Page 10 of Too Broken to Love

He jerked his head up as the passenger door wrenched open with a metallic crack.

A paramedic climbed in. “Sir, I need you to move.”

“No.” Hudson searched for a pulse, desperation thundering through him with the force of a freight train.

“Hudson.” Tessa’s voice broke. “What did Sam say? I heard him say my name.”

He pulled out of the window and spun. “He’s…”

“No.” Tessa trembled, her face ravaged with tears as she peered around him and into the car. “Sam has to be okay. I…I made chili. And we’re supposed to eat Ralphie’s scones and then go fishing.” On a strangled breath, she buried her face in her hands and crumbled to the ground.

A female paramedic dropped next to her. “I’m so sorry, sweetie.” Twin tears slid down her cheeks as she grabbed Tessa’s hands. “He loved you. You know that, right?”

Jealousy and confusion knifed through Hudson as he glared at the woman in the sand who cried over his grandfather like she’d been his—what? Family? Granddaughter?

She’d only known Pop a couple of years for fuck’s sake, but somehow, she’d managed to integrate herself into his life.

Into the things he did with his grandfather.

The things he’d been looking forward to with thinly harnessed desperation.

This woman wasn’t family, she was⁠—

“Fuck.” Pop had given her the ruby ring. That meant something.

Nathaniel caught his eye. “I’m sorry about your grandfather. I called Vivian to let her know he’s gone. I was telling the officer that Sam might have had a few drinks, or maybe he had a heart attack.”

Red hot fury edged Hudson’s vision. “Pop did not have a heart attack and he wasn’t drunk.”

He grabbed Tessa’s hands and pulled her up. “Did Pop have any recent health issues he didn’t tell me about?”

She shook her head. “No. He had a physical a few weeks ago. He showed me his labs and the reports. He’s…” She pressed her fist to her mouth. “He was in great health. He walked on the beach and was strong enough to carry his own gear when he went fishing.” She grabbed Hudson’s forearms. “The fish. Get it before it rots.”

Her desperation kicked him into mission mode. “Copy that.” He spun to a twenty-something police officer. “There’s a cooler in the car with a dead fish. Bring it to me. Now.”

The cop wrinkled his nose. “I can’t let you take anything from the vehicle, but I’ll see if the fish is there.”

Hudson tracked the officer’s path to the car like a general overseeing a military maneuver. He touched the sinker through his shorts. His other hand twitched at his side. Opening his fingers, he wrapped his pinky around Tessa’s and squeezed as the cop emerged from the car with no cooler.

“The fish is on plenty of ice.” The officer held out his hands to indicate the size. “Nice catch. I’ll make sure it doesn’t rot.”

“Oh my God.” Tessa yanked her fingers from Hudson’s and stared at the cop. “No.”

Fading light caught the gold wrapper stuck to the officer’s pants. The flash stabbed into Tessa’s eyes, freezing her in place. Her breath hitched as the last accident scene she’d arrived at too late slammed into her memory.

Blood coated her palms.

Frank’s voice cut through the rain.

“Some paramedic you are.” He spit on the wet ground. “Useless excuse for a daughter. This is your fault.”

“Come on, sweetie. Breathe.”

Lia’s voice yanked Tessa from the memory. Her heartbeat rioted as she stared at the emergency responders gathered around the smashed vehicle.

She’d known the crash was bad the moment she saw the car from the road. Knew she should help, but she’d never said she was a paramedic. Not when Malcolm held her back with surprising strength for a suited-up lawyer, and not when she stomped on his shiny shoe and escaped. And when she saw Sam, her limbs had stopped working.

She whirled to Lia and pulled her out of earshot. “The butterscotch wrapper. It’s the kind Frank eats. One blew past me on the boardwalk when I thought I saw him this morning.”