Nolan put his arm around my waist to steady me as I got out of the truck. As soon as he closed the door behind me, Loki appeared. I knelt down and greeted my friend. He licked my hands, then turned and took off around the corner. As I rose, he reappeared.
But he wasn’t alone.
My gut clenched at the sight of Maddox.
I shook my head angrily and pointed at the driveway. When he didn’t move, I began looking for my phone.
“Hang on, it’s in the car,” Nolan said as he put his hand on my arm. I met his worried eyes. I had no doubt he recognized Maddox and even if he hadn’t, he would have figured it out from my reaction. I’d told him about my encounter with Maddox in more detail just before my surgery, but I’d been too angry to talk about it and Nolan hadn’t pressed the issue. I saw Nolan’s silent message and nodded.
I did need to calm down.
This man might share my blood, but he was nothing to me anymore, and I wasn’t going to give him that kind of power over me.
Maddox kept his eyes on me as Nolan went to get my phone. He handed it to me and I began typing.
“Maddox, I’m Nolan,” Nolan said, but he made no move to shake Maddox’s hand.
“It’s nice to meet you, Nolan. I’m glad my brother has someone looking out for him.”
Maddox’s words only served to piss me off even more. I finished typing, then realized I’d have to get closer to him to show him the screen. Nolan seemed to understand my dilemma because he took the phone from me and began reading the message.
“What are you doing here? I don’t want you here.”
Maddox’s eyes stayed on me as Nolan read.
“Sawyer called me and asked me to help out today. He got an emergency call over in Callas County. He’ll be gone for hours and he didn’t want you guys to have to worry about anything when you got back from your appointment.”
I knew I should have been at least a little grateful, but I couldn’t get there. Not while I had his words about wishing I’d died in place of our mother still in my head.
Nolan handed me my phone. I was about to start typing, but then waved my hand. I just couldn’t do it. I was too damn tired.
And any apology Maddox had for me was just too damn late.
Ten years too late.
I started to head toward the office, but Maddox stepped in my path. “Dallas, please, just let me say this and then I’ll go. You’ll never have to see me again.”
My body ached and my head was starting to hurt, probably from the pain meds. But I knew Maddox wouldn’t leave until he’d said what he needed to say. His stubbornness matched that of my ornery zebra.
“Baby, let’s go inside the office,” Nolan said as he came to my side. I suspected he knew I was struggling, but I shook my head and pointed to the ground in front of me. I didn’t want Maddox comfortable – I wanted him gone.
“Dallas, when I got that call that night, I was just so damn scared. They wouldn’t tell me anything over the phone…just that there’d been an accident and I needed to come home. I spent hours praying to a God I didn’t believe in that you guys were all okay. But deep down, I knew you weren’t. When I got to the hospital and they told me you and Dad were alive, I was so happy. I vowed that no matter how badly you were hurt, I’d take care of you. I didn’t care what it took.”
Maddox’s voice was uneven, but I tried to ignore that fact.
“Then they told me about Mom and I just…”
He shook his head and fell silent for a moment. “For a whole month you were touch and go. I went to the hospital every day and sat with you. The nurses said you could hear me so if I wanted to talk to you, I could.” He let out a rough chuckle. “The things I said to you, Dallas. I begged, I threatened, I bribed…anything to get you to open your eyes. And then you did and I knew you’d be okay. Our family wouldn’t be the same, but we’d still be a family.”
I hated the pressure that was building in my chest.
“It was hard to hold it together,” he said softly. “But I knew I needed to be the strong one. I didn’t give myself time to think about Mom or the accident. I planned the funeral, I worked on the house so it could accommodate Dad’s wheelchair, I dealt with all the people who kept coming by…there were reporters who kept rehashing the scandal…it was just too much. I wasn’t sleeping, I was emotionally drained from dealing with Dad’s mood swings…”