Broken Dreams (Broken Series) (5 page)

Rainey rolled over and stretched just I pulled my jeans up. I left the button undone and smiled at her. Bruises or not, she was gorgeous. Her blonde hair was wild and unruly across the pillow and she shyly pulled the sheet over herself
while smiling
seductively at me.

“You should come back to bed,” she mumbled, still half-asleep.

I almost followed her beckoning but remembered the bruises. I didn’t want to hurt her any more. I shook my head at her.

“I’ve got to get to work,” I said as I pulled on my favorite blue
T
-shirt. It was thin and faded because I wore it so much.

Rainey sat up, letting the sheet fall to her waist. She leaned back on her hands, her pert breasts thrust out and taunting me. She was something else.

I walked over to the edge of the bed and leaned down to kiss her
gently. She was having none of it. She curled her hand around my neck and pulled me down onto the bed. I was careful to hold my weight above her so I didn’t cause any more bruises, but I couldn’t resist when her tongue probed my mouth. I tipped her head back and kissed her throat. Her moans distracted me and I was just about to yank my jeans down when my mouth skimmed over the discolored skin on her shoulder.

I put that mark on her. I wasn’t about to do it again. I pulled away.

“I really need to get to work. You’ve got your mom’s minivan, right?” I asked as I stood up and stepped away from the bed. I needed to get away from her before I hurt her again.

She fell back onto the pillow. “Yeah, I’ll take the minivan. I think we’re going to do a girls
’ night tonight, so don’t wait up,” she explained as she hiked the sheet up to her neck. She gave me the evil eye and I knew she was pissed. It wasn’t very often I refused to have sex.

“I won’t,” I promised and then went to fill a to-go mug with coffee.
Having a self-brew coffee pot really made things easier. I skipped cream and sugar and just carried the black coffee to my truck.

I refused to feel guilty about not wanting to hurt Rainey. She was sick, and I wasn’t about to add to that. I knew she’d been hiding something from me. Her whole demeanor since she’d been back was different. She was almost aloof. She wanted sex without any emotions or feelings.

Which was fine. I wasn’t exactly interested in a real relationship; I was too busy for one. But I cared about Rainey, as a friend, at least. And if she was sick, I wanted her to get well, not push her limits and walk around covered in bruises. And if that meant I pissed her off, I didn’t care. Her well-being came first.

I drove to the jobsite Luke was working at and hopped out of the truck, to-go mug in hand. He was on the roof of an old church
in town. He spotted me and waved, making his way toward the ladder at the far end of the church. He climbed down and came over.

“Hey
,
man, you need work today?” he asked. On occasion, I worked for his employer, JP
. I wasn’t in the mood to work today, though.

“No, just needed to vent about Rainey,” I muttered.

Luke looked at his watch. “It’s almost ten. I can break for fifteen,” he said and yelled to one of the other guys that he was taking a break. He turned back to me and motioned me to follow him to the ten
-
by
-
ten
canopy that housed a picnic table.

He grabbed a couple of sodas out of the cooler and
tossed one to me as we sat at the table.

“So what’s up?”
h
e asked, popping the top of his can.

“Do you know what’s wrong with Rainey?” I asked. No point trying to sugar-coat it.

“I wish I did, dude. I’m almost positive Mallory knows, but she refuses to mention anything, telling me that Rainey’s privacy is what’s most important. But her saying that just makes me believe whatever she’s hiding is kind of a big deal,” he said.

His words confirmed my fears. “That’s what I was afraid of. Do you think Mallory would tell me?”

Luke’s head went back as he howled with laughter. “Yeah, right,” he said after he finished. “Mallory is dedicated to Rainey and there’s no way she’ll reveal anything Rainey asked her to keep a secret. You can try, though.”

I blew out a breath. “I bet you’re right. But I can’t help but worry about Rainey. She’s acting odd and bruising easily,” I said, more to myself than him.

“Bruising? How easily?” Luke turned serious and I had an inkling he might know what was going on.

“Pretty easily. She fell off her stool at the bar last night after you guys left and this morning, her whole back side was black and blue,” I explained.

Luke sucked in a breath, but said nothing.

“What is it?” I asked, panicked.

“I – I can’t say for sure, man, but let me talk to Rainey, okay? Maybe I can convince her to tell you whatever it is that’s
ailing her. You deserve to know,” he commented. He closed his eyes for a minute and when he opened them, he looked almost angry, but he didn’t say anything.

“Thanks, dude. I’ll let you get back to work. I’ve got to head over to the bar, anyway. Let me know what she says when you talk to her,” I said. I stood up, left my unopened can of cola at the table, and made my way back to my truck.

I worried Luke might know more than he was letting on, but if he did, I knew him well enough to know he would want to confirm his suspicions before he said anything to me. As much as I might hate that about him, I also appreciated the part where he didn’t get me worked up over a possibility.

An hour later, I sat in my office at the bar, rubbing my temples. Even though business was picking up, I was still low on funds and couldn’t pull a paycheck for two more weeks. And that was only if the summer crowd flooded the bar for the next ten days. I sighed, trying to figure out how I was going to make rent. I would have to work for JP on Monday and Tuesday in order to pay my household bills. I sent out a text to Luke and asked if he could use someone at the beginning of the week.

His reply came quickly, assuring me that JP could use another guy anytime I wanted. I breathed a sigh of relief and called Jimmy into my office.

“Hey
,
boss, what’s up?” he asked from the doorway.

“Can you cover the full dayshift on Monday and Tuesday? I’m going to work for JP,” I explained.

“Sure thing. I was planning on being here for most of the day, anyway. Will you work the nightshift, or do you want me to work doubles?”

“No, you can go home around five-thirty. I just need the dayshifts covered,” I said. As much as I didn’t want to put in two sixteen
-
hour days back-to-back, I couldn’t afford to pay Jimmy to work doubles those days, either. So I would have to suck it up and just work. I was already tired just thinking about it.

“I wanted to ask you about time off,” Jimmy said after standing there, staring at me for a full minute. I looked up at him and raised my brow in question. “My brother’s wedding is the Saturday before the
F
ourth of July. I’d like to take that weekend off. I’m in the wedding, so I need that Friday night and Saturday, at least.” He looked afraid of my answer.

“That’s not a problem. I’ll plan on bartending those nights so we don’t get backed up. Has your brother picked a place to do his rehearsal dinner?”

“No, not yet,” he replied.

“Well, tell him to give me a call and I’ll give him a good deal if he comes here. And I promise you won’t be required to work,” I laughed.

Jimmy smiled and then took off to clean up the bar and set up the stools so they weren’t still on the
table
tops.
In an effort to clean more efficiently, I recently dictated that the floors had to be washed thoroughly every night and then mopped with fresh-scented wood cleaner every morning. It gave the wood floors a stunning glow and the cleaner was enhanced to help protect the wood against spills and damage, which was most important.

I was just about to give up on the spreadsheet I was working on when my cell rang.

“Hello?”

“Hey, man. It’s Wolfe. What’s the plan for tonight? The girls are having a girls
’
night, apparently.”

“How do you know? I only found out this morning,” I wondered.

“I ran into Mallory and Rainey at the grocery store. Rainey suggested I give you a call and we hang out,” he explained.

“Sounds good. Why don’t you call Luke and you guys meet me at my apartment around seven?”

“Can do. See you tonight
.
”
H
e clicked off.

I tossed my cell on the desk and mentally dreaded the night ahead.

Chapter Five

Rainey

I spent that morning unsure of what was going on with Baker. He seemed interested in a morning quickie, but then he turned away without a second glance my way. I was pissed, but I figured he had a lot on his mind with the bar.

I’d been shocked when I walked into the bathroom and caught a glimpse of my back in the mirror. I was covered in bruises. As much as I didn’t want to, I called my oncologist and explained that I was bruising easily again, a sure sign that the leukemia was back with a vengeance. He told me to come into his office that afternoon.

I showered and then grabbed a cup of coffee from Baker’s kitchen. I had to pop it in the microwave for a minute before it was drinkable, but I sucked it down, still only lukewarm
,
and sat on the couch to lose myself in some television before my appointment.

That afternoon, I made my way to the mini-van.

My mother hadn’t even noticed that I took her mini-van, but I couldn’t decide if that was a good thing or a bad thing. She was probably passed out from the pills and if she had any booze, she’d be down for a while. 

I started the van and drove straight to Doctor Hansen’s small practice. His receptionist greeted me and then took me right into one of the examination rooms. She held up a gown and instructed me to undress and put it on. 

Doctor Hansen was a short, balding man with a knack for making me laugh. Despite his humor, though, I always felt safe and informed whenever I saw him. The doctors in Boston had made me feel
insignificant
, so it was nice to have a doctor who actually wanted me to know as much as I possibly could about leukemia.

“Good morning, Lorraine,” he greeted me by my given name, claiming he would never call me Rainey when I asked him to. It was one of the quirks I adored about him. “Let’s see those bruises,
”
he said. I pulled the back edges of the gown forward, keeping the front of my body covered and allowing him access to the discolored skin on my back. “These are pretty bad, my dear. What happened and when did they form?”

“I fell last night and they were like this when I woke up this morning,” I explained.

“Alright. Let’s do some blood work. These will heal, but the quickness with which they appeared worries me. I want to see what your white blood cell count is,” he said. He sat at the computer in the office and moved his hands across the keys. After a few moments, he turned back to me. “So, what else is new, Lorraine? Are you seeing anyone?”

How he knew, I would never know. “Yes, sir. I’ve been dating Chris Baker for a couple of weeks now,” I told him.

“Chris Baker. He’s the fellow who bought The Landing, isn’t he?” At my nod, he continued. “He’s quite the hard worker. What does he have to say about the bruises?”

“He doesn’t know,” I said. “He actually doesn’t know about the leukemia at all.”

Silence.

“It’s just that I don’t want him to get upset over nothing. I mean, the blood work I had done in Boston last month showed an increase in white blood cells, which is good, right? I’m getting better,” I said, desperate to defend my decision not to tell Baker.

“You
were
getting better, Lorraine. Things looked good a month ago, but with these bruises, I can only imagine what the blood work is going to show. We may have to discuss chemotherapy,” he explained.

I groaned. The last thing I wanted was for the cancer to be back. Not to mention losing my hair would seriously damage my self-image. I mean, I knew how necessary it was, and how
not
doing it could be seriously dangerous, but I’d spent the bulk of my life being overweight. My hair was the one thing that hadn’t changed – it was a long and soft, a gorgeous shade of blonde that a bottle couldn’t replicate. It wasn’t fair.

“I don’t see any other choice,” Doctor Hansen emphasized. “Now, let’s get the blood work done and we can get you out of here for today.”

I knew he was right. Whether I was okay with it or not, chemo was the final step in my road to recovery. Although, if the cancer was back, there wasn’t much that could be done after chemo, which meant all my dreams in life weren’t going to be realized.