“You should be nicer to your friends. They came all the way out here to see you. To check on you.” She chewed on her lower lip and looked away as if she already regretted what she’d said.
Jacob could do nothing but stare at her. She was right, of course. He’d been thoughtless with his words. But he couldn’t take his words back now. Swallowing hard, he lowered his gaze. He didn’t glance up until he heard footsteps. Hallie followed her friends to the door.
“I’m going to run a few errands with Sammie and Faith. I’ll be back to make you lunch.”
He opened his mouth to protest then thought better of it. Tate shot him a dark look over his shoulder. No one else spoke.
The second the door closed behind them, the guilt set in.
Jacob muttered a curse.
Well, that wasn’t how any of this was supposed to go.
CHAPTER SEVEN
“I can’tbelieveit!”Hallie ground out, pacing.
Faith and Sammie watched her pace back and forth outside of Sal’s Diner. They’d been gone for three hours already and still, Hallie hadn’t managed to cool off.
In front of Jacob, she’d sworn to herself that she’d remain calm and kind. He needed to have someone solid he could count on, to lean on. But when she’d seen him snap at the friends who were only trying to be nice, she’d lost it.
No, she didn’t know what he was going through. Not really.
But she knew that he was hurting.
From the outside, she’d told herself over and over that he was going to be fine. He’d get through this. The fractures could have been so much worse.
But the longer she spent in his company, the more she realized how wrong she’d been.
Jacob wasn’t going to get through this as easily as she’d hoped. For some reason he wasn’t bouncing back. He wasn’t looking at the bright side.
“Has he talked to you?” Faith asked quietly.
Sammie nodded. “Yeah, is he talking about his feelings?”
Hallie snorted so hard that it turned into a coughing fit when a little bit of spittle went down her airway. She coughed several times then sucked in a deep breath and stopped to stare at each of them. “Are we talking about the same Jacob Hines? The man is a fortress. He never talks about his feelings. He’s always a go-getter. When he wants something, he does whatever is necessary. I’ve never heard him utter a single critical thought. Have you?”
They glanced at each other. “To be fair,” Faith whispered, “we don’t really know him. Not like you do.”
“Well, take my word for it. Jacob isn’t a well of readily available emotion. He’s bottling that stuff up tight and there’s no getting to it.”
“That’s probably why he lashed out,” Sammie admitted. “Some guys are like that. They don’t know how to talk about what they’re going through, so they let it fester. It’s a wound that’s going to get infected and either someone will have to dig it out of them, or it will slowly kill them.”
Hallie paused her pacing and wrapped her arms around her middle. “You don’t think he’ll get depressed, do you?”
“It’s a possibility. I mean, from what you told me, he’s got a good shot at maintaining his lifestyle. The chance that he’ll be able to return to work is good. Really good.”
“I know! That’s just it, though. I don’t think he’s even giving himself a chance to see that.” Hallie shook her head, her fury returning. “And I don’t know what to do.”
Her friends continued to stare at her and she stared right back.
“Well?”
“Well, what?” Faith asked.
“What do I do?” Hallie moved to the side of the building and leaned against the brick, letting her head fall back against the wall. “It’s so frustrating. Because it’s all my fault.”
“Whoa, hold up. No, it’s not!” Sammie snapped, moving closer. “None of this is your fault. He made a choice. And yeah, it turned out bad for him, but?—”
