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Immediately, the driver pulled on his reins, making the horses come to a stop. Carol stood, piling the blanket onto Brett’s lap. She began to climb down the small ladder, pausing for just a moment to say a final thing to Brett.
“You and Lacy have been so wonderful to me the past couple weeks. I will never forget you, Brett Carlington.”
With that final statement, she jumped the rest of the way to the street, turning and running into the park. Brett called after her, but she couldn’t look back. If she looked back, Carol knew it would all be over.
Wade was waiting for her, his hand extended. With very little hesitation, she took it and disappeared.
8
When Brett got backto his house that night, Andrew was sleeping lightly in the living room, having promised to watch Lacy for the evening. The door slammed harder than Brett meant for it to, waking Andrew immediately.
“Wha—?” Andrew asked, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He looked around, seeing Brett’s upset face and no sign of Carol. “Where’s Carol? What happened?”
Brett sent Andrew a glare, the silent message clear. “She ran off on me, for the second time. Literally stopped the sleigh mid-ride, apologized, and ran off into the park. I went after her, but it was like she’d just disappeared…”
Brett went for his whiskey cart, pouring himself a healthy amount and knocking it back. “I don’t know what the deal is, man. She’s done all this stuff for me, for the shop… for Lacy. There have been so many times I’ve looked at her, caught her looking at me… I’ve felt things I hadn’t before. I thought, after tonight, she might stick around.”
Brett sat heavily on the couch, putting his head in his hands. Andrew watched him closely, having no idea what to say to his brother to make him feel better.
“I’m sorry, man. Maybe you can call her tomorrow?” he asked, trying to help.
“Her phone’s disconnected,” Brett immediately replied. He pulled out his cell and called her number, putting it on speakerphone.
“The number you are trying to reach has been disconn—” the computerized voice said before Brett hit the end button. Andrew stared at the phone, unable to understand what was happening.
“I’m sorry, man,” was all he could repeat, clapping his brother on the shoulder. “I’m going to crash in the guest room. Let me know if you need anything.”
Brett just grunted, not moving from the couch.
In fact, he didn’t move from the couch all night, falling asleep with the whiskey tumbler in his hand.
Andrew made breakfast the next morning, the smell of bacon and eggs waking Lacy up. He must have said something to Lacy before Brett woke as well, because the girl was abnormally quiet through the meal.
“Brett, do you need anything else?” Andrew asked, not having anything to do for the day and wanting to help Brett however he could. Brett shrugged, leaving the table and going back to the couch, pulling his laptop out.
Without thinking, he typed her name into the search engine, pressing enter before he could think of what he was looking for. Maybe her email address? A different phone number?
Before he could think of any other options, a news headline at the top of the first page caught his eye.
CAROL MASON, LOCAL EVENT PLANNER, IN A COMA AFTER CAR CRASH—
NEW YORK CEO BELA PATTON DONATES THOUSANDS TO HOSPITAL IN MASON’S NAME
“What the hell…” Brett mumbled to himself, clicking on the article. A large image of Carol, dressed up at a fundraiser and looking beautiful, popped up on the news page. Brett stared at the image for a moment, confirming that it really was her, before reading the article.
It mentioned her history, discussed her newly formed event planning company, and briefly interviewed Beverly Patton. The article mentioned she was driving home late one night when her car got T-boned in an intersection, then explained that she had been in a coma at the hospital ever since.
Brett scrolled back up to look for the date—it was dated two weeks earlier, the day before she showed up in his shop.
“Andrew…” Brett called, unable to process what he’d just found. Andrew ran into the living room, hearing the urgency in his brother’s voice.
“What’s wrong?” Andrew immediately asked, looking at Brett with worry. Instead of answering, Brett handed Andrew the computer, watching as his brother read the news story.
“I don’t understand…” Andrew said, scrolling back and forth. “This is Carol,ourCarol, right? But she’s been in a coma for two weeks?”
Brett stood abruptly, heading for the bathroom. “Get Lacy ready to go; we have a hospital room to visit.”
In less than fifteen minutes, the three of them were piled into Brett’s car, headed for the hospital. Lacy didn’t quite know what was happening, as Brett didn’t want to explain to her what he didn’t yet understand. She sat in the back seat quietly, watching the world go by out the windows.
