Defending Hayden (Second Chances #7)(2)
“Derek, you there? Talk to me, brother.”
“I’m sorry, Townsend, but there’s nothing you can do.” I tossed the phone out the window and heard it shatter on the road as I sped past. There was nothing anyone could do.
Chapter 1
Derek
TWO MONTHS LATER
Time heals all wounds. Whoever made up that quote was a f*cking idiot. I couldn’t begin to count how many times I’d heard the same bullshit, just said in different ways. The pain will hurt less over time, or It’s time for you to move on. Time didn’t heal all wounds. The pain was still there, simmering under the surface. That was why I had to get away. Escaping to the other side of the country was my only choice.
“You okay, D?” Blake asked.
He clapped me on the shoulder and leaned over the fence, mirroring my stance. Blake Evans, one of my friends from back home in North Carolina, had opened his Wyoming ranch up to me a couple of months ago. If not for him, I’d be on my way to rehab. I hadn’t popped a single pill or drunk a drop of alcohol in a whole month. The tabloids had a field day with my distress, claiming that I’d hit rock bottom and there was no returning. For the longest time, I didn’t think I could come back from it, but I did. I still had the urge to binge, but it wasn’t as bad.
I averted my gaze from the snowcapped mountains and faced him. “I’ll be fine. The thought of driving back home tomorrow scares the f*ck out of me, though.” I sighed. “At least it’ll take me a couple of days to get there.”
He nodded. “I know, but it’s something you have to do. Sooner or later you have to face the fact that things have changed. As much as I’ve enjoyed having you here, you can’t stay forever. Besides,” he said, glancing down at my phone, “everyone back home knows where you are now.”
The only people I had talked to in the past two months were my parents and my agent, Brent Baker. Brent had been optimistic that I’d find my way back, so he’d been keeping in touch with my coach and the management of the Carolina Cougars in hopes that I’d return.
Neither he nor my parents knew where I was, exactly, but my parents didn’t deserve the silent treatment, not when they wanted to help. Only there wasn’t anything they could do. If Brianna were still alive, she’d have had our baby by now. That was the one thought that ripped me to pieces. The f*cker who had run us off the road better be glad he’s dead or I would’ve killed him. What was so messed up about the situation was that she wasn’t even the target—Evan was. She was just collateral damage in a scheme put together by Summer’s doctor, Philip Parker, to get Evan out of the way. He’d hired someone to run us off the road so he could have Summer all to himself. I wanted revenge for Brianna’s death, but I’d never gotten it; Philip was dead, a victim of his own wrongdoing.
I looked down at the fifteen unopened text messages on my phone and groaned. “Tell me about it. If not for Avery, I’d still be MIA.”
“Hey, you can’t blame all of that on him. You knew you couldn’t stay gone forever. Are you going to tell anyone you’re headed home?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. I’m going to wait and see how I feel when the time comes. I want to see the guys, but I don’t want their pity.”
After throwing my phone out the window of the car two months ago, I’d headed west without a single change of clothes. I’d kept driving until I’d ended up on Blake’s doorstep and asked him for help. I didn’t want to go back to my empty house, where my thoughts constantly strayed to Brianna. I should’ve known Evan and the guys would get Jason Avery to track me down. Jason was one of the best undercover agents in the country, as good as Blake, but Jason was the one who’d tracked down the guy responsible for Brianna’s death.
Blake slapped me on the back. “They’re just worried about you. Now, why don’t I fire up the grill and cook us some steaks? It’ll be the last good meal you have for a while.”
“Ain’t that the truth. At least I have the Carolina Tavern back home.” I had a strange feeling I’d be eating there a lot.
—
The drive back home took two full days. I stopped in Kansas City for a night and then surprised my parents in Oneida, Tennessee. They were happy to see me, and it actually felt good to be around them again. My mother made all of my favorite dishes and packed them in a cooler for my ride home. I wasn’t going to complain. I didn’t see them as much now that I was five hours away and traveling a lot with the team.
It wasn’t long before I arrived in Belmont, North Carolina, where I’d lived ever since I joined the Carolina Cougars. Most of the other guys lived in Charlotte except my closest friends and teammates, Evan Townsend and Cooper Davis. I preferred a smaller scene, especially since I was a country boy. When I pulled into my driveway, I expected to see mile-high grass and my mailbox overflowing with mail; however, my grass was cut, and nothing looked like I’d abandoned it for two months.
I didn’t have any close neighbors I could ask, but I had a feeling who was responsible. Inside, the house smelled like Pine-Sol. The floors were clean, and there wasn’t a speck of dust anywhere. It wasn’t the way I’d left it, that was for damn sure. The mail was piled high on my kitchen table, including a box wrapped in blue and black paper: the colors of the Carolina Cougars. There wasn’t a note saying who it was from, but it didn’t take a genius to figure it out.