The ride over to the hospital was quiet.
Audrey was thinking. Overthinking? She used to have a tendency to do that. He’d noticed the habit years ago. He used to love being the one to help her relax. She would sit in front of him, lean her back into his chest so he could wrap her in his arms. She’d rest her arms on his knees as they watched a sunset from the back of his truck. In fact, when he thought about it, the cabin was part of a new development on the east side of the lake. They’d watched countless sunsets less than a mile from where she lived now.
Duke didn’t want to notice those things or read too much into them. The cabin development was nice. The fixtures and plumbing were all new, so she’d probably picked out all her cabinets and colors at some point during the building process. Her home suited her, but he didn’t want to get too used to being there.
Not that it mattered much. He didn’t get back to Mesa Point very often. When he did, it was to work the ranch. Speaking of which, Nash wouldn’t be able to handle the place on his own. Duke would need to call a meeting tomorrow with his relatives so they could figure out a rotation plan.
As much as he hated to admit it, there was a possibility his grandparents might be in the hospital for a long while. When he first spoke to the ER doctor, he’d explained people coming out of a coma wasn’t a straightforward process. There could be wide swings with big ups and downs. At this point, anything was possible. One of them could be sitting up talking one day and then back unconscious the next. Their ages complicated the situation but their general wellness and fitness should help. Then there would be a recovery period to think about. The notion he would be able to swing into town and handle all that needed to be taken care of in a matter of days was long gone.
Duke had to face facts. His grandparents might need time to recover from the accident. The doctor had been honest even though Duke hadn’t wanted to listen. He couldn’t allow himself to believe a bad outcome was possible. Hope was all he had, and he intended to cling to it like a life raft in the middle of a hurricane.
“They’re going to be okay,” Audrey said.
He parked and then cut off the engine. “I know.”
“I mean it,” she insisted, not at all fooled by his attempt to agree. “There’s no other possibility.”
He couldn’t agree more. Rather than reply, he gave a nod and then exited on his side. Audrey waited for him to open her door and then she took his hand when he offered to help her out of his truck.
Duke didn’t risk looking into her eyes. She had a way of seeing right through him.
Walls up, he turned toward the hospital.
AUDREY WALKED NEXT to Duke as they made their way to his grandparents’ floor. Visiting hours were long over, so they checked in at the nurses’ station, confirmed nothing had changed since they were last there and then headed to the waiting lobby. Nash had gone back to the ranch hours ago.
A nurse brought pillows and blankets, explaining the chairs along the back wall were recliners and should be decently comfortable. Audrey might be tired, but she doubted she could do much more than rest her eyes.
After thanking the nurse, they picked out side-by-side recliners. Audrey positioned hers as flat as possible, turned on her side and hugged the pillow. Duke sat perched on the edge of his seat, sitting in the most upright position.
“Hey,” she said, wondering if she should go down the path of apologizing for the way she left things between them all those years ago. The kiss they’d shared at her cabin was literal wildfire burning her from the inside out.
Would him knowing change the past? No. Would it open the door for him to forgive her? Maybe. Was she willing to try? Yes.
Based on their interactions so far, he was keeping emotional distance. There was no mistaking the mistrust in his eyes despite the fact he was trying to hide it. Duke turned his head toward her.
“Why didn’t you reach out at some point later?” he asked.
“Honestly?” She hesitated in bearing her soul.
“I think I deserve the truth, Audrey. Enough time has passed.”
“Okay,” she started, taking in a slow, deep breath. Where to begin? Since there were no magic words, she decided to go with whatever came. “You’ve probably figured out my life was in danger.”
“I thought you left and then avoided me for all these years. I tried to find you, but it was impossible with the resources I had back then.”
“My folks were responsible for my sister’s death,” she said through the frog in her throat and the heavy pressure bearing down on her chest. “They beat me and threatened me within an inch of my life if I told anyone.”
“The bruises,” he said quietly. “They were from your parents?”
“Yes,” she said, chin up even though it quivered.
“I thought maybe you’d been running away from a boyfriend,” he admitted. “It never occurred to me that your own parents would have done that to you.”
“You should have seen what they did to...” A sob escaped before Audrey could suppress it. She shook her head, trying to shake off the emotions threatening to suck her under.
Duke reached for her hand and linked their fingers. “I’m so sorry. That should never have happened.” He whispered other reassurances that gave her the will to continue.
“I thought leaving Mesa Point would break me,” she admitted. “Leaving you was by far the hardest part. Or that’s what I thought at the time. Turned out, it was a lot worse not to be able to pick up the phone and call you or text. I blocked all social media so my parents wouldn’t be able to find me and my uncle could continue to collect a social security check on my behalf. They tried to move heaven and earth to find me. It wasn’t like they loved me. Not in a way any reasonable person would recognize.”
“Why couldn’t you just stay here at the ranch?” he asked.
Remembering was harder than she expected it to be. The emotions that came with those memories had been tucked away in a dark place she never wanted to revisit.
“This is too much,” she conceded. “I can’t.” A few rogue tears rolled down her cheeks.
“You don’t have to,” Duke reassured.
As much as she wished she could keep going, she couldn’t. The past was in the past, and talking about it wouldn’t change the many nights she’d cried into her pillow, missing him so much it was a physical ache.
At least he knew that she hadn’t walked away without looking back on purpose. At least he knew the situation was out of her hands. And at least he knew she hadn’t wanted the summer to end that way.
Being here in Mesa Point, coming back, was supposed to give her a fresh start. Being so close to Duke’s grandparents without being able to talk to him had cut deeper than she expected.
Time to suck it up, buttercup.
Audrey had made the choice to come back here and start a career here. A part of her had needed to rectify the past. Come to terms with the time she’d spent here and the people who’d helped her during her darkest days.
Now?
