Before It's Too Late (Troubled Hearts Book 3) Read online

  Fuck it. Zach didn’t feel like having to strap Taylor in the car just to get some breakfast. The bread was decent. He could make toast. At least he had butter. And he would scramble the one egg. He hated cooking pretty much anything, but at least he could manage the basics.

  As he popped the non-heel piece of bread in the toaster, figuring he’d make that one for Taylor, his phone rang, vibrating on the counter and flashing with Cael’s profile pic.

  Zach answered. “Hey.”

  “Hey. Will you open the door? My hands are full.”

  Zach didn’t even question why Cael was on his doorstep as he headed toward the front of the house, keeping an eye on Taylor at the same time.

  “Why are your hands full?” Zach asked as he pulled open the door to his best friend holding a large, plastic McDonald’s bag and two large coffees.

  “Mornin’,” Cael said, beaming brightly.

  “Shit, I could fucking kiss you right now.”

  Cael smirked. “Do I know you or what?” He walked past Zach to the kitchen table. “Hi, Tay-tay,” he said, setting the food and coffee on the table.

  Taylor squealed. “Cael!”

  As Cael emptied the contents of the bag, Zach took one of the coffees to the kitchen and popped the lid. He poured some of the coffee out, added a little milk, and once that was done, he grabbed the sugar container and a long-handled spoon and joined them both at the table.

  “You go for a run this morning?” Cael asked as he removed the plastic lid from a scrambled egg and pancake platter.

  “Yeah,” Zach mumbled, having already shoved half a hashbrown in his mouth. “Mmm.” So fucking good.

  Cael laughed as he removed two of the three pancakes from the foam try and set them in the plastic lid, then started tearing the remaining one into tiny little pieces.

  “What?”

  “Nothing, Pook,” Cael said, his mouth curving into a wry grin. “Just leave some for me, okay?”

  Cael set the tray of scrambled eggs and bite-sized pancake pieces in front of Taylor, letting her have at it, then sat down across from Zach.

  “How was last night? She sleep okay?” Cael asked, stirring a small amount of sugar into his coffee.

  Zach gave an affirmative scrunch and nod, swallowing the bite in his mouth. “Yeah. I think the pain meds they have her on helped her sleep. She hardly made a peep last night.”

  “You figure out if you’re goin’ in tomorrow?” Cael unwrapped a breakfast sandwich and took a bite.

  “Yeah,” Zach exhaled the word. “I think I’ll take tomorrow as a personal day until I know what’s going on with daycare. Plus, it will give me a little extra time to settle her in here.” He looked over at Taylor, happily eating, and his chest tightened.

  “Hey,” Cael called, and Zach looked at him. “You okay?”

  Zach puffed out a breath of air. “Yeah. I mean, no, not really, but I fucking have to be, right?”

  “Zach…”

  “Sorry. I just… I fucking hate that there’s nothing anyone can do.” He paused, shaking his head. “Is it bad that I’m trying not to think about her?”

  “Of course not. You’ve got Taylor right now to worry about.”

  Cael reached across the table and covered Zach’s hand with his bigger one. It struck Zach as a little weird at first, but the gentle warmth of Cael’s rough hand on his actually felt good.

  “Besides, Pook. We’re talking about Abbey—stubborn, kick-ass, knock-me-down-I’ll-get-right-back-up Abbey.”

  Zach huffed a small laugh, pretending to ignore the caring way Cael’s thumb rubbed over his knuckles. It felt good—really good—and reminded him of how close they were, even as just friends.

  For a moment, Zach wondered if Cael had ever thought of them as more than that, or maybe wanted more between them, but then Zach remembered this was Cael—the guy who swore off boyfriends years ago and proudly proclaimed he would never get married. Ever. Guaranteed.

  But then why his comment yesterday that he would marry him? Had he just been trying to make Zach feel better, or was there something more that he simply wasn’t seeing.

  His mom’s whispered words came back to him as his gaze drifted down to where their hands rested on the table, still connected, and how good it still felt...

  Open your eyes, Zach, before it’s too late.

  Zach sucked in a sharp breath.

  No fucking way. He couldn’t. Fuck, he would have known, right? Or maybe he’d overlooked it since he knew Cael didn’t want the same things he wanted.

  Or did he?

  “You do what you gotta do to take care of munchkin. You need anything, you just let me know,” Cael said, breaking Zach’s train of thought.

  “Thanks,” Zach muttered.

  “So, what’s the plan today?” Cael asked, finally pulling his hand away, and Zach’s eyes darted up to his. Zach’s breath caught as their gazes locked for a few seconds.

  Zach cleared his throat, blinking rapidly as he looked past Cael toward the kitchen.

  “Um, groceries for damn sure. Then I was thinking of going back to Abbey’s to take apart the crib and bring it back along with more of Taylor’s clothes and toys.” He took a sip of coffee. “What about you?”

  Cael rotated his nearly empty coffee cup on the table with his fingers. “Figured I’d hang with the two of you. I don’t have anything else goin’ on.”

  “No football today?” Zach asked.

  Cael usually played a casual game with some guys he knew from the gym and work. They’d invited Zach to join, but Zach had never been much into football, plus he really didn’t have the body for it. Cael, on the other hand, did.

  “Nah. Two of the guys have to work, one has a major project to finish up, and one’s out of town, so we canceled for this week, but even if we hadn’t, I would have skipped to be with you and Taylor anyway.”

  Be with you.

  Zach’s pulse skittered, Cael’s words unexpectedly doing funny things to his heart. He gave slight nod, not trusting his voice, and drank down more coffee.

  “Maybe next Sunday, you can bring Taylor down and watch us play. It’s been a while since you’ve come down. The guys have been asking about you.”

  Zach shrugged, tipping back his cup, and glanced at Taylor. “Yeah, maybe.” Draining the rest of his coffee, he pushed his chair back and stood. “I need to grab a shower. Would you mind watching her for me?”

  “Nope, not at all.”

  “Thanks.”

  Chapter 4

  Walking into the office, Cael felt a little off. Today, Zach was on his own with Taylor all day, and not that he couldn’t handle it, because he knew he could, but he felt like he should be with him. Of course, that could simply be because Cael always wanted to be with him. After spending most of the entire weekend with Zach and Taylor, circumstances aside, he’d caught a glimpse of what it could be like if he had a family, and it had left him reeling over what was so close but so very out of reach.

  Zach.

  The man was his best friend and freakin’ everything to him, and he’d never know.

  With his gym duffle in hand, Cael walked through the automatic doors of the VA hospital’s physical therapy wing and headed around the back of the front desk area to check his schedule. His first patient wasn’t scheduled until nine-thirty, and it was nine now, so Cael decided to check in on Zach.

  On his way to the employee break slash locker room, Cael pressed the button on the Bluetooth in his ear, pressed the shortcut button on his phone, and waited for the call to connect.

  Zach answered after several rings. “Hey, what’s up?”

  “Just checking to see if you managed to feed yourself and that little girl this morning without my help,” Cael jested, setting his bag on the floor near his locker.

  “Ha ha. Fucking hilarious.”

  “You know, you’re gonna have to watch your mouth a bit more.”

  “Hey, I’m trying.”

  “Where are you now?”
/>   “Actually, I’m parked right outside the daycare. Just dropped Taylor off. Not going to leave her all day today. Just for a few hours so I can take of a few things without worrying about her.”

  “No issues then, I take it?”

  “No, but fuck, man, I tell ya, I’ve never received so many hugs from so many women in such a short time before. Some of them were even in fucking tears over what happened to Abbey, and they all kept asking how Taylor was doing and wanted to know if I needed any help.”

  “What’d you tell ‘em?”

  “Just that I had it covered.”

  “Any lookers?” Cael asked, but in all honesty, he really didn’t want to know.

  “I don’t know. I wasn’t looking.” A moment of silence followed, then Zach asked, “How’s your schedule look today?”

  “Not bad. My first client’s in twenty.”

  “You want to grab lunch later.”

  Zach’s question caught Cael by surprise. “Uh, yeah. I can squeeze about forty-five minutes. What are you thinking?”

  “How ‘bout I grab some sandwiches from The Hat and swing by?”

  “Um, yeah. Twelve-thirty good?”

  “Yep.”

  “Cool. See you then.”

  “See ya.”

  Cael pressed the button on his earpiece to end the call, then pulled it out of his ear and switched it off. After putting it in the small outer pocket of his duffel along with his wallet and keys, he shoved the bag into his designated locker and slammed it shut, then spun the dial. As he headed out to the reception desk to wait for his first client, Cael pulled his phone from his pocket and set it to vibrate.

  “Hi, Cael.”

  Cael spun toward the familiar, kind voice of their scheduler. “Hey, Sammie.”

  “How was your weekend?” she asked, her big, toothy grin as bright as ever.

  “Sorta sucked,” he deadpanned.

  Sammie’s smile dropped. “Why? What happened?”

  “You remember my friend Zach, right?”

  “Yeah,” she said, concern marring her face.

  “His sister was in a rollover accident Saturday morning. She’s in a coma, and doctors don’t know when, or even if, she’ll come out of it.”

  “Oh my God, that’s terrible.”

  “Yeah,” he sighed, pausing for a breath. “Zach’s taking care of her daughter for now, so after spending most of Saturday at the hospital, I spent the rest of the weekend just trying to help him out.”

  “How’s he taking it?”

  “Eh. As best he can, I guess.” Cael didn’t really want to talk about it. “Speaking of Zach, he’s gonna come by on my lunch break, so will you do me a favor and keep my schedule clear from twelve-forty-five to one-thirty?”

  “Sure thing.” Sammie pushed open the half door leading to the area behind the counter and plopped down at her computer. “Let me just block it now for you.”

  “Thanks.”

  Cael’s first patient, Will Pratt, showed on time for his nine-thirty appointment. Will was a young guy. Practically a kid. Barely two years into his first term of service, a roadside bomb blew off half his leg while on tour in Afghanistan.

  Cael remembered when he’d first met Will. About six months ago, after completing the first phase of his recovery, Will had come to start physical therapy. His first few weeks had been rough. Wrung out emotionally and still trying to deal with the loss of two guys in his unit, Will had spent most of the first couple weeks just talking with Cael. The first couple visits, Cael had taken the time to get to know Will and explain the therapy process. Soon after, Will had told him about some of his military buddies and eventually, described in every horrific detail the day he thought he’d died only to wake up several days later with half his leg missing. Something about sharing that information had seemed to be a release for him. Three weekly sessions six months later, and Cael still remembered the exact words Will said to him after a long pause at the end of that story.

  I think I’m ready to walk again.

  Guys like Will were one of the many reasons Cael had chosen to become a physical therapist for the military. He would have enlisted himself had he not broken his knee playing football right before high school graduation, resulting in metal pins permanently placed in his knee and an official medical record defining him as seven percent physically disabled.

  That had been the biggest blow. His disability record had disqualified him from enlisting. Cael had been looking forward to service and was beyond bummed that he couldn’t join the Marines after that, but it was the physical therapist who’d helped him recover that gave him the idea of working here, and now, here he was, doing a job he loved, helping the men and women who’d been out fighting in his place.

  “Hey, Will. How’s the new cane?” He’d just graduated from walker to full-time cane last week.

  “Dude, I freakin’ love it.” Will beamed as he approached, his glowing smile a crescent of white against his ebony skin. He gave Cael a one-armed hug—something he’d been doing for weeks now. “So what’s the plan today?”

  “I thought we’d just walk around a bit. I’d like to see how you’re doin’ with it.”

  “Outside?”

  “Sure.”

  “Cool.”

  They chatted as they walked and before Cael knew it, their hour-long session had come to an end. Two more clients and two hours later, it was time to meet Zach for lunch. As he documented his last patient’s treatment and progress notes, his phone vibrated against the side of his leg. Cael pulled it out and read the text from Zach.

  Zach: I’m in the lobby.

  Cael: Cool. Be right there

  Cael rounded the corner a few minutes later, stopping at the desk to confirm with Sammie that his schedule was still open.

  “Yeah, you’re clear until your one-thirty with Tara,” Sammie said. “By the way, is that him?” she added, pointing discreetly across the lobby toward the far corner.

  Cael turned and looked, spotting Zach immediately. Zach sat with his head down, focused on his phone. Cael couldn’t help his spreading smile.

  “Yeah.” The word fell out unintentionally as a whisper as he stared at Zach.

  Sammie cleared her throat. Cael blinked, then breathed, because for some reason, his heart’s trained, immune response had failed to kick in like it usually did, and Cael had held his breath from the moment he saw him.

  “You sure you aren’t more than friends?” she said quietly as she leaned in toward Cael a bit, close enough for Cael to get a whiff of the jasmine-scented lotion she always used.

  “Yeah. I’m sure.”

  The look Cael gave her along with his answer must have revealed all his secrets or something, because Sammie drew her eyebrows together and said, “Oh,” like she got it, then added, “How long have you two been friends?”

  “Twenty years.”

  “And how long have you been in love with him?”

  “I, uh…” Crap. Was it that obvious? Zach chose that moment to look up from his phone, and the way his face lit up when their eyes met almost did Cael in. Unbidden, Cael’s pulse kicked up a notch and a tingle danced down his spine. Dammit.

  Zach pushed to his feet and grabbed the yellow paper sack and two drinks from the small table beside him, then started toward Cael. Cael pulled a much needed breath of air into his lungs as quietly as possible and let it go silently.

  “Oh my God, this is so romantic,” she whispered.

  “No, it’s not.” Cael could hear the panic in his own voice as Zach neared them. “Zach doesn’t see me like that.”

  “You can’t be serious?”

  “I’m completely serious.”

  “Ugh, men,” Sammie muttered, rolling her eyes. Her comment failed to register in Cael’s brain, his efforts focused on regaining control of his body’s core functions. Cael hadn’t been this affected by Zach’s presence in years.

  “Hey,” Zach said, coming to stand on the other side of the counter in front of both Cae
l and Sammie.

  God, he looks so good.

  The man could barely cook to save his life but his fashion sense was flawless. Then again, Zach looked amazing in pretty much anything he wore. Today’s white T-shirt beneath a navy and brown button down and old jeans didn’t disappoint.

  “You still got time to eat?” Zach asked.

  “Yep. Just finishing some notes.”

  “Hi.” Sammie beamed. “We haven’t met before. I’m Sammie.”

  “Zach.”

  “Cael told me about your sister. I’m so sorry to hear. I hope she’s better soon.”

  “Yeah. Me too. Thanks.”

  Sammie glanced between them. “Well, I’d better get back to work. You guys enjoy your lunch.”

  Having logged all the notes for his last patient, Cael closed the cover over his tablet and slid it into the drawer beside Sammie.

  “Thanks, Sammie. Back in a bit.” Cael looked at Zach, taking his drink from him. He always knew which one was his because Zach always punched in all the little bubbles on his lid. “You wanna eat outside?”

  Zach shrugged. “Sure.”

  The weather outside was perfect. The sky was blue with patches of white, fluffy clouds that reminded Cael of the wall paper in the movie Toy Story. The slight breeze complimented the warm rays of the sun, keeping the temperature just right. Cael led Zach to the side courtyard crowded with an abundance of cheap plastic tables and chairs covered with equally cheap vinyl umbrellas.

  “I went to see Abbey before coming over here,” Zach blurted out as they each dragged a chair out from under a table, scraping the molded plastic across the concrete. Both men sat.

  “How is she?”

  “The same,” Zach said, his voice sullen, as he pulled out two hot pastramis on rye and a handful of napkins.