Her eye catches on a note pinned to the wall near the door. “Is this a short term rental?”
“Was.” I tug the note free of the pin. Crumbling it in my hand, I go on, “Felicity mentioned that she was renting out the apartment she lived in before she got married last year. I’m buying the place. We’ll start getting the details sorted on Monday.”
“Your sister lived here?” She watches as I toss the paper into a wastebasket near the door.
“I live here now.”
The corners of her mouth tug up. “I like it.”
“Me too.”
Her gaze finally settles on my face. “You’re Bizzy’s brother?”
I can’t imagine what’s running through her mind. We dove into a relationship oblivious to the fact that we shared a horrific experience in the past.
Our future will make up for it. I’ll make sure of that each day I get to have on this earth with her.
“Beatrice’s nickname when she was a kid was Bizzy,” I explain. “Your nickname was Dolly?”
“Is.” She lets out a laugh. “Marti is the only one who calls me that. She says that I’m her little doll. Her Dolly.”
Of course she is. They must share an unbreakable bond.
“I’m sorry, Bella.” I choke back a rush of emotion. “I’m sorry I took off that day.”
Her eyes narrow as she studies my face. “Please don’t say sorry.”
“I wanted to find you after I took Bizzy home.” I exhale harshly.
“My dad stopped me cold. He said he would call every hospital until he found you. He told me he spoke to your dad on the phone.”
She shakes her head softly. “No. That didn’t happen. It couldn’t have happened.”
I know that now. He finally admitted it this past week when he was trapped in a hospital bed with tubes attached to him.
When I ran into his apartment with Bizzy in my arms, my father lost it. He screamed at me about responsibility and trust. Once my sister was calmed down, he left the room to check on the girl who had been hurt.
He came back with a tale about the girl’s prognosis. He told me she’d never fully recover from her head injury, and her life was forever changed. He went on about all the anger that family felt toward me. I demanded to know their names so I could find them and get on my knees and beg for forgiveness, but he told me to shut up about it. With a wag of his finger in my face, he told me her father wished I had died on that street. They wanted to be left alone, so he shipped me back to Chicago thinking that I had ruined lives.
The lie was to protect the only thing he valued in me. That was the promise of a future in football.
He told me that he didn’t want me to ruin my chances of a scholarship to Michigan State by admitting my part in the girl’s injuries. It turned out my game wasn’t good enough to get me anywhere without him footing the entire bill for my education.
“I’m sorry I didn’t find you sooner, Bella.” I hang my head. “I should have done more. I could have hired a private investigator. I checked the archives of the newspaper, but there was nothing about the accident.”
She moves closer
to me. “Barrett?”
When I look up, tears are clouding her beautiful blue eyes. I reach for her face, cradling it in my hands.
“Thank you.”
I wipe a tear from her cheek. “For what, Bella?”
Her hands move to cover mine. “For saving my life. The doctor told my parents if you hadn’t pushed me out of the way, I wouldn’t have survived.”
I stare at her, trying to process what she just said.