“I’m not taking on new patients,” Erin assured her. “Even if I were, I’ve met your mother. The woman asks too many personal questions.”
“I know,” Piper sighed. “The last time I agreed to one of her blind date fix-ups, she called the poor man the next day to ask if we had sex.”
“She didn’t,” Riley asked with a gasp. “How did you find out?”
“He let me know—in a text,” Piper said. “I forget his exact words. I never want to see you again because your mother’s a psycho, sums it up pretty well.”
“At least your date got off easy.” Darcy patted her hand. “Your mother treats you like a commodity with a dwindling shelf-life that she wants to sell off to the highest bidder before you hit your expiration date.”
“True,” Piper sighed.
“And your brothers?” Darcy continued. “Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumber, pop up now and then like turds in the punch bowl of your life.”
“Ew!” Erin grimaced. “Sounds delightful.”
“Mostly, Warren and Teddy keep their distance.” Piper’s smile didn’t reach her eyes. “They learned not to mess with little sister. She bites—hard.”
“There you go.” Darcy gave Piper a high five.
Piper purposefully steered the conversation away from her family. By the time the dessert arrived—five brightly decorated cupcakes—the mood was light and filled with laughter.
“Your big birthday cake will be delivered to your door later tonight. I expect you and Levi to save me a piece,” Darcy said. “As a test run, blow out the candle and make a wish.”
Piper paused. What could she possibly wish to possess that she didn’t already have? World peace would be nice, but unrealistic since the mathematical variables were mindbogglingly difficult to calculate—even for her. The same could be said about so many things she might hope for but couldn’t realistically obtain.
In the end, Piper’s wish was simple. She wanted more days like today. With her friends. Happy and healthy.
Taking a bite of the cupcake, Piper jumped when a blaring noise that resembled a police car’s siren erupted from Darcy’s purse.
“Are we about to be arrested,” she asked as Darcy reached for her bag.
“Knights’ news text alert,” Riley said. Already on her phone, a worried frown marred her forehead. As she read the words on the screen, her expression turned stone cold. “Son of a—”
“Damn.” Briefly, Darcy closed her eyes. “Of all the irresponsible… Sorry, Piper. We need to go.”
Riley was already out the door, but Piper managed to grab Darcy’s hand before she could leave.
“What happened?”
“Monte Oliver,” Darcy ground out the name. “He ran his car into the front of the Bellingham Walmart.”
Startled, shocked, her mind suddenly blank, all Piper could do was blink.
“Is he okay?” Erin asked, her emergency training kicking in. “Was anyone else hurt?”
“Thankfully, no. As for Monte, I can’t say for sure. The message said he was conscious. Which is good.” Darcy gripped her purse so tightly her knuckles turned white. “Though by the time I get done with him, he might just wish he was dead.”
CHAPTER FOUR
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“Reckless fool,” Levi muttered as he walked down the corridor toward Monte Oliver’s hospital room. “If he wanted to give a lesson on how to destroy a career, he succeeded in vomit-inducing style.”
“Somehow the only thing the jerk totaled was his sports car,” Dylan said with a disgusted sigh. “He could have killed someone. Then his life would be ruined.”
“Pays to be lucky, I guess,” Levi agreed.
“Think he’ll ever play professional football again?”
“If he’d proved himself on the field, I’d say his chances were good. We both know the NFL tends to turn a blind eye to a lot of misdeeds if the player is talented enough.” Levi shrugged. “A lot of teams will give a guy a second or third chance if they think he can bring the team a few wins.”
Levi and Dylan exchanged knowing looks. They loved the game of football. However, the owners almost always put business first. Though in recent years, the commissioner took a harder line on drug abuse and domestic violence, now and then the league still turned a blind eye.
“One thing’s almost certain,” Dylan said. “Between the drunk driving charges and the injuries sustained in the crash, Monte won’t play football again this year.”
“Seems unlikely,” Levi agreed. “Though stranger things have happened. If he heals faster than expected, you never know.”
“The Knights won’t have him back,” Dylan said with absolute certainty.
Dylan was right. Monte had burned his last bridge with the team that drafted him out of college. He’d been on thin ice before today’s accident. Now, all that was left beneath the former college standout’s feet was frigid water. If he were smart, he’d swim as fast as possible to the nearest rehab facility.
Levi wanted to believe that Monte would view what happened in the Walmart parking lot as a wakeup call. As a chance to ask for help and rebuild his reputation and his career.
“Monte’s ego is too big and his head too thick. He won’t admit he has a problem,” Dylan said, easily reading Levi’s thoughts because they mirrored his. “What do you want to bet he has an excuse? Faulty brakes, most likely. Or, he wasn’t drunk, the breathalyzer test was faulty.”
“Nothing we haven’t heard before.” Dreading what was to come, Levi stopped at the hospital room door. “Remind me again why we’re here?”
“Don’t ask me,” Dylan said. “You’re the one who insisted we come. Remember? When I balked, you said, and I quote, ‘Solidarity between teammates is an unwritten rule.’ Unquote.”
“And you bought into that piece of crap reasoning?” Levi grumbled. “You never listen. Why’d you pick today to start?”
“Because I knew you’d come even if I refused.” Dylan’s lip curled into a sneer. “You have a streak of nobility too long and wide for anyone’s good.”
“Look who’s talking,” Levi argued. “How many times have you bailed your brother out of one fix or another?”
“Last time was the last time,” Dylan said, a hard edge entering his voice. “Mom can lay the guilt on as thick as she wants, I won’t budge.”
Sympathetic to the pressure family could bring, yet unconvinced Dylan could break the cycle he’d been in most of his life, Levi took out his phone and hit the record button.
“What?” Dylan demanded with a frown as he pushed the phone away from his face.
“Repeat what you just said. I want to have a copy to replay when you’re about to cave like the last time. And the time before. And the time before that.”