I'll Find You

If Tomorrow Never Comes

If tomorrow never comes
Will she know how much I loved her
Did I try in every way
To show her every day
That she's my only one
——If Tomorrow Never Comes, Garth Brooks

February 27, 2018

"You just got home!  Are you fucking kidding me with this?"  Grayson was glaring at his girlfriend.  "You said you were staying here!"

Cait took a deep breath, counted to ten, before responding.  They'd lost a ridiculous game at Virginia Tech the night before and she knew he was back to being uptight.  "Grayson, it's just one night."  She tried to keep her tone calm, didn't want to escalate the argument.  "I'll leave tomorrow morning and be back Thursday morning.  Twenty-four hours.  And you're gonna be busy.  You've got class, practice, all the stuff for Senior Night and all the media that goes with it.  You need to actually think about your speech.  And you still need to spend time with the team," she pointed out.  "You can do that without feeling guilty and I'll be back before you know it."

What she wasn't telling him was the reason for her quick trip to Detroit.  The Duke media staff had asked her to consider introducing Grayson at Senior Night.  But she didn't feel right about it.  She thought that night should be about Grayson and his parents, not his relationship with her.  She didn't want to be a distraction. 

She'd suggested that Luke do it, but he had a game in Miami that night, so that was out.  Then they'd hit on an idea.  Luke and Cait world record a short video intro together that would be played in Cameron before the television coverage started.  That way Cait could stay out of most of the spotlight, but Grayson's two best friends would introduce him to the crowd before the ceremony. 

So Ty Rogers, the former Duke media guru who was at the University of Michigan now, had arranged to help out.  But Cait needed to go to Detroit to tape the video with Luke.  And Grayson, who had no idea why she was jetting off to Detroit, wasn't happy. 

She sighed and walked toward him now, sitting on his lap and wrapping her arms around him.  "Daddy," she breathed softly.  "I just wanna go see Rae, see one of Luke's games and I'll come right back.  And I'll make it up to you.  Again and again and again. I promise."

Grayson couldn't stay mad when she breathed in his ear that way.  He sighed.  "You willing to start making it up to me right now?" he asked.

"More than willing." Her tongue was tracing his ear now and he shivered. "You look like you need a shower," she breathed softly.

March 1, 2018

The alarm on her phone woke Cait and it took a minute to figure out where she was.  Then she remembered.  She was in Luke and Rae's guest room and she needed to get moving, get back to Durham. 

She and Luke had taped the video the day before.  He was leaving for a road trip this morning and she was flying back out.  Rae had moved back to second shift, so she was going to drive Cait to the airport.

Cait got herself out of bed and headed to the bathroom.  She felt a little funny, but kept moving.  She'd stepped in the shower when the pain hit.

It was like a giant hand had grabbed her whole left side and was squeezing it mercilessly.  She almost dropped to her knees.  She quickly bent at the waist and tried to breathe.