Between The Lines (Main Street Merchants Book 5) Read online

  A teenage girl hopped from the cab of the truck. “Yeah, Mom?”

  “Help me get this girl into the trailer.”

  Between the mother and daughter, Regan was able to get up the two wobbly metal stairs and into this home on wheels, but that was all she could do. She sat on the bench and leaned against the wall while they took off her jacket, then knelt to unlace her boots.

  “I have a sprained ankle,” she managed to say.

  “You’re in luck. I have ice.” The woman gently pulled off her boots, then helped her to lie back to remove her jeans. “I have an extra pair of sweats I never even wore on this trip. They might be a little big on you, but they’re warm.”

  Moments later, Regan was dressed in the most heaven-sent sweats in existence, and Charlie pressed a hot mug of chamomile tea into her hands.

  “Is your boyfriend as drenched as you are?” the woman asked.

  “He’s not my . . .” Oh, what was the harm of letting them think it? “Yeah, he’s pretty damp.”

  “I’m sure we can find him something to wear too.” The woman held out her hand. “I’m Kristi.”

  “Regan. Thanks for all this.”

  Kristi flapped her hand as if it was of no consequence. “Now, I’m going to unwrap this ankle and see what’s going on. You were right to keep your boot on, but you’re in good hands now.” She carefully removed the long bandage, and raised an eyebrow when the full ankle came into view. “How far did you hike on this thing?”

  “I’m really not sure.” Regan leaned against the wall again. “It felt like miles, but probably wasn’t.”

  “You’ve got yourself some nasty swelling. Let’s get you lying down with your leg elevated.”

  There was a larger bed area in the back of the trailer. Kristi and Charlie helped Regan hop back there. She was done for. She had absolutely nothing left in her. As soon as her body hit the mattress, she collapsed. She barely felt someone slide some pillows under her leg before she was out.

  * * *

  Gentle fingers combed through her hair. Regan opened her eyes to see Jesse lying next to her, leaning on one elbow to see into her face. He wore a plaid flannel shirt—he must have been given some extra clothes too.

  “Hey,” he said. “How are you?”

  “I feel awful.” She pressed her hand to her eyes. “What’s going on? How’s Cara? Did they find her?”

  “Search and rescue came in and helicoptered her out. She and Brennan are probably in Denver by now.”

  An immense wave of relief washed over her. “Oh, that’s good. How are you?”

  “Better, now that I’m in some dry clothes.”

  She looked at him through her fingers. “Um, I sort of was a little loopy there for a while, wasn’t I?”

  “Haven’t you always been a little loopy?”

  “I mean, more than usual.”

  He traced a figure eight on her forehead with the tip of his finger. Was it a figure eight, or was it the eternity symbol? Whatever it was, it felt nice. “Don’t worry about it. You’re very entertaining when you’ve got a fever.”

  “Glad you weren’t bored. What time is it? How long have I been asleep?”

  “About an hour.”

  Regan tried to sit up without much success. Jesse slid his arms under her shoulders and helped until she was on the edge of the bed, her feet dangling over the side. “Are we still by the lake?”

  “Yeah. They can’t tow the trailer if there’s someone inside, so we decided to let you get some rest. Duke and Kristi made some sandwiches and they’ve had a picnic by the lake. Are you hungry?”

  Regan’s stomach growled at the question. “I’m starving, but I think I’d better wait a bit yet.”

  “That’s probably a good idea.”

  Regan tilted her head from side to side, trying to get rid of a knot in her neck. “So, Cara and Brennan made it out.”

  “Yep, sure did. And Laurie’s on her way to get us. She should be here in a few minutes, actually.”

  “That’s great. I just want to sleep in my own bed for a million years.”

  “Well, sorry—that’ll have to wait. We’re heading straight into the hospital.”

  “What? No. Hospital beds are the worst.”

  Jesse tapped the end of her nose. “Yes, but you’ve got a sprained ankle.”

  She lifted her leg and looked down its length. She’d almost forgotten, but just at that moment, it chose to give an extra-sharp throb, and she grimaced. “Oh, yeah. That.”

  A moment later, a car pulled up, a door closed, and Regan heard Laurie’s voice. “Hi, I’m Laurie. I understand you’ve been taking care of my roommate.” A moment later, she poked her head into the trailer. “Hey. What on earth have the two of you gotten yourselves into?”

  “It’s kind of a long story,” Jesse said. “I promise we’ll tell you everything. For right now, we need to get this girl to the hospital.”

  Laurie bent down and gave Regan a long hug. “I’m glad you’re all right,” she said, giving Regan an extra-hard squeeze before letting her go. “Let’s take her to the same hospital where Cara is, okay? We’ll keep both invalids under the same roof for convenience’s sake.”

  Jesse and Laurie helped Regan out of the trailer and into Laurie’s car. Kristi leaned through the window and gave Regan a hug. “You take care,” she said.

  “I can’t even thank you enough,” Regan told her. “Can we mail back your clothes?”

  “Don’t worry about them,” Kristi said. “They’re just old camping extras. I wish we’d had something nicer to offer you.”

  They said their good-byes all around, and then Laurie pulled her car back onto the road and pointed it toward Denver. “Morgan’s on her way to be with Cara,” she said. “We divided the two of you up between us. It’s handy, having even numbers of roommates.”

  “How long do you think it’ll be before we know anything about Cara?” Regan asked.

  “I’m positive she’ll need to have surgery,” Jesse said. “Beyond that, it’s anyone’s guess right now.” All of a sudden, he slapped his hand against his forehead. “Oh, no!”

  “What’s the matter?” Laurie asked.

  “My Dutch oven potatoes!”

  Regan couldn’t help it. She got the giggles, and she giggled until she fell asleep again, her head against the window and her leg propped up on the bench of the back seat.

  * * *

  The doctor couldn’t seem to make up his mind. He alternately shook his head and clucked his tongue. Regan wished he’d just choose one and stuck with it.

  “You’re a very lucky young lady,” he said at last. “Between the hypothermia and that bad sprain, you’ve certainly been through a lot, but you’ll be just fine. I’m going to put a boot on that ankle just for stability. It’s going to hurt like a son of a gun for a while, and I want you completely off it. That means crutches or a wheelchair. Got it?”

  Regan nodded. “And when will we know about my friend?”

  The doctor looked at her over the tops of his glasses. “I told you, she’s still in surgery. We’ll update you as soon as we know anything.”

  Regan was laced up into a boot and given a wheelchair for her use until they left the hospital. A nurse promised to get her some crutches she could take home with her, then pushed her into the waiting room. Laurie stood up when she came in.

  “Hey,” she said. “What’s the word?”

  “I will apparently not die.”

  “That’s always a good thing. Hey, I hope you don’t mind, but I called Millie and told her where we keep our spare key. She’s going to bring us some clothes from the house.”

  “Why would I mind? That’s a great idea.”

  Jesse joined them a moment later, having gotten a checkup of his own. He sat down in the chair closest to Regan and took her hand, playing with her fingers. “How are you?”

  “Oh, nothing an indeterminate amount of time off my feet won’t cure. You?”

  “I’ve been prescrib
ed a lot of sleep and a lot of hot soup.”

  Regan looked down at their intertwining hands. She hadn’t even properly apologized to him yet, and he was acting like he’d already forgiven her. Maybe he didn’t need to hear the words, but she needed to say them.

  The doors to the hospital blew open, and a second later, Morgan and Rory dashed into the waiting room. “Where is she? What’s going on?”

  Regan looked Morgan over head to toe. She wore her nice dress, the one she bought because Laurie made her the summer before, and her hair and makeup were done really well. Rory wore a suit. “Where have you been? And where were you going?”

  Morgan exchanged sheepish glances with Rory. “Well, see, when Laurie called, we were sort of far away. We were eloping.”

  “But we turned around and headed back as soon as we heard,” Rory said.

  Laurie put her hands on her hips. “You were eloping? As in, getting married without your friends and family?”

  Morgan’s cheeks colored. “Um, yeah.”

  “Why on earth were you doing that? And today of all days?”

  “My mom’s being really weird about my wedding, and we thought this was a way to avoid all that. And how were we supposed to know that all this was going to happen?” Morgan waved her arm to encompass the hospital. “Is everyone okay? What’s going on?”

  Laurie gave her a quick rundown, and then they all sat down to wait together. A moment later, she muttered under her breath, “Eloping. Who does that?”

  “What?” Morgan asked.

  “Oh, nothing. Except, eloping? Morgan, we love you. We’re dying to be at your wedding. Why not tell us? We would have eloped with you.”

  “Taking people with you when you elope sort of defeats the whole purpose of eloping,” Morgan explained. “Tell her, Rory.” She nudged him.

  “Hmm?” He looked up from the text he was sending. “Oh, yes. Right. Inviting people to elope with you defeats the purpose of eloping.”

  Laurie shook her head. “So, are you married, then?”

  “No, you called right before it was our turn.” Morgan held up her ring finger and wiggled it. “Still nothing there. We’ll have to try again.”

  “I would say I was sorry for ruining your plans, but I actually think it’s karma for skipping out on us.” Laurie folded her arms, looking completely miffed.

  Jesse chuckled and leaned closer to Regan. “Laurie’s a little bit of a firecracker, huh?”

  “Oh, just wait until she really gets going,” Regan whispered back.

  Rory’s phone chimed with a text. “Alana says she’s really sorry to hear what happened, and wants to know if there’s anything she can do to help. I’ll tell her we’ll let her know.”

  Long minutes passed as they waited. Laurie and Rory headed off to the vending machines and came back with drinks and snacks for everyone. Regan propped her leg up on one of the upholstered chairs next to Jesse and wondered when the incessant throbbing would stop—she felt like someone was jabbing her ankle with a spear with every heartbeat. Morgan drummed her fingers on the armrest of her chair. Finally, a doctor in green scrubs came in to see them. Brennan was just a few steps behind, and Jesse leaped up to give his cousin a hug.

  “You’re here with Cara Malone?” the doctor asked.

  “Yes,” they answered in unison.

  “She just came out of surgery. When she tumbled down the ravine, she landed in every possible wrong way and sustained a compound fracture of the tibia of her right leg. She also sprained her left wrist. Because she kept tumbling after her leg was broken, things got pretty jammed around in there, so we had to spend a little time straightening everything out and then putting in some pins to hold it in place. It won’t be the most comfortable recovery, but we think she’ll be fine.” He looked over at Regan. “The two of you might have some wheelchair races.”

  “I can take her,” Regan said with a snort. “She’s got a sprained wrist, right? Piece of cake.”

  The doctor raised his eyebrow like he thought Regan was serious. “Do you have any other questions?”

  Everyone shook their heads.

  “You’ll be able to see her in about an hour. She’s in recovery right now.” The doctor excused himself and headed back down the hall, casting one more odd look Regan’s away. Whatever.

  Brennan sat down and rested his elbows on his knees.

  “Where’ve you been, man?” Jesse asked.

  “Oh, there’s a family waiting room near the OR. They let me hang out there.” Brennan rubbed the back of his neck. “Cara’s a real trooper.”

  “What happened after we left?” Regan asked. “Did Cara wake up? Was she in a lot of pain?”

  Brennan nodded. “She woke up about ten minutes after you left. I was able to get her rolled onto the spare poncho so at least she wasn’t flat on the ground anymore, and then I used the other ponchos to make a little tent. That rainstorm was something else.”

  Jesse nodded. When Regan thought about the rainstorm, all she could focus on was that kiss. She nodded too, pretending they were all thinking about the same thing.

  “I was able to get some food into her, as well as some ibuprofen. That only took the edge off—she was really in a lot of pain.” Brennan rubbed his neck again. “I’ve never seen anything like that break.”

  “Poor Cara,” Laurie said. “I can’t even imagine.”

  Brennan shook his head, and Regan noticed for the first time that he was wearing a pair of scrubs. The hospital must have lent them to him so he could get out of his wet clothes too. “They say stuff like this will really make you get to know a person—I can’t tell you how glad I am I asked that woman to marry me. She tried her best to keep a positive attitude through the whole thing, even when they lifted her onto the stretcher and she got jostled. She’s amazing.”

  Just then, Laurie’s cell phone rang. “Oh, good, it’s Cara’s mother,” she said, checking the caller ID before answering. “Hey, Mrs. Malone. I’m so glad you got my message.” She paused. “Yeah, it can get loud at the hairdresser’s. Listen, I need to tell you something. Cara’s had an accident and she just had surgery for a broken leg.” Another pause. “Actually, we’re in Denver. At St. Luke’s. Okay, see you in a few.”

  Jesse stood up and stretched. “Hey, I need to work out some of these kinks. Let me take you for a little stroll, Regan.” She agreed, and he pushed her chair out into the hall.

  “I hate waiting rooms,” he said as they walked. “When my sister died, we had to sit in the waiting room forever before they’d tell us anything. We found out later that she’d died almost as soon as she got to the hospital, but they were still trying to save her or something. I can’t blame them for trying, but still, when someone’s gone . . .” His voice trailed off.

  They walked until they came upon a little café. “Are you ready to eat something a little more than vending machine crackers?”

  “I’d love some soup,” Regan said.

  Jesse parked her chair at a table in the corner and then went up to the counter. Regan took a moment to breathe deeply and try to center herself. Cara was all right. The surgery was a success, and they’d get to see her soon. Brennan was all right, they’d all made it out . . . the only real casualties were the potatoes. She must still be in a little bit of shock, though, because she started to tremble and she couldn’t seem to stop.

  Jesse returned to the table and set their tray down. Without saying a word, he scooted his chair close to hers, wrapped his arms around her, and held her tight. Tears slid down her cheeks and she wiped them away, mad at herself for giving in to her emotions. She wasn’t a wimp—she didn’t have to fall apart under stress. Jesse just held her, tucking her head under his chin, rubbing her arms.

  Finally, she sat up and grabbed a napkin, wiping her eyes and her nose. Great—now he’d not only seen her throwing up, but with snot on her face. What kind of impression was she making? “I’m sorry,” she mumbled. “I’m a mess.”

  “You’re a beautiful mess,�
�� he said, flicking a strand of hair behind her ear.

  She didn’t know how to reply to a guy who thought snot was beautiful, so she turned her attention to the tray. There were two bowls of tomato soup and a stack of crackers. There was also a small stuffed tiger.

  “I can’t eat that,” she said, nodding toward the tray.

  “I’m sorry. I thought tomato would be a good choice. I’ll go get something else.”

  “No.” She caught his wrist and held him in place. “Tomato’s great—I love tomato soup. I can’t eat a stuffed animal.”

  “Oh, that.” Jesse picked up the tiger and turned it over in his hands. “When I saw this up by the cash register, it reminded me of you. Kind of a little souvenir of our adventure.”

  Regan looked at him quizzically. “A tiger reminds you of me? This is because I’m orange with black stripes, right? That’s all anyone ever sees. They never get down to the real me.”

  “It’s either that, or your tenacity. I’ve never seen anyone go that far on a sprained ankle before.”

  Regan cleared her throat. “May I remind you, this is a badly sprained ankle.”

  Jesse held up a hand. “I’m sorry. A badly sprained ankle. You attacked that challenge like a tiger, and so that’s why I got you this.” He handed it to her. “I’m really proud of you, Regan. I’m not sure I could have done what you did.”

  “Oh, pshaw. ’Tweren’t nuthin’. You just gotta do whatcha gotta do.” Regan looked into the tiger’s eyes, secretly pleased. This was exactly how she’d want Jesse to see her.

  “And there’s something else, too,” Jesse said, lowering his voice a little. “This tiger is soft and fun to hold. That also reminds me of you.”

  Regan’s cheeks burned, but she didn’t mind. Maybe that’s how she wanted Jesse to see her too.

  Chapter Nine

  An hour later, Mrs. Malone was waiting with them near Cara’s room, and Millie had shown up as well. She was an angel of mercy, with a suitcase each for Cara and Regan. She’d somehow managed to get into Jesse and Brennan’s apartments too, although she said she wouldn’t tell them until later how she did it. The hospital staff had let Jesse, Brennan, and Regan each take a shower, and Regan swore she’d never appreciated a shower so much in her life. She also wanted one of those shower stool thingies for the bathroom at her apartment.