The Wreck by Marie Force Read Free Book Online

even joy in his
eyes, he cradled her face in his hands and kissed her.
    She wrapped her arms around his neck and
fell into the kiss with the first bit of exuberance she’d felt since the
accident.
    Apparently, he felt it, too. “Carly,” he
whispered. “I’ve missed you so much.” He kissed her more greedily the second
time, as if he was afraid he wouldn’t get another chance. “I’m sorry about what
I said the last time I was here. I was frustrated.”
    She let him know she understood the only
way she could, by reaching up to kiss him again.
    “I can still see everything you feel in
your eyes,” he whispered against her lips. “That hasn’t changed.” They held
each other for a long time, until Carly’s mother came to the door.
    “Oh, hi, Brian,” Carol said with a smile.
“I’m sorry, don’t let me interrupt. You two take your time, and come on back
when you’re ready for something to eat.”
    “Thanks, Mrs. Holbrook.” After her mother
had left them alone, he smiled down at Carly. “Other things sure have changed,
though, huh?”
    She rewarded him with the first genuine
smile she had given anyone since they left the willow tree and their innocence
behind.
     
    In
the backyard, picnic tables were covered with festive red-and-white-checkered
tablecloths. Caren and Cate played croquet while Craig helped their father at
the grill. Carly’s sister-in-law Allison reclined on a lounge chair with a hand
resting on her pregnant belly. Her first child was due in October.
    “Craig, get Brian a drink, will you
please?” Carol called to her son.
    “Thanks,” Brian said.
    Craig pulled an icy can from the cooler.
“Nice to see you, Brian.” They shook hands. “I’ve been thinking about you.
How’re you doing?”
    “Hanging in. How about you?”
    “Can’t complain.” Craig glanced over at
his wife and smiled. “I’m enjoying my last few months of relative freedom.”
    “How’s the job at the law firm, Brian?”
Steve Holbrook asked as he tended to the grill.
    “Not bad. It’s boring sometimes, but it’s
nice to have the chance to be in that environment and to see what goes on.”
    Carly hung on his every word, wanting to
know everything he’d been up to since she last saw him.
    “After a few months of delivering mail
and fetching coffee for the partners, you’ll be wondering why you ever wanted
to be an ambulance chaser,” Steve joked.
    Brian smiled. “They haven’t ruined it for
me quite yet.”
    Carol chuckled and asked Carly to help
her bring out the rest of the food.
    She followed her mother inside and began
taking covered bowls out of the refrigerator. Carly had made multiple trips to
the picnic table by the time her father announced that the food on the grill
was ready.
    “Someone bring me a plate!” Steve called.
“Hurry!”
    Carol handed the platter to Carly, and
she rushed outside with it. As she approached the stone patio, her father
flipped a rack of ribs. The grease falling into the fire below caused the
flames to flare up with a great roar.
    Carly dropped the platter, and it
shattered on the patio. Unable to tear her eyes off the licking flames, she
began to tremble.
    Brian rushed over to lead her away from
the fire. “It’s okay, baby.” He sat with her in the shade and held her tight
against him. “I’ve got you.”
     

Chapter 5
    T he rest of the family hovered around
Brian and Carly until Carol shooed them away. “Craig and Caren, please clean up
the patio.” After the others had stepped back, Carol squatted next to Carly.
“Everything’s all right, honey,” she said in a soothing voice. “Everyone’s
safe.”
    Brian brushed his hand over Carly’s curls
and held her until the trembling subsided.
    Carly was mortified that she had upset
everyone and furious with herself for allowing a grill to resurrect memories
she had worked so hard to push to the back of her mind. She’d been having the
fire dream less and less often and had begun to think she might be