Wait for Me / Trust in Me Read Free Page B

mentally counted to ten before answering. “I know you do, Dad. I honestly do. This is my decision, though, and I need everyone to back off, okay?”
    His father made a sound like he was going to argue, but then changed course. “Fine. I promise to back off. Stay safe during this storm and we’ll talk to you over the weekend, all right?”
    â€œThanks, Dad,” Lucas replied as he hung up the phone. Shutting it down, he placed it on the counter, his shoulders feeling the tension from the conversation. Lucas couldn’t understand why this was such a big deal for everyone. It wasn’t as if he was asking all of them to stay shut in with him.
    His knee was throbbing now. All he wanted was a hot shower, an even hotter dinner, and a chance to put a heating pad on his knee. It sounded like a good plan for the evening, so good that it sounded like what he did every evening. That thought made him frown as he walked into his bedroom. Sure it would be nice to get back into the land of the living again, but the life he wanted, the one that he’d worked so hard for, was long gone.
    Some people would say he was lucky; he’d lived his dream for many years and he went out while he was still on top. The problem was that he hadn’t wanted to leave: he’d been forced out. It was funny because when it had happened, promises were made to him left and right about how there would always be a place for him within the organization. Once his therapy proved that his injury was more severe than originally diagnosed and that he would be in treatment longer than anticipated, those offers came with less and less frequency, until the phone finally just stopped ringing. Lucas hated pity, and the fact that he was having a daily pity party for himself annoyed him even more.
    Stripping down and stepping under the steaming shower spray, he let the hot water beat down on him as he sighed wearily. All of the tension eased from his body, and with it all thoughts of his previous life. An inner pep talk reminded Lucas that he enjoyed the life he had created since his football career ended. He finally had his privacy; reporters were no longer camping out, desperate for a picture or a quote from him. He could come and go as he pleased with little to no recognition. His time was his own.
    In the last eighteen months, he’d agreed to work for the family organization, and while it was far from his dream job, at least he had the privilege of working from his own home, making his own hours while having something to keep him busy. When he wasn’t taking care of Montgomerys business, Lucas had taken up photography, nature photography to be exact. The act of going out and walking around in the parks and the massive properties his family owned was therapeutic; at the same time, it allowed the creative side of him to come out. Both sides gave him a great sense of satisfaction that he hadn’t felt in a long time.
    Toweling dry and then dressing in a pair of faded, well-worn jeans and a sweatshirt, Lucas strolled into his kitchen and went about deciding what to make himself for dinner. That was the beauty of living alone: he could make whatever he felt like, whenever he felt like it, and then could eat in front of the television and have the remote to himself. It was some sweet bachelor living, and he was sure that the masses would be envious.
    Reaching into the freezer, Lucas was about to pull out a steak to grill when the glare of headlights caught his attention. No one ever came out this way—he was set far back from the road—and in this snow at this time of day, clearly the person had to be lost. With a curse, he walked toward the window near the front door and watched in horror as the car skidded dangerously and then went off the narrow path of his driveway down into the ravine below.
    â€œDammit,” he muttered, running to grab his boots, coat, and phone before heading out the door. Once outside he ran