I don’t think that I can go back to being just friends. Not when I know how great we are together.
I hurry to pull my pants and dress shirt back on and walk barefoot down the hallway. I’ll just find Bella and help her with whatever needs to be done. Then we can get back to bed.
I decide that we need to have a conversation as I walk down the stairs. We need to really be open and talk about what this is between us. I need to finally man up and tell her that I love her, that I’ve always loved her.
I head into the ballroom and see that it’s mostly empty. There’s just one couple left and they smile at me as they head for the door. I try to smile back at them as they pass but my head is focused on where Bella could be.
I head into the hall and look in the dining room and kitchen. I check every room on the first floor for my little rose, but she’s nowhere to be found. I’m on edge as I take the stairs two at a time and burst back into the library. Bella’s shoes are gone and I sink back down onto the couch. I try to call her cell but it goes straight to voicemail and as I listen to her voice telling me to leave a message, my head fills with all of the possibilities that could make Bella leave without saying goodbye. Through it all, one keeps coming back to me.
She regretted what we did and didn’t know how to tell me.
Screw that.
I’m not letting her go. I just need to find her and then I’m going to show her all of the ways that we were meant to be. I’m going to prove just how good we could be together.
Mrs. Porter and Mr. Rogers find me still sitting there half an hour later. They take one look at me and sit down on either side of me. It’s Mrs. Porter who asks me what happened. I spill everything out, minus the dirtier details, and when I’m done I ask them what to do. How can I prove that no one will love her more than I will?
“How do I make her see?” I ask them and they share a glance before Mr. Rogers answers me.
“You need to trust her. I know that girl and she wouldn’t just leave. Not without a good reason. She’s been in love with you for as long as I can remember. Don’t let your head fill with doubts. She wants you just as much as you want her. Find her and give her a chance to explain. I’m sure that she has a good reason. I know that you’re not the most patient person, but you need to try. Just wait for her to come back.”
Mrs. Porter nods, her hand rubbing circles on my back and it strikes me then that maybe I’ve had that family that Mrs. Porter is always telling me to get all along.
Chapter 7
Bella
* * *
“Sorry for dragging you away from Harry,” Gracelyn says as I sit beside her hospital bed.
“You don’t need to apologize. You gave me quite the scare though. Maybe lead with ``I'm okay but I’m in the hospital” next time you leave a voicemail,” I tell her as I rub at my tired eyes.
“My phone was dying! I didn’t mean to just say I’m in the hospital and hang up.”
“Well now we know in the future. You could have at least told me what hospital you were in so that I didn’t have to call ten of them.”
“Again, my phone died. Next time I call I’ll just tell you the essentials. Hospital name. I’m fine.”
I laugh at that and she grins even though it looks like it hurts her.
I had gone downstairs to check on the party and grab my phone out of the pocket of my dress. When I had checked and seen a missed call from Gracelyn, I hadn’t been worried.
Then I heard the voicemail.
She had been driving home from another meeting with the Thanksgiving client, Dash, and a deer had jumped out in front of her. She tried to swerve but hit it anyway. Too bad for me, the voicemail didn’t say any of that. Just that she was in the hospital before the message cut off. I had panicked and left and called every hospital in a twenty-mile radius looking for her.
It wasn’t until I got to her room that I remembered that I had left Harry without telling him what was going on. By then, my phone was dead and I couldn’t remember his cell phone. I tried to find a nurse who would let me borrow their charger but I didn’t have any luck with that.
Now it’s twelve hour later and I’m sure that he must be worried sick.
I told Gracelyn a bit about what happened and she squealed with me and swooned with me at all the right parts. I could tell that she was happy for me, for both of us. She’s known how I feel about Harry for as long as I’ve felt it for him.
She’s been telling me she’s fine and trying to get me to go back to him all morning but I can’t just leave my best friend in the hospital. She’s supposed to be discharged soon since she’s just a little banged up and I promised her that I would go see him after I dropped her off. Her car is totaled so she’s going to be relying on me for rides until she can save up for a new car.
The door opens behind me and I assume it’s the nurse but instead a worried looking guy rushes in and over to Gracelyn’s side.
“Uh…” I say, my wide eyes looking over at Gracelyn.
She rolls her eyes at him, waving him away but he just grips her hand tighter.
“Why didn’t you call me?” He asks, his gaze roaming over her bruised face.
“Why would I call you? You’re my client. Our client. Nothing more,” she says to him. To me she says, “Bella, this is Dash Montgomery. Our Thanksgiving client and the bane of my existence.”
“Don’t mind her! I think it’s just the pain pills. I’m sure she doesn’t know what she’s saying,” I rush to say as she pushes Dash away once again.
He laughs at that. “I doubt it. She’s been telling me that all week.”
I watch as he ignores her pushing him away and just grabs her hand, interlocking their fingers.
“You should have called me,” he says quietly and suddenly I feel like I’m intruding on their moment.
The nurse comes in before I can try to think of an excuse to leave and we spend the next few minutes gathering Gracelyn’s old clothes as she signs paperwork.
“Now, she shouldn’t be alone for twenty-four hours. She hit her head pretty hard and while there was no sign of a concussion, we’d like someone to keep an eye out for her.
“I won’t let her out of my sight,” Dash says before I can answer the nurse and I look over at Gracelyn.
She just rolls her eyes and moves to sit in the wheelchair. I carry her bag as Dash pushes the wheelchair and Gracelyn grumbles. When we get outside, Dash runs off to pull his car up and I turn to look at Gracelyn with a raised eyebrow.
“Anything else you want to tell me?”
“Nope. Why don’t you go put your man out of his misery?”
“Are you going to be alright with him?” I ask, nodding to where Dash is pulling up in his shiny BMW.
“Yeah, I can handle him and I’ll be able to get a lot of work done with him being forced to sit still and answer my questions.”
“Okay, I’m going back to Harry’s. I’ll call you to check on you later. I can help out with the Thanksgiving stuff right after I clean up from the Halloween party.”
“Sounds like a plan,” she says before she stands from the wheelchair.