16
Candace 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 droveCandace 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.”
