pain. “Oh, hell. I don’t think I can move.”
“What the hell just happened?” Lucas asked as he jumped out of the vehicle and rushed around to her side.
“Threw my back out. Can’t walk. Can’t get back in the SUV. I’m going to die here,” she said dramatically. “Just put me out of my misery.”
“Drama queen much?” he mumbled.
“You’re not the one frozen in place,” she countered.
“Come on. I’ll get you in your SUV and get you home.” He opened the back door and placed one hand on the small of her back and held out his other arm for her to brace herself. “Ready?”
Grace took a shallow breath, gritting her teeth against the pain as she nodded. “Let’s do this.”
He slowly guided her the few feet to the back door and then said, “Go on. Climb in and just lie down on the seat.”
“How do you propose I do that?” Grace was bent slightly forward, panting from the pain.
“I’ll boost you up. You just crawl in.”
“This is never going to work,” she said even as she reached for something to grab onto. When her hand wrapped around the headrest of the front seat, she squeezed her eyes shut and said, “Now.”
Lucas did as he promised and grabbed her by the waist to lift her into the SUV.
A bolt of pain seized her entire back, causing her to let out a cry that she immediately tried to stifle. She didn’t need half of Premonition Pointe talking about how she’d thrown her back out just by getting out of her car.
When her knees hit the back seat and she was finally able to crawl, the pain became somewhat manageable. It wasn’t long before she was curled up on her side, wondering exactly how she was going to get out of the SUV when Lucas got her home.
Suddenly he was looming over her, his hand on her back again. “Are you all right? Maybe we should take you to urgent care.”
Grace shook her head. “Too late. It would have to be the emergency room. Forget it. This is just a pinched nerve. It will work itself out in a few days. In the meantime, I’ll get Joy to fix me some pain potions.”
“Are you sure?” Lucas asked.
Grace stared up at his concerned eyes and forced a smile. “I’m sure.”
“Grace? Is that you in there?” a very familiar voice called.
Hope. Oh, hell. She was the reason Grace had thrown her back out in the first place. “Yep. It’s me.”
Suddenly Lucas disappeared from Grace’s sightline, and she heard his voice crack a little as he said, “Hope?”
“Lucas?” Hope sounded shocked and then suspicious as she added, “What in the world are you doing here? And what’s going on? Why were you with Grace in the backseat of her SUV?”
Grace groaned. Dammit. This was exactly why she hadn’t wanted to keep anything from her friend.
“Grace threw her back out. I was just helping her into the backseat so I could drive her home.”
“So you just happened to be here when Grace hurt herself, and now you’re playing the hero?” The anger in Hope’s tone was unmistakable, but Grace didn’t necessarily think it was directed at her. There was more going on between Hope and Lucas than she’d realized.
“No,” he said with a sigh, and Grace could just imagine him running his hand through his thick hair. It was a gesture she’d noticed earlier in the day when he was thinking. “She was showing me some houses and—”
“Houses?” Hope was clearly surprised. “Why?”
“Because I need to buy one?” Lucas’s reply sounded more like a question than a statement. “I did ask you for a recommendation for a Realtor, remember?”
“You didn’t say it was for you. I can’t believe you’re moving back here, and instead of informing me, you went behind my back and had my best friend show you houses. Well, isn’t that just perfect.”
“Hope, I—”
“Never mind, Lucas,” Hope said coldly. “I obviously am not important enough to be in the loop. But I’ll take care of Grace from here. You can take off and do… whatever it is you plan to do in Premonition Pointe.”
Grace had to stop herself from snorting in amusement because she was pretty sure the only thing Lucas wanted to do in Premonition Pointe was Hope.
“Grace?” Hope said after poking her head into the SUV. “I’m going to take you home now.”
“Okay,” Grace said, trying not to think about how she was going to crawl out of the vehicle. If Lucas was