Page 77 of Manors & Mischief

I take a step back. For her to think I would actually buy the manor from her is preposterous. I would never buy her out of her dream. I’ll fight for her, but not any of this crap. “You don’t mean that.”

“Right now I do.” She scrubs a hand down her face as more tears fall. “I’ve let down the town. I’ve made an enemy of the man who can help me. I’ve proven I’m not up to the task of being the steward of the manor time and time again, and the more I think about it, the more I think my parents were right to ask me what good could come from this. Because right now, nothing has.”

“Well, now you’re just hurting my feelings.”

She gives me a half smile but it’s clear she doesn’t have a sense of humor right now.

“I think I’m done.”

“Ember…” I reach for her, but she pulls out of my grip for the second time. “Not tonight, Devon. I need to spend some time by myself. Can you lock up before you leave?”

I watch her dry her hands on a towel and then walk down the hall. Her footsteps echo through the small space, and then soften the further they get away from me.

Stunned, I stand where I am. I’ve never heard her talk so defeatedly. In fact, she’s the most upbeat person I know. I could punch that asshole for turning her into this. How is anyone supposed to make a go of it in Harvest Falls if Nichols treats everyone like this?

I know my town, and I know they would rally behind Ember if she gave them a chance.

Tomorrow, I promise myself. Tomorrow, she’ll feel better. She’ll be willing to listen to reason. I can talk her into fighting, and we can get the code changed with my mother’s approval and oversight from the different boards townspeople sit on. If I’m at all lucky, I’ll get Nichols out of his seat, but at the very least, we can get him to take a chill pill and stop pulling his weight around like he’s somehow President of the United States.

This is Harvest Falls we’re talking about here. This is insane.

I scoop up my jacket on the way through the foyer and take a peek upstairs. Ember is nowhere in sight. I hate leaving her like this, but she didn’t really give me a choice. I check my watch. It’s nine thirty. I could stop by and give Nichols a little visit and tell him exactly what I think about him.

Jackass.

I lock the door from the inside, and then pull it shut, making sure Ember will be safe all night, and then jog down the steps and sidewalk to my truck. I aim my truck toward Nichols, but think better of it, knowing anything I do could make things worse for Ember, and that’s the last thing she needs right now.

Instead, I take a left at the square and head toward home. After parking, I saunter across the sidewalk, still worried about Ember when my feet fly out from underneath me. My knee pops, and searing pain radiates outward. I land hard on my knee and hip.

Pain ricochets through my body, sending me backward to a different time, and I instantly clam up, holding my left leg.

This cannot be happening again.

A myriad of emotions sweep through me that have nothing to do with physical agony. Last time this happened, my entire career flashed before my eyes. Athletes talk about what tearing an ACL could mean for their career. For me, it ruined my whole life, and here we are again, rocking on the ground as the familiar pain ricochets through me.

Just when I might have more to fight for—something more important than a sports career—I’m going to be useless again. A failure. How can the world be so cruel?

“Devon? Are you okay?”

Mr. Donahue comes out of his house. He has a history of watching his doorbell cam for fun, but this time, it might have worked in my favor instead of the other times where he calls to remind me to put out my garbage can on trash day.

I groan. “My leg.”

“Can you get up?”

His hands reach for my forearm and squeeze like he’s going to try to lift me. No way I’m getting up with his help. He’s almost as old as Harvest Falls itself. “I don’t think so,” I moan as more pain shoots through my knee until it feels like it’s on fire.

I shake my head, swallowing. They said it would be easier to tear it again once I’ve already torn it, but I’ve been fine for years. But now…now, when Ember really needs me… When the town needs me…

It might be the emotions of today, but Ember is right. Defeat falls over me like a wet blanket. I’m just not destined to be anyone, I guess. Not a hockey player. Not a boyfriend or a husband.

“I’ll call an ambulance, son. Unless you want me to disturb the neighbors.”

“An ambulance is fine,” I croak.

He leaves me for a little while, plodding along to his house so he can use his house phone to call an ambulance, but he comes back out after, letting me know it’s on the way.

Somehow, I get myself up to a sitting position and rub my head. In the distance, the sirens sound, and it puts me right back in the ambulance that I rode away from the arena that night. That night, I lost everything.