kept at it, needing to get to Max, at least to tell him what I felt before it was too late. Cranking the heater up so the window wouldn’t fog, I then I took my phone and dialed Rusty.

“Hey,” he answered skeptically.

“Are there many people? Can you tell Max to meet me outside? I need to talk to him.”

“What are you talking about, Gabs?”

“The wedding rehearsal.”

“Sorry, Freya, but we aren’t part of the wedding party. We didn’t go to the rehearsal dinner.”

“I slept with him,” I blurted. I needed to share it with someone else. “I know it was wrong, but… God, it justhappened, and I know I should feel bad, but I can’t make myself not want him. He’s a part of me, and I can’t picture myself without him. I tried, and I wasn’t happy. I was just existing, but I wasn’t living.”

There was silence on the other end of the line until Jana spoke softly. “Go get your guy, Freya.”

Who knew that was all the validation I needed? The rain got heavier, making it impossible to see what was in front of me. The headlights on this truck weren’t as bright as they should have been. I knew this road, and I knew this town. Not giving it a second thought, I didn’t slow down. I kept driving, trying to get to Max as fast as possible. The truck slid, my heart hammered in my chest, and I told myself everything was okay because it was nothing but dirt on this side of town. Except how could I forget? How did I not remember the damn bridge? My stomach sank at the same time the car knocked over the old wooden bridge and fell into the water. I wished we had more time. My head hit hard against the steering wheel. Then everything went black.

Max

My brother and father were the first to call me when I got home. I answered them both; one, Prescott had to know I had a good reason to break things off but I was not explaining dad’s clusterfuck over the phone. Two, because I didn’t want my father anywhere near me. My brother was many things, but sensitive and caring he was not. He cared about how my broken engagement would make him look with the voters.

My father, on the other hand, was calm on the other end of the line, but I was fuming. “Son, it’s okay. Weall get cold feet on our wedding day. Come tomorrow morning, you will feel better.”

“It’s not cold feet, Father. When I marry the woman I love, I know I won’t have any doubt in my mind I want to spend forever with her. Abigail is not that woman. There will not be a wedding tomorrow. Juliet told me what you did, so excuse me while you’re the last fucking person I want to hear from.” As soon as I hung up the phone, I turned it off. My mind was set, and for the first time in years, I wasn’t lost. I knew exactly what I wanted and what I would do to get it. I wanted Freya, and nothing would stop me from having her.

Come tomorrow, Freya wouldn’t even know what fucking hit her. “I’m coming for you,” I vowed as I took a drink, letting the liquid amber burn down my throat as I allowed the chaos from today settle. My fingers no longer trembled. The storm was beginning, but the calmness was already in me.

The pounding on my door made me stop my planning for a second. I was going to pretend like I wasn’t home in case it was my family or Gary here to defend his sister’s honor.

“Max, you in there?” The voice was familiar but not one I could place. I opened the door only to have Detective Hendrix almost hit me.

“Can I help you?” I had nothing against the detective until I saw how close he had gotten with Freya.

“Emma said I should find you.”

“Is everything okay with Emma? I asked skeptically.

“No, I mean, yeah, Emma’s fine. It’s Freya… She’s been in an accident.” The detective’s words made my heart stop and my knees go weak. Numbly, I followed him outside to his car, my mind racing through thousands of scenarios.

Freya had to be okay. I had just decided to win her back.

She had to be okay .

I got my shit together long enough to say, “Someone needs to tell Eugene.” Dex called his father to ask him for the favor.

“Yeah, Dad, can you do me a favor? Can you go over to get Eugene Pratt? His granddaughter has been in an accident.” He paused, then said, “I don’t know… Okay. Thanks, Dad.”

The ride seemed eternal. Dex barely put the car in park before I was getting out and running to the hospital entrance. The rain hadn’t stopped, but it was drizzling now, the storm dying down. When I walked into the waiting room, Jana was sitting next to Emma. Russell and Jake were both standing and talking amongst themselves.

“Why didn’t anyone call me!” I yelled at Rus and Jake.

“And why should I call you, Max?”

There was a challenge in Russell’s tone that made me snap. I grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and pushed him against the wall. I heard Jana shriek and saw Jake at my back, trying to pull me back, but the adrenaline and anger were fueling me.

“Because she’s mine!” I roared. “She’s been mine since she was fifteen, and she’s sure as fuck still mine.” My chest was heaving, but my fist clenching Rus’s shirt loosened. Russell wasn’t angry; instead, he was giving me a smug smile.

“Not like we didn’t see this coming,” Jake mumbled as he pulled me away from Russell. “Heard what happened earlier today.”

I shouldn’t be surprised he knew; the whole town would know by sunrise. I didn’t give a fuck about giving it time, not when the woman I loved was in the hospital.

“What did you do?” Russell asked.

“I canceled the wedding,” I replied, looking straight into his eyes. Russell gave me a nod in acceptance. I didn’t need his blessing, but it felt good to have it. “Tell me what happened?” I croaked. Freya had to be fine, I couldn’t live without her. I had just gotten her back, if she got ripped away from me again... God, I couldn’t… I wouldn’t cope.

“I went to pick Blake and a few of his friends up since their car broke down by the old water tower. The rain had pickedup by the time we headed back. I figured I’d go straight and take the old way back since it was hard to see. When I made it to the bridge, I noticed the headlights down by the water. I told Blake to call 911. Freya was unconscious when I found her. There was blood on her head. I brought her here immediately. I didn’t wait for an ambulance,” Jake explained. That’s when I noticed his brother and a few of his friends by the far wall.

“What was she doing driving in weather like this?”

“She was on her way to see you.” Jana’s soft voice brought me my knees. She had to be okay; this couldn’t be the end of our story. There had to be more to us. Hadn’t we suffered enough?

“I was going to win her back. I had planned to see her first thing in the morning…” I stopped talking. It was physically painful to get the words out. “I can’t lose her.”

“It’s not your fault.” Emma’s soft-spoken voice cut through my haze .

I shook my head. “If I would have gone to her, she’d be with me and not here.”

“If it’s anyone’s fault, it’s mine. I told my girl to get her head out of her ass and go find you,” Eugene said as he came in, followed by Dexter’s parents. “You know our girl is strong. She’ll pull through, you hear me, son?”

Eugene held my stare, and I couldn’t help but nod back. Freya would be okay.

“Family for Freya Pratt?” A doctor came out, stopping when she noticedall of us.

“She’s my granddaughter,” Eugene answered. All of us huddled around the doctor, waiting for her to tell us Freya was okay, for the doctor to make my heart beat again.

“The accident caused a minor concussion. Thankfully, there isn’t major swelling. There was also some internal bleeding because of the impact on her lower abdomen. We had to rush her into surgery. We’ll keep you updated.”

The night wore on, but none of us moved. We were all waiting for Freya to pull through. I itched to see her with my own eyes, to confirm for myself she was fine. I had time to make everything right. When the doctor said she was stable, my heart finally took a steady beat.

“I’ll stay with her. You guys rest,” I told Russell, Jana, and Eugene. Brandon Hendrix glared at me, but I didn’t care. I knew he was related to the Newtons, but it wasn’t his place to judge me.

“Don’t you have a wedding to get to?” he asked, and all eyes came on me .

“No, the only woman I will ever marry is here.” Let’s see if that sinks into everyone’s heads.

“I can’t allow that,” he sputtered.

I stood up, glaring at him. “I don’t give a shit what you want.” I walked away, heading toward where Freya was being monitored.

“She’s my daughter,” he yelled, making me turn toward him. “I will not allow you to stay with her when you were about to marry someone else.”

Now thathe said it, I looked at him and at Dex. How come I never noticed the detective and Freya had the same colored eyes and hair. I was about to tell Brandon he wasn’t Freya’s father, but Eugene beat me to it.

“You have no right to call my Freya your daughter. You may have helped create her, but I raised her. I’m the only father she’s ever known. You are the reason my Dev isn’t here anymore. You get no claim to my Freya. If anyone is leaving, it’s you.”

I walked away, leaving them to deal with this drama. I needed to see my woman. Last I saw was Dex running out and Emma chasing after him.