“Thank you.”
“Do you want me to call your husband or family?”
Faith wanted to roll her eyes at the husband reference, but just the thought made her ache, so she settled for saying, “I’m not married.”
“What about family—Mom, Dad?”
The last person she wanted to talk to was her mother. “My parents don’t live here,” she added softly. She had been on her way to her father’s house, but chickened out before arriving and had turned around to go back to the hotel when she’d had the accident.
A frown creased his brow. “You don’t have anyone here?”
“No. I live in Oregon. I just got here yesterday.”
“Hell of a welcome.”
“Tell me about it,” she muttered.
“Well, now that I know you’re okay, I’m going to leave. I’ll stop by to see you tomorrow to make sure you don’t need anything.” Brandon covered her uninjured hand with his large one and gave it a gentle squeeze.
Despite every inch of her body aching, the warmth of his touch sent an entirely different sensation flowing through her. The intense way he was staring at her made her think he had felt something, as well.
“I…um…” Brandon eased his hand from hers. “Get some rest.” However, he didn’t move, his interest clear as glass. After another moment he walked to the door, but turned back once more. “Good night.”
“Good night.” Faith watched as he slipped out the door, her heart still racing. Her life seemed to be a mess right now, but knowing she would see Brandon again made her smile.
* * *
The next morning Faith was coherent enough to think. But the nurse had just given her more pain medication and she needed to call Kathi before it kicked in, to let her know about the accident. She dug inside her purse and pulled out her cell.
“Hey, girl,” Kathi said when she answered. “Have you seen your father yet?”
“I didn’t get a chance. I had an accident last night on the freeway.” She shared the details of what happened.
“Oh, my God! I’m taking the first flight out,” Kathi said before Faith could finish. “What hospital are you in?”
“Kathi, you don’t need to come down here. Luckily, the windshield deflected the momentum of the pipe and the wound isn’t too deep. My face stings from the cuts and it’s swollen where the airbag hit me. They said I have a mild concussion and that’s why they’re keeping me. I’ll be fine.” Her friend was a natural-born worrywart and, if she came to town, would stand over Faith like a mother hen guarding her chicks until Faith was completely healed.
“When are you going home?”
“The doctor said most likely tomorrow.”
“Fine. I’ll be there Saturday morning. That’ll give you a day to get settled into the hotel. Do your parents know?”
“I talked to my dad and he said he’d tell my mother.” Faith had called her stepfather purposely because she didn’t want to run the risk of hearing her mother say, “I told you nothing good could come from you going to visit that man.”
“What about your biological father?”
“How would it look if I called him out of the blue and said, ‘Hi, I’m your long lost daughter, and oh, by the way, I was in a car accident. Can you come take care of me?’ No, I’ll wait until I’m better.”
“Why? He’s the one who extended the invitation. I’m sure he’d be okay with it.”
“But I’m not.”
“If you say so. What about the car and your stuff?”
“I’ll call the rental company after I get out of the hospital to deal with the car. Thankfully, I got the insurance. But a really nice guy stopped on the side of the road and stayed with me until the paramedics came and brought my stuff to the hospital.”
“You were lucky. What did he look like?”
“The man is drop-dead fine, over six feet, muscles and has the greatest smile.” Rich walnut skin, nutmeg-colored eyes and a voice smooth as velvet…definitely sexy.
Kathi laughed. “I see the accident didn’t affect your eyesight.”