Not Planning on You (Danvers #2)(61)
A bad feeling settled over him. He didn’t think his brother was hurt, but he did think he was in trouble. There was no way his brother could love someone like Gray loved Suzy and at least not call her to let her know what was happening. You just didn’t leave someone you loved hanging like that. Man, where was Gray going with all of this? He was very close to losing Suzy if he hadn’t already.
Nick jumped when his cell phone rang. His father skipped all small talk and got right to the point. “I called Reva’s parents when I couldn’t get any answers elsewhere. Apparently Reva was in a car accident earlier tonight and is in the hospital. Gray is there with her. Everything appears to be fine now. She just has some bruises and they’re monitoring the baby’s vitals. I guess they were all pretty worried earlier when it happened.” Then releasing a weary breath, he said, “This is a damn fine mess isn’t it?”
“That’s an understatement if I‘ve ever heard one, Dad. Good lord, what is the world coming to when I’m starting to look like the considerate one in the family. I don’t care what happened, he should’ve called Suzy. It’s not like Gray to be such a prick.”
“I know son. Gray’s lost though. He’s always been a stickler about doing the right thing.” With a chuckle, he continued, “I have no idea where he gets that from.” They both knew that Gray was a carbon copy of him and that Nick was more like his mother. “I know he loves Suzy, but I don’t know if they can survive this mess. Gray will never walk away from Reva if that’s his baby and if she throws any kind of guilt at him then his sense of honor will demand he do what he thinks is right.
“I hear you snorting over there son, but you’re not so different. You may play hard, but you have as much honor as your brother. If you didn’t, we wouldn’t be having this conversation because you wouldn’t have bothered to call looking for Gray. Just do me a favor, son, learn a lesson from this. If you have to keep sleeping around, buy some damn decent condoms.”
“Dad, God can we please not discuss this now? We had this conversation once before and I never, ever want to discuss it again, ok?”
Nick smiled at his father’s first genuine laughter since their conversation had started. “You got it, but if you screw up, we will be having it again. I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Love you, son.”
He made another call because unlike his brother, he’d no intention of leaving his woman to wonder what had happened to him. He briefly explained the situation and then decided to sleep on the couch for what was left of the night. He didn’t want to bother Suzy if she was actually asleep, but he wanted to be close in case she woke and wanted to know what he’d found out. He couldn’t stand the thoughts of two Merimon brothers abandoning her tonight.
Chapter Twenty Two
Ugh, the one bad thing about living near the ocean was the bright sunlight so early in the morning. Suzy pulled the sheet over her head trying to hide her eyes from the glaring light pouring in the windows. Finally she gave up the battle to return to sleep and slid her legs to the edge of the bed. Her mind fuzzy with sleep, she was surprised to see that she was still wearing her dress. What the hell? Then the night before came flooding back and Suzy dearly wished that she’d been able to block out the morning for just a bit longer. Where was Gray? Had he called? She reached for her cell phone on the nightstand. There were no missed calls or messages. Don’t jump to conclusions, there is a perfectly good reason and it has nothing to do with Reva. Suck it up and find out what’s going on. You can fall apart later.
Suzy grabbed her crutches from where she had left them the previous night and hobbled towards the door. She could only imagine how bad she must look after sleeping in her clothes and makeup.
She found Nick asleep on the couch in his clothes, as well. Apparently neither of them had had enough ambition to change last night. She leaned down to tug on his foot, shaking him gently awake.
Nick suddenly jerked awake looking around in confusion. “Wha…What the….Oh Suzy, you scared the heck out of me.” He slid his legs off the couch making room for her to sit.
Even though she wasn’t sure she wanted to know, Suzy decided to confront the elephant in the room. “Did you talk to Gray?”
“Um, no I didn’t, but he’s ok.”
“Come on Nick, it’s obvious you know something so just spill it. I’m not going to lose it on you.”
Nick shifted around uncomfortably on the couch, seeming to choose his words with care. “Suzy, he’s at the hospital in Charleston with Reva. She had a car accident last night and I guess Gray found out about it. My dad said she was ok, but they were keeping her for observation. I..I’m sure there is a good reason why he didn’t call to let you know,” Nick finished quietly.
Well there it was. The details might be different but the underlying cause was the same. It was Reva again that had kept her up long into the night wondering where Gray was. Suzy literally felt the life drain from her body as she sat there next to Nick. She could feel his concerned gaze on her bent head, but he wisely kept quiet.
When Suzy finally raised her head and looked at him, her expression was blank. Her eyes looked eerily vacant and her face was completely devoid of color. “Suzy….”
Shaking her head, she said, “Don’t Nick, leave it be. Weren’t you supposed to fly out this morning?”