Never Forgotten Love Read online

  “Richard, I’ve always believed that we don’t meet people by accident, they are meant to cross our paths for a reason, sometimes we know why, other times we don’t. Our lives crossed and that’s why we’re here right now, the rest will continue to expose itself to us as time goes on.”

  “How did you get to be so wise at such a young age Beckett?”

  “I don’t know if that’s wisdom, but it’s my belief I’ve learned to have, probably because of how I was raised and what I went through, I had to believe things were happening to me for a reason and I held onto that belief. If I didn’t think that way, I wouldn’t have survived. That’s why I know Harlow and I will be together, I have no doubt,” I say with certainty.

  The girls walk in just then. Richard clears his throat, looks at Nicole, and gives her a sweet knowing smile. “Are you both ready?” I ask.

  “Yes,” they both say. I give Nicole a hug and tell her to relax and enjoy herself. Richard grabs her luggage and puts it into his SUV as I take Harlow’s and put it in the Jeep. Nicole sets the alarm and locks the door as we leave our separate ways.

  I drive Harlow back to the bakery to pick up her car. I walk her to her car, inspecting it before she gets into it. Once inside I tell her to lock her doors and start for the house.

  I follow behind Harlow as we drive toward my house. When all of a sudden out of the corner of my eye I see it before I can react.

  Chapter Fifteen

  GLASS IS RAINING ALL OVER ME; my body is jolted hitting hard metal frame of my Jeep’s door. My head bashes into the window shattering the glass. The side of my face feels warm; something is running down my face. I hear shouting and screaming. I try to move not realizing I am hanging upside down. I move my arms to brace myself my shoulder aches, I reach for the seatbelt knowing that when I undo it, I’ll fall. I’m spitting debris out of my mouth. I hear more screaming. SHIT! HARLOW! I unfasten my seatbelt halfway bracing myself from falling as I fight to crawl out of my driver’s side window. My head hurts as I place my fingers to where the pain is emanating from its wet, sticky as it dries on my fingertips. I try to focus as I try to stand. I see Harlow’s car, she is standing outside the door screaming. I see Mitchell pushing her back inside the cars back seat shutting her inside as Davis slides into the driver’s side shutting the door and squealing away. I feel light headed, everything is spinning, and I hear Mitchell calling my name as the world goes black.

  God my head hurts, it’s throbbing, pulsating, the pain is excruciating. I reach for my head, but I can’t move. I try to open my eyes, my lids feel so heavy, I’m so tired, and the blackness takes me again.

  I hear crying, who’s crying, it sounds so familiar. “Why isn’t he waking up, I don’t understand.” Richard, that’s Richard. I try to speak, but nothing comes out of my lips.

  “Baby, wake up, please Beck you need to wake up.” Harlow, she sounds so scared. NO, the darkness takes me again.

  God, my body hurts, I need to move, oh that’s nice, I know that smell, that’s Harlow’s new smell I love it. I feel her caressing my face, she whispering in my ear. Kissing me with feather soft kisses. God, I love the way she touches me. Shit, the darkness comes and takes me again.

  My hand feels wet, my hand, someone is holding it. “Beckett, please come back to me, I need you.” Harlow, I love you! My Harlow girl. NO, not the darkness again.

  My hand is wet again, why, why is my hand always wet. Opening my eyes I see Harlow, her head is on my hand, her shoulders are shaking, and I slowly move my hand and stroke her hair. Shhh, It’s ok, don’t cry my Harlow girl, shhh, don’t cry.

  “Beckett, BECKETT! Oh My God! Beckett!” I wince at her raised voice. “I’m sorry,” she says as she proceeds to lavish kisses all over my face. “Don’t go anywhere, I’ll be right back.” I watch as she walks around my bed and opens the door. “He’s awake, Beckett is finally awake!” She’s almost jumping up and down with excitement.

  Before I know it, there is so much chattering it’s hurting my head. I close my eyes and put my hands on my head. All of a sudden, it gets deathly quiet. I remove my hands from my head and slowly start to open my eyes. As I open my eyes, I see a middle-aged woman leaning over me with a purple shirt on with multi-colored smiley faces on it. “Hi, do you know where you are?” she asks.

  “Hospital.”

  “Do you know your name?”

  “Beckett Dalton.”

  “How are you feeling Mr. Dalton?” She holds up a chart with faces on it. It had sad faces, happy faces, angry faces; I looked over the faces on the sheet and found the one that shows a painful face. She turns the page over and shows me another picture; this one has a face of pain from one to ten. I point to the face at number eight. “Ok let me get you something for that.” Within minutes, she was back and putting something in my IV. It didn’t take more than a couple minutes before my eye started to cross, it’s like the old TV’s were the vertical hold is out, I closed my eyes to rest them.

  I hear chattering, my head still hurts, but not as bad as before. I slowly open my eyes, the room is darkened, the windows covered, only a small light by the door is on. I look toward the voices, not able to make out their faces. My left hand feels heavy as I glance over at it. Harlow’s head is laying on my hand, her hand in mine. I reach over with my right hand and caress her hair. She starts to stir as she slowly looks up at me.

  With a big smile, she whispers my name. “Beckett.” She draws her hand over my cheek, caressing it tenderly. “Baby,” she leans forward kissing my cheek. “You had me so scared.”

  Within moments, Richard and Mitchell were beside my bed. “Thirsty,” was the only thing I could say at the moment, my mouth was so dry, I couldn’t even swallow. Mitchell went out the door and within minutes, a nurse followed. She was carrying a little pitcher and a glass with a straw in it.

  “Mr. Dalton, take it real slow.” I downed it and it felt so good. She sat the pitcher down on the nightstand. “There is more in here when you get thirsty again. I am going to let your doctor know you are awake.” I nodded at her.

  “You had us pretty scared Beckett,” Richard says as he and Mitchell pull up chairs.

  I look at Harlow she looks tired and scared. “What day is it?”

  “It’s Monday man,” Mitchell says, “you have been out for days.”

  I look at Harlow she nods at me. I slowly rise up on my elbows. However, my head starts to throb again. “Beck lie down and use the controls.” I lie back down and raise the head of the bed up.

  “So what happened? Richard, you are supposed to be on your vacation.”

  “What? You think I am going to leave when you are in a coma?”

  I turn and look at him. “A what?”

  “Yeah Beckett, you have been in a coma since Friday night,” Mitchell says.

  Stretching my neck, I look at Mitchell, “So tell me what happened.”

  “You had dropped me off at my car and we were driving to your house when all of a sudden a truck T-bones you rolling the Jeep,” Harlow starts. “I was about a half a block ahead of you when it happened. I pulled over and stopped as another car came and stopped beside my car. It was Brad; he was heading for me when Mitchell and Davis came running from their truck. Everything happened so fast.”

  “Davis and I were behind you, we saw the truck slam into you causing the Jeep to roll. I sped around you and the truck and saw Brad. Davis ran to Harlow opening the back door, pushing her inside, Davis got into the front seat and drove her away to safety. I jumped out of my truck and stayed by your side until the ambulance arrived; you had crawled out of the Jeep and then passed out.”

  “So who hit me? If Brad were waiting that could only mean it was a distraction and Stacey was the one in the truck,” I said as I looked up at Mitchell.

  Harlow gasps. “Stacey…my Stacey?”

  “Yes, she was working with Brad. She had applied at our office for Raven’s job. When we found out about Brad in our office, I found a notepad with Stacey’s nam
e on it. When you said you had just hired her I told Mitchell so he could keep an eye on her when she was around you. It was one of those, ‘keep your enemies closer’ situations, and before you say it, I didn’t tell you because I wanted you to be yourself around her, and I thought it would be too difficult for you if you knew. I’m sorry I kept that from you, but I wanted to see what she would do. We figured that if she was so eager to get hired by one of us, he was getting ready to make his move.”

  “I may not like it, but I understand why you did it, and you are right, I probably would have blown it if I had known.”

  I nod. “So where is she now?”

  “She hit you so hard it punctured your gas tank and her fuel line, she was unconscious from the impact, your Jeep was upside down, and the side windows were shattered. What we have put together is that Harlow tried to call you once they were on the road to make sure you were ok, your phone was on the now upside down roof of the Jeep as the fuel was seeping out of the Jeep and truck, the electronics in the phone as it rang flashed a fire. Her doors were jammed from the impact; no one could get to her.”

  “Oh my God.” I looked up at Mitchell. “You pulled me clear,” I said more as a statement than a question. “Brad?”

  “As soon as Davis threw Harlow into the back seat, he ran. He had tried to open the passenger side door of Stacey’s truck but couldn’t open it. It didn’t take long for the flames to consume the truck. The fire trucks arrived shortly after, but it was too late.”

  “What a waste. To be involved with someone like him and…” I shake my head. “Are you ok?” I ask Harlow.

  “Yes, I was pretty shaken up, like I said, things happened so fast. I first see the truck hitting you…It was like slow motion. I pulled over and was starting to run to you when Brad confronted me, I think I was in shock, I barely remember Davis pushing me in the back seat. I remember screaming, you were covered in blood.” Tears start to run down her cheeks. I reach to wipe them away when the door opens.

  A man in a white lab coat enters the room; he reaches his hand out to shake mine. “Mr. Dalton, I am Dr. Peter’s, I have been attending to you while you have been with us, how are you feeling?”

  “Other than a headache and some sore muscles I think I am doing well.”

  “Good, as you might know, you have a pretty nasty concussion, so you will probably have that headache for a while. You also had several lacerations on the scalp, and I am sure you are pretty sore, and I’ll have a nurse come in and take your catheter out.” I look at Harlow then back at the doctor. “It’s standard procedure when someone is in a coma.”

  “I saw the pictures on the news the other night. You are very lucky that you had someone there looking out for you. The person that hit you wasn’t so lucky. I want you to take it easy for the next couple of weeks. If your headaches start getting worse or you are getting nauseous, I want you to get back in as soon as possible. We have done a CAT scan and there is no bleeding on the brain, but again if they get worse get back in immediately. I’ll send the nurse in, we will get your discharge papers draw and ready for you to sign, and you will be out of here. If everything is ok, I want to see you in two weeks.”

  “Thank you, Doctor.” The doctor places his hand on my shoulder, turns, and walks out.

  A few minutes later the nurse walks in with some items in plastic packages, she pulls the curtain in front of the door and looks at Richard and Mitchell.

  “We’ll step outside,” Richard says chuckling.

  Harlow tries to let go of my hand and stands, but I hold tight to it. “Please don’t go.” I look up at her.

  “Are you sure you want me to stay?”

  “I wouldn’t want anyone else, please stay.”

  “Ok.”

  Harlow continues to stand as she faces me. Although this is embarrassing, I don’t want to be by myself. It’s really the first time I don’t want to be by myself.

  The nurse finishes and leaves the room. Harlow brings me my clothes she brought from home. She helps me get dressed. She helps me put my legs through my hipsters, bending over makes my head pound. She helps me with my jeans and as I stand up, I drop the hospital gown and Harlow gasps. I look down at her to see what she is gasping at but don’t see anything. She takes my hand and pulls me to the mirror. I look at my face, it’s scruffy, and then I look at my chest. “Holy Fuck!” I can’t stop looking at the bruise that starts at my left shoulder and travels diagonally to my right hip and across my abdomen. While I am standing there, I brush my teeth and wash my face. Harlow is by my side just in case I lose my balance. As if, she would be able to catch me. Luckily, she brought me a button up shirt so I didn’t have to put anything over my head. The guys walk back in as I sit for Harlow to help put my shoes on and wait for the discharge papers.

  A little while later, the nurse walks in with my papers. I sign them and we walk out.

  “I’m starving,” I say. Of course I would be I haven’t eaten since Friday night. “Why don’t we all go out together? Richard, call Nicole and see if she can join us.”

  “Hey, do you mind if I call Raven? That way I can kill two birds with one stone. Davis has been watching her and he needs to be relieved.”

  “No, not at all”

  “Raven has been worried about you. I talked to her Saturday to let her know what happened and that Davis would be watching her,” Mitchell says.

  “She is a diamond in the rough, she ran the office today by herself, I’m really glad she is with us,” Richard says as he looks from Mitchell to me.

  “Why don’t I go pick up Raven and you pick up Nicole and we’ll meet back over at Oswego Grill.”

  “Sounds good to me, I’ll take Beckett and Harlow.”

  We get into Richard’s SUV, I can’t imagine if I had been in a smaller car. My Jeep was a tank; it’s hard to believe that the truck rolled it. “Richard, what do you know about the accident? It’s hard for me to think that a truck did that to my Jeep.”

  “She was driving a truck that had been lifted and had a huge grill guard that covered the whole front grill of the truck. Since it was lifted, it had more leverage and could push the Jeep at a higher angle, and evidently at the speed she was going, you’re lucky that it just rolled once.”

  “I can’t believe I have to get another vehicle I really loved my Jeep.”

  “Then get another one.”

  “Yeah, I’ll call Bill and see if he has any in stock. I guess I need to call my insurance and let them know and get a rental ordered.”

  “I’ve taken care of that for you,” Harlow says. “After I calmed down on Friday, Davis took me back to your house; I found your insurance information and let your agent know, I told him that you will need a rental until you got a new car. It is in the garage waiting for you. I figured that once they released you, you wouldn’t stay home so I made sure it was ready for you.”

  “Harlow has been at the hospital ever since they brought you in, she hasn’t left your side, so she needs a lot of rest too,” Richard says.

  “What have you been doing with the bakery if you have been at the hospital?” I question, “You need to take care of yourself and your business, and you can’t afford to shut it down for me.”

  “It was far more important for me to be with you than my bakery Beck, you should know that. I called one of my old co-workers, Kiley, to come in and help. We went to the pastry school together. When I explained the situation, she dropped everything to help.”

  “That sounds like a real good friend.”

  “She is, I helped her out in school once and she is between jobs right now, I don’t know, I might see if she wants to work with me, she already knows what she is doing, and so we can maybe start doing additional things in the bakery. I wouldn’t have to teach her anything.”

  “That sounds like a great idea.”

  We pull up to Nicole’s house and Richard meets her at the front door. She got into the front seat and looks at me. “You look like you have seen better days. Yo
u too,” she says to Harlow.

  “Yeah, I look forward to a nice long shower and my own bed, with Harlow cuddled up next to me,” I say. “I’m sure Harlow would appreciate a shower herself.” I look at Harlow, “You haven’t probably slept since Thursday.”

  “Friday I grabbed a bag with our things in it and I would clean up in the mornings in your room.”

  “You should have stayed at the house; you would have been more comfortable.”

  “It wasn’t about comfort; it was about you, and being with you. You almost died for me Beckett, and I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if anything happened to you.”

  “It’s going to take more than a truck to off me. I have too much to live for to head toward the light that fast.”

  “How are you feeling Beckett?” Nicole asks.

  “I’m doing ok, I feel like I have been hit by a truck, no pun intended, and I have a headache. It could’ve been a lot worse, I could be like Stacey.”

  “What about Stacey? Isn’t that the girl you just hired?”

  “Yes, evidently she was working with Brad, she is the one that T-boned him.”

  “Oh…so she was the one in the fire.”

  “Yes.”

  Richard parks the SUV and we walk into the restaurant. Mitchell and Raven are already there. When Raven sees me she runs over and slams into me, wrapping her arms around my neck, I wince, and a moan escapes my lips.

  “God, Mr. Dalton, I was so worried about you,” tears were brimming her eyes. I slowly catch my breath and softly hug her.

  “Raven I’ll be fine, I’m just a little sore, and call me Beckett, please.”

  “Shit, I’m sorry, I wasn’t even thinking, and yes I’ll drop the mister.” She let’s go from around my neck and carefully steps back.” I would laugh, but it hurts too bad.

  Dinner was nice; it is nice to share this with not only Richard and Nicole, but also Mitchell and Raven. After dinner, Richard drives Harlow and I back to my place. I am dog-tired. I just want to curl up with Harlow and go to sleep. We say our goodnights and walk into the house. Richard waits until the door is closed before he pulls away.