Page 96 of Flashback for the Forward

She poked her head out to flash me an eyeroll, correcting, “They’re teenagers; they’re impossible to impress.”

Austin, maybe, but Maisie adored her, and I could already picture the thirteen-year-old glued to Bridget’s side all afternoon.

Tapping her foot impatiently, she huffed, “Still waiting for an answer.”

“Why choose? Make both.”

“Huh.” Bridget’s expression turned contemplative. “That’s actually not a half-bad idea.”

I crossed the kitchen to place a featherlight kiss to the tip of her nose. “More cookies is always a great idea.”

She spun around, grabbing what she needed, and soon, the basket was overflowing. Gesturing toward it, she asked, “Can you take this to the car? I’m gonna run upstairs and change real quick.”

“Sure thing, beautiful.”

“This is going to be so much fun!” Her voice grew distant as she left the kitchen.

While she was busy baking with the kids, I would be having the time of my life, sitting back and watching her become more vibrant by the day.

That would be the greatest gift I ever received.

“Maisie’s easy because she loves to read, and her TBR is a mile long. I can make her a book bouquet to die for with some color-coded annotation supplies.”

Bridget had been rambling on about present ideas since we got in the car. She was so animated about it that it brought a smile to my lips.

“What about Austin?” I prompted.

She heaved a sigh. “Austin’s harder to buy for. He’s ‘too cool’ for a lot of things.”

“He’s not too cool for hockey.”

Lips twisted to the side, she considered it. “That feels a little too on the nose, don’t you think? What else does he like?”

“Did I ever tell you that Austin and Levi met randomly while surfing? Levi didn’t know he was related to Arizona until after they spent an entire day together, catching waves.”

“Oh!” Bridget sat up straight in the passenger’s seat. “What about a skimboard? Something he can use to practice his skills in shallow water.”

Hitting the brakes, we came to a halt at a stoplight.

Our hands were linked over the center console, and I brought them to my lips, dusting a kiss over her knuckles. “I think that’s a great idea.”

A giant smile lit up her beautiful face. “Yeah?”

“Yeah,” I confirmed with a nod.

The light turned green, and I shifted my foot to press on the accelerator. Head still turned in Bridget’s direction, I said, “What do you have in mind for Crew?”

In an instant, her eyes grew wide in horror, and she shouted, “Cole! Watch out!”

I whipped my head around just in time to catch a glimpse of the SUV barreling through the intersection. It all happened too fast; there wasn’t time to react before it slammed at full speed into the driver’s side of my car in a sickening crunch of metal and shattering glass.

The impact was so violent that we spun out, the world a blur, as Bridget’s terrified screams echoed in my ears. My stomach lurched, reminiscent of all the times I’d gotten sick on carnival rides. Before I could make a mess of the cabin, we came to an abrupt halt, my head cracking against something unforgivingly hard.

Then the world went dark.

Consciousness crept in slowly, and with it came agony in several forms.

There was a piercing pain in my skull, like someone was stabbing at it with an ice pick. Every inhale felt like razor blades shredding the lining of my lungs. And there were sharp bolts of lightning radiating down my left arm.