“I’m really not used to being a mess like this. I usually have things together, so this is pretty embarrassing.”
He gave another of those huffs of laughter. “I know how that feels.”
“You do not. You always have it together.”
“Are you kidding me? I’ve fallen apart way worse than you’d ever dream of doing.”
“You have?” She turned onto her side so she could see him better. “When? When you were a kid or something?”
“No. Not when I was a kid. This year. When everything happened with Summer and Lincoln.” He was still holding her hand, but his eyes were focused up on the ceiling now. “I was a total wreck.”
“What did you do?”
“I went on a major binge. Drinking and gambling and running away from everything. I wasted so much money. I almost threw away everything that was important to me, including my family’s company. Because I was weak and sad and stupid. No matter what you do, you’ll never get to rock bottom the way I did.”
Ruth was frowning. She didn’t like the resigned tone of his voice. She reached over to stroke his stubbly jaw. “Well, you had a broken heart. It’s understandable.”
“I didn’t though. Not really. Oh, I thought I did, but I was just... running away. I always do that. If I can’t take the road I think I need to take, I just bail. I take the easy way out. I don’t fight for what I really want.” He leaned his head into her hand. “You have nothing to be embarrassed about, Ruth. You’re the bravest person I’ve ever known. And I know it hasn’t always worked out the way you hoped, but you still fight for what you want and you never try to hide or run away. The world would be a lot better if more people were like you.”
Her face twisted since the words made her feel better than almost anything else in her life ever had. She snuggled up closer to him. He wrapped his arm around her, and she fell asleep against his side.
SHE SLEPT FOR THE NEXT few hours, being awakened every sixty minutes (exactly) by Carter. The last time he woke her up, she realized she was starving, so she asked if there was any possibility of getting some food.
A chuckling Carter went to bring her a tray of food—a delicious and varied assortment thrust upon him by his mother, who was apparently convinced Ruth needed to eat four times her normal amount. Carter stayed in his spot on the bed beside her and helped her finish her soup, sandwich, salad, and fried goat cheese nuggets. They watched TV, which meant she could really relax and not worry about what might accidently spill out were they to talk more.
Afterward, while Carter was taking the tray downstairs, Ruth called Kayla, who was thrilled to hear from her, and she texted Summer and Savannah. Then she decided she needed to shower and change into a cute red Christmas nightgown that Kayla had bought for her last year.
When she came back out into the bedroom, Carter and his mother were changing the bedding on the bed.
“You didn’t have to do that!” Ruth exclaimed, strangely touched by the sight. The Wilsons had domestic staff who came in daily, but they’d already gone home.
“We got some crumbs,” Carter said, shaking out the thick comforter before he and his mother pulled it up over the clean sheets.
“I don’t care about crumbs.”
“You can’t sleep on crumbs, dear,” Mrs. Wilson told her in a chiding voice. “Not after your ordeal. The itches would trouble you all night long.”
Ruth smiled and thanked them when they’d finished. The bed did indeed look crisp and clean and very inviting as she crawled back under the covers.
Mrs. Wilson leaned over and kissed her forehead, like a mother would a child at bedtime. “Now you sleep well, Ruth. I put some new oils in the diffuser. Lavender and lemon. It should be very soothing.”
“Thank you so much. I really appreciate all your help.”
“What else would we do? You’re family now.” Mrs. Wilson paused where Carter was standing. She gave his hair a brief ruffle and then kissed him on the cheek. “You take good care of her tonight.”
“I will,” Carter said as she left the room. Then he turned to give Ruth a rueful smile. “Do you need anything else? I could really use a shower.”
“I’m good. You can go on. I don’t think I need anything else.”
He stared at her for a moment as she lay in bed. It looked like he would say something. But he didn’t. He walked out of the room with nothing more than a strange nod of his head.
Ruth closed her eyes. She was full and comfortable, and her headache was gone now. Her wrist wasn’t bothering her at the moment. All in all, she’d come out of the car accident pretty well.
That was thanks to Carter. Who knew how she’d be doing right now if Kayla hadn’t called him. If he hadn’t come right out to the hospital to get her.
It was nice. To have someone to rely on.
And he hadn’t seemed to mind being stuck with her too much.
SHE MUST HAVE DOZED off, although she hadn’t even thought she was sleepy. It was dark in the room when she opened her eyes. She breathed in the scent of lavender and citrus. The essential oils were still going.
She repositioned herself and gasped when her arm connected with something beside her.
Carter.
She couldn’t see him in the dark, but she knew it was him. It felt like him. Smelled like him.
When her eyes adjusted enough, she could see that he was dressed for bed in pajama pants and a T-shirt. He was lying on top of the covers with a throw blanket draped over him. And he was sound asleep.
It made her happy. That he was there. That he was sleeping.
She rolled out of bed and went to the bathroom as quietly as she could, relieved when she returned to bed afterward and hadn’t woken him up.
She really liked having him there. She wouldn’t mind if he’d go to sleep beside her every night.
In fact, she would like it a lot.
THE NEXT MORNING, SHE was half-asleep when Carter slipped out of the bed. The vague recognition made her want to grumble, but she couldn’t wake up enough to do it for real. She heard the bathroom door close. Then a minute later she heard the toilet flush and the water in the sink. He came back to bed then, so that made her happy.
She stopped trying to open her eyes, wanting to go back to sleep, but she couldn’t really. Now she was too aware of needing to pee. And too aware of Carter’s presence beside her. After a while, she peeked out her eyelashes at him, just to see what he was doing.
He was watching her.
She smiled groggily.
“Hey, how are you feeling?”
“I feel good. I think I’m all better.”
“Is your wrist hurting?”
“It’s sore if I move it the wrong way, but with the brace on it’s not a problem. But I really need to go to the bathroom.”
When she didn’t move, he drawled, “It’s vacant, you know. You can go anytime.”
“But that means I have to get up.”
“It’s a sad state of affairs but unfortunately the way it works.”
She made a face at him and managed to find the energy to roll out of bed and limp to the bathroom. She didn’t know why she was limping, but her body still felt a little sore.