Their doomed wedding and the pain they caused turned me into who I am. I can’t be grateful to them for it, but this one thing, my photography, will pull me out of the mire this time, too.
There’s nobody who can do it for me. Nobody to save me. Again I’ll have to save myself.
The phone starts ringing again as I go through more photos on my trusted laptop –photos of Kaden working on a car, of him lounging in the sun, winking at me.
My heart squeezes in my chest.
God, I miss him.
Why did things have to turn out this way?
And the phone is still ringing. Jesus.
Grabbing it, I swipe my thumb across the screen. “Yeah?”
I hope I sound as annoyed as I feel, which is a lot.
“Hailey?” a male voice asks, deep and husky, and for a crazy moment I think it’s Kaden.
Only it’s not. I’d know his voice even in a crowd of screaming football fans, even in a club with a deafening beat pulsing through the walls.
“Who is this?”
“Oh, yeah, right. I’m Matt, Kaden’s brother. I believe we met once.”
Matt Hansen. “Yes, we did. You came with your girlfriend and the kids.” I frown. “Are you all right?”
Not sure what made me ask. Something seems off about his voice, and besides…Why would he call me?
“Are you in Chicago?” he asks.
“Yes. Why are you calling me, Matt? What’s going on?” I wrack my brain for a reason. “Did Kaden put you up to this? Did he think to have you check on how miserable I am?”
“Are you?”
“Am I what?”
“Miserable?”
I swallow hard and get up from my chair. “That’s none of his business. Unless that wasn’t the purpose of your call.”
“It isn’t. Hailey…” His pause sounds ominous. I wander to my couch and sink down in it, my legs suddenly weak.
“What is it? Don’t… Did something happen to Kaden? Oh my God, is he…?” I clap a hand over my mouth, my body going cold. “Matt, is he dead?”
A reassuring chuckle comes down the line. “No, he’s very much alive and annoying as ever.”
Heaving a huge sigh of relief, closing my eyes, I fall back, my head hitting the back rest.
Scary how glad I am to hear it.
“But,” Matt says, and my eyes fly open.
“But what?”
“But he’s in the hospital.”
I sit up, my heart starting to hammer. “What aren’t you telling me? Is he okay? Is