AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Pretend before the accident never happened. Because the way you told it, you were falling for him all over again afterwards before you ever started getting memories back.”
I didn’t want to relive our time after the accident. The scenes flashed through, unfaded or confused by the trauma that happened before them.
Watching a K-drama and the way my breath caught in my throat when he stood too close. Shopping for picnic supplies.
A kiss. And then another.
Laughing in his truck until my sides hurt.
Sitting in the waiting room at the emergency department.
Had I been irresponsible? Not that I could think of.
Had Jake?
No… not really. He was funny and he made me laugh, but he’d been rock solid. If I were thinking about it, no matter how carefree or hasty Jake sometimes appeared, he was never reckless.
He’d saved Bryce a time or two. Rescued more than his fair share of pets from houses or people from cars.
But this wasn’t about him. This was about me and whether I would be promoted to charge nurse if I didn’t have Jake distracting me.
“Am I right?” Rebecca’s gentle question interrupted my thoughts.
“I don’t know, Rebecca. I don’t know what to do. I’m scared to be with him. But I’m also terrified to be without him.”
She put her hand on my arm. “Can I tell you what I think?” I nodded, incredibly curious what Rebecca would say.
“I think Jake’s a good man. He loves you and is committed to you. But a relationship takes two people who are committed one hundred percent. It doesn’t work any other way. So, if you aren’t ready to commit to him for whatever circumstance may come, then don’t say you are. It’ll be twenty times worse if you decide seven years down the road that it’s not worth it. Don’t say yes unless you know, okay?”
I could hear the sorrow and bitterness in her voice, and I knew she was speaking out of her own painful experience with Nathan.
“I won’t,” I said seriously.
“One last thought,” she said, straightening up and putting a smile on as Parker, her three-year-old, ran into the room yelling. He crashed into her legs and started scrambling up into her lap. “You’re too hard on yourself, Monica. I think Jake’s good for you in that way. He makes you laugh and stop taking yourself so seriously. Sometimes,”—she looked at her son—“we need someone who is just a little…bit…goofy… to balance us out.” She said the words as she tickled Parker who squealed through his gasps for air.
I smiled at the scene before me as Parker screamed for her to stop and then asked her to tickle him again, over and over. I didn’t know if Rebecca had it all figured out, after all. We’d just agreed to admit that we were both a hot mess, but she was certainly a good mom and a good friend.
ChapterTwenty-Four
JAKE
The week of the wedding, I drove with Bryce to the Terre Haute to pick up all the tuxes for the groomsmen. We hadn’t been in the car for ten minutes when Bryce turned on me.
“Are you out of your mind?”
I reared back, glancing to him with wide eyes before turning my attention back to the road.
“Got any context for me on that or are we just talking generally?” I replied snarkily. We’d managed to avoid this conversation for four complete shifts at the station and I’d hoped we’d just sort of ignore it.
No such luck.
“Don’t get sassy with me,” he said.
“Sassy? Really? What am I, a Spice Girl?”
“You know what I mean. This is what you always do. Instead of owning up to the fact that you care about something, you crack a joke and deflect until everyone moves on.”
I frowned in disagreement. What a load of manure.
