The Reluctant Romantics Box Set (The Fall, The Mind, The Heart)

“So you work through it with Jack. I can’t believe he doesn’t know,” Dallas said, slightly exasperated. “Mom and Dad never told him?”

“Guess not.” I shrugged.

“Well, you made it clear enough to everyone after he died that you didn’t want to hear from anybody.” I heard the slight resentment in her voice due to the space I put between us in the months that followed Grant’s death. She was there for me at every turn and after a few months of relying on her heavily, I’d pushed her away, along with the rest of my family, to find my footing. I refused to feel guilty about it even now because it was totally necessary in my opinion. It was only now that I saw how much it bothered her.

I studied Dallas, who was already handling far more than her fair share of responsibility, and shrugged off the last few hours. “I had a panic attack. It’s not the end of the world.”

“Look, I can handle tomorrow. Why don’t you just—”

“Don’t, I need sleep. I’ll get a few hours, do some prep, and I’ll be here bright and early. Don’t decide anything for me. I’m not an invalid,” I said with aggression. “I don’t want to be a stranger to my staff.”

“I love you,” Dallas said pointedly. “But just let me say something else, okay?”

I nodded and braced myself. Dallas was anything but subtle.

“He’s a good man, and you aren’t the only one in love with him. Your family is pretty smitten with him, too. And you know how Dad feels about him. We’ve all grown used to having him around. He’s good people, Rose, and he’s done nothing but help us. I will always side with you, always, but before you go and do something to break all of our hearts, really think about it.”

“Okay,” I said, defeated. “Don’t tell them about Jack.”

“You’ve been keeping a lot of secrets lately.”

“And they are mine to keep,” I snapped.

“Stop it,” she snapped back. “I’m not your enemy. I’m just saying a bunch of shit you don’t want to hear.” She pulled me tightly to her and held me until I held her back.

“I love you, too.”

Dallas pulled away. “You good?”

“Yeah, I’m just going to go sleep for a few hours.”

“Good, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Dallas opened the door, and I couldn’t help but to look around for Jack, who was still missing. I made my way home and glanced at my phone in hopes of word from him. My heart sank further as he remained silent. Feet heavy and completely drained, I paused when

I saw a tow truck in my yard.

A short, balding man was looking through my window as he knocked on my back door.

“Can I help you?”

He turned around, slightly confused as he looked at me. He must have been sure someone was home with my SUV parked in the yard. “You live here?”

“Yes, sir, how can I help you?”

“I… uh,” the man stalled in his words and slowly approached me from the porch. “I’m from Whitey’s tow yard.”

“Okay,” I said, utterly confused. He seemed extremely uneasy as his eyes darted around me.

“We, uh, well, we’ve been clearing out our junk lot for the past few months, and I’m the one responsible for making sure the vehicles are clear of personal items, scraps, things of that nature, and, well, I found this a few days ago,” he said, thrusting a bag toward me. I studied it, confused. It was a gift bag covered in candy canes. I looked at the man, still clueless, until I opened the bag and pulled out a stethoscope.

“It was stuffed under the seat of a Ford F-150.”

Realization struck as I inhaled deeply and felt my heart crack in my chest as I looked at the inscription on the bottom of the metal.

Dr. Foster

Instant tears disbursed down my cheeks as the man rambled on, both apologetic and full of excuses. “It took a little digging to find this address, and I wasn’t sure if it was the right thing to do, but, I… well, ma’am, I was there that night, at the scene of the accident, and I’m sorry for your loss.”