My head was still spinning. When I closed my eyes, I pictured everything. Seeing the car coming up the road. Seeing the car swerve. Trying to yell for Gavin. But he thought I was calling him to beg him for his love and his care. Yeah, I wanted that, but I didn’t want him to get hurt.

Too late.

The door to the hospital room opened and Rich came walking in. He was holding two coffees.

“Here,” he said, handing me one. “You look like you need it.”

“Thanks,” I said.

I held the warm cup but didn’t drink. I hadn’t had a thing to eat or drink since everything collapsed around me.

Call me what you want but I couldn’t stop thinking about what Gavin told me about my father. He called my father. Whitney had put Gavin into a position that he ended up selling the land and everything anyway. And there was Rich, by Gavin’s side, not realizing that Gavin had just sold everything. Rich was going to be out of a job. Probably lose his house or wherever he lived. Destined to become another puppet for my father.

It made my stomach sick.

I put the coffee down and lowered my head.

I started to cry.

Rich sat next to me and put an arm around me. “Come here, Olivia. It’s okay. He’s a fighter. Doc already told us he was lucky. He’ll come out of the daze soon.”

I nodded and forced a smile.

Gavin was lucky.

Whitney, being stupid and high, wasn’t traveling all that fast. Fast enough to hit him, knock him out, and break his leg, sure, but not fast enough to kill him. Which was odd to think of it as being lucky.

Doctors sedated Gavin because he was pissed off, talking crazy, and they needed to set his leg and put it into a cast. There were talks of concussion and brain injury but both a CT scan and MRI showed there was no damage done. Rich told me that Gavin and Luke had the thickest skulls in the world. He laughed and told me countless stories of them doing dumb stuff as kids and teenagers. And that Gavin and Luke rarely got hurt while everyone else seemed to get cuts, stitches, broken bones, concussions. Then he started to say something about Luke and lost his edge and had to walk away.

“This is my fault,” I said.

“Come on,” Rich said. “That’s not true.”

I looked at him. Oh, it’s true, Rich.

Whitney crashed her car a few seconds after hitting Gavin. She opened the door and fell out to the ground, crying. The whirlwind then kicked up and it was police and ambulances everywhere. Gavin went into an ambulance and Whitney was handcuffed and put into the back of a police car.

And now I waited at the side of the bed. And I wouldn’t leave him until he woke up and he was allowed to go home. No matter what he felt about me. No matter what happened with him and my father. The garage. The land. Money. None of it mattered. I finally understood that to the fullest extent.

“Shit like this never happens in our town,” Rich said. “It’ll be a story that will float around for years.”

“Great,” I said.

“No. That’s a good thing. A fresh story. Gavin will be a hero even more. Hell, can you imagine it… Gavin got a woman so pissed off she hit him with her car.”

Rich smirked.

I shook my head. “I’m so sorry I brought this to the town, Rich. To Gavin. He doesn’t deserve this.”

“Hey. We don’t know each other. Looking at you, I see some rich woman. Who knows what your intentions are. But with Gavin? He’s never looked at someone the way he looks at you. He cares about you. He loves you, Olivia. And damn do you two have a hell of a story to tell.”

“Yeah we do,” I said. I looked at Rich. “I’m sleeping here tonight. Doctors said he could probably go home tomorrow. They just want to monitor everything, just in case. He was lucky that she was high. She…”

“Hey, shake that off,” Rich said. He stood up. “One thing you need to realize, Olivia. If you’re going to live in this town, you have to just go with it. I know when you’re in the city everyone wants to fight it out. Everyone wants to step on each other. But here, we don’t do that. You just go with it. That doesn’t mean you don’t get angry or sad. But don’t analyze it. He’s alive. He’s a tough guy. He’s going to wake up and see you and smile.”

I nodded.

Rich knew nothing that led to the circumstances of Gavin getting hit by the car Whitney was driving. But I wasn’t going to get into that story right then.

Soon it was Rich, Donny, and even Hank in the room. Hank waddled his way to a chair and plopped down. He groaned and looked at me.

“Always knew a woman would do him in,” Hank said.

“She didn’t hurt him,” Donny said. “Another one did.”

“Oh, Christ,” Hank said. “Waving his little wrench around too much.”

“Actually,” I said, “it’s the biggest wrench I ever saw.”

Rich stopped mid-chew on a piece of green gum as he stared at me.

“And that’s coming from a city woman,” I said. “Who’s rich. You can’t imagine what I’ve seen.”

I winked even though I knew I was two kisses taken away from being a virgin. Seriously.

Rich offered to take me back to Gavin’s but I refused.

They all left to go check on the garage as Nikki showed up with Stacey. We hugged. We cried. Nikki wanted to stay. I told her to be with Ava. So Ava didn’t get confused and scared. All Ava knew was that Uncle Gavin had a little car accident and bumped his head.

One of the nurses named Annie recognized me and told me I should get something to eat before the hospital shut down visiting hours. I refused to leave Gavin’s side. So Annie used her break to go get me something to eat. Because she was a fan. I asked her what she was a fan of about me and she couldn’t answer. Because I was nice? Pretty? Smart? She still couldn’t answer. I thanked her for the food, tried to pay for it, she refused, and then she asked if I would pose for a picture. Which I did in the hallway and made her swear to not post anything online until myself and Gavin were far gone from the hospital.

By the time I cuddled up on the chair that night, I felt like I had been awake for two days straight.

I looked at Gavin. “I want you to know you’re wrong. That whatever you think about us… you’re wrong. It’s real. And I don’t care about the city. About money. About anything. You and I are real. I love you, Gavin.”

I shut my eyes.

A few seconds later, I heard him reply… “I love you too, darling.”

 

* * *

 

I was wired.

Hearing his voice was better than eight cups of coffee.

I called for nurses and doctors. They came to check on him, thinking something was wrong. Of course, it was perfectly normal for him to wake up. It wasn’t like he was in a coma. But he was awake! Actually awake! And he was staring at me. A small cut under his left eye. His leg in a big cast.

He was there. Alive.

“You’re going to be okay,” I said.

“I know that,” he said. “She wasn’t going that fast.”

“Gavin…”

“Crazy woman,” he said.

“Whitney? I know.”

“No. You. What are you doing here?”

“Well, I love you. I wanted you to wake up and see me.”

“Kiss me, Liv.”

There was no fighting that.

I leaned down and kissed him. When I tried to pull away, Gavin grabbed me. I thought he was going to pull the IV’s out of his hand but I couldn’t pull away. Our mouths connected and it was perfection.

I broke the kiss with my breath stolen.

“Fuck. I really am alive.”

“Hey, another thing?” I whispered. “My car is still stuck. So I need you to get out of this bed and help me.”

Gavin laughed.

I put my head to his chest. “Does it hurt?”

“Not as much as my heart, darling,” he said. “I can’t lose you.”

“I’m not going anywhere, Gavin.”

“You say that now.”

I lifted my head. “I mean it. I’m not leaving. I’m done. It’s over. I want this. You. Me. Whatever happens.”

“I freaked out,” he said. “I thought if I pushed you away I could save you. Save myself. I don’t want to be hurt.”

“You’re not,” I said.

“He’s going to get everything, Liv. The garage. The land. The house. I mean, shit, I can start over, you know? Give it all to Nikki and Ava. But for me…”

I leaned forward and kissed him. “You just need to shut up and get yourself out of here tomorrow.”

“Yeah?”

“Gavin, I’m going to prove to you I’m not going anywhere. Okay?”

“And how are you going to do that?”

I stood up and walked to the end of the hospital bed. I started to bite my nails on my left hand. I stared at the floor and thought really hard. Really, really hard.

“Who knows the most about your town?” I asked.

“Hank,” Gavin said. “Gus told him everything he knew. Gus was the last man to get chased by a dinosaur.”

I smiled. “Funny.”

“Why do you ask?”

“I have a plan,” I said to Gavin. “I’m going to show you a side of me nobody has ever seen.”

“Oh?” Gavin asked.

I started to walk away but stopped. I looked back. I bit my lip. Then I rushed to the bed and leaned over to give him a kiss.

“Trust me, Gavin,” I whispered.

“I trust you, darling. I’m sorry for anything I said or did. But I saw a picture of you with another man…”

“I know. I should have said something to you about that. It slipped my mind because it meant nothing.”

“And I was really trying to get Whitney’s keys,” Gavin said. “She lured me in and I let it slip. That’s all my fault.”

“No it’s not.”

“Liv. I left her there with her keys and her car. She could have killed someone, and not just me. She could have hit you. She could have hit Nikki… Ava…”

I saw Gavin’s chin tremble for a second.

“Hey, hey, hey,” I whispered. “Someone told me that to make it in this town you just go with the flow.”

“Oh yeah?” Gavin said.

“Yeah. So don’t think that way. You’re here. You’re okay. We’re okay, Gavin. I love you. And I’m going to prove to you how much I love you.”

“I hate being here,” he said.

“It’s only one night,” I said. “And I’m going to show you what this bitch can do.”

I kissed him and stood up.

I started to walk away again.

“Where are you going, Liv?” he called out to me.

I looked back with a grin. “I’m going to sue my father… and save your town…”

 

* * *

 

I had a team of lawyers in my apartment. Stacey was serving drinks and food, helping to sort through paperwork. Nikki scanned any and all financial documents I gave her with some serious skill that I did not expect from her. Ava was in my giant bed, curled up tight, with a stuffed animal.

It was late.

Far too late to be up and preparing the files to go after my father.

“We got it,” Nikki finally said.

“Something illegal?” I asked.

It was sad that I was hopeful.

“No. But something Hank mentioned… it just clicked. The land Gavin owns can’t be sold.”

“Why not?” I asked.

Stacey smiled. “It’s special.”

She and Nikki were clicking on a level I could not understand.

“Someone say something logical here,” one of my lawyers said. His name was Derry and his price tag was obscene. Right then, the middle of the night hourly charge was insane.

“It’s historic,” Nikki said. “Didn’t Gus say that… I can’t remember. Something happened there. Some battle maybe? Or there was some house. It caught on fire. There’s something there. We have to pull up everything on the entire piece of land. Not just the garage.”

I looked at Derry. “Well?”

“Could make sense,” he said. “Is Sterling going to want to abide by certain laws with a historic property?”

“Nope,” I said. “He wants to go in and wipe it all out. Wipe the slate clean.”

“Then we have it,” Derry said. “Let me start digging around.”

“This is good,” I said. “Nikki… you’re really good at this. Isn’t she, Derry?”

Derry raised an eyebrow at me.

“I mean, look at her. Stacey, too. Smart women here. Nikki’s a single mother too. She could tell her story someday, Derry. Don’t you have a few offices outside the city?”

“What are we doing here?” Derry asked. “Going after Sterling? Or conducting forced job interviews?”

“Job interview?” Nikki asked.

I smiled at Nikki. Then I looked at Derry. Before I could say another word, another lawyer spoke up.

His name was Thomas.

Full blown suit and tie like it was noon and he was going to a meeting. Perfect hair. Clean cut face. Small, black glasses on his face.

“There’s a problem here,” he said.

“What’s that?” I asked.

“Do you really think this will stop him?” Thomas asked. “I mean, paperwork on some land possibly being historic?”

I thought about it. I answered honestly. “No. It won’t stop him. He’ll laugh.”

“So then why are you dishing out so much money for this?” Thomas asked.

I put my hands to the counter. “I’m rich. I want to spend the money. And I want to prove a point to my father. And you’re going to help me, Thomas. You too, Derry. We will file and refile paperwork every day if we have to. Just to be a pain in his side.”

“Right,” Derry said. “This is going to be a long… everything.”

“But look at the help you have,” I said to Derry. “Nikki and Stacey. Flying through this. What do you think, Derry?”

“I think we need to focus on one thing at a time.” He glanced at Nikki. “I’m assuming you need a job?”

“I have a job,” Nikki said. “But I’m always open to opportunity.”

Derry laughed. “Has Olivia trained you to say that?”

“Nope,” Nikki said.

“I’ll go check on Ava,” I said.

I slipped out of the kitchen and went into my bedroom. Ava was fast asleep. Such innocence there. No idea what we were doing, what happened to Gavin, or any of the other messes that come with life.

I sat on the edge of the bed and put my head into my hands.

It was a terrible long shot. It was probably embarrassing. My father didn’t care about a thing. See, he’d go in and build and then deal with the legal stuff later. Better to fight for forgiveness than beg for permission. I heard him say that so many times. And that’s what he’d do. If there was any chance the land was historic, I’d fight for it. There had to be protection. Plus, my father and Gavin only spoke on the phone. Nothing was signed. I had seen my father sue people for verbal agreements and win though. He had more money and more power. Then again, power was an illusion and money was convenient.

I looked at Ava again.

I adjusted the covers and patted her shoulder.

This was going to be my new life. A life without the seven figure apartment. Without the security detail. The paparazzi. Waking up in Gavin’s house. The creaks of the floor. The cracks in the ceiling. The half decent coffee but the beautiful morning view.

And you know what?

I couldn’t remember a time in my life when I was so excited.