Faithful (8 page)

Oh. My. God. This man is beyond perfect. How can one person give so much love?
I felt a tear slide down my face. Gunner loved her unconditionally. Alex would always feel loved and wanted.

“I’d die for you and your mama, baby girl. I’ll protect you from all those disgusting, evil little boys who will break your heart. Their parents might be upset when I break their faces, but that’ll be their problem.”

I tried so hard not to giggle as I imagined how he would scare away every boy who would come to our house. Gus must have heard me because he looked right at me and wagged his tail.

When I stepped into the kitchen, Gunner’s back was facing me. When he started to sing “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star,” I had to stop and grab on to the kitchen island. My heart was pounding as the ache between my legs grew. His voice was amazing.

Alex let out a little sound, and Gunner laughed.

“You like that song, baby girl?”

“She likes you singing to her, just like I do,” I said as I finally got my legs to move.

Gunner turned around and smiled that drop-dead gorgeous smile of his.

How is this man mine? I am one lucky-ass girl.

“Good morning, sweetheart. Did you sleep good?” he asked as he winked at me.

I walked over to him and reached up to give him a kiss. “I did, thanks to you and your magical fingers.”

Gunner threw his head back and laughed.

“How did you sleep?”

He yawned and then handed Alex to me. “I tossed and turned all night, thinking about Josh.”

“Shit. I need to call Heather. The last time I talked to her, they had brought Josh back from some scans, and she said he had been sleeping for four hours. I can’t believe he doesn’t remember her, Gunner. How could he forget her?” I put Alex in her bouncy chair and then started to make coffee.

Gunner let out a sigh as he sat down. He ran his hands through his hair and then down his face. “I don’t know. I can’t even imagine how Heather’s feeling. I wasn’t going to say anything, but…” He stopped talking and shook his head.

“What? Don’t stop mid-sentence and leave me hanging like that!”

“Well, Josh was planning on asking Heather to marry him after the Christmas party. Jeff and I had gone with him to pick out the ring.” Gunner looked up at me with such sad eyes.

No…

“Oh, Gunner. Oh no. Why is this happening? Oh god…poor Heather. Like she hasn’t been through hell and back enough times. Does she know he was going to ask her?”

“No. I’m not even sure his parents knew.” Gunner stood up and grabbed a coffee mug out of the cabinet. “Listen, Jeff is heading back into Austin today to go see Josh. I’m going to follow him in Heather’s car since Jeff drove her to the hospital. I know Brad and Amanda are coming out to visit, and—”

I spun around and looked at Gunner. “Oh. My. God! You need to kick Brad’s ass!”

Gunner gave me a confused look. “What? Why?”

I shook my head, remembering Heather’s text to Ari and me.

Heather: Amanda’s pregnant, like four months along, and Brad told her if she didn’t give the baby up for adoption, he was leaving. And he told her she had to hide it from his parents. It’s like someone snatched the real Brad and replaced him with this asshole. This dickwad also told Amanda he had lied to her about wanting kids because he was afraid she wouldn’t marry him if he said he didn’t.

“He lied! Never wanted kids…she’s pregnant, and he’s talking crazy…hide the pregnancy! Adoption? Psht!”

Gunner stood there, just staring at me. “Wow…somehow, I think I understood everything you just rattled off.” He sat back down. “Okay, so let me get this straight. Amanda told Brad she was pregnant, but Brad doesn’t want kids. So, he told her she had to give the baby up for adoption? Ellie, that doesn’t even sound like Brad. He’s never once told us he didn’t want kids. As a matter of fact, when Ari was pregnant, he told Jeff he couldn’t wait to have kids!” Gunner said, running his hand through his hair.

“I don’t know. That’s what Amanda told Heather yesterday. Brad freaked and told Amanda he didn’t want kids. Ever.”

Gunner got up and took out his phone.

Oh shit. He’s calling Brad. Good thing Gunner won’t be here when they come visit.

Just then, my cell phone went off. I grabbed it out of my purse and saw a message from Amanda.

Amanda: We’re on our way! Can’t wait to see the baby!

Clearly, she didn’t know Heather had told us. When Heather called the code blue, Ari had called me right away, and we’d decided to wait to talk to Amanda in person.

This is insane. No way is she giving up her baby because some asshole said she had to. Ugh, I can’t believe he lied to her about wanting kids.

“Okay, I’ll see you in a few minutes.” Gunner slipped his cell phone into his back pocket. “Jeff and Ari are on their way. Jeff is driving Heather’s car, and my dad can give Ari a ride back home when she’s ready to leave.”

“Did you mention Brad to Jeff?”

“I didn’t have to. Ari told him last night. He’s ready to kick his ass, and to be honest, I’m ready to put him in the hospital,” Gunner said as he made a fist.

“Good Lord, can’t we just have a few months of no drama in this group of ours? First, it’s Josh and Heather, and now, there’s this whole thing with Brad and Amanda. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to look him in the eye and not say something, Gunner.” I looked over at Alex as she started to wake up.

Gunner let out a sigh. “Jeff thinks he knows what the problem is with Brad.”

I was just about to pick up Alex when I stopped and looked at Gunner. “Okay…what’s the problem?”

“All he said was that Smitty had called him a few weeks ago and said he saw Brad at lunch with a girl.”

I felt sick.
Brad’s cheating on Amanda?
“Oh no, Gunner…you don’t think…”

“I don’t know, baby. Jeff asked Brad about it, and Brad said Smitty must have been wrong because he was out of town that week.”

I picked up Alex and held her close to me as I felt tears building in my eyes.
Did Brad cheat on Amanda? Please, God, no. Please don’t let that be true.

As we walked into the hospital, I thought about everything that had happened yesterday. Josh had been so cold and distant when he came back from his brain scan, and Victoria had been flying high as a kite.

Did she say something to Josh? What could she have said to make him so withdrawn?

Elizabeth grabbed my hand. “Heather, honey, are you okay? You seem so far away.”

I had talked to her about how Josh wanted to start off by being friends. I’d seen how disappointed she was, and I knew exactly how she felt. I didn’t want to push Josh into anything, but at the same time, I felt like he was slowly slipping away from me.

“I guess I’m just trying to figure out how you go from being head over heels in love with someone and spending every moment you can together to…just being friends.”

Elizabeth stopped and gave me a weak smile. I tried so hard not to cry, but it was getting harder and harder to hold it back.

“Don’t give up on him. Don’t give up on the two of you. What you shared is too strong to be forgotten,” she said as she wiped away the single tear rolling down my face.

“That’s just it…he did forget, Elizabeth. He forgot about me, about us. He doesn’t remember any of it.”

“I’m telling you right now he knows that you both shared something. He even told Greg and me that you took his breath away when he first saw you. Please have faith that he’ll come back to you, baby girl. Please don’t give up on him, not when he needs you,” Elizabeth said as tears started to pool in her eyes.

“Elizabeth, I love Josh with every ounce of my being. My life would be nothing without him. If I didn’t have him…I…I just couldn’t live without him. He’s every breath I breathe. I’ll never leave him. Ever.”

She pulled me into her arms, and we stood there, crying for a few minutes.

Then, Greg walked up. “Girls, are you ready to go in and see Josh?”

I pulled back and smiled as I wiped the tears from my face. “I promise you, I’ll stay faithful to him forever.”

She tried to return the smile, but it didn’t reach her eyes. I knew exactly what she was thinking because I was thinking the same thing.

I would remain faithful to our love…but would Josh?

As we got closer to Josh’s room, I could hear Victoria laughing.
Holy hell…does this girl never go home?

Greg opened the door and held it for Elizabeth and me to walk in. Unfortunately, I went in first and saw Victoria leaning over the bed, like she was about to kiss Josh. They didn’t see us right away, and the way he was looking at her caused my whole body to start shaking. Following me in, Elizabeth saw them and grabbed my hand.

“Jesus H. Christ, Victoria. Do you ever go home and sleep?” Elizabeth asked.

I almost laughed since I’d just thought nearly the same thing.

Victoria stood up straight, and her smile dropped from her face when she saw me.

Bitch. I will never leave him.

I glanced over to see Josh staring at me. When our eyes met, the smile that spread across his face made me weak in the knees. He was looking at me like he…loved me. But the way he had looked at Victoria was like he lusted after her.

When I smiled back at him, he held out his hand for me. I watched as Victoria noticed Josh’s hand stretched out toward me. Her head snapped back up, and she just glared at me.

Elizabeth gave me a little push from behind, and I made my way over to Josh’s side. Victoria gave me a fake-ass smile as she stepped closer to the bed, blocking me.

“Well, I have to go check on my other patients. Josh, I’ll see you in a few, honey,” she said as she leaned down and kissed him on the cheek.

I sucked in a breath of air.
Oh. My. God. She did not just do that!

“See ya later, Tori,” Josh said with a smile.

She turned and gave me a look that I just wanted to slap off her face.

Okay, bitch, it’s on now.

“You don’t have to rush back anytime soon. I plan on hanging out all day.” I gave her my own bitchy smile. I glanced over and saw Elizabeth holding back a smile.

Victoria let out a gruff laugh. “Well, just remember that he needs rest. Too much company isn’t good for his recovery.”

“Maybe you should remember that yourself.” I raised my eyebrows at her.

Her smile faded as she excused herself. “Greg, Elizabeth, good morning,” Victoria said as she made her way out the door.

Once the door closed, I looked at Elizabeth, and she winked at me. Slowly letting out the breath I had been holding in, I tried to calm myself since my hands were still shaking from being so upset.

Then, Josh reached for my hand, and the electric shock that ran through my body surprised me. It was as if he were touching me for the first time. I turned, and holding his hand in mine, I smiled at him.

“I missed seeing your face this morning when I woke up,” he said with that damn panty-melting smile of his.

My heart was beating so hard that I swore everyone in the room could hear it. “Really?”

“Really, really!” He let out a small laugh and then made a face like he was in pain.

“Oh, sweetheart. Do your ribs hurt?” Elizabeth asked as she moved to the other side of the bed.

“Yeah, they were in here earlier, making me take deep breaths. Fucking hurt.”

“Language, Josh.” Elizabeth leaned down and kissed him on the forehead.

Oh god.
I wanted to kiss him so badly. As I looked at his lips, I started licking my own.
I miss those lips.

When I felt him squeeze my hand, I pulled my eyes away from his lips to see him staring at me. I shook my head to clear my wayward thoughts.

“Have you had anything to eat yet? I could go and get you some banana nut bread from Starbucks,” I said, feeling heat warm my cheeks.

He smiled the biggest smile I’d seen yet. “I love their banana nut bread!”

I laughed as I sat down in the chair Greg had just pushed up for me. I wasn’t even thinking about my actions when I pulled his hand up to my lips and kissed the back of it. “I know you do!”

Elizabeth let out a giggle and looked over at Greg. “Come on, babe. I could go for a nice hot chocolate from Starbucks.”