The Worst Best Friend: A Small Town Romance

“Who are you so set on calling?” Grady asks, standing at my side.

I set the phone down. “Help, and not you this time, Unc. You already saved my skin by helping coordinate with the other guys that night. Doc says I can go home.”

He sets a duffel bag on the chair by the window.

“I brought you some clothes. Didn’t think you’d let them keep you much longer, and I’m sure you can use a change.”

“Thank shit.” I flip the thin blanket down. “I’m sick of this gown.”

He chuckles, scratching his beard.

“It’ll be an hour or so before the orders come through for him to leave,” the nurse tells Grady as she walks out the door.

I grab the bed rail to help flip my leg over the edge of the bed. “Give me that bag, would you?”

“Not yet,” Grady says quietly, stepping forward. He stands between me and the chair holding the bag. “Not until we talk.”

I blink at him.

“Talk? About what?”

“Rachel Simon.”

Shit, he can’t be serious. Can he?

The somberness in his tone makes my grip on the railing tighten.

“You really think this is the time and place for a heart-to-heart? Unc, I was gonna call her and have her pick me up so we could—”

“She went back to Washington,” he says bluntly, cutting me off. “Took the last flight out of Bismarck last night.”

“What?” I fling it like a curse.

Every part of me stiffens, guarding my reaction to the news of the worst fucking kind.

“Aunt Faye told me this morning, West. She warned me not to tell you, but I thought you should know. Better to hear it from me than anybody else,” he says, folding his arms.

I nod like my insides aren’t as raw as fresh beef run through a dull grinder.

“Whatever,” I insist, holding up my hands. “That’s where she lives. Obviously. After all that’s happened, it’s good for her to get the fuck out of here. I wouldn’t stick around a second longer myself after a couple maniacs wanted me dead.”

“Is it? Is it actually good for you two to be apart?” Grady squints at me. “You’re two hard-ass peas in the same denial pod, you and Rachel. Marty tried talking her out of leaving, but she wouldn’t listen. Said it was something she had to do.”

“Don’t blame her for anything,” I say, growing irritated that he might. “It’s not Shel’s fault.”

“I’m not saying anything’s her fault. If you ask me, it’s fifty-fifty,” he clarifies. “You’re both hellbent on denying what’s always been right in front of you. When are you both gonna gun up and admit you love each other? I spent years living in denial myself, thinking I could never love again after I was widowed with the girls. Then I found Willow. She peeled my eyes open and the rest was history.”

I huff out a sigh, my frustration rising.

“Point taken. Shame I don’t have a nickel on me for your sage advice.”

He chuckles, leaning against the wall.

“No, but you owe me your ears. I’m your ride out of this joint, so I think you’d better listen to what I have to say, West.”

I don’t want to hear his shit.

“I—”