Sure enough, she had. And she had a very strong opinion about it.
After listening to his wife for a minute, Cade handed me the phone.
“Are you insane, Caleb Calley?” she exclaimed into my ear.
“You’re like the third person to ask me that in the last hour. So, I don’t know, maybe?”
“You know you’re doing all kinds of damage to yourself right now. You need to get your ass back to the hospital immediately. Don’t make me come out there and drag your sorry ass back myself.”
“Okay, boss. I’m on my way.”
“Don’t say that and not mean it. You’ve got an hour to get back here before I call your mom!”
I handed the phone back to Cade. “She pulled out the big guns. She’s threatening to involve Mom.”
I watched as he put his phone to his ear. “Yeah, baby, we’ll call an ambulance. He’s turned kind of pale. Actually, more of a grey color. That’s what I said. Serves him right, I know. Yeah, he is a dumbass.”
I showed him my middle finger just as he turned away to talk to his wife.
Honey sat down next to me.
“You didn’t need to put yourself through this,” she said gently.
I took her hand in mine. “I couldn’t go a moment longer without letting you know how I felt. I’m sorry I never told you sooner. I’ve loved you for so long and it just seemed so wrong to let another moment tick by without telling you.”
Cade hung up from Indy and walked toward us.
“Indy said there’s been a four-car wreck just out of town, so there’s a delay with the ambulance. It’ll be quicker if I drive.”
Honey was already locking up the house and turning off the lights.
“You don’t need to come to the hospital. Stay here and wait out the storm,” I said.
“You checked yourself out of the hospital, drove out here in a world of pain—not to mention, braved eighteen steps wearing a boot—all so you could ask me to marry you.” She gave me a wink and closed the front door behind her. “You really are insane if you think I’m spending one more moment without you.”
HONEY
As we left the lake house behind us and started the long trip toward Destiny, the heavens really opened up and it started hammering us with rain. Up ahead, lightning danced across the darkening sky.
“How you holding out there, buddy?” Cade asked his brother over the sound of the rain.
“Don’t you worry about me, brother. I’ve got everything I need.” He glanced over his shoulder at me and winked. My heart squeezed with love. This man. This crazy-ass man wanted me to be his wife.
“So your girl said yes. What now?” Cade asked.
“Well, now I’m going to get some kickass drugs into me that’ll hopefully knock me out for the next couple of days. Then, when I wake up I’ll be hoping this wasn’t all a dream and Honey really did agree to marry me.”
“You can’t get rid of me that easily, Caleb Calley,” I said from the backseat. “You’re stuck with us now.”
I was rubbing my belly and thinking about marrying the man of my dreams when it happened. The pickup came out of nowhere. One minute we were driving along, and then boom, the black Ford came out of the misty rain and plowed straight into us. All of a sudden it was like being inside a washing machine, the world started spinning and I was bounced about in the backseat. Glass shattered and metal buckled as the pickup crumpled our rear passenger door and sent us whirling off the road.
When we finally came to a halt, I heard Cade let out a string of expletives and I raised my head. Looking out the shattered window, I saw the dust settle and the full extent of what had happened. We were off the side of the road, perched on a small embankment. Across the debris-scattered road from us, steam spewed from the crumpled engine of the Ford pickup.
I moved and realized I was covered in shattered glass.
“Honey!” Caleb exclaimed. He struggled to get the door open but it was too buckled and he growled with frustration.
“I’m okay,” I breathed, slightly dazed.
Cade was able to climb out and rip open the back passenger door to check on me. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
I brushed the glass off me. “Yes. Go get your brother out.”
By the time I was able to climb out of the car, Caleb was out and hobbling frantically toward me.
“Baby, are you okay?” He held my face in his big hands and flooded my face with kisses. “Are you hurt? The baby?”
“I’m okay, I’m okay.” It was a relief to be standing in the cool wind. The rain had dampened and a light, fairy rain fell from the grey sky like gentle, comforting kisses against my skin. It was soothing. Cooling. In the distance, lightning slashed through the clouds again.