Falling for the Wingman (The Kelly Brothers, Book 3) (20 page)

“She should pull through this and be backing to fixing cars in a few days.”

He released a shaky breath. Alex was going to be okay.

“She’s a bit tuckered out from all the excitement,” the doctor continued, “so don’t all rush her at once. Just a few of you at a time once we get her to a room.”

The group broke up again, Kourtney leading Ryan and her mother off into one corner while Lisa led him away to Bubba and J.T.

“I’m glad she’s going to be all right,” Lisa said. “From what Doc Murphy said, it could’ve been much worse, but we all know Alex is tougher than she looks.”

The men nodded, and J.T. added, “But I’m definitely giving her a hard time when she gets home for that minor heart attack she gave me.”

“You and me both,” Caleb agreed with a weak smile. “Thanks for rescuing her.”

“Hey, it was a team effort.” J.T. gave him a playful smack on the arm. “I couldn’t have done it without you.”

“It looks like folks are heading home.” Bubba nodded to Alex’s mom and Ryan as they were walking out the door. “Sounds like we should head home, too, and visit Alex in the morning.”

The others nodded and left him alone with Kourtney in the waiting room.

The gap between them seemed wider than the physical space. They’d both moved on, but some of the post-breakup awkwardness remained.

Kourtney ran her thumb along the strap of her purse. “Do you mind if I go up and see her first? I really need to get back to the party and…” She choked. “And I need to apologize to her.”

The old Kourtney would’ve left once she knew Alex was fine, needing to resume her position as the center of attention. But this Kourtney wanted to make things right before she left. Maybe Ryan was turning her into a better person, after all. “Go ahead. I’ll stay with her tonight and call you if anything changes.”

“Thanks.” She rang for the elevator and disappeared behind the sliding doors.

Caleb sank back into his chair, welcoming the few extra moments to gather his thoughts. Kourtney wasn’t the only one who needed to apologize to Alex, and he hoped by the time morning rolled around, Alex would know the contents of his heart.

Chapter Fourteen

Alex tugged at the uncomfortable plastic mask around her nose and mouth. The oxygen flowing through it had a sterile, medicinal smell to her that reminded her with every breath that she was a patient.

She pulled the covers around her shoulders and shivered, aggravating the pain in her chest and the pounding in the back of her skull. A cough only added to the agony. She turned to the nurse who was still fussing with all the equipment strapped to Alex. “Can I at least have a Tylenol?”

“I’ll go ask the doctor,” she replied and left the room.

Alex rolled her eyes back and sank deeper into her pillows. Maybe in a few hours, she’d get her Tylenol. Doc Murphy already warned he couldn’t give her any strong pain medication due to her head injury.

What a crappy way to end the day. She’d been looking forward to enjoying another night in Caleb’s arms before he had to leave, and now this happened. The worst part was, she couldn’t remember exactly what had happened. The last thing she remembered was getting reamed by her sister.

A soft knock came from the doorway.

Speak of the devil…

Kourtney stood there, her eyes lowered. “May I come in?”

Alex nodded, offering a silent prayer she wouldn’t get screamed at for ruining the rehearsal dinner.

Kourtney pulled the lone chair up to the edge of the bed and sat down. A sniffle started the flow of tears, followed by an outright sob. “I’m so sorry, Alex,” she blubbered.

Alex grabbed the tissue box and handed it to her sister. “For what?”

“For pushing you into the pool. I don’t know what came over me. I was just so angry and jealous and…” She paused to blow her nose and wipe away the mascara streaming down her cheeks. “I never meant to hurt you. You’re my baby sister, after all.”

Alex dug her fingers into her blanket, scared to move.
Did an alien come and take over my sister’s body while I was out?

“Please forgive me, Alex. I promise I won’t be so horrid. I promise to try to be a better sister.” Kourtney laced her fingers through Alex’s. “Just please forgive me.”

“Even though I’ve ruined your wedding, just like you always said I would?”

A laugh mixed with a sob, reviving the black-tinged trail of tears on her sister’s cheeks. “I’m the one who ruined it, not you. You haven’t done anything wrong. It’s all my fault.”

Humility was never one of Kourtney’s virtues, which made the scene in front of her even more strange. But it seemed genuine. Alex squeezed her sister’s hand and said, “It’s okay, Kourtney. I forgive you.”

The sobbing ceased for a second. “You do?”

Alex nodded. “If it makes you feel any better, I don’t even remember exactly what happened.”

That triggered a new wave of crying that took Kourtney the better part of a minute to control. “I’ve been so petty and selfish this past week, especially when it came to you and Caleb. I’ve found someone who makes me happy, and I should’ve been glad to see that you did the same for him, but I was just so jealous. I saw how he looked at you.” She fumbled with the wet, wadded tissue in her hand. “He never looked that way at me.”

“But what about your warning about him breaking my heart?”

“Maybe I spoke too soon. After all, the choice is yours.”

A shiver of dread raced down her spine, and Alex buried herself deeper under the covers. What would she choose? Would she be willing to give up her life in Jackson Grove to be with Caleb?

She pushed those thoughts out of her mind. “So, if I push the doc to let me go tomorrow morning, maybe I can get out in time to make it to the wedding.”

Kourtney gave her a sisterly smile, still holding on to her hand. “I’d like for you to be there, but if you can’t, I understand that it’s nobody’s fault but my own.”

Alex tilted her head to the side. It was the second time Kourtney had admitted she was in the wrong. “Who are you, and what have you done with my sister?”

Kourtney lowered her eyes and laughed. “Let’s just say Ryan helped me put things in perspective on the way over here. He’s good at that, you know.”

“Then it sounds like you’ve found a good man.”

“I have. Ryan and me, we’ve always tried to keep things casual, but when I came home and he was there for me, I knew I couldn’t live without him. And once we both realized we felt the same way about each other, we saw no reason to wait any longer. Hell, I would’ve gone to the courthouse and married him the day after he proposed if Mama hadn’t insisted on the big wedding.”

A lump formed in Alex’s throat. It was like she was talking with a perfect stranger. She’d always been so ready to dismiss Kourtney as selfish and superficial that she’d never really gone out of her way to get to know the woman underneath. “I’m sorry, too.”

“For what?”

“For being the selfish one and trying to make Caleb fall in love with me.”

Kourtney patted her hand. “You didn’t have to try very hard if my observations are correct. The boy just needed to open his eyes.”

“Do you think we can start over? Try to be real sisters instead of what we’ve spent most of our lives being?”

Kourtney pressed her lips together and nodded. “I think that sounds like a superb idea.”

The last bit of angst fled, and Alex’s eyelids grew heavy. “Is Caleb still here?”

“He’s downstairs waiting for me to finish.” Kourtney stood and checked her reflection in the mirror. “Oh, holy hell! I look like an extra from that TV show about zombies.”

Alex chuckled as her sister opened up her purse and started to fix the ruined makeup. This might take a while. She gave into her weariness and closed her eyes.

When she opened them again, Caleb was at her side. She gave him a weak smile. “How long was I asleep?”

“About an hour.” He pulled the chair closer. “How are you feeling?”

“Can I get back to you in a bit?”

He brushed back a strand of her unruly hair. “You’re not going to complain just a little bit?”

“Complaining doesn’t fix anything.”

A grin flashed across his face before it fell back into a somber expression. “I realized something today, Alex.”

Her pulse quickened. Was this where he told her that he was leaving and that things were over between them? She licked her dry lips. “What’s that?”

“I love you.”

Her heart skipped a couple of beats before going full throttle on her. “You love me?”

He nodded, still brushing her hair. “I was trying to play it safe this afternoon, especially after J.T. told me you’d never leave this town to follow me. I was too scared he was right and I’d end up getting my heart broken again, but this afternoon…” He glanced to the side and took a deep breath. “This afternoon, I realized how much you mean to me, and I want to tell you every minute of every day that I love you.”

“Wouldn’t that get monotonous after a while?” she teased, despite the growing tightness in her chest. “I love you, too.”

He leaned over and brushed a kiss on her temple. “You were right, you know. We can’t think about tomorrow, especially when something could come along and take it away from us. We can just enjoy what we have now.”

“You’re right.” She pushed the thoughts of what would happen after Sunday to the corner of her mind. “We just have now.”

“And thank my lucky stars that you hacked your sister’s email so you could deceive me because if you hadn’t, I would’ve never gotten to know how wonderful you really are.”

“So you forgive me for tricking you into falling in love with me?”

“Does this answer your question?” He pulled her oxygen mask to the side and kissed her until the monitor next to the bed started bleeping. “We’d better stop before the nurses rush in here and catch us.”

“Let them.” She pulled him closer for one more kiss.

Chapter Fifteen

A few weeks later

Caleb ran his finger along the bow tie around his neck and wished for the ninetieth time that day he’d chosen to wear his mess dress. But this was Adam’s wedding, not his, and he wore the same tuxedoes as the rest of his brothers instead of his formal Air Force uniform.

The seven of them were gathered outside the church for photos before the wedding. The late spring day promised to be warm and sunny, with a cool breeze blowing in off Lake Michigan. It was a perfect day for a wedding, and he relished the chance to spend time with his brothers in one location. Over a year had passed since they’d all managed to come home for Christmas before he deployed, but it was like no time had passed once they were together.

Frank came up and gave him a playful tackle of a hug. “Hey, where’s that hot redhead of yours?”

“She couldn’t make it,” he replied with a tight smile. “Said she had a last-minute emergency at the garage.”

Up until yesterday morning, though, he’d fully expected Alex to be his date for the wedding. When he’d left Jackson Grove a few weeks ago, they’d made a promise to make their relationship work, despite the distance. Every day, they’d talk on the phone or exchange emails. As always, she knew just what to say to make him fall even deeper in love with her. He’d been counting down the hours until he could hold her again and offer the ring he’d bought for her, but her phone call last night had killed his anticipation with a full-force blow to the gut.

“Tough break, bro. I was looking forward to seeing her again, and I know Mom was looking forward to meeting her.”

“Yeah, well, shit happens.”

He moved back into the group with his brothers, cracking jokes at Adam’s expense about being the first one of them to get married, even though Ben was planning on getting married as soon as the Stanley Cup finals were over in a month. The camaraderie distracted him from the ache in his chest. He missed Alex almost to the point of flying down to Alabama after the wedding just so he could see her again and let her know he was ready for his own walk down the aisle.

The low rumble of a classic muscle car jerked him from the conversation. He closed his eyes and savored the sweet sound.

“Wow,” Ethan said, “that is one smokin’ car.”

“Forget the car,” Dan countered. “I’ll take the driver.”

Caleb opened his eyes and peered over his brothers’ shoulders. A 1971 orange Roadrunner with black stripes and a retractable air grabber had pulled up in front of the church. The 440 six-pack engine halted, and a tall, slender woman with wild auburn hair and a pair of cowboy boots got out.

His chest tightened, and he blinked several times to make sure he wasn’t dreaming.

“Maybe I should say hello to her,” Dan said, but Frank jerked him back.

“No go, bro. She’s Caleb’s.”

“Yeah, you’d need to roll a twenty-one to score with her,” Caleb added, referencing the twenty-sided die his twin had carried in his pocket since they were kids. He scrambled down the stairs, his steps slowing as he grew closer.

Alex crossed her arms and leaned back against the car, the wind ruffling her skirt and giving him glimpses of her toned thighs. Her grin widened as he approached.