Chapter 18

Rock heard Max’s cry of pain, followed by Quinn’s shriek of fear as she scrambled out of the bleachers.

Max was curled in a ball, crying and cradling his arm.

Rock’s skates bit into the ice as he raced toward the boy.

He was fast, but not fast enough.

Monty had run out onto the ice and got to Max moments before Rock skated up to them.

He fell to his knees, not caring about the tears in the denim. He wasn’t showing off now. He cared only about getting to Max.

Blood covered the bottom half of the boy’s face, and Rock wasn’t sure if it came from his nose or his chin.

His heart stopped, and fear filled his chest.

He’d seen guys bleeding on the ice, seen them spit a knocked-out tooth into their glove, but nothing had ever affected him like seeing the blood on Max’s small face.

Quinn ran onto the ice, her feet slipping and sliding as she raced to her son, then pulled him into her arms, cradling him to her chest.

He cried out as she touched his arm.

She pulled back and gingerly held his arm. “He went down pretty hard on his hands. He might have broken his arm. We’ve got to get him to the hospital.”

Rock was at a loss. He scrubbed a hand through his hair. “I’m so sorry.”

He fumbled with his laces, trying to get them untied, but Monty stepped in and took the boy from Quinn’s arms before Rock could even get his first knot untied.

He knew it would take precious extra minutes to get his and Max’s skates off. He waved them on. “You guys go on. Don’t worry about his skates. I’ll take care of everything here. Just go.”

Monty was already heading for the door of the ice rink. Quinn hurried ahead, holding the door open, her thoughts focused only on her son.

Rock’s heart was heavy as he watched them go.

Damn it. This was his fault. He should have been paying attention to Max instead of showing off and trying to impress Quinn.

Once again, his selfishness hurt someone he cared about.

Stepping off the ice, he sank onto one of the bleachers. Tearing at the laces, he yanked his skates off and crammed his feet into his boots.

In her haste to get the boy to the hospital, Quinn had left her purse next to Max’s jacket and his sneakers. Crap. She was going to need her wallet and identification to get Max seen. Plus, he was sure her health insurance cards were probably inside.

He stuffed Max’s things into her bag, noting her phone was also in her purse, and tossed his skates into his own bag. Grabbing it all, he hurried to the counter and explained about the skates and promised they’d return them.

The kid behind the counter gave him an indifferent shrug. “That’s cool. I know who you are.”

Small towns.

He only hoped that small-town mentality was working for Quinn as well and the fact that she didn’t have her wallet wasn’t holding up Max being seen by a doctor.

Rock floored the gas pedal of the truck, spitting gravel as he pulled out of the ice rink parking lot and headed toward the hospital. There was only one in town, so it wasn’t hard to figure out where they’d gone.

His cell phone rang, and he hit the button on his steering wheel, not even checking the display to see who was calling. “Quinn?” he said into the cab of the truck.

“No, it’s Mom.” Vivi’s concerned voice came through the speakers. “What’s wrong?”

His mom could always read his moods, even through one word. “Max fell at the ice rink, and he might have broken his arm. Quinn took him to the hospital, and I’m headed there now.”

“Okay, I’ll get Ham, and we’ll be there in ten minutes.” His mom disconnected before he had a chance to argue. It didn’t matter. He didn’t have time to worry about what his mom was doing. He needed to get to Quinn and Max.

He pulled into the parking lot of the hospital, spotting Monty’s piece-of-crap sedan. Grabbing Quinn’s bag, he hurried across the lot and through the emergency room doors.

He noted the empty waiting room as he charged up to the reception counter.

“Hey, I’m looking for Quinn Rivers. She brought her son in here a few minutes ago. I’ve got her bag.” He held up the purse, as if he needed proof of his story.

The nurse smiled and nodded. “Yes, they just went back to the exam rooms. I’ll have someone let them know you’re here. What’s your name, sir?”

But he was already pushing through the doors, ignoring the women’s call of, “Sir, you can’t go back there. It’s only for family members.”

Screw that.

Quinn was his family. No matter what happened between them, in the past or the future, she would always be like family to him.

The emergency room was fairly slow. He passed an old man lying in a bed, his arm hooked up to an IV and his wife calmly sitting in a chair next to him, a paperback book open on her lap.

Hearing Quinn’s murmured voice, he pulled back the curtain of the last room to reveal Max propped up on the examination table. A young nurse wearing purple scrubs was sponging the blood from his face, and Quinn was standing next to the bed, a worried expression on her face. Monty stood behind her, his face an ashen shade of gray. He looked like he might either vomit or pass out.

They all turned toward him, Quinn’s eyes widening in surprise.

He held up her purse. “You forgot your bag. I thought you would need your wallet and your insurance cards.”

“Thanks,” she mumbled, then turned her attention back to Max. Her face was pale, her lips pinched and her brows drawn together with worry.

Max offered him a small smile, but the blood that was still on his face turned Rock’s stomach sour. Poor kid.

Now that he was here, he didn’t know what to do. Standing at the foot of the bed, he twisted the strap of Quinn’s bag in his hands, his knuckles turning white against the brown leather strap.

Monty took a step between him and Quinn, a scowl forming on his face. “Thanks for bringing the bag, but we got this.” He held his hand out for the purse. “They only allow family members back here, so you’re gonna need to wait outside.”

“Ma’am, you can’t go back there,” a nurse called to Vivi and Ham as they hurried toward the exam room.

Apparently, his mother wasn’t any better at listening than he was.

“We got here as quickly as we could.” She leaned forward, clutching her stomach as she caught her breath. “How is he?”

“Hi, Grandpa,” Max said, talking around the sponge the nurse was still using on his face. “I fell down at the ice rink. I get to have stitches. And maybe I’ll even have a scar.”

A tiny smirk passed across the nurse’s face, but Rock felt anything but amused. His heart ached that this sweet boy’s face was going to carry a permanent scar because of his stupid neglect.

“We’ll have to get some ice cream to celebrate,” Ham said, obviously trying to keep his tone light for Max. He tilted his head toward Rock and lowered his voice. “What in the hell happened?”

“I can tell you what happened,” Monty said, pushing around Quinn and getting in Rock’s face. “You weren’t paying attention. That’s what happened. You were too busy showing off what a big shot you are, and you let Max get hurt.”

His temper flared, and Rock’s back straightened as he spit back, “You were the one pushing him to let go of the buckets and try to skate faster.”

“That’s because you were trying to treat him like a little kid with those stupid buckets.”

“He is a little kid,” he snarled through gritted teeth, his hands clenching into fists.

“Simmer down now,” Ham ordered. His brow furrowed, and a scowl formed on his mouth as he turned to Rock. “Tell me what happened. Did my grandson get hurt because of your negligence?”

Vivi stepped in between Rock and Ham. “Of course not. Rock would never let anything happen to Max.”

Rock hung his head, emotion building in his throat.

“He sure as hell did let something happen to him. He shouldn’t even be around Max,” Monty said, his eyes narrowing at Rock.

His words were like arrows to Rock’s heart, each one a sharp point that slashed open another wound. His head told him it was Monty’s goading that caused Max to let go of the buckets, but his heart ached with guilt at the part he’d played in it.

He should never have left Max’s side.

“Maybe you shouldn’t be around Max,” Vivi shot back, then lowered her voice to a whispered hiss. “You’ve done more damage to him than anyone in this room.”

“Maybe you should all calm down,” the nurse said.

“It wasn’t Rock’s fault,” Max said, raising his small voice to be heard above the others. “I just fell down.”

The whole group stopped talking at once, as if Max’s voice was a reminder to all of them that their conversation wasn’t meant for his ears.

Rock appreciated Max sticking up for him, but his faith in him wasn’t enough to prevent the guilt that washed over him in giant, crashing waves.

“Hey, what’s going on in here?” A man in a white lab coat, presumably the doctor, stepped around the curtain.

He shot them all a disapproving look, then offered Max a smile. “Hello, young man. I’m Dr. John. I’m guessing from all the blood that you’re the patient.”

“Yep,” Max answered. “I was ice skating, and I fell down and hurt my chin and my arm.”

“You did? Well, that’s no good. Why don’t I take a look at you and see what I think?”

Rock, Vivi, and Ham took a step back to let the doctor pass into the room. Monty inched closer to Quinn.

Dr. John performed a cursory exam, then turned to Quinn. “Are you this young man’s mother?”

Monty puffed up his chest. “Yeah, and I’m his father.”

Quinn ignored Monty, her gaze trained on the doctor’s face, her eyes brimming with tears. “Is he going to be okay?”

“Oh, sure. It looks like he’s going to need a few stitches in his chin, and I have a feeling he might have fractured his wrist, but he’s going to be fine. We’ll get him all taken care of, and he’ll have a cool cast to show his friends.”

Quinn nodded but didn’t say anything.

He grinned down at Max. “I’m going to put a couple of little stitches in your chin, then we’ll send you over to get an X-ray of your wrist. That part won’t hurt a bit. It’s just like taking a picture. Then we’ll know for sure if it’s broken or not. If it is, you can pick a cool color for your cast. How does that sound?”

“Okay. I think I want blue. Do you have blue?” Max asked, apparently focused on the color of the cast and not yet comprehending what getting stitches actually entailed.

The doctor chuckled. “Yes, I’m sure we’ve got blue.” He raised an eyebrow at the group of people standing around Max’s bed. “Now, I’m going to have to ask all of you to step out to the waiting room. Not just because I need the room to work, but because you’re upsetting the receptionist, and I’m more scared of her than of you.”

“I’m his father,” Monty said, standing his ground.

Yeah, we all heard you the first time, idiot.

The man’s words felt like fingernails on a chalkboard, grating down Rock’s spine. This guy hadn’t even been around for the last eight years, and now he’s coming in and acting like he has a right to be here?

Guilt swirled in his gut. Wasn’t he doing the same thing?

He hadn’t been there for Quinn and Max either. And now, after spending the last week with them, he was acting like they belonged to him as well.

But they didn’t belong to him. And even if they did, he didn’t deserve them. Especially Max. Not after what he’d done.

His chest hurt, and he felt like he couldn’t breathe. A pulse pounded hard in his temples as the headache that had started as he’d left the ice rink rose to a crescendo. He had to get out of here.

He pushed past Ham and strode out the exam-room doors. He could feel his mom at his heels.

It wasn’t until he was almost to the door of the hospital that he realized he was still clutching Quinn’s bag. He turned around, and his mom almost crashed into him.

He thrust the purse into her hands. “Here. Give this to Quinn. She left it at the ice rink.”

“Rock, wait,” Vivi said, reaching for Rock’s hand.

“You wait,” he answered, pulling back his arm. “I’ve got to get out of here. Text me and let me know how the X-rays turn out.” He let out a sigh, then leaned down and pulled his mom into a quick hug, mumbling an apology into her hair before he pushed through the hospital doors and headed for his truck.

Slamming the door, he leaned his forehead against the steering wheel and punched his fist into the dashboard. His eyes burned, and his head throbbed with pain and anger.

How could he have been so stupid?

Pull it together, buddy. Falling apart isn’t going to help anybody.

He leaned back in the seat and inhaled a deep breath. Starting the truck, he pulled out of the parking lot.

A spark of color caught his eye as he drove down Main Street, and he flipped on his turn signal and eased into a parking space in front of the bookstore.

If Max was going to be laid up with a busted arm, the least he could do was get him something to take his mind off the pain. He’d find him a great book, or two, or five. Whatever it took to help.

A bearded man in a faded flannel shirt sat on the sidewalk between the bookstore and the drugstore, a mangled cardboard box at his feet. Four fluffy, brown-and-white puppies scrambled over one another, whining as he approached them. A handmade sign leaned against the side of the box that read FREE OR BEST OFFER.

“What offer is better than free?” Rock asked as he leaned down to scratch the head of one of the puppies.

The man shrugged. “I’ll give you a pup for free, but I wouldn’t turn down a donation if you wanted to offer one.” He winked and offered an impish grin. His teeth, or what remained of them, were stained yellow from tobacco and neglect.

You had to admire the man’s thought process. And it made a certain kind of sense.

The puppies were adorable.

A reddish-brown dog lay next to the man’s leg, her attention divided between him and her puppies. She was a true mutt, a mix of retriever and maybe Australian shepherd.

The man rubbed her neck with a calloused and weather-worn hand. “I didn’t even know she was carrying pups until she had ’em. Scared the crap out of me. They’re cute little buggers, but I can barely feed me and her. I can’t handle another four mouths to feed.”

She was a medium-sized dog, and she seemed sweet, but who knew what breed of dog she’d mated with. Or what kind of temperament the father had.

For just a moment, Rock debated grabbing one of the puppies for Max but was pretty sure the happiness it would bring wouldn’t be worth the wrath he would incur from Quinn. She’d already told him she wanted Max to be older before he got a dog. And besides, there was something special about getting to pick out your first dog by yourself.

He reached in his wallet and handed the guy a twenty. “I can’t take a pup, but this should help feed all of you for tonight.”

“I’m much obliged to ya.” The man nodded at Rock, then slipped the bill inside his shirt pocket.

“Good luck.” Rock was sure the guy wouldn’t have a hard time getting rid of the puppies. They were cute little things.

Forgetting about the dogs, he pulled open the door of the bookstore and stepped inside.

The quaint store had been around for years and had expanded since the last time he’d been there. It now carried stationery, cards, and an assortment of journals, and had a small coffee-shop counter at the back of the store.

The children’s section was in one corner and had several stacks of books and a spattering of educational toys. Searching the shelves, Rock found a large, colorful book on dinosaurs, an equally huge one on bugs, and a LEGO set that had three different robots to build. Max would love them all.

Rock approached the counter, knowing he would buy the whole store if he could, if it would take even one ounce of Max’s pain away.

Or even one smidgen of his guilt.

* * *

Quinn kept her arms crossed, as if holding on to herself would keep her from completely falling apart as she watched the nurse finish smoothing the bright-blue cast on Max’s thin arm.

The X-ray had shown a small fracture in his wrist, and the doctor had explained that it was a very common break and should heal quickly. The fracture was minor and had missed the growth plate and would require Max to wear the cast for only three or four weeks.

They’d already made an appointment to come back in three weeks to check it out.

“Mom, want to sign my cast?” Max held up his arm and offered her a toothy grin.

Gosh, she loved that kid. Loved him so much it caused a physical ache in her chest.

He had a way of finding the best in every situation, of finding a way to smile even in the darkest moments.

Pulling on all of her inner strength, she forced a smile and nodded her head. “Of course, baby. I’ll sign it.”

“Do I get to sign it too?” Monty asked, wiggling Max’s sock.

She’d taken the skates off him and left them in Monty’s car. Her brain was muddled with all of the information and everything that happened, and she had no idea where Max’s shoes even were. She knew Rock had grabbed her purse, so she was thankful for that, and she assumed he would have picked up all of their things.

Rock.

He’d looked so forlorn and miserable when he’d been in here earlier. She knew he was blaming himself for Max getting hurt. She’d wanted to comfort him, to tell him that it wasn’t his fault. But all of her focus had been on her son, and she hadn’t had time to try to offer him comfort too.

Truthfully, she could use his broad shoulders to comfort her right now. Being a single mom was hard, especially on days like today, when she had to keep it together and appear strong for her boy.

But inside, she didn’t feel strong—didn’t feel strong at all.

Rock wanted to be her friend. Well, she could use a friend right now. And she was anxious to get out to the waiting room to find Rock and let him know that she still needed him—to tell him that this wasn’t his fault, and neither she nor Max blamed him.

She finished filling out and signing the rest of the paperwork. Then they were told they were free to go and gathered their things.

She held out her arms, and Max scrambled into them, snuggling against her neck but still mindful of his injured chin. The doctor had put in two small stitches and covered it with a cartoon Band-Aid.

Quinn pressed a kiss to her son’s forehead. He smelled like shampoo and little-boy sweat and the faint, coppery scent of blood. The nurse had washed the majority of it from his face, but it still dotted his clothes, forming speckles of hard, crusted, brown stains.

Her own shirt was smudged with dried blood as well, and she just wanted to get home and get them both cleaned up and into fresh clothes that didn’t reek of injury and pain.

“Let’s go home, buddy.”

“You want me to carry him?” Monty offered.

She shook her head. “I’ve got him.”

Monty had been surprisingly helpful, and she was shocked that he’d stayed with them this whole time, only leaving Max’s side when he was taken in for the X-ray.

He hadn’t spoken much, but he’d offered his silent support just by being there, and she’d noticed.

Still, as nice as it was for Max to have his dad there, Monty wasn’t the one she wanted. He wasn’t the one she needed by her side, and he wasn’t the one she wanted to have wrap her in his big arms and tell her everything was going to be okay.

She held her breath as they pushed through the emergency-room doors, praying Rock would know what she needed.

Her eyes scanned the waiting room as Ham and Vivi rushed toward them, but the rest of the waiting room was empty.

Her chest tightened when Ham took Max from her. She heard him asking about his cast, and she felt Vivi pull her into a warm hug and say something about having her purse and Max’s shoes.

“Where’s Rock?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper as she spoke into Vivi’s ear.

“I’m sorry, honey. He already left,” Vivienne said as she squeezed Quinn tighter.

Quinn held on to her, clutching her back, her heart breaking into a thousand tiny pieces. The heart she had thought was broken, but that Rock had been slowly knitting back together, until this moment, when he had crushed it again.