Since I was alone and not a family member, it took some finagling with the receptionist at the front desk to get the info for Nash’s room. I promised to sign a bunch of Coyotes swag to send to her grandson.

As the elevator ascended toward the ICU, my heart sped up. What mood was I going to find Aspen in? In the car, she’d been pulling away. One-word answers to my questions. Shrugs whenever I tried to make conversation.

I sensed she blamed me for her absence. And that killed me.

It took a couple of tries down different halls, but I finally found the room with the crowd of people standing outside. I recognized a few of the farmhands but kept my distance until Colton spotted me. A  security guard asked to see my ID, surprise blossoming on his face when he realized who I was.

“The whole family is inside,” Colton explained, while I leaned against the wall next to him. I had a feeling we were too big of a group to be in the room and hall, but no one was going to tell us to leave. We wouldn’t have listened anyway.

I was here for Aspen, but I was also here for myself. Nash had been both a neighbor and a friend, and I was worried. The man seemed invincible.

Suddenly, a blonde head popped out the door and looked around until her eyes landed on Nate. His twin girls weren’t around, so I hoped they were staying with someone. Being in a hospital traumatized me as a kid, with all the times my mom and I made visits to the ER. I didn’t want that for them.

As she waved Nate and Colton inside, Alex sighed and waved me in behind them. Instead of searching out my girl, I pulled Alex aside.

“How is he?”

“He’s… stable. It scared us all, but he’ll be okay.” I was surprised at her honesty. It didn’t seem she liked me very much, but I appreciated her willingness to try.

“And Aspen? How is she?”

Alex exhaled a deep breath like she’d been carrying the weight of the world. “She’s a mess. I’ve never seen her like this.”

“She blames herself,” I whispered. “For not being there.”

“It’s not anyone’s fault.”

“Yeah, I tried telling her that. She’s stubborn. Just… keep an eye on her, please?”

“Owen, I know Aspen and I haven’t always gotten along. I don’t even remember why. We’re just like oil and water, I guess, but I love her.”

“That’s good,” I said with a sigh of relief, unable to turn around and look deeper into the room with the gathered family.

“Why does it sound like you’re leaving?”

“Because I am, eventually.”

“Hm. She know that?”

“She does,” I replied as her husband came over and asked if everything was okay. She smiled up at him like he hung the moon, and his expression mimicked hers.

Slowly, I approached the bed where Aspen held onto her father’s hand like if she let go, he’d slip away into oblivion.

“Hi, Nash.” My voice cracked with emotion as my eyes connected with the older man’s. He wore a bandage around his head. Someone mentioned he’d hit his head on the side of the UTV when he fell from the seat.

“Owen, my boy!” the man greeted with an enthusiasm no one else in the room felt. “How are you, kid?”

The way he spoke, as if nothing happened, broke something inside me. Like a piece of splintered wood leaving bits and pieces deeply imbedded in my skin. That’s what my heart felt like at that moment.

“I’ve been better, sir. What are you doing in here? Was this your way of getting us all together for your birthday?” I asked with a cheerfulness I didn’t feel in the slightest, knowing the Easterly patriarch almost didn’t live to see his sixty-third birthday next week.

“Ah, you caught me red-handed. I took this prank too far, huh?”

“Probably not the best idea,” I replied as silence fell across the room.

Marisol chose that moment to step inside the room, carrying a cup of coffee. Her face was makeup-free, but she was still a beautiful woman. I could see bits of her in each of her daughters.

“Ah, there’s the love of my life,” Nash said with a certainty I hoped to feel about someone someday. I was fooled into thinking I felt something similar for Vanessa.

The longer we’d been apart, the more I realized I didn’t know her at all. She even tried breaking into my house while I’d been gone. Thank goodness for top-notch security. I’d have to deal with her when I got back to LA, and I wasn’t looking forward to it, but it was a necessary evil.

Marisol took a spot next to me, closest to her husband, and gripped his other hand, being mindful of the wires and cords poking out of her husband’s arm. It was a side of Aspen’s mom I hadn’t seen before. She looked as if she weathered a storm and barely made it out alive.

Slowly, I stepped back, wanting to give the two some privacy as they exchanged soft-spoken words. Colton, Nate, and Talon did the same, and we huddled near the windows for the family to have a moment. They were only interrupted when the doctor walked in and explained they were going to keep Nash overnight and that he was scheduled for surgery in the morning to remove the blockage. He was going to be out of commission for a few weeks.

I wasn’t sure what that meant for the farm, but I knew exactly what it meant for Aspen. She was going to run herself into the ground, trying to fill her dad’s large shoes.

Within my pocket, I felt my phone buzz with a message from Kelsey. She heard through the very thorough Ashfield grapevine what happened with Nash and was canceling our session for the day. She’d been working hard on strengthening my throwing arm and shoulder. Her techniques differed from our team therapist’s, some new-age methods she learned in school.

Just as I was closing out the messaging app, I noticed an email from the team’s marketing assistant with the schedule for the upcoming promotional contracts. The off-season was when most players worked with the team sponsors, and this year, apparently, they all wanted me. I had a record season, and I was the team's top scorer.

Glancing over the list, I even had a meet-and-greet scheduled at a local brewery.

That one could be fun, I thought to myself and wished I’d have the opportunity to take Aspen with me.

Syncing the list with my calendar, I noticed the few blank spaces around holidays and a few random weekends. If I could convince Aspen to keep things going between us, then I’d be able to fly home during those times for a day or two.

“Hey,” a shaky voice said beside me. Aspen’s eyelids drooped, and the corners of her mouth tipped toward the floor. She reminded me of the guys when we lost the world championships. Except this wasn’t a silly game. This was her father lying in a hospital bed, looking so much smaller than I remembered.

“Hey, cricket. You doing okay?” I asked, wrapping my arm around her shoulders. When she returned the embrace, I felt the sigh of relief leave my lungs. At least she wasn’t pushing me away, which was my fear the entire drive to the hospital.

“Yeah, I guess. I… um… need to get back to the farm. Do you think you could take me?”

Despite the circumstances, I was itching to leave the building. Everything—the scent, the colors, the layout—was causing my skin to feel as if it was burning from the inside out.

“Of course,” I readily agreed and reached down for her hand that felt tiny in mine.

We said goodbye to her family, her father arguing with her the entire time. He knew, just as I did, that Aspen was going to take too much on. Whatever progress she and I had made in giving her any sort of social life was about to wither away to nothing.

I could even sense the apprehension in Andrew as he hugged his sister goodbye. He knew now that this wasn’t the life Aspen wanted for herself, but she was going to run herself ragged trying to prove to everyone she could handle it.

I was afraid it was going to cost her more than just her free time. There was always the chance she could be the one lying in that bed.

Our drive back to the ranch was quiet. Only the sound of the radio and the purr of the car engine could be heard. When we arrived at the farm, Aspen nearly jumped out of my car in an attempt to get away from me. Something had changed during the long drive.

She was pushing me away, and I refused to allow our last bit of time together to end like this.

“Aspen!” I shouted as I flew from my car, running to catch up with her. For someone so short, she was incredibly fast. I repeated her name again, but from a quick glance over her shoulder, I noticed the tears on her cheeks, shimmering in the sunshine.