Page 44 of Worthy of Sunsets and Second Chances

“Holy shit.” Lainey’s pained whisper comes from the door a while later. She rushes into the room followed by Rem, and Lainey’s tears can’t be stopped at the sight of her best friend laid out in front of her, body and face nearly unrecognizable.

Rem walks to where I have been sitting, and I stand to embrace him. Max hugs Lainey, whispering words of comfort in her ear as her body shakes against his strong chest.

“Eli.” Kendra’s voice calls to me, and she has my immediate, full attention.

“Right here, sweetheart.” I pick up her right hand, kissing it, ignoring all the eyes in the room on me.

“You didn’t leave?”

“Told you, not going anywhere. Ever again.” I punctuated the point with a light squeeze to her hand.

Lainey steps closer and says, “Hey, bestie.”

“What are you guys doing here?” Kendra’s swollen eyes try to widen in surprise.

“Where the hell else would we be? My best friend is in the hospital.” Lainey puts a hand on her hip.

“Yeah, but it’s the day after your wedding.” Kendra bites down on her split lip and winces.

“We love you and are exactly where we need to be,” Rem assures her.

“And I should have been here last night”—Lainey glares at me—“but Eli didn’t call us until a little while ago.”

Kendra takes a deep breath, gritting her teeth against the ache from the broken ribs, eyes drooping again with tiredness. Max and I fill Lainey and Rem in on more details of Kendra’s injuries, the surgery, and what happened.

“Is Danny coming?” Rem asks.

“He said he will be here in a little while.”

“We got you all of your things so you can shower and change.” Lainey holds up a duffle bag.

I exchange a worried glance with Rem. When he went to shower and change when Lainey was in the hospital after their house fire, that was when her brother snuck into her room and tried to strangle her to death.

Kendra is looking at me when I say, “Danny told me they have Bennett in custody. You are safe.”

“And we are all going to stay right here,” Lainey says.

“I’m gonna get cleaned up for you and then I will be right back, promise.” I bend to kiss Kendra’s cheek softly, then head into the hallway, determined to set a world record for showering.

“Hey!” Rem calls after me.

“What?” I spin around to face him.

“Want to tell me what the hell is going on with the two of you? Last time I checked you both could barely be in a room together. Kendra especially despises you and only tolerates your presence because we share friends. I’ve heard her complain to Lainey about having to breathe the same air as you and how it will probably make her less intelligent.” He looks at me skeptically.

Dropping the duffle bag at my feet, I brace both arms behind my head. “Nobody knows this, but Kendra and I have a history together.”

“A history?” Rem startles back.

“Yup, a complicated one. She was nineteen and I was twenty-one.” I give him a knowing look.

“The summer you built the shelves for the library?” Rem scrapes a hand over his blond stubble.

“Yeah, normally Kendra would spend all her time with Hannah, but she was working a summer camp that year for the first time. So that summer, Kendra spent time with me.”

“Why have you never told me any of this?” Rem asks, sounding more than a little hurt. We have never kept secrets from each other, and this one has been the biggest secret of my life. And I didn’t only keep it from Rem, I kept it from everyone, which I needed him to understand.

“I never told anyone.”