If you missed the Prologue of Go For It, check out this page. And now, sit back and enjoy the first chapter.
Chapter One
Two months later
Gretchen shut her front door and sighed. Worn out after a long day wrestling with kindergarteners and cold from an unseasonably chilly April day she dropped her purse on the entry table, tossed her coat onto a hook, and took in her oh-so-colorful appearance in the mirror. Her khaki skirt had a bright red hand print on her left hip.
Lovely.
Little monsters. Try to give the munchkins a fun Friday despite the rain and cold temperatures and they decided to finger paint her favorite skirt.
She’d just poured herself a glass of wine when her cell phone rang. Glass in hand, she fished the phone out of her purse and glanced at the number. JJ.
“Hey,” she answered, glad to have an adult to talk to.
“Gretchen, thank God!” The connection cut out. “–’s been in an accident. And my dad’s –ing –an’t get a hold –rothers.”
The words tumbled out of her friend’s lips so quickly it took Gretchen several moments to make sense of them. Trevor’s deep voice was there in the background, offering JJ support.
Gretchen frowned at the crappy connection, and put the wineglass down on the entry table.
“Say that again. Who’s been in an accident?” Not Trevor since he was with JJ or her father or brothers. That left Cindy or Baby…
“Greg.”
Gretchen’s knees buckled but she caught herself against the table. Her body flushed with adrenaline and she gripped the phone tighter.
“What happened? Please tell me he’s okay.”
There was more crackling on the line, stupid phone. She rushed out the front door, hoping for a better connection.
Without her coat the cool air seeped through her skirt and top but at least JJ’s voice came through crystal clear.
“I don’t know much. My dad’s fishing. We’re trying to catch a plane back to—”
“What can I do?” Gretchen interrupted.
“I—” The anguish in her best friend’s voice unravelled Gretchen’s last nerve.
Despite her turmoil since the Super Bowl party and her stern words to herself right after, she was scared for Greg. Far more than she should have been considering her vow to forget about him. But in her heart of hearts she wanted to believe that there was a happily ever after in her future and that nothing had really happened between him and Baby.
Perhaps it was time to face facts. After half a dozen dates and three rounds of speed dating in the last two months, she still wasn’t over Greg Fairchild. And she was starting to think she never would be.
“What hospital is he at?” She needed to be proactive, for her sake and for JJ’s. Now was not the time to give in to her emotions, especially not her fear.
She heard JJ parrot the question.
“Northeast Georgia,” Trevor answered in the background.
“I’ll go see what I can find out. You keep trying your brothers.”
“I can’t ask you to do that.”
“You’re not asking. I’m offering.”
There was a long pause. “Thank you.”
“I’m heading out now. I’ll call you soon.”
Getting a second wind, she clicked off, grabbed her purse and coat, and then jumped back in the car. It wouldn’t do to let her mind worry and wander to the worst case scenario. But she couldn’t stop wondering what had happened. And why JJ had called her instead of Cindy or Baby.
Maybe JJ hadn’t been able to get a hold of Baby. Maybe Gretchen was, once again, the second choice.
Don’t go there, Gretchen.
There was no use torturing herself, especially while she was zipping up 985 twelve miles per hour over the speed limit. She felt like her little Honda Civic was about to take off and fly the rest of the way there.
After parking, she jogged into the ER entrance and approached the desk. Winded and imagining the worst case scenario, all she could get out was “Greg Fairchild…”
The curly haired blonde looked up from a computer screen. She was straight-out-of-school young. “The hunk.”
She grinned and Gretchen felt a wave of jealousy come over the top of her head. Blonde, although she thought based on the woman’s eyebrows that her hair color was compliments of a bottle, big blue eyes, and a pert little nose. Plus there was a friendly, if not knowing, air about her.
But Gretchen couldn’t fault the other woman’s eyesight. Greg was a hunk so she obviously knew which patient Gretchen was referring to. That gave her heart a moment to calm. He was here.
“Are you family?”
Gretchen glanced from the blonde to the other voice. A tall, painfully thin brunette stared down at a clipboard as if she were performing brain surgery.
Right. There were rules about visitation and such.
The woman lifted her gaze from the clipboard and staked Gretchen with a stare. “I don’t see a sister listed on his chart.”
Sister? Did she look like his sister? She had brown hair and brown eyes, not to mention she was like a foot shorter than him… Oh.
The woman meant Gretchen couldn’t possibly be Greg’s girlfriend. Gretchen gathered all her conviction and lifted her chin. She wasn’t going to be kowtowed by a woman who looked like she’d sucked on a lemon for lunch. Not today.
She put as much authority into her voice as she could and let the lie roll off her tongue. “That’s because I’m his fiancé.”
There was a load of disbelief in the slight twist of the woman’s mouth and the crinkle between her brows.
“I’ll take her,” Blondie said, pushing away from the desk.
“Thank you.” The response was automatic but wooden.
“Don’t worry about her,” Blondie whispered when they were halfway down the hall. “She gets her panties in a twist any time she has competition.”
Gretchen’s bruised ego lifted a bit at the idea that the other woman actually considered her as competition, size sixteen skirt and all. Must be the breasts that men were so fond of and less endowed women longed for. They honestly didn’t realize what a pain in the back big boobs were.
Hands clutching her purse, she followed the nurse through a set of swinging doors and to the left.
“Your man is super lucky. Sad to hear about his friend though. I can understand why he’s brooding. But I bet he’s gorgeous when he smiles. You’ll make him smile again I bet.”
Gretchen didn’t say a word to the chatty nurse, afraid she’d give away the truth. Luckily, a heartbeat later the other woman knocked on an open door.
“Mr. Fairchild, your fiancé is here.”
Gretchen stepped past the nurse, unable to wait a second longer. The man she loved lay in the bed, propped up with several pillows. He turned his head slightly and focused on her. A heartbeat passed and she gently bit down on her lower lip to keep from crying out at the sight of him.
There were small scratches down the right side of his handsome face. A white bandage covered the side of his forehead and his beautiful blue eyes softened with recognition.
“Hello, sweetheart,” he murmured in that heavenly voice, sounding pleased to see her. The corner of his mouth tugged up and she felt her knees go weak for the second time in an hour. Only this time, she knew he was alive, conscious.
And though she knew he was just playing along for the sake of the nurse, his endearment thrilled her.
“See, I told you you’d make him smile again,” Blondie whispered.
“Thank you,” Gretchen said, ready to be alone with him. Ready to get the full story and as soon as she’d determined he was okay, she would throttle him for almost giving her heart failure.
Luckily Blondie took the hint and closed the door on her way out.
Gretchen waited two full seconds, which felt like a lifetime, before turning back and taking in the man who’d stolen her heart. She shouldn’t have given it away but she’d been helpless to stop herself. He made her feel alive and feminine and no one else could make her smile or laugh as easily as him.
“Pale hospital gown is not your color,” she teased as she pulled over a chair. The truth was the man would look good in a trash bag. “I’m sorry I had to lie. I didn’t think they would let me in if I wasn’t family.”
“That’s such BS. You’re family.”
Like a sister, he probably meant.
“It’s not important. How are you feeling?”
“Like I got hit by a truck.”
His blue gaze held hers and her heart stumbled over itself.
“What happened?”
She wanted to touch him, just to make sure he was real and okay. But for the moment, she kept her hands to herself.
He wet his lips. “We got T-boned by a big-ass truck.”
She closed her eyes and tried to block the mental image those words created. She’d seen enough action movies to have a good idea of the carnage a large vehicle could cause.
“The nurse—” She licked her lips. “The nurse said something about your friend?”
He looked away from her and his jaw tightened. The movement was slight, but she saw it.
“I’m sorry…” She gently touched his arm and his gaze snapped to her hand. Startled, she pulled back but he was faster, trapping her fingers beneath his.
“The driver… I didn’t know him very long. Six months maybe. A friend of a friend. The truck just—” The anguish on his face brought tears to her eyes. He was a strong man. He loved his family, worked hard. She’d always thought of him as a man’s man. The kind of guy everyone got along with; who loved sports and the great outdoors, cooking over a fire, and would find one woman to love for the rest of his life. He was tough when he needed to be and incredibly tender too. To see him so…shattered…
She squeezed his hand.
“They told me he didn’t even make it into the ambulance.”
“Oh Greg—” She didn’t know what else to say to that. Words were so inadequate. And she didn’t want to make things worse for him. She’d heard about survivors’ guilt.
Gretchen didn’t know how long they sat there in silence, his hand tight around hers, her heart drumming out a rapid beat. She couldn’t bear to see the agony on his face so she kept her gaze locked on their fingers and hoped that her presence brought him more peace than pain. She longed to hug him close and give him what comfort she could but now wasn’t the time or place. There were so many things she wanted to ask but a knock at the door brought her head around. A silver haired man poked his head through.
“I heard you have company.” Three steps brought him across the room as Gretchen stood. Greg was slow to let her hand go and the truth was, she didn’t want to let him go either.
She swallowed and licked her lips.
“You must be Greg’s fiancé. I’m Doctor Sorensen. I was just coming to check on him.”
The man offered Greg a warm smile and Gretchen liked him immediately. A good bedside manner would do wonders for patients; she’d learned that when her grandmother had become ill.
“Please call me Gretchen,” she said and noticed the doctor didn’t extend his hand. Though it was the polite thing to do, it spread germs and she appreciated his care.
“Do you want me to step out?” she asked and glanced down at Greg.
“That’s up to him,” Dr. Sorensen said.
“Stay. After all, we’ll be married soon anyway,” he said, a teasing smile lifting his lips.
Her heart thumped around in her chest like the small silver ball in a pinball machine. If only he meant those words for real…
She had to sit down. What a day.
At least he was smiling and she supposed that was enough of a miracle for today.
The doctor checked stats, asked questions, and listened to, as much as he watched, Greg’s answers. Gretchen tried to look attentive while feeling completely out of place.
He’d been here since last night? Why hadn’t he called JJ sooner? And why hadn’t he mentioned his “slight concussion” to his sister?
“The chest pain is normal after a collision like that. I see nothing to be concerned about there. All of your scans look fine, so I’m no longer worried about the concussion. You’ll want to take it extra easy for a few weeks. Getting out of bed, sitting down on the couch, things like that will be painful for a while. No stairs for a while either. We need the bruising and swelling in your leg healed before you try anything too strenuous. I’d recommend crutches for the next few days as I imagine your knee will be in pain. And other than that, just keep your wounds clean and wrapped and you should be as good as new in a month. Physically, I mean.”
Dr. Sorensen glanced back and forth between them as he spoke. Gretchen liked that he included her in the realm of the conversation since she knew how vital the care giver roll was. Not that she was Greg’s caregiver, but if she had been…
“If you need someone to talk to, professionally, I mean, I can recommend someone.”
“When can I go home?”
“I see no reason to keep you any longer. Let me send for a wheelchair, no arguments please, and I’ll have the nurse give you a prescription for pain killers on your way out.”
Gretchen bit back a smile at the stubborn set of Greg’s jaw. He clearly wanted to walk out of here on his own.
“I’m assuming you’ll be able to help him get back on his feet.” Doctor Sorensen said, glancing her way. It was a statement not a question.
Why wouldn’t she be available to take care of her fiancé? Oh yeah. They weren’t really engaged. The third finger on her left hand was painfully bare and she’d lied her way into Greg Fairchild’s hospital room.
She’d do it again.
“Of course,” she replied. “Any special instructions for me?”
The doctor rattled off a few things and the reality of the situation took hold. She was promising to care for Greg. The man who’d chosen her best friend over her. Heaven help her, could this day get any worse?