After the Hurt by Shana Gray Read Free Book Online

wheel faster than anyone had expected. It didn’t mean he wouldn’t worry about her driving in the snow, though.
    “Did you order?” Tank picked up the menu but didn’t look at it.
    Her straight, white-blonde hair swayed at her chin when Meg shook her head. “No. I thought I’d wait to see what you felt like having.”
    Tank gazed at her. His baby sister, so good, honest, and tough. A hell of a lawyer too. It was hard to believe he’d almost lost her. Her lying in a hospital bed, near death, had made him feel so helpless. Then things got even worse. Pepper’s mother was diagnosed with cancer and was prescribed two years of chemo, and then boom, six weeks later she was gone. He’d never seen anything like it. She’d gone down so fast that the doctors had no clue what caused it until a few hours after her death, when they were notified by Public Health that it had been listeria. Then further investigation revealed the onions on a sandwich had been contaminated. God, it had been such a mess.
    Meg’s accident, Pepper’s mom getting cancer—it had all happened over such a short period of time, it seemed like it had happened all at once. Those months had taken a toll on everyone. Thankfully, Meg had pulled through, unlike Pepper’s mom. The hard fact was, Pepper blamed herself after taking her mom out to the mall and sharing a sandwich. He tried to help Pepper through the guilt, but she’d been inconsolable, putting distance between herself and everyone. It was hard watching her disconnect. But the last straw had been when she took off with no warning. Not to mention without a trace.
    “What are you thinking about?” Meg’s voice brought him back to the present. “You seem deep in thought.”
    He waved his hand and then picked up his mug. “Nothing, just rehashing last night.”
    “Yes! That’s right. How was the party? A hit?”
    He took a swig of coffee. Nectar of the gods. “Yep, the party went well. Everyone was thrilled. So, how are things? Getting new cases?”
    Meg took no bullshit and her career as a lawyer was beginning to reflect it. He was proud of her comeback and teased her relentlessly about her cane, joking that perhaps she didn’t really need it and just carried it to instill fear in her opponents. Of course she rejected that notion.
    “Doing fine. But you know I don’t like to talk work when I’m not at work.” She studied the menu and asked him, “What do you think?”
    He glanced at the menu and put it down. “You choose. You always do anyway.”
    “Well then, let’s see.” She sucked on her finger.
    “Pepper’s back,” Tank blurted out and then immediately regretted it. What had possessed him to say anything? He mentally kicked himself, knowing Meg would want him to tell her every detail.
    She froze and her eyes rose slowly to meet his. “ ‘Pepper? As in, Pepper Chapman?”
    He nodded.
    “When?”
    “Last night.”
    “Oh my gosh.” Meg stared at him, her mouth in the shape of an O. She dropped her menu onto the table. “Why, the party, what—”
    “Relax, don’t stress it. Everything’s okay.” Tank wished he’d kept his mouth shut now, but he hadn’t. While Meg and Pepper had respected each other, they were total opposites. He’d been sad they’d never become great friends and hoped that over time it would happen. But after Pepper’s disappearing act, he doubted it would ever be possible. The one thing he was glad of was that neither had made him choose sides, never making him feel like a man stuck in the middle.
    “What does she want? How is she? What made her come back?”
    He shrugged. Meg firing off a million questions was completely normal. “I don’t know. There was no time to talk to her; I wanted to get her out of the restaurant before the party,” he said, keeping his voice neutral, not wanting Meg to get any inkling something more was going on. How could there be more of anything, anyway? Like them getting back together. Could that be a