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The man sat down and started typing on the computer. "But the wordlikeis the problem. Have a seat and when I know more, I'll come get you."
Clint rolled toward the bucket chairs in a far corner. "Come on, Jake. Nothing you can do now."
But he needed to do something. He couldn't just... wait.
The man at the desk blocked him out, picking up a phone and making a call.
Jake shoved off the counter and followed Clint. He didn't want to be with Clint and Murphy, but there really wasn't another place to sit in the crowded waiting room.
For a few minutes none of the men said anything. Then Murphy stood. "I'm gonna grab some coffee. Either of you want any?"
He and Clint both said no at the same time.
Murphy shrugged and toddled off. Clint and Jake sat there, two friends with so much history, two friends with so much hurt between them.
"Eva came to see me yesterday," Clint said. "God, I can't believe I'm sitting here tonight. How did this happen?"
Jake ignored the flash of hurt that Eva had visited Clint so soon after he'd ended things with her. But why should that hurt him? Clint was Eva's friend, too, and she hadn't known Clint was part of the reason Jake had bowed out of a romantic relation ship with her. Or maybe she did. He hadn't a clue at this point.
"She went in after Jimbo. He probably passed out with a cigarette in his mouth. Or he didn't extinguish it properly. The place went up. She was in the middle of getting Jimbo out when the roof collapsed. Dutch said something fell on her and knocked her mask off. Dutch got there fast, but she'd already passed out. She came to but wasn't lucid, though that's common. Carbon dioxide poisoning can make people confused."
"Dad said the chemicals in those tires are dangerous when burned."
"Yeah." Jake nodded, clasping his hands between his knees, assuming the position every worried person assumes in a hospital waiting room. "It's not good, but Eva's strong. She's a fighter. And she didn't get exposed the way Jimbo did."
"Do you love her?" Clint asked.
Jake jerked back, startled at his friend's abruptness. "Why the hell are you bringing that up again?"
"Because she loves you," Clint said, his dark gaze delving into Jake's. "She came over yesterday, mad as a wet hen. Guess people at Ray-Ray's let the word out about our talk. Someone told Eva I said some things."
Jake grunted. So Eva knew what an ass extraordinaire Jake had been... but she also knew he had tried to do right by her, tried to spare her the future hurt. Did that count for something? That he loved her enough to let her go?
"So do you?" Clint asked.
"Huh?"
"Love her. Do you love Eva, Jake?"
Jake pressed his hand into his eyes, as if he could wipe away the throb in his head. But it didn't help because everything in his body surged. His gut churned, his knees still trembled, and his heart, well, his heart beat with hope.Please let her be okay. Please let her forgive him. Please let them have another shot at love.
Sitting back he said, “Yeah, I love her."
Clint let loose a labored breath. "I can't believe that, but I can't ignore what you and Eva both want."
Jake straightened. "Why do you get a vote?"
His friend blinked but said nothing.
Jake pressed. "I can understand all you said at Ray-Ray's. Things built up. Both of us needed to air out some things-the accident, the guilt, all the shit we've stacked between us. But Eva wasn't part of us, Clint. You used the leftover guilt I carry around from the accident to keep me from her."
"I wanted her."
"So what? I mean, that's life. We don't always get what we want, right? And she has-"
"I know. That's pretty much what she said to me yesterday. I discounted her... and I underestimated you. Seeing you now, thinking about what I've done to you, I... I was wrong."
Jake didn't say anything. Just stared at a painting on the wall of a Louisiana bayou.
