She stopped suddenly as the market came into view and outside the front entrance was a paramedic’s truck, a big fire rig and an ambulance. Lights flashed against the low hanging winter clouds. Had someone slipped and fallen? She picked up her pace. Then she saw a gurney wheeled out of the market. The paramedics appeared to be rushed, and one was holding up an IV bag.

She ran. Someone had stretched yellow crime scene tape across the street. A crime? she asked herself. The police were there, but they seemed to be working crowd control. She had a sudden horrible fear that it was Jake. Jake, whose father died of a heart attack at a relatively young age. She couldn’t remember offhand just how old he’d been. She raced up to the gurney just as they reached the ambulance’s back door.

“Who is it?” she asked the first person she came to. “Who’s hurt?”

Bobby Jo, the deli manager, and Lee, the assistant manager, were there. She heard Lee say, “I’ll go fetch his mother. Where are you taking him?”

“We’ll go to Sutter, but no guarantee he’ll stay there. He might need a specialist in the Bay Area.”

“Jake!” she cried, rushing to the gurney. “Jake!”

“Please stand back, ma’am,” a firefighter said. “Are you family?”

“No,” she said. “I mean yes, yes. I’m his best friend! What happened?”

Lee interceded, grasping her elbow to keep her from clambering into the ambulance just behind the gurney.

“Hang on, Addie,” Lee said. “Let them get him to the hospital.”

“What happened?”

“A whole wall of boxes crashed down on him. I don’t know how. Nothing like that has ever happened before. Knocked him out cold,” Lee said. “I wonder if he had a heart attack or something and ran the forklift right into the boxes? They were mostly canned goods. His head is bleeding. You can’t go with him. I’ll give you a ride after I pick up Beverly if you want—”

Addie took off at a dead run back to her house, back home where she could grab her car. Without a thought of anyone else, she rushed to get to Jake. She paused in her panic only for a second to remind herself that Lee would make sure Beverly got to the hospital. But at the moment all she could think about was making sure Jake knew she was there, knew she loved him, knew that the greatest loss of her life would be if she lost him.

How could I have wondered for a second? she thought miserably.

* * *

By the time she got to Sutter Hospital, he had been seen by a doctor and was having tests—a head CT, an EKG, a few other things, and they were considering sending him to UCSF.

“For surgery?” she asked the nurse. “Heart surgery?”

“Are you aware of some heart condition we should know about?” the nurse asked.

“No, only that his father died of a heart attack, and he wasn’t very old. Did you ask him about that?”

“He’s talking to the nurses and they’ll get a medical history. I’m afraid that’s all I can tell you,” the admissions nurse said. “He hasn’t named you as a family member.”

“Is he conscious?” she asked.

“He was fully conscious when he came in and was talking.”

“Can I see him? For just a second?”

She shook her head. “I’m sorry. This isn’t a good time for visitors. I’ll check with the doctor, but I’m sure the answer will be no. At least until they can figure out his injuries.”

“Please check, will you? And if I can’t see him, can you give him a message from me, from Addie?”

“I can try, but understand, he’s been medicated and they don’t want to get him excited.”

“Just tell him Addie is here and that I love him. That’s all. But that’s important, okay?”

“I’ll see what I can do. You can sit in this waiting room.”

“His mother,” Addie said. “Someone is bringing his mother...”

“Yes, there was a call. She’s on her way. This would be the best place to wait for her.”

“I’ll wait.”

It seemed a long wait, with Addie looking at her watch constantly. Every five minutes it seemed like twenty had passed. Then Beverly rushed into the ER and Addie embraced her. “Is he all right?” Beverly asked.

“I haven’t been able to see him. They’re running tests of some kind. On his head, I think.”

“Lee said heavy boxes fell on him and the forklift tilted onto its side. Let me see what the nurse will tell me.”

But aside from saying Jake seemed to be doing fine, the nurse didn’t have anything to report. Finally, after a half hour, Beverly was allowed to see her son. When she came out, she was smiling. “He has a big bandage on his noggin, and he said while he waits for test results, he’d like to see you. If you’re still here, he said.” And then her smile broadened.

“As if I’d leave,” Addie said, walking into the patient area. She found his name on the white board outside the drawn curtains and rather sheepishly peeked inside. He sat up in bed, blood splattered on his shirt and a big white bandage wrapped around his head. “Aw, Jake. God.”

“I know. Pretty dramatic, right? I have to stay the night. To make sure I don’t walk in my sleep.”

“Really?”

He laughed. “No, not really. To be sure I’m not brain damaged, probably.”

“Jake, what the heck happened?”

“I tried to move too many boxes and hit the gas instead of the brake, a few boxes fell forward and I upended the forklift. Kaboom. I was never very coordinated.” He smiled a lopsided smile. “Just to be sure I’m not delirious, the nurse said some pretty girl loves me.”

“And you assume it was me?”

“I assumed it was Jeannie, but I’m giving you a chance here. I could die before morning.”

She put a hand on his cheek. “I’ve always loved you, Jake. I was worried about the right kind of love. Then you crashed into the canned goods, and all at once I realized there are lots of kinds of love. And I feel them all. I’ve wasted so much time overthinking things! I don’t want to ever be without you. Not ever.”

“Then that’s how you will have it. You’re my girl. From now on.”

“Wow, that was easy.”

“It won’t always be easy,” he said. “Now we have to live up to it. I’m looking forward to that.”

“Jake, do you think if I promised to sit up all night, watching you, the doctor would let me take you home?”

“It’s worth a try,” he said, beaming.

* * *

Justine wasn’t expecting anyone when the doorbell rang the Saturday before Christmas. In fact, she was just about to hop in the shower—she’d been cleaning, organizing and cooking all day and looked a mess. The girls were off doing some last-minute Christmas shopping, and she used the time to straighten up the house and make a lasagna for dinner. Livvie had invited her boyfriend, Jared, and often when Jared came over he would bring a pal along, maybe for Amber to look over.

When she opened the door Scott stood there, his arms laden with gifts. “Scott,” she said, absently smoothing her hair. “This is unexpected.”

“I hope you don’t mind,” he said. “I’ll just leave these and go. Unless...”

She waited for him to finish. “Unless?”

“Do you have a minute?”

“Sure. Let me take these.” She took the packages, six of them, and put them under the tree.

“The girls aren’t here?” he asked. He stepped just inside the door.

“Shopping. They’ll be home before long but really, Scott. You can’t get in the habit of dropping in.”

“What about Addie?”

“She’s been looking after Jake full-time, though I don’t think he needs much looking after anymore. He hurt his head at work.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Scott said. “I just wanted you to know—Cat is gone. She’s not coming back.”

“Left the sinking ship, did she?” Justine said before she could stop herself.

“Not quite,” he said. “Though she did get away with a bundle. I told her it was over and that the next time she came around, I’d have to call the police. I believe she already has a record of some kind. She must. She left willingly, and she knows I’m not completely flat broke yet. She was working on me to go after you in court to try to get more money.”

“She’d have been disappointed. The courts would never side with you. Our settlement was by the book.”

“I made a mistake,” he said. “I admit it. She didn’t turn out to be the woman I thought she was.”

Justine looked at that thin scar at his hairline. “I’m sure that must have come as a surprise.”

“I’m sorry, Justine. You’ll never know how sorry. If you ever want to give me any kind of chance...”

“No,” she said, shaking her head. “I couldn’t possibly take the chance that you’d hurt me like that again. You really don’t know how deeply hurt I was.”

“You seem to have recovered,” he said.

“That’s what you wanted,” she said. “After only two months, before we were officially divorced, you said you thought I’d be over it by then.” She sighed. “That was the biggest shock. I was surprised by the lying and the cheating, but that happens to a lot of people. It’s a surprise, but not a cold, heart-stopping shock. It was your cruelty.” She shook her head. “The man I married was imperfect, as I am, but you were never cruel. You walked away from me as if it was your right. As if it didn’t matter what happened to the rest of us as long as you were happy. And you weren’t kind.”

“I’m sorry. I guess I’m too late. That Logan guy...”

“Logan is a very special man, but the reason I won’t consider taking you back is you, Scott. Your selfishness and meanness. And you found yourself a woman twice as selfish and cruel.”