Hard Edge - Tess Oliver Page 0,66

Mayfair with a quick message of good-bye through my stepmom. It had been a cold slap in the face when I realized that she no longer wanted anything to do with me. She’d managed to cleanly sever the ties on her end, but my end was still shredded and I was hurting big time.

Doctor Kessler walked in with a mouth pulled so tight, he really didn’t even need to speak. His face wore the whole fucking prognosis, as if it was written across his white lab coat. He circled around the desk to his chair and sat down.

“I’ve gone over everything, Caden, and—” He looked up at me over his glasses. “I’m sure you already know what I’m going to tell you.”

I sat back against the chair. “Yeah. My leg’s telling me the same thing. It feels as if I just put it through a meat grinder.”

He reached for a prescription pad. “Do you need something for the pain?”

“Not unless you’ve got some magic pill that can make things start to go right for me.”

He grinned with a nod. “I think everyone could use that pill every once in a while.” He folded his hands on top of my file. “Your leg can’t support the training required for this extreme sport. But, on the brighter side, you can come back in another eighteen months or so, and we can run the tests again. It’s entirely possible that we’ll have better results after some time has passed.”

“Good to know. But by then, I’ll be considered past my prime for the sport.” I reached across to shake his hand. “Thanks for your help, Dr. Kessler. Take care.”

Tanner called just seconds after I stepped out of the medical building. “What are you psychic or something? We just got finished.”

“And . . . what did the good doctor have to say?”

“The good doctor had nothing good to say. He said maybe in another year and a half, but I’ll be too damn old to start again.”

“Shit, that sucks. Let me know if you still want to work with the team though. Lots of traveling and plenty of hot women. We’d love to have you on board.”

“Yeah, I’ll give it some thought. Hey, thanks for letting me sleep on your couch these last few weeks. I’m going to head back home to Mayfair today. My stepdad is having some health problems, and he needs me to help out at the lumber yard. I need the money and something to keep my mind occupied so I don’t go nuts.”

“Why don’t you call her?” Tanner asked.

“Who?”

“Kenna, the woman who has you walking around like a fucking zombie. Call her in New York and tell her that you miss her.”

“That only works if she misses me back.”

“How do you know she doesn’t?”

I needed a topic change. “Hey, listen, tell your dad thanks for giving me another shot at racing. And tell him I’m sorry it didn’t work out.”

“I will. Let me know what you decide about working with the team.”

“Yep. Later.” I walked to the truck. It was hot enough inside to melt iron. I rolled down the windows and put on the air conditioner to cool off the sizzling steering wheel. While I waited, I looked down at my phone. Every day, every fucking day I wanted to call her and just like Tanner said, tell her I missed her.

I dropped the phone into the console and drove out of the parking lot. I turned in the direction of Mayfair.

Chapter 31

Kenna

They were all there, the three of them, perched around the conference table like a three-headed monster, waiting for their coffees.

At first I’d considered myself lucky. After a rough few days of awkward and sometimes angry conversations with Jeremy, and a few nights on the couch like an unwanted houseguest in an apartment that I’d once called home, a friend from college called to see if I knew of someone who needed a room. A family emergency had sent her roommate back home to the Philippines, and she had no plans to return anytime soon. It was the right price and the right location. And I’d even managed to grab up one of the last paid summer internships. It was in a law firm, mostly doing grunt work like getting coffee and inputting files. Nothing glamorous, but it helped pay bills.

But just a few weeks into my new living arrangements and my internship, the perceived bout of luck went completely south. The room I’d rented was