Broken Promises (Broken Series) (8 page)

I ripped past the nurse’s station and heard Carrie call out to me.

“Luke!”

She chased me halfway down the hall before I stopped. I wanted to be free of this place and all the emotions Mallory stirred up in me.

“What is it, Carrie?” I asked impatiently. I didn’t mean to be rude, but I was going to explode and I wanted to be away from anyone who might get in the way.

“I just wanted to let you know I have no hard feelings,” she said.

Her eyes told a different story, though, one of sadness and rejection.

“Don’t lie, Carrie. At least be honest with yourself,” I spat.

My inner asshole was coming out and I needed to get out of there. Fast.

“You don’t need to be a jerk,” she replied.

I stepped forward and she retreated until her back pressed against the wall of the hallway.

“I
am
a jerk, Carrie,” I whispered.

She looked up at me with her pretty brown eyes and I willed myself to feel something,
anything,
for her. She wasn’t a bad person; she didn’t deserve to be treated the way I treated her. She deserved someone who wasn’t hung up on someone else.

“You aren’t, Luke. I know you’ve still got feelings for her,” she whispered.

Her eyes were nearing tears and I felt the guilt seep into my bones. I would never be able to atone for doing this to her.

“You don’t know shit,” I growled.

It was bad enough I had admitted to myself I was still half in-love with Mallory, but for Carrie to be able to see it bugged me to no end. I spun around and bolted out of the hospital.

I jumped into my truck, slammed the door closed and peeled out of the parking lot as fast as I could. I didn’t care about drawing attention to myself in this gossip-loving town. I just needed to escape.

With no place in mind, I made my way north and continued on for hours. My cell rang several times but I ignored it. I needed to be alone. Once I was out of Casper, I headed up the coast toward the Rockville Lighthouse. The rocky shoreline would help me clear my head.

I maneuvered my way down the steep dirt road and stopped in the tiny parking lot. I walked to the water’s edge and picked up a few flat rocks to skim across the surface.

It felt like things were about to change. Joe was going to die. Mallory would go back to Boston. And I would be alone.
Again.
Only this time, I wouldn’t have Joe to guide me and steer me away from disaster. How could I have let this happen again? As if falling in love with Mallory Wells wasn’t bad enough the first time around, I had to go and do it twice, and hurt the people around me in the process.

Carrie was the one I felt worst about. She hadn’t done anything wrong but I had just treated her like nothing. She knew my past, of course, how hung up on Mallory I’d been. It had taken months to get her to go out with me, and I was only so persistent because Joe insisted I needed to move on. I didn’t disagree with him, but Carrie was probably a poor choice. I compared every aspect of our short relationship to the one I had with Mallory. Carrie didn’t measure up.

Carrie and I were doomed before we ever even got started because of my Mallory obsession. I just couldn’t get over the leggy blonde with a flippant attitude and a smart remark for everything. Mallory and I were no good for each other, though. I knew that. She knew it, too. But there was something that pulled me to her, something inexplicably frightening.

I skipped several rocks over the water and watched them sink, much like my heart. I had to toughen up if I was going to survive the summer. Mallory wasn’t going to leave until her dad was gone, which meant I would be forced to see her, at least in passing, at places like the grocery store or the post office. I would have to be stronger than I’d been lately. It wasn’t impossible. Highly unlikely? Oh yeah. But
not
impossible.

I tossed out the last rock in my hand and before it could sink, I turned away from the ocean with a new resolve. I would ignore Mallory as best I could for the remainder of her time here. I would be polite when the situation called for it, but I wasn’t about to engage her in a conversation. I could do it. I knew I could.

I hopped in my truck with a better outlook on Mallory and the situation as a whole. I drove back to Casper and went to my apartment. I wasn’t surprised to see Baker’s truck in my driveway.

He leaned against the door, his arms folded across his chest. I parked and nodded to him.

“What the hell happened at the hospital?” he asked.

“Good news travels fast, huh?” I remarked. Small towns were gossip hell.

“Well, when you took off out of the parking like a bat out of hell, it’s hard for people
not
to talk. Want to talk about it?” He looked sincere, but I wasn’t buying it.

“Who called you?” I knew someone would have put him up to chasing me down.

He smirked. “Carrie. Joe. Rainey. Gabby. Take your pick. My phone has been ringing off the hook. Although I have absolutely no idea how Gabby got involved, since she wasn’t there.”

Mallory hadn’t called him. I sighed.
Stay strong,
I told myself.

“Well, here I am, fine and unharmed.” I tried to keep the anger out of my voice. It didn’t work as well as I hoped.

“Yeah, you’re as fine as a mad bull. So what’s with the asshole routine? Everyone knows I’m the resident asshole of Casper.” He joked.

“It wasn’t on purpose. I just got pissed at something Mallory said the other night—”

“Oh! Mallory. Now it all makes sense. So what did she say?”

His inquisition pissed me off.

“What’s with the twenty questions? I don’t want to talk about it, Baker. Leave it alone,” I said, hoping he would take the hint.

“Not a chance. Spill it,” he said as I went into my apartment building.

He followed me in and took a seat on my couch. He wasn’t going anywhere until his curiosity was satisfied.

I sighed. “When I brought her home last night, she was drunk and half-asleep in her bed and she invited me into her bed.”

“Hot damn! Why didn’t you tell me this last night? Did you get some?” he asked.

Typical Baker,
I thought.

“No! I thought she was talking to me, but then she said the name of some other guy, who was definitely
not me.
Probably some douche from Boston,” I explained.

“Ahh.” Baker finally understood. “So she’s seeing someone in Boston, then?”

“I guess,” I mumbled. “I don’t really know. It’s not like Mal and I have been overly friendly since she got back.”

“That’s true. Want me to have Rainey do some fishing?”

“I thought you were on Rainey’s shit list?”

He grinned. “Well, she must have forgiven me, since she called me to check in on you.”

“You know, she’s a big time LA screenwriter, Baker. She’s not interested in some small town hillbilly.” I laughed at his hurt look.

“I could say the same to you about Mallory except she’s working at the bank.” He raised his brow at me and I knew he was right.

“We’re hopeless, you know that?”

He laughed. “Yeah, the only way we could be any worse was if we were hanging out with Gabby’s ex, and he was complaining, too.”

“Have you ever met Wolfe?” I asked.

“No, I don’t think so. He’s not from here, is he?”

“He’s from Florida, I think. He spent summers here as a kid, but he’s a few years older than us, so that’s probably why you don’t remember him. He moved here permanently when he started dating Gabby. I met him a few times and didn’t think he was a bad guy. I wonder what happened with those two?”

“Gabby is nuts. That’s what happened to them,” he said.

“Don’t be an ass. Every woman is crazy and that’s a fact.”

“Ain’t that the truth? We should call him up and have him join our ‘Love struck without a chance’ support group.”

“We should. I heard he’s still living here until after the divorce is final to make it easier on Gabby,” I said.

We both laughed, at him and ourselves. We’d all fallen in love with a woman who wanted nothing to do with each of us.

“Call him up and have him meet us at the bar tonight. Rainey is helping Mallory out with her dad, so we know they won’t be at The Landing tonight. I’ll ask Gabby to go over and give them a hand,” he said.

“That’s a great idea. And tomorrow, when Joe kills us for sticking him with three angry women, we’ll at least have had a good night of drinking to think on and decide it was worth it! I’ll call Wolfe a bit later. I have to get to the site and do some work today. You working at the site with me?”

“Yeah, I guess. I don’t have anything else to do until the bar opens at four.” Baker sighed.

He loved the bar, but it had drained him financially, so he helped out at whatever jobsite I was on whenever he could and J.P. paid him under the table. That’s the way it was done in a small town.

“Want to drive me in?” I asked. “I just need to change.”

He nodded and waited for me. On the way to the jobsite, I called Wolfe and he agree to come to The Landing, but only if we could guarantee Gabby wouldn’t be there. Baker called Gabby and she fell for his plan perfectly, so we promised Wolfe she wouldn’t be there.

We made plans to meet at The Landing at seven.

I had a hard time getting my dad settled in. The fact that he wasn’t the same amazingly strong man I remembered was killing me. Rainey pulled up as close as she could to the steps of the front porch and even walking from the car to the living room seemed to exhaust him. It didn’t seem likely he would suddenly surprise everyone and beat the cancer. I was more worried about him with every step he took.

Luckily, our house was a single story, which meant he didn’t have to climb any stairs once he was inside. But he was still tired. He sat on the couch and rested for nearly an hour before he felt well enough to make the trek to his bedroom. Once Rainey and I got him settled in bed, he laid back and almost immediately fell asleep. I stood there, staring at pale skin that had once been tan, at sunken eyes that had once been vibrant and full of life, and my heart broke.

Rainey pulled me out of his room. “He needs rest,” she said.

Tears started to fall onto my cheeks but I couldn’t control them. Rainey pulled me into a hug and squeezed me tight. I started to hyperventilate.

“He’s so sick … I can’t do anything … I don’t … Think I can do this …” I stuttered between gasps for air.

Rainey didn’t speak right away, choosing instead to just hold me until I calmed. She pulled me down on the couch in the living room and we sat there in a hug for a long time. When my anxiety finally started to relent, Rainey pulled away from me. I was still shivering but I managed not to burst into tears again.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

“I don’t know if I’m ever going to be okay, Rain. Dad’s dying,” I said weakly.

My whole body felt weighed down, as if it would be difficult to even stand up straight.

“Yes, he is. But he needs you to be strong, Mal. He’s not going to get through this alone.”

She was quietly telling me to stop being a baby and it dawned on me that my friends in Boston would never have encouraged me to buck up. They would probably be crying beside me and I would end up comforting them.

I looked up at Rainey. “Have I ever told you how much I value your friendship? I know we haven’t kept up very well all these years, but the fact that you’re here when I’m falling apart speaks volumes about you.”

I hugged her again as I wondered if I would have been there for her if the situation was reversed. I guessed not. It had taken the imminent death of my own father to get me back into this town and I doubted I would have been swayed by the possible death of a friend’s parent. Some friend I was.

“I’m so sorry I haven’t been the friend I should have been for the last three years.”

She smiled at me. “Shut up. No matter how far away we are, we’ll always be best friends. You stuck by me even through my fat days, and I adore you.”

I was so unworthy of her friendship. She was a genuine friend and I was a fraud. My heart clenched so hard, it felt like someone put a rubber band around it. More tears formed in my eyes.

“Oh, cut that out. We need to be strong!”

She flexed her arm muscles and I laughed before I could stop myself.

“I wish you didn’t have to go back to LA,” I said. I would miss her.

“I’ll be back soon enough. Probably only a couple of weeks. I need the time off, and as a screenwriter, I get to pick and choose my jobs. Plus, if I need to, I can telecommute,” she said.

I was shocked. “You want to come back to this rinky-dink town on a more permanent basis?”

“Well, yeah. You don’t remember me saying it last? You aren’t allowed to drink for a while, girl. But yes, I am moving back. Its
home,
” she said.

Home.
I hadn’t referred to Casper as home in a long time. I’d been so sure I was meant for bigger and better things, I never once considered maintaining a life here. It was a small town but I wasn’t sure it was for me. What if I wasn’t happy here? Once Dad was gone, I wouldn’t have any ties to Casper.
Except Luke.
The thought came out of nowhere.

But did I really have a tie to Luke anymore? I wasn’t sure. He’d been my first love, and probably my only
true love,
but I wasn’t certain if he still had a place in my life. I’d spent my entire high school life dedicated to him and our love. Since then, I’d done everything in my power to forget him. He was still in my heart, though, as much as I wished he wasn’t.

He’d taken care of Dad when I hadn’t even known about his illness. He’d rescued me in my drunken state last night and then pushed me away this morning. I wasn’t thrilled with the way he brushed me off, but that didn’t mean I hated him. He was important to me. Ugh. I didn’t want to think about Luke. I needed to focus on Dad.

“I guess,” I said as I dried my tears.

Rainey was doing the same and we both looked ridiculous. I don’t know who started laughing first, but within seconds, we were both in stitches. Gabby walked in and found us like that, still laughing at ourselves.