After Emma left, everyone avoided me the rest of the day. I guess it didn’t help that I stayed outside with Sadie and Bacon, watching them wear each other out from running around in the pen. Bacon fell out first, then Sadie curled up next to him.

The day’s events have left me with a killer headache. It hurt me so much to have to be such an asshole to her. God, I wish I hadn’t seen her again. My heart aches even more than the first time. Her eyes are even more beautiful now that she can see. I swear I saw light shining from them… until I snuffed it out, that is.

I want to forget this entire day ever happened. Time to enlist the help of a really stiff drink. All three of them are sitting at the bar top when I wheel myself inside, eyes following me as their uncomfortable silence fills the room. I wheel myself down the long hallway to August’s office, maneuvering around his desk to pull open the drawer with the keys. They’re gone. “Damn it.” I slam my hand against the glass cabinet. One of the bottles wobbles back and forth, threatening to spill over, but it eventually settles back into place.

“Are you looking for these?” August is behind me dangling the keys off one finger.

I spin around in his direction. “Yes I am.”

“I don’t think having a drink or two is going to be the answer to your problems.

I hang my head. “I know it’s not, but I wanted to forget today ever happened.”

He sits at his desk chair and I turn to face him. “Why did you let her go? She obviously loves you or she wouldn’t have come this far.”

“I know she does, and I love her too. Did you see her? She is so damn beautiful and smart.”

“She is stunning, but what does that have to do with anything?”

“I have absolutely zilch to offer her.”

“Now you’re just being stupid. You’re a good-looking, smart young man, with a good head on your shoulders most of the time. You have a great technical and business mind. You can do anything you put your mind to. I’ve always told you that.”

“I have no money, no savings, no house of my own, and no fucking legs to walk on! Yeah, I have so much to offer her.” I can’t help the sarcasm. “Do you think for one minute that Nashville would have even looked your way if you were in a wheelchair?”

August sits back in his chair, pushing his hands together as if praying with his pointer fingers resting against his lips.

“I can’t believe you even hesitated to answer his question.” Nash is standing in the doorway with her hands on her hips and Anna right beside her. Both August and I sit there speechless.

Nash walks over to me and spins me in her direction. “August could have been in a wheelchair with no legs, and not a tooth in his head, and I still would have fallen in love with him.”

“I wouldn’t have,” Anna says. Nash turns and glares at her. “What? I’m just saying, Anna shrugs.”

“Get out!” Nash yells at Anna, pointing to the door. Anna shrugs her shoulders again and leaves, but I’m sure she is still within earshot. Nash’s boney finger presses sharply into my chest just as I open my mouth to say something. “That woman that you threw away and claimed to love, loved you. It didn’t matter to her, it only mattered to your fucking ego!” I look up and see August’s jaw clench tight. “You claimed you left here to find yourself. Instead you only found your heart, because as far as I can tell, you left your balls somewhere else!”

“That’s enough.” August takes Nash by the shoulders, walking her backward to the door. He leans in and says something to her in her ear. She searches his eyes for a minute, then nods her head and steps out. He shuts the door behind her and walks over to a wooden filing cabinet.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen her so mad before.”

“She’s only that passionate with people that she loves. But, I tend to agree with you. I haven’t seen her that angry before, ever. She knows how much I dislike her cussing. You kind of deserved it.” He throws a manila folder on the desk.

I see my name typed on the tab. “What is this?”

“When you left here, the company you owned still made money. I took it an invested it for you. Not one cent of that came from me. Since I was listed as a shareholder, and you were missing in action, I sold the overseas part. All the money that came from your stock went into that account. The next thing you are going to argue is that I gave you that business. I took out my investment. So it is all yours, free and clear.”

I flip through the papers. The only deposits are dividends earned. “There is a shitload of money in this account. Why are you just now showing me this?

“Because I didn’t think you would believe me a few days ago. You were in no state of mind to be reasonable. Maybe now you’ll feel like you have something to offer her and you can afford to get your surgery.” He heads for the door. “But, Sam, don’t be surprised if she doesn’t want you back now. She had what she wanted from you. All of this will mean nothing to her.” He shuts the door, leaving me alone with my misery.

Of all people, Nash is the one that ends up taking me to see the surgeon an hour outside of town. She and I have barely spoken since the day she told me off. She smiles sweetly at me, but doesn’t offer much for conversation. I figure now would be the best time to try to clear the air.

“I’m sorry. I really hate that you’re angry with me.”

“I’m sorry for the way I spoke to you. I had no right to say the things I did.” She glances over at me and then back on the road.

“Yes you did. All you were trying to do was knock some sense into me and I love you for that.”

“I love you too, Sam. All I have ever wanted was for you to be happy. I know how hard the whole ordeal with TR was on you. He changed you.”

“He did, but if it wasn’t for him, I would have never met Emma and her family. I would have never gone off on my own to take care of myself. For that, I am grateful.”

She reaches over and holds my hand. “I’m glad something good came out of a really bad situation. What I should have said to you is that I’m sure Emma doesn’t give a damn about your pride, or whatever lies you’ve been hiding behind. A woman wants to know that you are real, and that she really sees that man that’s inside, the man she fell in love with.”

I lay my head back on the headrest. “I was real with her.” I let out a long sigh, not wanting to think about how badly I fucked up. “My mom is meeting us at the hospital. I’ve missed her like crazy.”

“I know she’s missed you too. I talked to her last night and she’s worked it out so that she will be able to stay with you for a couple weeks after your surgery. August, Anna, and I will be up on the weekend. Of course, August will be there the day of your surgery too.”

“He really doesn’t have to do that.”

“Wild stallions couldn’t keep him away,” she laughs. “How long will you be in rehab?”

“From my video conference with the doctor, he thinks it will be about a month before I can have outside rehab. The first month of physical therapy is so grueling and intense, they need to keep a close eye on things.”

“Does he think you will have a full recovery?”

“He doesn’t know for sure. In all likelihood, I will need a cane for the rest of my life.”

She looks at me and then back out at the road. I can tell she wants to ask me something else.

“You have that look. What is it that you want to ask me?”

“What are you going to do about Emma?”

“Well, for starters, I sent her an email groveling about how stupid I had acted.”

“What happened?”

“She blocked me. So then I sent her a hand-written note and it’s been returned unopen.”

“You’re not going to let those things stop you, are you?”

“No,” I laugh. “I figured if I did, you’d bust my balls again.”

She bursts out laughing. “Yeah, August wasn’t really happy about my choice of words.”

“I’m sure he wasn’t. After I get done with rehab, I’m going to Florida. I need to get on my knees and beg her to forgive me. I just hope it’s not too late.”

“I saw it in her eyes, she’ll forgive you for anything. It might take some time, but she will get there. I know this for a fact, because I would forgive August anything because I love him with everything inside of me. I can see you love her the same way.” She pats my leg and places her hand back on the steering wheel.

“Thank you for driving me today and, more importantly, thank you for being such a good friend.”

The rest of the drive I talk to her nonstop about Emma, Tennyson, and my time in Florida. I tell her about saving Tennyson and almost killing her kidnapper. I tell her all about dancing with Emma in the rain and teaching Tennyson how to swim. She lets out a deep belly laugh when I tell her about Emma driving my car. At stop lights, I show her before and after pictures of my house.

We pull in the hospital garage and she puts the car in park. Before she shuts off the engine, she turns in her seat to look at me. “I was wrong. I see the man you have become. I think you lost your way for a bit, but I’m so proud of you.” Tears glisten in her eyes as she hugs me.

My mom is already waiting inside the hospital doors when Nash wheels me in. She breaks down crying as soon as she sees me. “Tears of joy,” she says.

My mother and Nash ask the surgeon a million questions during our meeting, and he patiently answers every single one of them.

“I’ve had a cancellation in my surgical schedule, do you think you could be ready by tomorrow?”

“Yes,” I answer without even thinking about it. I really didn’t want to put it off for two more weeks.

“Great. I can have my nurse admit you today and we can get all the preliminary tests out of the way.”

Nash tells me goodbye and my mother wheels me to my private room. In between tests, she and I catch up. I tell her all about Emma and how I plan on winning her back. She checks into a hotel room for the night and I spend my evening making a list of all the things I plan on doing with Emma. I want to show her the world, even if I never get the use of my legs back.

The next morning when I wake up, August is sitting in an uncomfortable chair in my room. He has it scooted right next to my bed. “Man, you must have gotten up really early,” I say stretching.

“I wanted to make sure I got here on time. How did all your tests go yesterday?”

“The doctor came in last night and said he thought, from the looks of my scans, that I’d have a fairly good chance at recovery. Maybe not a hundred percent, but pretty close. Let’s hope I don’t get an infection like last time.”

“Has he prepared for that?”

“Yeah, they started giving me antibiotics last night. He wants me to stay on them for about a month.”

“Good, that set you back last time and you almost gave up.”

“No giving up this time.”

“Did you call her?”

I know he means Emma. “I tried her home phone last night, but nobody answered. And yes, I left a message and told her to call my cell phone.” I reach over and pick it up to look. “Nothing.”

“Don’t give up.”

“I won’t.”

My mom pops in and hugs August. She hasn’t seen him since the night we celebrated August giving me the overseas business.

“Thank you for the baby clothes you sent for George,” August tells her.

“Please tell me you have pictures of that adorable little boy.”

August flips out his phone to show her and by the time the surgeon walks in, they are completely lost in conversation. “Are you ready for this?” he asks.

“More than ready.”