Paislie’s eyes softened as she looked down at my niece. “Okay, let’s go.”
I watched them as they hurried off into the house. I could hear sweet Sophie talking a mile a minute.
Janet walked up next to me and chuckled. “She’s certainly excited, isn’t she?”
“Yeah, she thinks she scored a playmate.”
“I’m thinking she’s not the only one who thinks that.”
I did a double take over at my assistant. “What?”
Janet gave me a look like I knew exactly what she was talking about. “Please, you don’t think I know? Paislie was at the hospital, remember? She was the girl you spent the weekend with before the accident. I also know you’re not stupid enough to pay someone twice their salary and room and board to come and be your personal physical therapist. I may be old, but I’m not stupid. You don’t pay me to be stupid.”
Shit. I totally forgot about Paislie being at the hospital.
“No ma’am, I do not.”
Janet held the front door open for me as I used the crutches to walk into the house. I’d gotten my cast off and had begun therapy a few weeks back. The first two physical therapists were idiots. The first one seemed to be more interested in my cock than she was getting my leg back in working order. The other one was so old, I was sure he was about to fall asleep during our first session.
Paislie was my only hope at returning back to racing. A heavy feeling rolled through my stomach as I remembered why she walked away from me in the first place.
The first thing I needed to do was tell her I was sorry for what I said to her.
“Come on, you need to do some walking. Help me make lunch.”
I followed Janet through the house and into the kitchen. When I bought this house, everything needed updating. Janet was in charge of all of it. The kitchen was her biggest project and I had to admit she did a great job.
Cream cabinets with black granite countertops were her first pick. I moaned internally as I thought about the hours upon hours she had me looking at backsplashes. I finally pointed to a random picture just to get her to stop. Tumbled stone she called it. It now graced the walls in the kitchen and I had to admit it looked damn good.
I perched my crutches up against the wall as I helped her get everything ready for lunch.
“Malcolm, I’ve never asked questions because honestly it’s none of my business, but I have to ask you something.”
As I picked grapes and set them in a bowl, I replied, “Go for it, Janet.”
“What happened to you that makes you push love away?”
My body froze. “What makes you think I push love away?”
Her eyes were on me and I could feel the intensity of her stare.
“You seem to forget I know everything that goes on in your life . . . probably better than you. I also hear things.”
I turned to her and raised an eyebrow. “You hear things? What kind of things?”
She smirked as she went back to making the sandwiches. “Oh you know, Dalton making arrangements for . . . visitors. Ashley, Emmit’s sister, and her visits to you. Those kinds of things.”
“You knew about Ashley?”
Janet let out a dry laugh. “What do you pay me for, Malcolm? Do you know how many times I had to cover for you? Like the one time you flew Ashley in for a . . . visit . . . and Emmit almost walked onto your bus with his little sister in there. I intercepted him, because if he ever found out, you’d have gotten two broken legs at the hands of one very pissed off brother.”
My mouth fell open. “Wow. Janet, you’re like Super Woman.”
She nodded. “Yes, I am.”
I wrapped my arms around her and kissed the top of her brown hair that was sprinkled with bits of grey throughout. “I love you like you’re my mother. Thank you for always taking care of me.”
“Don’t change the subject,” she barked as I dropped my arms to my side.
With a shrug, I said, “I’m not interested in love. It’s not something I want.”
“Really?” she questioned as she sliced avocado and placed it next to the lettuce. “Pop that bread down in the toaster, will you?”
Doing as she asked, I nodded. “Yep.”
She wiped her hands on a dishrag and turned to face me. “What was her name?”
The heaviness in my heart came back as I lifted my head and looked out the massive floor-to-ceiling windows.
“Casey was her name. We started dating our freshman year of high school.” My hand came up to the back of my neck as I tried to rub the immediate tension out. The memory came back as if it had just happened. I could smell her perfume, like she was standing right next to me. “She had been at a football game and I just found out I was being moved up to the Xfinity Series. I couldn’t wait to tell her. After the game, I pulled her under the bleachers and told her. I always knew a part of her hated I did it because she was always afraid I would get hurt. But she knew how much I loved it.” I smiled as I remembered her launching her body against mine as she hugged me.
“Oh my gosh! Malcolm, this is the best news ever!”