Powerful (The Driven World) - Kathleen Kelly Page 0,20
medical center. I’m not going to that place. Your mother died there.” His voice is hard.
“Dad, you need treatment.”
“Please, son.”
There’s a tone to his voice I’ve never heard before—pain mixed with sorrow. Stopping the truck, I pull over and look him in the eyes.
“Please.”
I nod, turn the truck around and head for the medical center. Parking out front, I look at my dad. His eyes are shut, and he’s breathing hard.
“We’re here. Wait in the truck while I go get help.”
Dad doesn’t open his eyes, he only nods. Jogging into the medical center, I head for the counter. Ashlea is there laughing with one of her co-workers. She looks up at me, and the smile disappears from her face.
“What’s happened?”
“Dad, a crate dropped on his foot. I wanted to take him to the hospital, but he won’t go.”
Ashlea nods and disappears behind a wall only to reappear closer to the door with a wheelchair.
“Come on, Kris, I’ll need your help getting him into the chair.”
***
For two hours, I sat in the waiting room. At first, I checked my messages, then I read one of the magazines, which had a lot of inconsistencies about me. Finally, I began to pace and stare daggers at the receptionist. At first, she smiles at me, but now she’s shifting uncomfortably in her chair and trying very hard not to meet my eyes. I’m about to give her a piece of my mind when a hand lands on my elbow. Whirling around, I come face to face with Athena.
“What are you doing here?”
“Your dad had them ring me.” Her hand grabs mine, and she tugs me out through the doors into the late morning sun. “And Ashlea thought you might need the company.”
After everything I’ve done, the way I treated her, she still comes to make sure I’m all right. My whole body is tuned into her touch. It’s like a burn that makes its way up my arm and straight to my cock.
The sun is gleaming off her hair, highlighting the natural streaks of blonde through her light brown. When I left, she was a girl, and now she’s a woman. I know I’m staring at her, I know I’m holding her hand a little too tightly, but I can’t seem to form words or tear my eyes from her.
“Oh, good, you found him.”
Turning, I find Deputy Todd, smiling at us, and Athena removes her hand from mine. I feel her loss instantly and want nothing more than to punch Todd.
“Yes.” Athena smiles at him, and he drapes an arm around her shoulders. “Have they told you anything?”
My gaze is locked on his arm. I don’t like it. I don’t want him touching what’s mine.
“Kris?”
Shifting my eyes to Athena, I see nothing but concern on her beautiful face.
The hand that she held tingles. I shake it and place it on the back of my neck, rubbing the skin there.
“No, I was just about to talk to the receptionist when you walked in.”
Athena nods. “Okay. How about you wait here in the sunshine, and I’ll go find out?”
“No, it’s okay.”
Athena shakes her head. “I know you well enough to know when you’re stressed. Let me do this for you.” Her hand goes to Todd’s stomach in an all-too-friendly gesture. “Why don’t you and Todd get to know each other. I’ll be as quick as I can.”
“Okay, honey,” beams Todd.
I want to punch him in the face so that he never smiles at her again, but instead, I put both hands in my pockets and nod. Athena smiles, moves out of his arms, pats me on the arm like I’m a lost puppy, and goes back into the building. I watch her walk away, but when I look back at Todd, he’s watching me.
“She’s a great girl,” says Todd, drawing his eyebrows together.
“Yes, she is.”
“Too good for you.”
I take a step back and smirk at him. “Is that so?”
Todd takes a step toward me. “Yep. Athena deserves better than you. Hell, she deserves better than me. But at least with me, I’m not going to dump her the minute things get tough or greener pastures appear.”
His meaning is crystal clear, and part of me knows he’s right, but I know her.
“Back off, Todd.”
“Or what?”
Todd pulls himself up to his full height, squares his shoulders, and his mouth goes into a firm line. I smirk at him and close the gap between us. We are chest to chest, but I’m still a good few inches taller than