Chapter 16

16

C andace wasn’t able to drive her car home, so Jessica drove Candace’s car, while Travis followed behind in theirs. She pushed the passenger seat back as far as it would go to create a little space for her ankle.

“Brent left pretty quick yesterday,” Candace said. She tried her hardest to keep any sort of disappointment out of her voice, but Jessica knew her well enough that she would likely pick it up.

Jessica glanced over at Candace briefly before turning her eyes back to the road.

“Yeah. Some work thing.”

“Really?” Candace asked, unable to hide the surprise in her voice. Maybe he did have a work event.

“Yeah. His boss called and said he needed to get back or risk losing his job. Didn’t he tell you?”

“No. He didn’t say anything. I didn’t even know he left until I went to talk to him.”

Jessica glanced over again. “You never got the chance to talk to him?”

“No.”

“I’m sorry, Candace. I didn’t know.”

“It’s all right. I guess now I know it didn’t solely have to do with me.”

“I doubt any of it had to do with you.”

“Maybe not.” Candace still couldn’t help but wonder if he left without saying anything to her on purpose and not just because he was in a hurry.

Jessica drove Candace to her doctor appointment first thing in the morning. Candace’s chest tightened as they took a seat inside the waiting room at the doctor’s office. Something about going to the doctor always got her heart pounding. It had never been an issue for her until her parents had passed.

After their accident, Candace went to the hospital to see them, and the memories had haunted her since. Despite her not being in a hospital right now, the memories still crept up on her. She wanted nothing more than to bury them where they belonged.

Jessica took Candace’s hand. “You okay?”

Candace nodded as her uninjured leg bounced. “Yep.”

“It’s not the hospital,” Jessica whispered.

Despite Jessica also going to the hospital with Candace to see their parents, it didn’t seem to have the same effect on her. Candace always wondered why that was. Perhaps it seemed more real to her because while she was at the hospital and realized her parents wouldn’t make it, she knew her entire life would change. She would transfer to a local college to finish her degree to give Jessica everything she needed. She had sacrificed her dreams for her sister.

Although she wouldn’t change her decision given the second chance, she still wondered what would have happened if her entire life hadn’t been turned upside down. If she hadn’t had to turn into a responsible adult at the drop of a hat.

If Brent’s life also hadn’t been turned upside down.

Would they have gone on their date and hit it off? Would they be the reason everyone was getting married in Wintervale and got stuck in a snowstorm? Would Jessica and Travis had met initially through them rather than through a dating website?

“What’s on your mind?” Jessica asked.

Candace looked over at her. “Do you ever wonder what would have happened if everything hadn’t changed?”

“Are you referring to the accident?”

Candace nodded.

Jessica pulled a lip between her teeth, and her lips quivered slightly before she took a deep breath to speak. “I do. Sometimes I wish you hadn’t had to give up your life for me. I feel guilty over it at times.”

“What? No, you should never feel guilty about that.”

“But I do. You gave up your dream college to move home, all so I didn’t have to move away from everything I knew.”

“And I’d do it again,” Candace said.

“I know,” Jessica whispered. “That’s why I love you. You took over as my mom when we were grieving. You grew up for me. I’m not sure I ever thanked you for that.”

“You don’t need to.”

Jessica wiped at her eyes. “Well, my thank you is helping you right now. Day or night, if you need help with anything, I’m there.”

Candace smiled. “You know, that’s a dangerous thing to say. I can be awfully needy.”

Jessica laughed. “The needier you are, the less guilty I’ll feel.”

They both laughed together. A nurse popped her head out of the door leading to the exam rooms and called Candace’s name. Jessica helped Candace up, and they made their way to the back.

When they got back to Candace’s place, Jessica helped her inside and made her comfortable on the couch. The doctor did an MRI and said she would recover, but needed to stay in a boot for at least six weeks.

Jessica left to run back to her house to get a few items she would need for the night, since she planned to stay at Candace’s place for the time being.

While she was gone, Candace placed a call to her office and arranged to work from home for a few days. Most of her job was spent calling clients or doing computer work, and it wasn’t hard for her to access things she needed from home. Once everything was arranged, she sat back and sighed.

Jessica let herself into the house and set her stuff next to the front door before walking into the living room and dropping herself onto the couch next to Candace.

“It’s been a while since we’ve done this,” Jessica said.

“Yeah, it has. We haven’t lived together in a long time. It’ll be like old times. It’s just unfortunate that it’s happening when you should be on your honeymoon.”

Jessica shrugged. “We didn’t have a honeymoon planned anyway, and we already live together, so it’s not like there’s a big moving-in period of getting to know each other.”

“That’s true.”

“How about some ice cream?”

Candace smiled. “I could go for some ice cream.”

Jessica pulled open her phone and opened a grocery app while the two planned out food for the next week.