Total pages in book: 190
Estimated words: 181992 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 910(@200wpm)___ 728(@250wpm)___ 607(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 181992 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 910(@200wpm)___ 728(@250wpm)___ 607(@300wpm)
Oh. I hadn’t known that. “I would’ve thought that being in another crash would give me flashbacks, but it didn’t. Maybe because the first one was so different and so much worse. A lot of people were hurt. One car caught fire. Another was trapped between a truck and an SUV, so the people inside couldn’t get out.”
Pausing, I licked my lips. “I was able to get out of my car. It was only when I stood up that I saw it.”
“Saw what?”
I felt my throat thicken. “Why my pants felt so wet.” I fisted his shirt, feeling like I might suffocate on the anguish that tried to pull me under. “There was blood. So much of it.”
Dax froze against me.
“I knew what it meant, but I told myself I was wrong.” I swallowed, an insane pressure mounting in my chest. “I kept telling myself that. Kept insisting I didn’t need to panic. But it was no shock when the doctors at the hospital broke the news that the baby I was carrying hadn’t survived.”
Dax’s grip on my neck tightened. “Fuck.”
“Yeah,” I said around the frog in my throat, fisting his shirt tighter, smothering the sob that tried rising.
“Brooks didn’t tell me that.”
“He didn’t know. I hadn’t told many people I was pregnant.”
“Who was the father?”
“Just a one-night stand. He hadn’t been interested in playing a part in the baby’s life.”
Dax muttered something beneath his breath. “Then he’s a fucking waste of space.”
“So was the drunk driver who caused the pile-up. He walked away without a damn scratch. Thaddeus probably did as well, or he otherwise wouldn’t have been able to make a quick run for it.” The universe was such a shit at times.
Dax nuzzled my hair. “He’ll pay, baby. I have people looking for him. He can’t hide for long.”
We sat there like that for what could have been hours, saying nothing. In agonizingly slow increments, the tension in his body trickled away until only a little remained. Similarly, the anger that had snapped the air taut steadily dissipated—most of it, anyway. Some lingered, clinging to Dax like a foul smell.
At one point, the hand palming my neck slid upward, skimmed over my jaw, and glided up my face. His fingers idly and gently traced the skin around the gauze pad.
“I’m okay,” I said, softly.
He pressed his lips against my temple. “I fucking refuse to bury you.”
Like he’d buried Gracie, I thought.
My heart squeezing, I snuggled into him a little more. “I wish I could say you’ll never have to, but with any luck I’ll be old and gray and wrinkly when the time comes. And you’ll get a call that your ex-wife met her end.”
“Ex-wife?”
“Oh, you’ll have moved onto some superhot blonde by then. She’ll be, like, our daughter’s age. Her name will be … I don’t know … Candy or something like that. And you’ll know she’s a total gold-digger, but you’ll be helpless against those jaunty breasts. My saggy, wrinkly ones will never compete.”
He heaved a sigh. “Some seriously weird shit goes through your head on a regular basis, Addison.”
“So I’ve been told.”
His hand returned to my neck and gave it a light squeeze. “At no point will you be my ex-anything.”
“Even when Candy shakes her tits at you?”
“Even then.”
“Even when I have old lady breath and jowls down to my ankles?”
“Down to your ankles?” he repeated, incredulous.
“Hey, jowls are serious business.”
Another heavy sigh. “Jowls or no jowls, we’re not divorcing.”
“Good. I’d hate to have to slap you with my saggy boobs.” I almost smiled as he defeatedly shoved his face in my hair.
“Maybe we could have a normal conversation.”
“Now why would we want to do that?”
Chapter Thirty-Five
“Tell me you’re not even thinking of going to work.”
Sitting upright against the headboard the next morning, I looked from my phone to Dax. He stood at the foot of the bed in only sweatpants, glaring at me. Hard.
I’d woken to the sound of him puttering around the bathroom, but I was so tired I might have fallen back asleep if it wasn’t for the dull pain and stiffness in my neck. Yeah, whiplash had struck, as expected. It was nowhere near as bad as the first time I’d had it, thankfully—small mercies and stuff.
When his brow flicked up in question, I twisted my mouth. “Well—”
“No,” he interrupted, his tone non-negotiable. “You’re staying home even if I have to sit on you to make it happen.”
Dramatic much? “Relax, jeez.” I idly plucked at the coverlet as I admitted, “I did think about going.” I wouldn’t have been able to drive, of course, but I could have called a cab or something. “But Sabrina will just nag me to go home, and I’m too tired to argue with her. I can answer important emails and stuff from here anyway.”
Plus, my parents and siblings planned to visit at some point. As news traveled fast in Redwater—especially around Oakengrove—I’d texted them with news of the crash last night. Alicia would have undoubtedly otherwise learned of it from Jenson. They’d all called me, as concerned for me as they were enraged with Thaddeus.