We walked into the room and I tried to take my hand from Josh’s, but he held on to it tight. Lynda looked over at us, and immediately, she looked down at our hands and then back up at Josh. She tried to smile, but I could see the hurt in her eyes. Although she was hurting, I still didn’t trust her, especially not after she’d lied to me about Josh asking her to marry him.

“Josh…” Lynda said.

He let go of my hand and walked up to the side of her bed.

“Hey, I’m so sorry this happened to you, babe.”

My heart slammed into my chest when he called her babe. She tried to smile at him. When she glanced at me, I smiled. If looks could kill, I would have been on the floor in two seconds flat.

Then she looked back at Josh.

“I had a dream. You left me…” She glared back at me.

Oh.My.God. She knows. Somehow, she knew Josh and I had been together.

“What?” Josh asked.

“I had a dream on the plane on our way back. I woke up in a panic, so when we landed, I ran to my car to try to get to you right away.” She started to cry or at least attempted to cry and then she called out in pain because of her ribs.

Oh, she’s good.

“Lynda, please don’t be upset.”

“I was trying to get to you when I had the accident. Please don’t ever leave, Josh. Please don’t ever leave me.”

Josh put his head down on the hospital bed, and Lynda looked up at me. The look she gave me showed me exactly what type of person she was. She knew exactly what she was doing.

Then, she gave me a smirk.

“Heather, can I talk to Josh alone, please?”

“Oh, um… Yeah... sure.”

I left and sat in the waiting room. About fifteen minutes later, Josh came walking out, looking white as a ghost. He sat down next me and put his head in his hands.

“Motherfucker.”

“Josh, you have to know she’s trying to make you feel guilty. She knows we’ve been together.”

“I can’t leave her right now, Heather.”

“What?”

“I just can’t walk away from her. You heard how upset she is. She’ll be devastated.”

“Oh my god Josh, can you not see she just came up with that stupid story because you walked into that room holding my hand? She’s playing you and you’re falling for it. Can I just call a Rebecca here?”

“Heather, stop. She’s in such bad shape. How could she come up with a story that fast?”

Michelle clearly saw our conversation was not one to interrupt because she turned away and walked the other direction.

“I just need more time. I need to help her heal and get in a good place mentally before I just leave her.”

I shook my head and stood up.

“I knew this was going to happen. I knew there would be some reason why you wouldn’t leave her. I knew it was stupid to be with you while you were still with her.” I tried not to cry, but I felt a tear slowly slide down my face. I turned away and started to walk to the elevator.

Josh called out for me, but I didn’t stop. I hit the down button and thanked God the doors opened immediately. I could hear Josh telling Michelle that he would be right back. I got in the elevator and tried to hit the main floor button as fast as I could. Then, I saw him as he started running toward the elevator.

Shit! Close, you damn doors. They started to close, but Josh stuck his arm between the doors and they opened back up.

He got in, reached over, and hit the button to close the doors. As the elevator started to descend, I backed away from him, but he came at me and kissed me. I pushed him off of me.

“Stop. You can’t do this to me, Josh! You can’t.”

“Just give me a couple of weeks. Please, Heather, you’re the only person I want to be with, but I can’t leave her right now. I’d be a dick if I walked out on her and left her like this.”

I knew he was right, but I also knew that Lynda was going to do everything in her power to keep Josh.

“She’s going to trick you into staying with her, Josh. I don’t trust her.

I felt sick to my stomach.

“Please, princess, just give me some time. I promise that we’ll be together. I promise.”

He pulled me to him and kissed me with so much passion that it felt like he was trying to pour his love into my body. Then, he pulled away and smiled at me.

“I love you, Heather. I love you more than anything.”

“I love you, too, Josh. I probably need to get back to Mason. What about your truck?”

“I’ll see what time Gunner and Ells are leaving, and I’ll catch a ride back with them to get my truck. Can we spend some time together before I come back to Austin?”

As much as I wanted to say yes, I shook my head.

“I don’t think it would be right, not while you’re still with Lynda.”

He looked down and stared at the ground. When he looked back up, he had tears in his eyes, and my heart was breaking all over again.

“Please wait for me, Heather. Please.”

I smiled, leaned over, and kissed him softly on the lips.

I turned and walked out of the elevator. I left the hospital and headed toward my car.

I didn’t start crying until I pulled out and drove away.

The worse feeling came over me. Lynda was not going to give up on Josh without a fight.

I also knew she wasn’t going to fight fair.

CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE

JEFF

I walked into the Oasis with Luke in my arms and Ari at my side. My baby boy, the love of my life, was two months old.

Ari looked beautiful, and just by looking at her, I would have never known she had a baby two months ago. She’d been riding Star and Sweet Pea bareback for weeks, and she seemed to be in heaven now that she could ride again.

I looked around for Gunner and Ellie.

“There they are!” Ari said, pointing to where they were standing in the waiting area.

We walked up to Gunner and Ellie and saw Jack, Grace, Emma, and Garrett with them.

“So, the gangs all here now,” Garrett said with a wink.

“Let me hold that baby,” Emma said as I handed Luke over to her.

Grace and Emma walked over to a bench and sat down.

When I put my hand on Ellie’s growing belly, I instantly felt the baby kick. Ellie and I both started to laugh.

“Still not going to find out?” I asked.

“Nope.”

“Ells, have you talked to Heather? How is she doing?” Ari asked.

Ellie’s smiled faded, and she looked at Gunner.

“I don’t know. Lynda now seems to be having some kind of mental breakdown, so Josh still hasn’t called it off with her. Heather is trying to act like she’s okay, but I know she’s dying inside. She went on a date the other day.”

“What? Why would she do that?” Ari asked in a panicked voice.

I pulled Ari closer to me and held on to her.

“I think she’s lonely, Ari. She’s so confused on what she should do. She loves Josh, but clearly, Lynda is not going to give up that easily.”

Ari said, “I think it’s time we kick some ass. Stupid bitch. Why does she want a guy who she knows wants to be with someone else? Douche-twat. Oh, sorry, Gunner. I know she’s your cousin.”

Gunner laughed and held up his hands.

“Hey y’all!” Heather said as she walked up and hugged everyone. “We’re a back room on the second floor.”

We all followed Heather into one of the larger rooms. I knew a few of the people, but most were friends of Heather’s aunt, uncles, and cousins or friends of Heather’s parents.

***

We talked, we laughed, and celebrated Heather’s graduation from UT. With the absence of her parents, I could tell that this happy occasion was very emotional for her family. Despite any sad thoughts, her grandfather seemed to be very proud of Heather.

I leaned over to Gunner. “Josh isn’t coming, I take it.”

“I talked to him earlier. Lynda had some kind of breakdown, and he couldn’t leave her.”

“Dude, does he know she’s playing him for a fucking fool?”