I was still juggling the thoughts around in my mind when I got back on the recliner and managed to nod off to sleep. It didn’t seem like I’d been asleep very long when knocking on my door woke me up. I cringed, the sound making a headache that had started at the base of my skull swell up. I looked over at Olly and saw he was still asleep.

I managed to get up and hobble over to the door, wondering if it might be Finn coming back to see me. That hopeful thought was brief. By the time I got to the door, I could hear multiple voices outside and knew who it was. I peeked out through the curtain anyway just to be sure I was fully prepared for everyone.

It was only Everett, Carter, and Gerry, so I didn’t feel too bombarded. I opened the door, and they immediately stopped talking and turned to smile at me. Everett was holding a cardboard beverage carrier with massive cups of coffee, and both Carter and Gerry were holding boxes from the bakery.

“Good morning,” they said in chorus as if they had practiced it.

I laughed and maneuvered backward to give them space to come through the door. “Good morning. Come on in.”

They came inside and caught sight of Olly asleep on the couch. Everett stopped and gave me an apologetic look.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t realize the little one was asleep out here,” he said.

“It’s alright,” I said. “He’s out like a light. A jackhammer probably wouldn’t wake him up at this point. He’s taking full advantage of me not being able to get the day started as early as usual. Come on. We’ll sit in the kitchen.”

I led the guys through the cabin to the kitchen, and we all sat down at the table. Everett handed out coffees, and I directed Carter to the cabinet with the plates so he could give each of us one. The bakery boxes were opened, and each of us selected our favorites.

“How are you feeling today?” Everett asked. “Looks like you’re figuring out how to move around on that crutch. I mean, you’re not going to break any land speed records or anything, but I’m fairly confident if there was a fire, you could make it out alive.”

I laughed and nodded. “Thank you so much for that vote of confidence.” I took a bite of a glorious cream cheese and raspberry pastry and savored it for a few seconds. “I’m really achy. Everything hurts. I think I’m actually in more pain now than I was the day of the accident.”

Carter nodded. “I know how that is. It’s always worse the next few days after the accident.”

I knew he was right. As glad as I was to be out of the hospital, the pain I was in and the pile of medications I still needed to take a couple of times a day proved I still had a lot of healing to do. It would take time, and that made me nervous.

“Well, I’m having a ball over here,” I said. “Making all kinds of memories. Deana and I are considering scrapbooking it. My first logging accident.”

It didn’t come across as quite as funny as I was hoping. The guys still looked upset, and I hated that. It wasn’t any of their fault. What happened was an accident, but if there was anyone to blame, it was the crew member who had already been suspended. None of them had done anything wrong. In fact, if it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t have gotten to the hospital as fast as I did, and things could be even worse.

“I wanted to talk to you about a payout for the accident,” Everett said. “We could go through worker’s compensation, but that can take a while, and I don’t want you to have to wait. You can absolutely choose to talk to a lawyer about this, and we’ll figure out what needs to be done. I put together a compensation package for you. I want you to look it over, talk to a lawyer about it if you want to, and let me know what you think. Alright?”

My stomach was doing flips when I reached out and took the folder he was offering to me. I hadn’t even thought about the idea of a payout from the company. I probably should have, but it didn’t cross my mind. I was just concerned with getting better and getting back to work. Now I was afraid what they called a payout was actually a payoff.

“Um.” I stared, unsure of exactly how to broach the subject with them. This was awkward in a way I wasn’t really prepared for. “I know the doctors say that I have to take it easy, and I won’t be able to do anything for at least six weeks, but I’m hoping there might be some way…”

Tags: Natasha L. Black Romance
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