She squeezed his hand. “You have time to catch up with her if you leave now.”
He stood right as the waiter reached him, shaking his head at the offer of a roll. “Are you sure you don’t mind?”
She smiled softly. “I’d mind more if you stayed. Thank god you came to your senses. Now go and get her.”
He kissed her cheek and grabbed his phone, ignoring the raised eyebrows of the other guests as he passed them, the handset pressed to his ear. His mother called out something, but he didn’t hear her, as Becca’s recorded voice filled his ears
“Hey, it’s Becca, leave a message.”
“It’s me. If you get this, please call me back. I’ll be in the car. I’m coming to find you. I’m so damn sorry. For everything. Please let me see you and explain, okay?”
“Are you leaving?” Nina asked, as he passed her, ending the call and sliding his phone into his pocket.
“Yeah.”
“Lawrence and Melissa left, too. Your poor mom.” She sighed in sympathy.
“I’ll make it up to her.”
Nina smiled. “I know you will. You always were a good kid.”
He gave her an absentminded nod and headed to the hallway, not bothering to stop to get his travel bag. He’d worry about that later. Right now he needed to find his girl.
To somehow persuade her to listen to him. Give him a chance to finally talk.
The empty space next to his Corvette made his chest hurt. He pressed the button on his keyfob and climbed inside, his hands shaking so damn much it took him two attempts to close the door behind him. Damn, he was a mess. He needed to see her now. He couldn’t function without her.
Pressing the ignition, he reversed out of his spot and sped down the driveway, out of the gates and onto the street. It was killing him to keep to the speed limit. She couldn’t be that far away. He was sweating. He reached up to wipe his brow with the back of his hand as the houses thinned out on either side of him, and he reached the city’s edge, taking a right onto the road out of Charleston.
It was dark enough that he had to concentrate to read the license plates of each car in front of him. Dammit, where was she? He checked to make sure his Bluetooth was connected, then gritted his teeth because it was.
When he reached the highway, he pulled into the fast lane and put his foot down, his hands shaking as he held the steering wheel straight. A bead of sweat dropped into his eyes, and he had to blink to stop it from stinging.
Exhaling heavily, he glanced at the dashboard again. It was almost eight-thirty. His teeth started to chatter. Damn, he’d injected his fast acting insulin when he’d gone into the kitchen to get Melissa a cool compress. He should have eaten something before he left.
He glanced at the passenger seat, grimacing as he realized he’d left his emergency kit at the house. There was no food in here. Nothing to bring his sugar up. He needed to pull over and call somebody.
It took an act of will to keep his hands on the wheel as a wave of dizziness came over him. He lifted his gaze to the mirror, the reflection blurry, and signaled, moving his car to the right, while biting on his lip to keep himself conscious. With his foot on the brake, he slowed the car, his indicator still on as he began to pull over to the soft shoulder. Knowing he was still driving too fast, the treeline looming large as his car hit the grass.
Then everything went black.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
“I’m sorry,” Becca breathed into Mia’s shoulder. “I didn’t know who else to call.”
“There’s no need to be sorry,” Mia’s voice was soft. “I’m glad you called. Nobody should be this upset alone. And anyway, the guys were watching some shoot-em-up movie. It was a good excuse to get out of there.” Becca had called Mia on her Bluetooth as she’d driven back from Charleston. She’d been waiting for Becca when she arrived back at her condo.
“Does Cam know it’s me you’re with?” Becca looked up, her eyes rimmed red.
“No. I told him it was a girl emergency, and that shut him up. You know your brothers and girl stuff.”
Yeah, she did. And she was glad Cam had no idea, because she couldn’t cope with her brothers right now. They’d get angry and she couldn’t deal with it. She just wanted to cry.
“So Daniel left a message on your voicemail saying he was coming to see you?”
“He did.” Becca checked her watch. That was hours ago. “He should be here soon, unless he’s changed his mind. He was so angry with me, you should have seen him. And he was right to be. I should have been understanding, bu
t instead I accused him of lying to me.”