Nothing told Flynn that the storm was returning to his life that day. On the contrary, it seemed an ordinary day when he woke up next to Erin and poured a cup of fresh coffee that he enjoyed in front of the big window of the cottage Doyle where he had spent the last few days with Erin and Alex. Then, as carefully as possible, he put his sports suit on and ran about ten kilometers through the forest as he used to run every morning to warm up. After that, he returned to the cottage to have breakfast with the two brothers with whom he spent the rest of the day.
Toward the evening, he received a phone call. It was a pretty weird call when he’d been told that he had to return to Westport immediately due to minor problems with the provider. What kind of problems? He hadn’t been told. He’d been only vaguely informed that „They said they’d solve this problem only with you.” After that, the secretary said goodbye to him and hung up.
„What the hell was this?” Mark wondered, staying in front of the cottage this time and staring at the screen of his mobile phone, where he still saw the number of his secretary. „More than that, since when is the secretary hanging up the call without letting me finish my thought?” Yet, even if he didn’t understand too much of what just had happened and was a little pissed off by his secretary’s behavior, whom he intended to fire for her effrontery, Mark still decided to check personally what the deal with his business was. For this, he had to return to the town. That’s why he said goodbye to Erin and Alex eventually, telling them to be careful and that he was waiting for them back to Westport. After that, he entered the car, stealing a kiss from Erin to keep it in his soul for longer, and, stepping on the gas pedal to the brim, Mark headed toward the town.
Looking behind Flynn’s car, Alex frowned. „He won’t ever change.”
„Who exactly? Flynn?” Erin asked, seeming not to have understood her brother’s words.
„Who else if not him?” Alex drily replied, seeming upset. „He’s the only one capable of driving fast on a forest road, which is covered by snow now, instead of being careful. More now when he tied his life to yours. Yet, instead of being wise, he looks for problems everywhere.”
„Something that reminds me about you,” Erin replied, smiling, making Alex frown again.
„Why exactly?”
„Because, just like Flynn, who looks for problems everywhere, you do everything to stay away from happiness. Or what, will you deny now that you aren’t guilty of the fact that Kate hasn’t been seen around you lately?” Alex didn’t answer, something that made Erin smile again. „You see?! I’ve been right! Again, as I am always. Yet, if the previous times when you fell in love without receiving the same love back or when others fell in love with you but you didn’t accept their feelings, I didn’t say anything to you, I won’t do the same now. I won’t keep silent because I consider you the only one to blame for the present failure.”
„May I know why?” Alex asked her. He seemed pissed off while he headed toward the entrance to the cottage.
Erin followed him right away. „Because when you love someone, you fight for him till the end, Alex. Flynn might serve you as a vivid example because he hasn’t given up on me all these years, even if I’ve been pretending that I haven’t noticed his feelings for me. You instead, due to a caprice, allowed a beautiful woman to leave you.”
„It hasn’t been because of a caprice, actually. Why? Because… she preferred Him again. She preferred to be with Him, Erin, despite all their problems and the pain she felt all this time. I had no chance in the fight with him. That’s why I have to give up.”
„And do you know why you haven’t had any chance against him?”
„Because I didn’t dare to open myself in front of her?”
„That’s right! A woman like Kathleen prefers honest people. She prefers to know who’s around her and what the future will bring to her, and not look the unknown future in its eyes and be insecure about what’s coming.”
„The same unknown future is waiting for her with him. You are the one who said that Ward isn’t a trustworthy person. Even so, she preferred him instead of an unknown future with me, a future that seemed to make her happy.”
„You can’t be sure of that.”
„That I could have made her happy?”
„No. I was talking about the real reason for Kate’s preference for Ward. It might be out of habit or because she’s afraid of the future. Alex, maybe Ward doesn’t make her happy. Yet, she at least knows what to expect from him. Instead, except for those beautiful evenings you spent with her, reading a book or listening to classical music, you didn’t talk to her about anything concrete. Just as you haven’t let her know about your intentions with her.”
„It’s been the kiss,” murmured Alex in his head while looking at the flames that were dancing in the fireplace. „The kiss that burnt me inside, even if she gave it to me in a damn cold place… one that’s without her today. Even so, I still think about her all the time. I consider that kiss as a holy vow between us because none of us can’t deny the fact that it will tie us forever, right from the moment our lips have touched each other for the first time, bringing us the first moment of happiness.”
After such thoughts, Alex kept silent for a long time. Erin did the same, preferring to let him alone with his ghosts. That’s why she went upstairs eventually, to her room, thinking of spending some time alone and thinking about all those beautiful moments she spent with Mark. Those moments about which she had been dreaming of for her entire life, but which she denied to herself because she was afraid to accept Flynn by her side. She did that because she thought that he was only a kid in the arms of love.
Once in her room, she felt the anxiety writhing inside her, even if she didn’t know why she felt that. That anxiety was damn unpleasant at that moment. The same she felt because of the bird with the name Fear, a bird that made her walk up and down the room, for a very long time, wondering what exactly she felt at that moment and why she couldn’t calm down. Erin even called Mark at one point to make sure she didn’t feel all that because of him and because he left so suddenly, but Mark didn’t answer the phone.
Because of this, Erin went to the first floor eventually, half an hour after she went to her room. There, she found Alex still in front of the big window and looking at the dark horizon of the night. He seemed restless and Erin clearly saw that. Erin understood this, looking at the uncontrolled movement of Doyle’s shoulders that were now up and then down because of a kind of sick impulse. Yet, once she wasn’t sure if he did that because of the same fear she felt or because of Kate, Erin approached him eventually. Touching his left shoulder, somehow fearing, she made him look at her. Then, she said in a shaking voice, „I think something happened, Alex! Something bad!”
Stolen novel; please report.
„With whom?” He asked her, confused.
Erin swallowed hard. „With Mark! He doesn’t answer the phone!”
Alex smiled. Then, moved by a parental feeling, he caressed the top of Erin’s head, telling her in a kind voice, „He might be busy! Or, because he’s still driving, he can’t answer. Also, you know very well that he loves to drive and listen to music at a high volume. Thus, he might not hear the phone.”
„It’s not that,” replied Erin, still in a shaking voice. „At least, I don’t think so because even if he’s busy or drives and listens to the music, Mark doesn’t ignore my calls.”
This was so. Alex couldn’t deny this fact because his friend had always been like that: even if he was busy or if he had been on his deathbed, he still would have answered a phone call. He would have undoubtedly done that, especially if it was a call from Erin. Because of this, Alex turned even more nervous. It happened because he found Mark’s absence weird and unnatural. That’s why he grabbed his coat from off the hanger and told Erin, „Let’s go and check if he’s fine! If you stay here and do not see him, you won’t calm down. Just as I won’t be calm because of you eventually!”
Erin didn’t answer after she heard his nonsense thoughts, even if she heard them very well, and seemed to be the truth. She only took her coat from off the hanger and followed Alex, who was heading toward his car at that moment. Then, after they got in the car, they didn’t say a word to each other for a long time. Thus, they allowed only the concern to press over their chest and the fear to follow them… the fear of being single again…
***
Erin’s concern about Mark had been real that night because, once they got to the main road, the one that descended from the mountain and led to the city, they found Flynn’s car overturned at the first dangerous curve. Seeing the vehicle overturned and enough rocks around it, Erin’s soul froze for a few moments. The same happened to Alex’s hand on the gearshift because he hadn’t ever expected that Flynn would end like that. At least, Alex couldn’t believe that a perfect day like that one, which they spent together, would end like that - like a tragedy.
His sister’s muttered cry, who was to his right, finally brought Alex back to his senses. Then, he stopped the car on the edge of the road and asked Erin not to step out of it. Alex had even been forced to raise his voice to make her react because poor Erin was shaking like an Aspen leaf at that moment, mumbling unintelligible words. Then, with uncertain steps, because the fear of finding Mark dead suddenly sneaked into his soul, Alex approached the vehicle, which he intended to check.
Two steps from the overturned car, Alex stopped. Then, so suddenly that he made Erin wince and step out of the vehicle, although he asked her not to leave it, Alex returned to his car. He seemed damn concerned because Erin saw him quickening his pace at one point to get to the trunk, where she also headed eventually. Yet, even if she approached Alex, Erin didn’t say a word. She only stared at him, terrified, seeing him taking a crowbar and a flashlight, starting to shake when Alex told her in a low voice, „Follow me! But, with no panic!”
Erin suddenly froze. „He’s… dead?” She stuttered.
„Don’t talk nonsense, Erin!” Her brother shouted at her. „If he has had an accident, it doesn’t mean he doesn’t have a chance to survive. Just… follow me and let me take care of him!”
After such words, Alex turned his back to her and quickened his pace toward Flynn’s car. Once there, he knelt in front of the driver’s side and asked Erin to give him the flashlight. Yet, he impeded her from doing the same because he was afraid that her words might have been true, once anything could happen after an accident. Because of the same fear, Doyle carefully illuminated Flynn’s bloody face, who had his eyes closed at that moment. Yet, feeling Alex’s fingers touching his neck to check his pulse, Mark struggled to open his eyes and whispered, „I’m sorry!”
„For what?” Alex asked him in a shaking voice.
„For not listening to you. Yes, you told me so many times before not to rush on mountain roads. Instead, as always, I wanted to prove to myself that I wasn’t afraid of anything. Thus, being stupid, I fell into this trap.”
„Do you remember what happened?”
„Yes. It happened so fast. Still, I remember it. I remember that I got to the road and stepped on the gas pedal again. After that, I’ve seen the blinding light of someone’s headlights. Then, it was all dark. It’s been so dark and cold. I don’t remember what happened next.”
Alex and Erin exchanged glances after such words. „The headlights of a car that came toward him?” Erin asked in a shaking voice. „It doesn’t make sense. This is a one-way road.”
„I know,” replied Alex, concerned. „It seems that the accident has been hatched. Yet, until we can prove it, we can’t accuse anybody of that. Just… go with him and don’t leave him alone, even for a second. Meanwhile, I’ll call for help because I’m afraid that he won’t resist for long if we wait for more.”
Erin just nodded, listening to what her brother said. After that, she ran toward their car and took a blanket from off the rear seat, which she used to cover Mark eventually to warm him a little. Then, she held his hand and didn’t release it until the firefighters came and took Flynn out of the ruins of his own vehicle, climbing with him in the ambulance to be with him all the way to the hospital. Alex instead remained at the accident place to make sure no evidence would vanish and that the guilty one for the tragic accident of Flynn would be eventually punished.
***
„Are you sure that’s a simple accident?” Erin asked Alex, confused, when he finally showed up at the hospital.
„Yes. The surveillance cameras, those from the entrance to that road, don’t lie. It seems that someone took the wrong road up the mountain. Even so, he didn’t turn back, thinking that the road was unused and that he’d be safe after all.”
„Do we know who’s to blame for that?” Conor asked his son. He and his wife Matilde came to the hospital right after finding out about Mark’s accident.
„Honestly, no. Even if there’s a record about the vehicle, it’s still unclear. The police couldn’t see the plaque.”
„And this means the perp remains unpunished.”
„Something like that,” whispered Matilde, sighing after this. „Yet, the important thing now is for Mark to be fine. We’ll take care of the rest after that, sweetheart! Now, what matters is that he’s fine!”
Such words didn’t calm Erin. On the contrary, she seemed even more worried than before. For an unknown reason, she kept remembering the phone call Flynn received from his secretary. She didn’t know her personally, but she heard from Mark that that one was a good woman. Now instead, so suddenly, she acted weird, giving a weird phone call to her boss and asking Mark to come to the town immediately for a problem that required his presence. „After that, so unexpectedly, the accident happened. Does it seem weird only to me?”
„Honestly no,” responded Conor, although he saw Alex about to say something. „All this seems to be a setup. Yet, as Alex said, until we don’t have evidence, we can’t accuse anybody. We’ll be able to do that though once Mark is recovered and able to tell us more about the accident.”
„Yet, that’s the problem, Dad: we don’t know if he’s fine after that. You heard the doctor before going to surgery - Mark is in a critical condition. He is worried about Mark’s legs and that he’ll be able to walk again. The spine injury seems to be serious.”
Saying this, Erin burst into a cry. She cried a lot in Alex’s arms, who understood very well what was in his elder sister’s soul at that moment. It couldn’t be different because such a thing happened to her at that moment when she seemed to have found her happiness with Mark. Nevertheless, they couldn’t give up so soon. Not until Mark was alive and they still had a chance to be happy, something Alex intended to fight for because even if it seemed that it was forbidden for him to be happy with Kate, he wanted at least Erin to be happy… no matter the consequences.