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“Okay, so talk,” Nash said after he and Maggs did the same.
“I don’t have to if I don’t want to. I’m here because maybe it is time.”
They all looked at him expectantly. Nash even managed to keep his big mouth shut, but that could be because Luna had her hand on his arm.
“Johnnie’s parents had this place on the coast. We would head out there weekends sometimes. I liked his family. They reminded me of home.”
“I’m glad you had friends like that,” Luna said.
“This night it was raining, but Johnnie wanted to go. His mom was making his favorite meal, so he was determined. I told him we should wait until the next day, but he wouldn’t listen. The drive to this place was this long, windy road. You climbed and then came down the other side to his parents’ place.”
Ford swallowed a mouthful of beer as he mentally went back to that night.
Johnnie had been driving too fast. He’d told him to slow it down, but his friend had just laughed, ignoring him.
“He took a bend too fast. We drove off the road, and there were no barriers. There was a lot of brush and trees and a drop straight down. I remember hearing the crashing of trees as we hit them. Johnnie yelled for me to hold on. I did, but the car flipped and rolled, and then we were going down.”
“Christ,” Nash hissed.
“When I regained consciousness, we were upside down, hanging there by our seat belts. Johnnie wasn’t talking. I tried to get free, but my shoulder and ankle were broken. I was concussed and had lacerations and two broken ribs.”
“You said you’d been in a bike accident. That all your injuries were from that,” Maggie said. “You just rang one day and told Dad to come get you from the airport in Rummer.”
“I remember he came home all broken and bruised, but he still seemed the same Ford,” Nash added, face grim.
Ford remembered how numb he’d felt inside and how he’d tried not to show it because his mom was still sick after her surgery.
“I don’t know how long we were down there. I tried to find my phone but couldn’t, so I worked at getting out. Eventually I managed it. I slid out my window and crawled to his. I got him out, pulled him to my lap. He was still alive, but I could see he was in bad shape. I couldn’t walk out—it was too steep and I’d never have made it. I found his phone, but it was smashed. Mine had been on the dash and I guess it flew out the window.”
“I can’t believe you didn’t tell us this,” Maggie whispered.
Fin pulled her closer, brushing a kiss in her hair.
“I went in and out of consciousness, and each time I woke, Johnnie was still there, still holding on. He hadn’t talked, just drifted in and out like me. Then he opened his eyes and looked at me and said sorry. Seconds later, he stopped breathing.”
Ford felt the panic again. The helplessness of not being able to do anything for his friend. He knew the basics of first aid, but he’d known inside that Johnnie wasn’t going to make it.
“Blood had been coming out his mouth. I knew he was hurt bad.”
“How long were you down there?” Luna asked.
“Two days.”
Nash swore loudly. “You never told us. Not a word, nothing.”
“You guys were going through hell here and couldn’t have done anything. I came home as soon as they released me from the hospital.”
“I’m guessing the police were involved?” Fin said.
Ford nodded. “I was questioned, but it was all pretty straightforward. Johnnie’s family came to the hospital and told me they didn’t blame me. They knew what their son was like and how he drove.”
“That was pretty big of them considering you lived and their son didn’t,” Fin said.
“They were good people. They write to me every year around the day Johnnie died.”
“What the hell is wrong with you two?” Nash got to his feet, glaring at his siblings. “First Maggie and that crap in London and now you.”
“Because you’re such a fucking open book.” Ford got to his feet again, needing to move after reliving one of the worst experiences of his life.
