"It will always be me." He reached over and tugged at my hair. "Be careful on the side roads if we have to get on any. I was watching the weather this morning and it's nasty."

"We do, so just help me watch out for things?"

"Of course."

We rode in silence the rest of the way out to Finn's, which was a gift in itself. Finn's truck wasn't out in the yard, which was surprising. I knew he worked on Sunday afternoons, but I would have thought Chuck would have let the guys off to rest or go to church.

"Where's his truck?" My brother sat up and looked around.

"No clue. Wait here and let me make sure he's not inside."

"Yeah. Sure. You got a key?" He lifted his eyebrow at me.

"Yeah. We're dating...I think."

"I'd say so."

I got out of the jeep without responding. Of all of the people in the world, my little brother was not going to become my make-shift girlfriend. With Jessie out of my life, I'd have to make some new friends, but they'd be girls, and they would not be related to me.

After finally getting the key in the lock, I walked into the house to find it just as I'd left it. Not a dish out or a pillow moved. I check Finn's bedroom and stopped in my tracks. The bed wasn't even touched.

"Did you not come home at all?" I flipped on the lights, and looked around as if there were something that might give me a clue to where the hell he was.

Maybe he stayed at his Dad's.

Surely he wouldn't have stayed with some random girl in town just because my Dad kicked him in the proverbial nuts. No. I wouldn't even let those thoughts occupy my time. He was mine, and I was his. This wasn't about infidelity, but about him needing to work through all the shit my Dad slung at him. I only wished he would have let me help him. For each negative my Dad was sure to have hit him with, I could have pulled out ten positives.

After locking up, I jogged back to the jeep and got in.

"No luck?"

"No. He wasn't there last night for sure." I sunk back against the seat and growled. "Now what?"

"Have you tried texting him?"

"Yes, pointer of the obvious. Of course I have."

"Okay, shit. Put your teeth back in your head."

I turned to him and bit at the air for good measure as he laughed.

"Do you think it would be too much if we went by the shop where he works? His Dad owns it, so he would know where Finn was, I'm sure."

"I think that's fine. We're just concerned friends. They shouldn't get upset about that, and anyway, the worse he can do is send us packing."

"True." I turned the radio to a new channel, stopping on the local one to hear the weather.

"Local news update... Bear Creek Lodge will closed down until farther investigations are completed regarding the tragic accident of a twenty-seven year old local male. He's still in critical condition at St. Mark's and the town is joining his family in praying for him to make a full recovery. This should serve as a warning that as the city council always advises, no ski..."

Parker reached up and turned the radio down. "How old is Finn?"

"I don't know." I glanced toward my brother. "You don't think that was him, right?"

"How the hell don't you know how old he is? You guys are dating, right?"

"Yes, but I haven't gotten around to having him fill out the full survey." I rolled my eyes at him. "I'm sure he's fine. We're just over reacting."

"No, you're under-reacting. We were just at Bear Creek, and if Finn was upset, where else would he go?"

"Stop." I turned down the road to his father's shop as tears burned my eyes. "You're scaring me."

"Well, I'm scared too." Parker's voice rose, and I reminded myself that he was just a kid. Anything tragic was scary, but nothing tragic had happened. Finn was probably at the shop, working himself into a hole so that he didn't have to think about my father's attack.

I pulled up and turned to my brother. "You want to go in with me?"

"No. Just go find out what the hell's going on and let's find Finn."

I nodded and got out of the car, pulling my jacket in tighter, and jogging toward the open door. The place was empty, which I would have expected for a Sunday morning, but the two cars out front led me to believe someone was somewhere in the building.

"Hello?"

"I'm back here. I'm coming."

"Milly?" I called out and jogged toward the sound of her voice. I met her in the middle of a short hallway and by the look on her face, I knew the accident was Finn. "Where's Finn?"

"Oh honey, he got in an accident on the slopes yesterday. Did Clark not call you?" She moved toward me as dizziness washed over me.

"What kind of accident? Is he okay? Where is he?"

"He's at St. Mark's in a coma. He's going to be there for a few days and then they'll try to bring him out of it."

"In a coma?" I choked on a sob that rose sharply inside of me. "Oh my God."

"I know, sweetheart. It's pretty bad, but they're hopeful that if they let him rest that his body will repair the damage to his brain."

"I need to get up there. Where is he again?"

"I'll drive you. No need to have you in the bed next to him."

"My brother is with me." I reached for her, and she pulled me into a warm hug as I started to cry.

Fear crashed in around me at the thought of losing Finn before I really got him. Things had moved so quickly between the two of us, but I wasn't planning on slowing them down. I wanted to push full speed ahead to see what the future had in store for us. I was a risk taker, and he was one person I was willing to bet the whole lot on.

"I'll take you both. Dry your eyes, sweet girl. It's all going to be okay."

I pulled myself together and turned, walking quickly back out to the jeep to get Parker out. He took one look at my face and got out of the car, walking around and pulling me into a hug.

"Is he okay?"

"I don't know. He's in a coma right now." I squeezed him and walked to Milly's truck, getting in and scooting over to make room for my brother.

They introduced themselves as I sunk into my thoughts, not capable of talking without crying. I had to force myself to think about various designs to keep my mind off of the feel of Finn's hands all over me, his sweet lips hovering above mine.

I thought I might explode by the time we made it to the hospital, but I'd pulled myself together. We piled out of the truck and walked into the ICU together. I worked hard not to jog toward the room number Milly called out to me. Stopping in front of the door, I turned to my brother, who had stopped and was staring into space wide-eyed.

"I don't want to go in. I'll stay here." He crossed his arms over his chest.

"Call Dad and tell him to come get you. Tell him what happened. Okay?"

"Yeah. I'll do that." He pulled his phone out, and I glanced toward Milly.

"I'll stay with him. Go on in there. Clark's in there. He'd love to see you, I'm sure."

Right. After Finn's accident really boils down to being my fault, or my Dad's really.

Taking a deep breath, I knocked and pushed the door open.

Clark stood and gave me a sad smile. "Chloe. I'm glad you're here. I didn't have your number or..."

I lifted my hand. "It's okay. Really."

"He's doing better. Thank God." Clark moved to one side of the bed, and I move to the other, my breath catching in my chest.