Never Far Away (The Never #2)(33)

“Do either of you have any questions for me before we get you a CT scan?”

“No,” Ella said, “I’ve heard everything I wanted to hear.”

“Great, I will have my nurse get you all settled and I will call you tomorrow with the results. By the way, this man here,” he said, pointing to Porter, “he never left your side while you were in a coma. All the nurses were all in a flutter over him in the ICU. He impressed a lot of people with how devoted he was to you. I know as a doctor I might be overstepping my boundaries here, but as a father, I admire him for the way he took care of you. I wouldn’t want anything less for one of my daughters.”

Ella was stunned by the doctor’s words. As he made his way out of the examination room, he shook Porter’s hand and thumped him on the shoulder, in less of a doctor way and more of a man-to-man way. Ella raised her eyebrows at Porter.

“Well, you certainly made an impression on the good doctor,” she said with a smile. Then the nurse came in and took Ella to get a CT scan.




After the CT scan, Ella wanted to go to the store to check in and make sure everything was running smoothly since she made the hasty retreat to the beach.

When Porter’s truck turned onto the street of Poppy, Ella’s heartbeat thundered through her chest. As her store front came into view, she felt her body start to shake.

“Ella, Baby, what’s wrong?” Porter pulled the truck over and scooted towards her, enveloping her in his arms. He stroked his hand down her hair, rocking her gently side to side. “Please, talk to me.” Ella was still shaking, but with her face buried in his chest she tried to answer him.

“I just haven’t been back to the store since I remembered the accident,” she said through shaky breaths. Porter pulled her in closer to him, tightening his hold on her.

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t even think about that,” he said gently. “Do you want to go?” She shook her head against his shirt.

“No, it’s my store. I can’t avoid it. I just need a minute.” So they sat there as she focused on breathing and the sensation of Porter’s hand sifting through her hair.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Sure,” she said as she pulled back from him.

“Do you remember who shot you?” He whispered, almost as if he was afraid his voice would break her.

“I remember seeing the man who shot me, yes, but I never saw his face.”

“Could it have been Kyle?” He asked gently. Ella looked in Porter’s eyes and saw the pain in them. She knew he wanted nothing more than for Kyle to be the bad guy so that he had someone tangible to blame all their heartache on.

“No. It wasn’t Kyle,” she whispered.

Porter placed his hand on the side of her face, stroking his thumb across her cheek.

“You’re sure?”

Ella silently nodded her head. He placed a kiss on her forehead and let out a loud sigh. She knew he was upset, even with her memory coming back they were no closer to knowing who had shot her than before. She almost felt disappointed in herself. She could only imagine the hope that had been hinged on her getting back her memory.

“I’m sorry I don’t remember, Porter. I didn’t see his face, but I would have known if it were Kyle. I would have recognized him.”

“I know, Baby. You’ve got nothing to be sorry for.” He paused for a moment. “Do you still want to go inside?”

“Yes. I can’t let the memories stop me from going into my own store. Thank you for holding me,” she looked up at him.

“Always,” he said and gave her a small kiss. He pulled away, got out of the truck, and came around to her side, ever the gentleman. He opened her door and linked his fingers with hers as they walked towards Poppy.

Ella was glad to see the store was pretty busy, customers perusing the racks and her two employees helping women accessorize and find matching pieces. When Brittany, her most experienced employee, saw her, a smile formed along her lips.

“Ella, hi! We weren’t sure we would see you today.”

“Hi, Brit. How are things going today?”

“Just great. Pretty busy for a Monday,” she said as her eyes strayed towards Porter and his hand linked with hers.

“Brittany, this is Porter. Porter, this is Brittany, she is one of my valued employees.” Porter reached out with his free hand to shake hers.

“Nice to meet you,” he said. “I’ve heard good things about you.”

“Really? Well that’s good,” she said smiling.

“We just came by to check on the store, make sure everything was going well.”

“Everything’s fine, promise. Do you guys have plans today?”

“Not really, we just came from the hospital.”

“What?” Brittany asked, concern flashing across her face. “Is everything ok?”

“Yes. Everything is fine. Better than fine, actually. My memory came back Saturday night.” Brittany’s eyes went wide and her smile was back.

“Ella! That’s great! I’m so happy for you.”

“Thanks, I am too.” Ella looked up at Porter and saw he was smiling as well. “I am just going to check my messages and then I will be out of your hair.”

“Ella, this is your store. You’re not in my hair,” she laughed. Ella led Porter to the backroom and she sat down at her desk looking at some papers that had been left for her.