Climbing off her, I went into the bathroom and disposed of the condom. Pulling on my underwear, I went to the living area and sat down on the couch.
“Are you okay?” Zoey asked as she stood in the doorway of the bedroom holding the white sheet up against her.
“I’m fine.” I placed my elbows on my knees and rubbed the back of my head. “We better get some sleep. Good night, Zoey,” I spoke as I lay down on the couch.
“Sure. Good night, Mr. Grayson.”
“Stop with the ‘Mr. Grayson.’ Just call me Carter.”
She gave me a nod, turned around, and climbed into bed.
****
Zoey
I felt it, and so did he. I knew he did. I could sense it while we made love. Our souls connected and I felt as if I’d known him my whole life. My body still trembled and he was by far the best sex I’d ever experienced. This wouldn’t change anything and he proved it by going on the couch. I was a fool to think that we’d share the same bed, at least for tonight. He was different when we made love. I felt a tenderness inside him, and the darkness that drowned him was washed away for a short period of time. I needed to get some sleep, because come tomorrow, I would have to deal with the aftermath of what had just happened between us.
I lay in the hospital bed, waiting for Dr. Benson to come back, when I heard a boy crying behind the next curtain.
“His leg is broken in three places. We’re going to have to do surgery and put some pins in. Are his parents here yet?”
“They’re on their way, doctor.”
“Sit tight. We’re going to get you prepped for surgery as soon as your parents get here.”
“But it hurts!” the boy wailed.
“I know it does. We’ll get you something for the pain.”
As I lay there, staring at the curtain that separated us, the only thing I could hear were the cries that came from him. Getting up out of bed, I walked over to the curtain and peeked around it before approaching his bedside. He was in so much pain and agony. I felt this overwhelming need to touch him, and when I placed my hand on his, an electrical sensation tore through me.
“You’re going to be okay. I promise,” I spoke.
His teary eyes stared into mine. “Where did you come from?”
“From the other side of the curtain. I know it hurts, but it won’t hurt for much longer,” I softly spoke. “What happened to you?”
“I was driving with my best friend Andy and his mom when a truck hit us. Can you try to find my friend Andy?” the boy asked me. “They brought him and his mom in by ambulance.”
I looked over and saw a boy standing in the corner staring at us. When the boy saw that I could see him, he spoke to me.
“Tell him to stay cool and not give Miss Harper a hard time anymore.” He smiled. “Tell him that he was the best friend I ever had and he’s going to be okay. I have to go now. Please tell him.”
“Oh my god, Carter!” a woman cried as she and a man came running into the room.
I gasped as I jolted up in bed, my heart rapidly beating. It was him. The boy behind the curtain next to me, on that day, was Carter Grayson. I was drenched in sweat as I tried to calm my racing heart.
“Are you okay?” Carter spoke as he turned on the light in the bedroom.
“I’m fine. I’m sorry if I woke you.”
“I was just in the bathroom and I heard you. Did you have a nightmare?”
I stared at him as my racing heart began to calm down.
“Something like that. I’m fine. Go back to sleep,” I spoke.
He turned and went back on the couch. The feeling that I had when he touched me in his kitchen that one night was the same feeling as when I touched him for the first time in the hospital as a child. The same feeling I had never felt with anyone else before.
I was restless the rest of the night, so I got up at the crack of dawn, quietly got dressed, and walked down to the beach. I stood there as the sun started to rise over the lake and mountains, still thinking about the dream I had last night. Only it wasn’t a dream, it was a memory from that day. We met that day when he was in excruciating pain, and then again, all these years later. He was still in pain, but this time, it was a different kind of pain.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Carter
I got up from the couch and noticed the cottage was quiet. Glancing over to the bedroom, I saw that Zoey wasn’t there or in the bathroom. Walking over to the window that provided a spectacular view of the lake, I saw her standing by the water with her hands tucked into the pockets of a light jacket she was wearing. She was probably overthinking what happened between us last night, even though I made it very clear that it meant nothing. I put on a sweatshirt, made two cups of coffee, and walked down to where she was standing.
“Morning,” I spoke as I handed her a coffee cup.
“Morning. Thank you. You missed the sunrise.”
“I bet it was nice,” I spoke as I sipped my coffee.
“It was incredible. Look at this view. All this nature and the mountains.”
“I will admit it’s pretty. Do you want to talk about your nightmare last night?” I asked as I stared out at the lake.
“No. It wasn’t even a nightmare. It was more of a memory from my childhood.”
“It must have been a bad memory to make you react the way you did.”
“It wasn’t bad. It was just something I had forgotten about. We need to do that.” She pointed out to a couple who was kayaking in the lake.
“Why?” I asked.
“So we can scatter Nora’s ashes.”
“Why can’t we scatter them right here?”
“Really?” She glanced over at me. “Are you just going to stand here and dump them all in one spot and risk them getting blown on shore? If we take a kayak out far enough, we can scatter them where it’s nothing but water.”
I sighed. “We really need to get on the road to Sedona. Have you forgotten how long of a drive it is?”
“No, I haven’t. But do you really want to do this half-assed?” Her brow raised.
“I’ll go shower and then we can head to the lobby to find out where we can rent one. But we’re going to need to hurry because it’s already seven thirty. I want to be on the road by nine.”
After I quickly showered and got dressed, Zoey and I took our bags to the lobby and had the desk hold them for us until after our little kayaking adventure. We walked out to the back of the hotel and down the beach, where we found the rental place.
“Do you want our all-day rental?” the guy behind the counter asked.
“No. We’ll only be out there about a half hour.”
“Oh.” He looked at me strangely.
After I paid and signed the paperwork, I asked Zoey, “You do know how to kayak, right?”
“How hard can it be?”
“You’ve never done this before?” I asked with irritation.
“No.”
“For fuck sakes.” I shook my head and sighed. “You’ll sit in the front and I’ll sit in the back. All you have to do is paddle from side to side and we need to do it in unison. Understand?”
“Okay. No problem.”
We climbed into the kayak and began paddling out.
“Like this?” Zoey asked from up front.
“Yes. Just like that.”
Before long, Zoey was out of unison and our paddles were clashing.
“Zoey!” I shouted.
“Sorry.”
A small smile crossed my face as I watched her from behind.
Once we were far enough out, we stopped paddling and I opened the backpack I had stored in the kayak. Taking out urn number one, I held it in my hands, finding it difficult to move.
“It’s okay, Carter. This is what she wanted,” Zoey spoke.
“I know. Just give me a second.”
I took in a deep breath and tipped the urn so it was over the water.
“Paddle, Zoey,” I spoke.
She did
as I asked, and as the kayak started to slowly move, a light wind swept over not only us, but also Nora’s ashes and spread them over parts of the lake.
“Rest in peace, baby sister,” I whispered.
****
Zoey
I smiled as I looked a few feet in front of the kayak and saw Nora standing on the water. I turned and glanced at Carter as he sat there and held the urn.
“Do you think she’s happy?” he asked.
“Yes. I do,” I replied.
He stared at me, and to my surprise, a small smile crossed his lips. It was in that moment that a tiny piece of the darkness that shrouded him began to fade. I turned and looked at Nora, who was still standing there.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
I smiled as she faded into the distance.
“I think we should head back and get on the road,” Carter spoke.
“Sounds like a plan.”
We both picked up our paddles and began paddling back to shore. By time we returned the kayak, grabbed our bags from the hotel, and loaded the SUV, it was nine thirty. As soon as we both climbed in and shut the door, Carter sat there with his hands gripping the steering wheel.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
He slowly turned his head and looked at me.
“I don’t know. I just have this weird feeling that maybe we should go back inside the hotel and eat breakfast before we leave.”
“We’re already a half hour behind,” I spoke.
“I’m aware of that, Zoey.”
“Then let’s go. I’m starving.”
We climbed out of the SUV and went inside to the Sierra Café.
“Table for two,” Carter spoke to the hostess.
We followed her to our table, took our seats, and looked over the breakfast menu. After placing our order, I wrapped my hands around the white coffee cup and stared at Carter while he made a phone call to his office. He was so handsome and I couldn’t stop thinking about what happened last night. No one had ever made me feel the way he did in those moments and it scared me. It scared me because I knew, in some way, we belonged together and that was something he’d never see. Not until he put closure on Angelique and his baby’s death.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Carter
Shortly after I hung up with Ross, our food came and I told Zoey we needed to eat quickly so we could get on the road and head to Sedona. I was worried about the time, so I called the Enchantment Resort, explained our situation, and ended up booking another night just in case. Zoey sat across from me and her eyes burned brightly into mine.
“What?” I asked.
“I’m just wondering how you’re doing, that’s all. I know it’s hard to scatter Nora’s ashes.”
“I’m doing fine. I really have no choice. Do I?”
“If you want to talk about it—”
“Dammit, Zoey. I don’t want to talk about it. Why the fuck are you always trying to get me to open up? It’s not who I am, so leave it alone,” I spoke a little too loud and the two old ladies at the next table looked over at us.
“Okay,” she softly spoke and continued to eat her breakfast.
The rest of the time spent at the café was quiet. I had pissed Zoey off. I could tell because she wouldn’t look at me. But she needed to understand that I wouldn’t or never would talk about anything. As soon as I paid the bill, we climbed into the SUV and headed to Sedona. We were about five miles in when suddenly we hit a traffic jam.
“What the hell is this?” I sighed.
“I see sirens up ahead. It looks like an accident.”
“Great.” I threw my hands up. “Just fucking great. At this rate, we’re never going to get to Sedona.”
After a while, traffic started to slowly move, and when we got up to where the accident was, Zoey rolled down the window and asked the police officer when it happened.
“Excuse me. When did this accident happen?”
“About an hour ago,” the officer responded.
“Thank you.” She rolled her window up.
“Why did you want to know when the accident happened?” I asked her.
“Remember that weird feeling you had, so we ended up going back into the hotel for breakfast?”
“Yeah?”
“Describe it for me, please.”
“What?” I frowned at her.
“Describe that feeling you had, because you were so adamant about getting on the road.”
“I don’t know.” I sighed. “I was hungry and I figured you were too. What exactly are you trying to say?”
“Nothing really.” She shrugged. “You had a weird feeling so we stayed back, and because we stayed back, we weren’t involved in the accident that probably happened at the precise time we were going to be on that road.”
“So you’re saying if we didn’t stay and eat breakfast, we would have been the ones in the accident?”
“Yes. That’s exactly what I’m saying. Fate intervened.”
I sighed as I tightly gripped the steering wheel.
“There you go again, talking all that nonsense. I don’t believe in fate and I don’t believe in intuition. I’m going to ask you one last time, Zoey, just stop with all the bullshit because it’s really getting on my nerves,” I shouted.
I glanced over at her as she stared at me with tears in her eyes. I shook my head and looked straight ahead as I drove on the highway. Damn it.
“Can you pull over, please?” she asked.
“Why?” I glanced over at her.
“Just pull over, Carter,” she snapped.
I sighed heavily as I pulled onto the shoulder of the highway. Zoey opened the door and climbed out.
“What the fuck are you doing?” I yelled before she slammed the door shut and began walking along the shoulder.
I waited for a couple cars to pass and then I climbed out and went after her.
“Zoey, stop right now. Turn around and get back in the car!” I shouted.
“Leave me alone, Carter. I just need some space for a few minutes.”
“What? We’re in the middle of the highway. You can’t have space for a few minutes! Get back in the car. You’re setting us more behind than we already are!”
She ignored me, and I grew angrier the further she walked away.
“Fine! You want space.” I threw my hands up in the air. “You got it, Zoey!”
I walked backed to the SUV and climbed inside. Laying my head back on the headrest, I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath. A few moments later, I heard the door open and Zoey climbed inside.
“Are you finished having your tantrum?” I asked.
She glared at me and pursed her lips.
“I think it’s best if neither one of us speaks to each other the rest of the trip,” she spoke.
“I agree, but that will be totally impossible.”
“Nothing is impossible.” She placed her earbuds in her ears.
I drove for the next three hours in silence before Zoey removed her earbuds and spoke, “I have to pee.”
“I’ll get off at the next exit. Are you hungry?” I asked.
“No,” she spoke with a slight attitude in her tone.
We pulled into the first restaurant we saw, got out of the car, and headed inside so we both could use the bathroom.
“Excuse me,” an older woman stopped me.
“Yes?”
“Are you a paying customer? Our bathrooms are for paying customers only.”
Was this woman serious?
I reached in my pocket and pulled out a hundred-dollar bill.
“Will this do?” I asked.
“That will do just fine.” She smiled as she ripped the bill from my hand.
After I was finished using the bathroom, I walked out and didn’t see Zoey anywhere.
“Did you see the woman I walked in with come out of the ladies’ room?” I asked the older woman.
“She went back outside. She’s a sweet girl. I gave her a bag of o
ur homemade chocolate chip cookies.”
“Thank you.”
I climbed into the SUV and pulled out of the parking lot. Zoey opened the bag of cookies and took one out.
“Those were some really expensive cookies.” I smirked.
She glanced over at me and didn’t say a word.
“Are they good?” I asked.
“Yep,” she replied.
“May I have one?”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Zoey
I tossed the bag onto his lap. He could get his own cookie if he wanted one. He had pushed me to my limits. I was a reasonable and forgiving person, but him—he was an asshole, plain and simple. Just when I thought I poked a tiny hole in the darkness that surrounded him, he found a way to close up that hole. So, I thought it was best that we didn’t interact for a while. Everything I said was wrong in his eyes. He was closed off to the point of no return and that was what I needed to accept. It was six p.m. when we arrived in Las Vegas.
“I think we should stop, grab some dinner, and walk around for a bit. My legs are starting to cramp up. It’s only a four-and-a-half-hour drive to Sedona from here. Sound good?” He glanced at me.
“Sure,” I quietly spoke.
He pulled up to the valet at the Bellagio Hotel.
“There’s a restaurant in here called Fix. They have amazing food,” he spoke.
We climbed out of the SUV and headed inside. The minute we walked into the lobby of the hotel, I stopped and looked around, taking in the beauty and the excitement that was all around me.
“Have you ever been to Vegas?” Carter asked.
“No. This place is really crowded. Are you sure we’ll be able to get a table?”
“We’ll get a table.” He smirked.
When we reached the restaurant, the hostess with the short black hair, low-cut, cleavage-revealing tight shirt, and short black skirt greeted us with a smile.
“Do you have a reservation?”
“Actually, I don’t, but the name is Carter Grayson.”
“Oh. Welcome, Mr. Grayson. Is it just the two of you?”
“Yes.” He smiled.