Joshua Healy (The Mitchell/Healy Family #10)(63)

“Can you? Have you?”

I shake my head. “No. It hasn’t been easy for me either.”

“Because you belong together. When you know you know. Ask Cob. We’ve been through it. I wasn’t giving him up, no way, no how.”

I smirk. “I appreciate you telling me this, Callie. I’m going to find him and see if I can help.”

“You can. Forgive him. It’s the only thing that will straighten his ass back up.”

I wave to the rest of the family as I exit the barn and continue looking for Josh. I’m almost to another pole building when I hear screaming. It’s two people arguing and I recognize both of the voices. I quickly duck behind some farm equipment to keep from being seen.



He’s still in his business suit, standing by his truck and yelling at Livvy.



“I’d rather drive off a f*cking cliff than go anywhere with you, Liv.”

“Please don’t treat me this way, Josh. I didn’t ask to get pregnant.”

“No, but you pretty much forced me to f*ck you. We had unprotected sex. Come on, do you think I was born yesterday?”

Livvy is getting more mad by the second, but Josh isn’t holding back. “I wanted you that night; to convince you that we should be together. I was trying to get you back. You admitted you still had feelings for me.”

“You coerced a drunk man to say what you wanted to hear. I barely remember it. I sure as hell didn’t know what I was saying.”

I never thought I’d see the day when Olivia Parrish cried because she didn’t get her way.

Then Josh mentions me, and my heart begins to race. “Because of you I’ve lost Tamsyn and Wes. You expect me to pick up and leave my family so we can be together? This ain’t the olden days. I’m not obligated to be with you for the sake of our child. Get your head out of your ass and wake up. I don’t owe you shit!”

“You’re right. I just thought you’d at least want to try.”

He’s getting closer to her and pointing in her face. “You were my first love. We shared a lot of memories together, but we were kids. I can’t do this anymore. I won’t play head games. I. LOVE. HER. Get that through your skull. It’s never going to go away.”

HE LOVES ME.

“What if I leave the country and keep you from your child?”

Josh tosses his hands in the air out of frustration. “At this point, I don’t care anymore. I’m a sperm donor. You’re not going to use a kid as leverage to trap me. You want to keep a piece of me, there you go. It’s all you’re ever going to get.”

Livvy starts playing hard ball. She’s desperate. “So you’ll have no problem signing over parental rights?”

I can’t believe what I’m hearing him say. “Yeah. I’ll sign the damn papers, after you have a paternity test done when the baby is born.”

“You know when I got pregnant.”

“You could have screwed ten people that week. How the hell would I know?”

“I hope you’re happy with this. If I leave, I’m never coming back.”

“Thank the f*cking lord! Good riddance!”

I watch her high tail her ass to her nearby parked car. She begins to pull away, so I come out from behind the tractor and call for him. “Josh. Over here.” I’m waving, freaking out a bit, but tired of playing the nice guy when everything I want is there for the taking. He’s made it clear. He knows what he wants, and I’m done keeping it from him. He’s mine and I’m his.



Then I see the headlights. They’re turning in my direction, and coming full speed. Josh is darting toward me, screaming for me to run but he’s too far away. I can’t get out of the way in time. It’s going to hit me. That bitch is going to run me over. I’m trying to get to a safe place, but I’m in the open. I’m a sitting duck.

I can hear the vehicle coming up behind me. I’m digging my heels into the gravel to pick up traction. The heat of the headlights hits the back of my legs and I know it’s too late.

He’s calling my name. I can hear him but he sounds far away. I’m trying to get his attention. The words won’t come out loud enough. He’s fading. Everything goes black.





Chapter 30


Joshua


It all happened so fast. I hear my name being called, see Tamsyn across the way, and then there’s another shout as Liv’s car blows by me headed in the direction of the woman I love. “SHE RUINED MY LIFE!”

I have mere seconds to yell to Tamsyn so she can escape a direct hit. Liv has lost her mind. She’d rather see Tamsyn dead then in my arms, which is pathetic since we’ve never once been a real couple. She’s delusional, and that mixed with a motor vehicle is a deathtrap.

I’m running, waving my hands, and desperately trying to prevent this from happening. It’s like slow motion. Tamsyn is running, each time she turns the car following. At first it’s a stalk and when Tamsyn runs out of room to hide Liv attacks.

I watch Tamsyn’s small frame tumble over the car’s hood and off to the side, while Liv keeps driving, her car crashing into an old garage we keep the four-wheelers in. The horn fires a constant hum as the car remains still, and I don’t know what to do. I’m screaming for someone to help me. My cousins must have heard the commotion, because they’re running toward me at a rapid speed. I point to the car. “Call 9-1-1, check on Liv. Jake and Jax head in that direction, while I scoop down and take in the condition of Tamsyn. Her body lies still in an S shape. It’s all wrong. She’s not responding to anything, so I gently, without moving her in case of injuries, tap on her cheeks. She has a gash in her forehead that’s bleeding, so I immediately put a slight bit of pressure on it. There’s a crowd of people headed in my direction, all while I’m yelling for Tamsyn to hear me and wake up. She’s got a pulse, so I know she’s still alive, and that’s the only thing keeping me from losing my shit.