Love's Second Chance (Second Chances #1)(46)



“Be careful,” she said as I leaned down to kiss her forehead.

“Always, babe. I’ll be back shortly.”

She sighed. “I’ll be here.”

Shutting the bedroom door, I headed back out to the garage. This would be the perfect time to take the bike out for one last ride. I hadn’t mentioned to Korinne that I planned on getting rid of my bikes, but I was sure she’d be extremely happy when she found out. I never rode them anymore anyway, and now that I had Korinne I didn’t think I’d have much time to ride. The sound of revving the bike was a sound I would surely miss, along with the freedom of flying down the road. The adrenaline I got from riding brought a different kind of excitement that I wouldn’t be able to get from anything else. Safety was the key with riding, so I put on my leather jacket, riding boots, gloves, and of course the full face helmet. Hopping on my bike, I lowered the visor and headed off down the road. The rain clouds seemed to be moving in, but it looked like I still had a little bit more time before it started pouring.

When I got to the pharmacy, all eyes turned to me. I laughed to myself, knowing full well I looked like a bum in my grease covered clothes carrying in my motorcycle helmet. A lady actually moved away from me as I stood in line at the counter. She lifted her nose like I was beneath her. I could never stand bitches like that, or people for that matter. I made a ton of money, but I would never act like that to someone else. I was tempted to lightly bump into her to see if she would freak out, but I refrained from it even though it would have been funny as hell.

As soon as I walked out of the pharmacy, the rain began to fall. I groaned in annoyance because I should have known better than to ride when it looked like rain, but there was nothing I could do about it then. I put the meds in the seat compartment to keep them dry before I started up the bike. The rain poured down heavier as soon as I headed on my way. It felt like tiny pellets beating down on my body. My instincts were telling me to pull over and wait it out, but my heart was guiding me in the direction of home so I could get the meds to Korinne. The rain made it hard to see, but I knew I was almost home. The second I saw the car pull out in front of me was the second I knew I was never going to make it home. Thoughts of Korinne flashed through my mind before the world turned to gray and then faded to black …





Chapter Eighteen





When I woke up from my nap, I could see through the window that the sun was just then setting. Looking over at the clock, I noticed it was seven-thirty. How could that be? Galen had been gone for hours and I hadn’t heard him come in. What the hell, I thought. Where was he?

“Galen?” I called out, hoping that he was there. There was no sound coming from the house other than the tinkling of water, which was dripping out of the bathroom faucet. When I heard no reply, I stumbled out of bed, shaky at first. I searched through the house, room by room. The rooms were all empty, so I went to the kitchen and entered the garage through there. All of the cars were there except that dreaded motorcycle Galen was working on earlier. My instincts were telling me something was wrong. Rushing to the bedroom, I searched frantically for my phone. It wasn’t like Galen to stay gone like that. He would’ve told me if he was going to be gone that long. As far as I knew he was only going to go to the pharmacy and pick up some medicine for my nausea. My cell phone was on the dresser, hidden behind the lamp, and when I snatched it up I saw that the damn thing was dead. “Shit!” I screamed out. What if Galen needed my help and here I was sleeping the whole afternoon away.

I grabbed the phone charger and plugged it up, in hopes that there would be a text from him letting me know he was all right. If not I was going to call him and demand to know where he was. I didn’t want to come off as pushy or overprotective, but he had to know that I worried over stuff like that, especially after losing Carson. Before I could turn on my phone, the doorbell rang. I laughed out loud thinking that it was probably Galen from locking himself out of the house. He had a tendency to lose his keys at times, and I was always the one who found them. When I opened the door, I was shocked to see that it wasn’t Galen …but Jenna.

“Oh my goodness! Twink, what are you doing here?” I said while flinging my arms around her neck. When Jenna hesitated, I pulled back to see not happiness on her face, but horror and confusion. Confused and terrified myself, I stepped away from her and asked hesitantly, “Twink, what’s wrong? Why do you look like that?”

Jenna swallowed hard and her eyes began to water. Something was wrong and I could feel it in my blood. My heart began to beat rapidly while the feeling of doom started to take presence in my chest, making it tight and hard to breathe. What the hell happened to make Jenna look like that and to show up on my doorstep?

“I’ve been trying to call you,” Jenna choked out on a sob. “Why didn’t you answer?”

I stood there, shocked for a second, but then I quickly said, “I was sick and hadn’t felt well all last night and today. My phone died sometime this afternoon while I’ve been asleep. I can tell something’s wrong, Jenna, so you need to tell me, now.”

Stepping back, I motioned for her to come inside and she followed. Growing more impatient with each passing second, I glared at her waiting on the news to come. Jenna’s voice quivered when she spoke, “Korinne, there’s been an accident.” Thoughts of Galen passed through my mind and of all the possibilities of what could be wrong, none of which happened to be good. If he wasn’t here, then where was he? Not knowing what to do or say, I stood there motionless while the time floated by in slow motion, waiting on the fatal words to leave Jenna’s mouth.

L.P. Dover's Books