Reckless (64 page)

Kellan tried to interrupt him, but Denny wouldn’t let him.“I knew what was going on, Kellan, with you and your dad, and I didn’t say anything to anybody. I didn’t help
you like I should have.”

“You were a kid,” Kellan muttered.

“So were you,” he retorted. “And when I moved away, I didn’t keep in touch like I promised.” Clearly angry at himself, Denny shook his head. “You needed me,
and I wasn’t there for you. And I’m really sorry. That was pretty shitty of me.”

“Are you kidding?” Incredulous, Kellan pointed over at me. “I slept with your girlfriend . . . repeatedly.” I flinched, and Abby squeezed my hand a little tighter.

Denny frowned. “Well, that was pretty shitty of you.” A sad smile darkened his features. “But I left you alone in hell . . . and I almost think that was worse.” He stuck
his hand out to Kellan. “I know we’ve already put the past behind us, and I know we’re friends, but I want you to know, without a doubt in your head, that we’re still
brothers. You understand me?”

Kellan still seemed shocked to his core, but he nodded and shook Denny’s hand. “Yeah, yeah, okay.”

My mom was the first one to return to the hospital the next morning—bright and early the next morning. I was still sleeping on a chair in the corner of the room when she
placed her hand on my shoulder. “Here, honey,” she whispered.

Groggily opening my eyes, I noticed the steaming cup of liquid she was holding and smiled. Coffee. And the good kind too—it was in a paper cup from an espresso stand, not a Styrofoam one
from a vending machine. God, I loved my mom. “Thank you.”

Mom leaned against the windowsill, sipping her own cup of coffee, as she watched Kellan sleeping. Then her eyes drifted over to Denny, asleep in a chair on the other side of Kellan’s bed.
I’d called Evan last night and asked him to return to the hospital to take Denny and Abby to the hotel the band was staying at the night before, but after making sure that Abby was settled,
Denny had decided to stay with Kellan. Maybe seeing that a crucial moment was happening, the nurse on duty had let him.

Mom’s long brown hair was pulled back into a springy ponytail, giving me a full view of her expression. I couldn’t tell what she was thinking, though. As I took a sip of my creamy
caffeinated treat, I considered how odd it must seem to her to have my ex here. An ex I had cheated on with Kellan.

After another quiet moment of contemplation, Mom turned to me. Pointing at Denny with her pinky finger, she asked, “He really loves you, doesn’t he?”

She seemed concerned, like somehow he was a threat to Kellan. I loved that she felt protective of my husband. My lips creeping into a smile, I shook my head. “No, he loves Kellan. He came
here for him.” My smile grew as I watched both boys sleeping. “He told Kellan they were still brothers . . . even after everything.”

Mom’s eyes widened as she took another sip of coffee. “That is a very forgiving friend that you both have. I hope you and Kellan realize how rare that is.”

I nodded, my eyes stinging. I did. We did. And we’d never do anything to hurt him again.

The boys slept for another hour; we’d all been up late talking, and they had still been whispering when I drifted off to sleep. I think Kellan would have slept longer, but a nurse arrived
to check on him and woke him up. The nurse asked him how he was feeling, how his pain was, if he was hungry, if he’d gotten up, if he’d gone to the bathroom; all the personal stuff that
nurses don’t seem to mind asking in mixed company. Kellan didn’t seem embarrassed as he sleepily answered her, though. He actually seemed content.

Gavin, his children, and my father arrived at the hospital while Kellan was eating a watery-looking omelet for breakfast; it was the first thing I’d seen him eat since the accident. When
Dad and Gavin walked into the room, they were having a lively discussion about the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Cincinnati Reds. I couldn’t stop grinning as the two men went back and forth
about which baseball team was better. No topic bonded my father faster to someone than sports. And my parents becoming friends with Kellan’s parent was a very good thing.

Abby, Anna, and the D-Bags showed up with Justin mid-morning. That was still on the early side for the band members, and most of them were yawning when they raised their hands in greeting.
Gibson wasn’t in the room two seconds before Mom stole the bundle of pink out of Griffin’s arms. He frowned at Mom, but he let his daughter go. Tossing an arm around me, Anna laughed
and said, “No one else is going to get to hold her the entire time Mom’s visiting.”

I watched Mom rock Gibson as a thought struck me. “How long are you staying, Mom? I mean, Thanksgiving is coming up. Aren’t you expecting company back home?”

Her eyes never leaving her granddaughter, Mom shook her head. “We canceled. We’re staying here for Thanksgiving.” She finally peeked up at me. “We’ll fly back when
Kellan is well enough to leave with you.” She turned her smile to him. “Family sticks together.”

I wasn’t too surprised by Mom’s news, but it was wonderful to hear. Hopeful, I looked over at Gavin. He pointed over at Riley playing a video game and Hailey flipping through a
gossip magazine. The photo of Kellan and I kissing in the graveyard was on the cover. “The kids are on break from school, and I already told work there was a family emergency and that I
wasn’t coming back until Monday.” His warm smile outshone his son’s. “You’re stuck with me until then.”

Kellan grinned and looked down. “That means a lot to me. Thank you.”

From the expression on the D-Bags’ faces, I knew they were all sticking close to Kellan during the holiday, so I didn’t even ask. I wasn’t sure about Justin’s schedule,
though; I couldn’t remember where his band was at. After I asked him, he told me, “We’ve got one more gig tonight, then we’re free ’til next week.” Leaning over,
he asked Hailey and Riley, “Hey, you guys wanna see Avoiding Redemption tonight? Maybe hang backstage with some rock stars?” Gavin cleared his throat, and Justin snapped his head to
him. “With your permission, of course.”

Since Hailey and Riley were begging and bouncing up and down in their seats, Gavin really didn’t have a choice but to say yes. Pointing at Hailey, he added, “You keep an eye on your
brother. And no drinking.”

Hailey rolled her eyes, then turned to Kellan. “See what I have to put up with.”

Kellan gave her a crooked smile. “Yeah, he’s a real brute.” I raised my eyebrow at Kellan’s comment, but his expression was amused, not pained, so I felt okay to
laugh.

While light chuckles went around the room, my gaze shifted to Denny and Abby. “What about you two? When are you heading back?”

Denny put his arm around Abby, pulling her in close. “Well, this is Abby’s first Thanksgiving in the states, and she wanted the full holiday experience. She even made me promise to
watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade with her on television.” He rolled his eyes while Abby gave him a playful scowl. I chuckled at the annoyance on Denny’s face, but I knew
better. He was probably looking forward to giving Abby a dream holiday, parade-watching included; there really wasn’t much Denny wouldn’t do for the person he loved.

Denny laughed at the look on Abby’s face, then told me, “We talked about it on the flight over, and we’ve decided to stay through the holiday.”

Abby patted his chest. Her engagement ring sparkled in the rays coming through the open window, matching her personality. “Denny’s taking me to see the parade in person!” She
giggled, and I could tell she was truly overjoyed about watching enormous balloons traversing through the city above elaborately decorated floats.

From across the room, Griffin discretely coughed, “Wuss.” Anna giggled, but respectfully elbowed him. I thought defending Denny was pretty big of her, since he wasn’t her
favorite person. I guess his showing up here had really impressed her.

Smiling that everyone was staying for a few days, I stood up. “Well, I have a proposition then.”

Walking around to Kellan’s bag of belongings on the nightstand, I rummaged through it until I found the zip-top bag holding his promise ring. Kellan watched me with curious eyes as I
removed the small bag from the larger one. Opening it, I fished out his ring and showed it to him.

Gingerly sitting on the edge of his bed, I reached across him for his left hand; my shoulder ached a little with the movement, but it was already feeling much better. Heart hammering in nerves
and excitement, I told him, in a low voice meant only for his ears, “Kellan Kyle, you are the love of my life. You have my heart from now until the end of forever. Will you please make me the
happiest woman on earth and marry me . . . Thursday.”

After I slid the ring on his finger, Kellan cinched my hand. Eyes bright, he asked, “You want to get married on Thanksgiving . . .
here
?” He looked around the clinical room,
the mechanical bed he’d only left a couple of times so far. It didn’t exactly scream romance.

Content with my decision, I nodded. “The where doesn’t matter . . . just the who. I can’t wait another month to officially marry you, and what better way could we celebrate a
day of giving thanks than by becoming husband and wife?” I indicated the people in the room staring at us. “The most important people in our lives are already here.” I frowned.
“Except Jenny and the girls. We’ll just have to fly them back out to us. They should really be here for this.”

Evan was leaning against a wall, his face bursting with uncontainable happiness. “Not a problem. I’ll have Jujube gather the girls and head on over. She wouldn’t want to miss
this.” He twisted his lips. “And I would never hear the end of it if she did.”

And just like that, the entire moment felt perfect. I looked back at Kellan. “See? This is how we were supposed to get married.”

Kellan’s face shifted from surprise to wonder. “You’ll really be my wife . . .”

Laughing as my eyes moistened, I gave him a soft kiss. “And you’ll really be my husband.”

From behind me, I heard my mother loudly exhale. “Here, Kiera? Really?”

I turned to look at her. She had a rigid frown as she looked around the room. “But we already sent out the invitations. We have family coming in from out of state, cousins you
haven’t seen in a decade or more. And everything is ready at our church. There’s going to be a potluck after the ceremony. Polly is bringing her world-famous baked beans, and Gertrude
is so excited to play the organ for you. She’s ninety-eight, Kiera. She’s only got a year or two left in her . . .”

Baked beans
? Schooling my features, I risked a glance at Anna; she was quietly dying with laughter.

Standing, I walked over to Mom and grabbed her shoulders. “Mom, I almost lost my husband yesterday. I don’t want to wait another minute to become his wife. Will you please help me
get married on Thursday?”

A long, fat tear rolled down Mom’s cheek. “Of course I will.”

I dried her skin. “Good, then find someone who can marry us on really, really short notice.”

Mom immediately went into active planning mode. “Okay, I’m sure somebody around here is qualified to marry people.” She started pacing. “We’ll need to spruce the
place up a bit, get some flowers.” She looked over at Kellan’s many get-well bouquets, bouquets that had been steadily growing once fans realized he was here. “Oh, well, those
will work.” Gently bouncing Gibson, her face fell as she twisted to me. “Oh, your dress . . . I should have brought it with me. It was perfect.”

I tried to look disappointed, but I’d heard all about the puffy-sleeved fiasco from my sister. Giving Mom a consoling smile, I shrugged. “Yeah, that is too bad. But Anna and I will
find something, I’m sure.”

Anna sprang to her feet. “And we’ll get you your marriage license.” She winked at me. I suspected that both people were supposed to apply for them at the same time, but Kellan
was sort of bed-prone at the moment. I had no doubt about Anna’s ability to persuade people, though, especially men. God, I hoped the person in the county clerk’s office was a man.

Mom did the unthinkable and handed Gibson over to someone else. Griffin took his daughter back as Mom told the room that she needed a phone, a phonebook, a pad of paper, and another
espresso—pronto! Gavin left to get my mom some coffee while Dad ransacked the room to get her everything else she needed to make my impromptu wedding a reality. I was elated as I watched her
get to work.

Anna tugged on my arm. There was a glow in her green eyes that matched Mom’s. “Let’s go find you a dress today!”

Giggling, I skipped over to Kellan and gave him a light kiss. “We’ll be back in a little bit. Will you be all right here?” Kellan looked just as euphoric as I felt as he
nodded. In pain or not, I knew he was the happiest that he’d ever been. I knew, because that’s exactly how I felt.
I was getting married!

Griffin nodded at Anna when she asked if he could watch Gibson while we were shopping. From the way he was holding his child, it was pretty obvious that he hadn’t been going to give her up
anyway. Anna had just fed her not too long ago, but we’d have to make this outing on the short side. At least, on the short side for my sister; she could spend an entire day in just the shoe
section.

After Kellan begged me for a final kiss, Griffin murmured, “Your wedding day is Thanksgiving. That’s convenient.” He pointed at Kellan. “You probably won’t forget
your anniversary.” He looked over at Anna. “We shoulda done that. I already forgot ours.”

Anna smirked at Griffin while Kellan’s lip twitched. “Uh, it won’t always be on Thanksgiving, Griff.”

He looked horribly confused. “Huh? Yeah, it will.”

Kellan bit his lip. I could tell he was trying really hard not to laugh, since laughing hurt. “Thanksgiving isn’t on the same day every year. It moves around.”

Griffin glared at Kellan. “Don’t even try fucking with me, Kell.” He tapped his finger to his head. “I’m on to you.”

I heard Matt and Evan snigger with Justin and Denny. My dad stared at the ceiling as he shook his head. I couldn’t contain my giggle; poor Kellan had to take long, slow exhales so he
didn’t laugh with everyone else. “Griff, I’m not . . .”