When I arrived back at the hospital, Garrett was talking loud enough to be understood by everyone. “When can I get out of here?” He glanced at me as I stepped into the curtained area, then focused on the nurse.
She shook her head. “This isn’t a prison. I’ll get the doctor and see about discharge papers.”
“You are in such a hurry to leave, but you don’t want anyone at the ranch to know you’re hurt. You baffle me.” I set his clothes at the foot of the bed. “Here are your clothes.”
“Tessa.”
I froze, remembering how he’d shocked me that day in the doughnut shop when he’d said my name. “Yeah?”
“You’ve done so much to help me, but can I ask for one more favor?” He held out his brace.
I put my hand on it, resting the side of my finger against his thumb. “What do you need?”
“When they release me, will you drive me somewhere?”
“That’s it? That’s the big favor?” I needed to stop letting this guy hold my hand. I just didn’t want to stop because it felt nice. “Of course I’ll drive you.”
His thumb moved back and forth, ramping up the nice feelings. “Thanks.”
“I’ll wait for you out there, in the waiting room. Hopefully the nurses can get you dressed.”
His nurse walked around the curtain. “I’ll help him.” She didn’t look like she minded all that much. Maybe she was ready to be rid of him.
Thirty minutes later, for the second time in one night, Garrett was helped into the passenger seat of my car. At least this time, it wasn’t me loading him into the car.
The seat covers were in my trunk, and I didn’t have even a glimmer of hope they’d ever come clean.
Instead of rushing to the shop to make the doughnuts, I was helping Garrett. But only until I took him where he wanted to go. Then I’d race to the shop and figure something out. Hopefully.
“Okay, Mr. Stubborn, where am I taking you?” My lack of sleep had my normal filter on the fritz.
He reached across and touched my arm. “Thank you for everything. Just take me to a hotel.”
I glanced at his bare chest. “I brought you a shirt.”
“Sorry to be a distraction. My shoulder hurts too much to get a t-shirt on right now.”
I adjusted the heat to keep him warm enough. Just the sight of him without a shirt kept me warm enough. “Regarding the hotel idea, are you crazy? You have a prescription that needs to be filled. And you’ll continue wincing every time you take a deep breath until you get those meds in you. Besides that, how are you planning to eat?”
“I’ll order out.”
“Let me point out that you can’t use your hands. Are you planning to have the delivery guy feed you? That wouldn’t be weird at all.” I rubbed my temples. “And weren’t you listening when the doctor said to make sure someone stayed with you because you might have a concussion?”
“I forgot about that.” His shoulders sagged, and he leaned his head back.
“One more minor, teeny tiny point. You have no wallet. How do you plan to pay for the hotel, food, and whatever else?”
His eyes closed, which made me feel bad.
“I didn’t mean to yell at you, but I don’t know why you are so set on not telling anyone at the ranch what’s going on.”
He sighed and grimaced. “My dad is away on his honeymoon. Finally. I almost ruined his relationship with Lilith once, and I refuse to be the reason he has to cut his trip short. Everyone at the ranch would gladly help me. They’d also call him. He’ll be home in a week. I can survive that long.” Garrett folded his arms across his chest, which showed off his biceps, but that treat only lasted a second. After a grimace, he dropped his arms into his lap.
“Shoulder?”
“Yeah. But it should start to feel better now that everything is where it’s supposed to be.”
“One week?”
He nodded.
Growing up, I’d learned to trust people based on two things—their family and their actions. Most of the time, kind people raised kind people. And while small-town rumors could sometimes be awful, they sometimes spread truth. I’d learned that the hard way. Beau Henry was as good as they came, and everything I’d heard about Garrett made it seem like he was as good and kind as his dad.
The fact that I liked the way it felt to have Garrett brush his thumb along my hand had nothing—absolutely nothing—to do with my decision. Probably.
I shifted into drive. “All right. I know where you can go, but I have to make a quick stop on the way.”
He stayed quiet as I drove toward Stadtburg. If I hurried, it would still be dark when we got to town. I stole a glance at the man beside me. His eyes were closed, but his pain was still obvious.
As I passed the spot where I’d picked him up, I slammed on the brakes.
“Sheeeeeeets and towels! Are you trying to inflict pain?” He peered at me through one open eye. “Please don’t do that again.”
“I didn’t mean to hurt you.” I eased off the road. “I remembered my umbrella. I like that one.”
I ran to the side of the road, using my phone’s flashlight to avoid stepping in large patches of mud and tripping in the dark. When I picked up the umbrella, I saw the wallet next to my tire tracks.
After struggling to fold the umbrella, I tossed it into the backseat half open. Hopefully it wasn’t bad luck to have an umbrella open in a car. Did half closed make the luck less bad?
“I think I found your wallet.” I held it out to him.
He looked at the wallet, then at his bandaged and braced hands.
“Right, Sorry.” I opened it and pulled out the ID. “The picture doesn’t look like you right now, but it has your name on it.”
“Thanks. Now you can—”
“Don’t even say it.” I dropped the wallet into the cup holder and started driving. “All the other reasons for not going to a hotel still apply.”
If I went much longer without sleep or food, I’d be a monster. After dropping him off, I had to go get his prescription filled, but the closest all-night pharmacy was in San Antonio.
I could stay awake a while longer. I had to.
When we arrived in town, the sun was just spreading light across the horizon. Usually, I loved the glimmer of daybreak. Today it taunted me.
“Wait here. I’ll be right back.” I parked in front of the doughnut shop. Inside, I grabbed a sheet of paper from the supply room. I knew what I wanted to do; I just wasn’t sure what to write on the sign.
With my eyes squeezed closed, I forced my brain to focus. Then I scribbled on the page.
On vacation this week. Sorry for the inconvenience.
I taped it to the front window, then locked the store. For the first time since Skeeter had called off our wedding, I closed my shop.
Before I even started the engine, Garrett spoke. “Don’t close. I never intended for you to do all this, and I can’t let you—”
I put my hand up, then waggled a finger in his face. “Let me? I am capable of making my own decisions. Thank you very much.”
His eyebrows lifted, but he didn’t say a word.
The hum of the engine was the only noise as I drove to my apartment.
“Let’s get you inside before someone sees you.” I opened his door and helped him out. “Once you’re settled, I’ll go get your prescription.”
He followed me down the walkway to my apartment door. “Sleep first.”
I wasn’t sure I’d be able to sleep. After the doctor had warned that Garrett could potentially have a concussion, I worried that he’d go to sleep and never wake up. “Maybe.”
He moved at a snail’s pace, understandably.
When he headed toward the sofa, I grabbed his arm. “No. That won’t work. Eli or Delaney will show up when they see that the shop is closed. You can stretch out in my room.”
I piled the pillows and pulled back the covers.
As he moved toward the bed, I noticed the mud still caked in his hair. It would get all over the bed, and being dirty couldn’t possibly be comfortable. “Change of plans.”
He stopped in the middle of the room. “What?”
“I know I can’t get the bandages wet, but your hair is a mess. Hang on just a sec, while I think.”
Shaking his head, he glanced at the bathroom.
“I’m not giving you a shower. We’ll deal with that later.” Hopefully never.
His jeans rode low on his waist, and combined with the lack of a shirt, he made it hard to think clearly. Or at all. Would it be rude to pull his jeans up a little? Why hadn’t the nurse put on his belt?
“This is what we’re going to do. The kitchen sink has a spray nozzle.” I ran to the kitchen and set a chair in front of the sink. He was tall enough to sit in the chair with his head tilted back and be over the sink.
I hurried back to the bedroom. “Put your arm around me, and I’ll help you over there. “It’s probably good that you don’t have a shirt on.”
“Good for whom exactly?”
“Just sit and be quiet.” I tucked a throw pillow behind his back and a towel behind his neck so he wouldn’t hurt being in the chair. “Let me grab my shampoo.” As I walked to the bathroom, I gave myself a pep talk. Washing his hair wasn’t weird. That was a lie. It was very weird, but I’d do it anyway. He couldn’t sleep with mud flaking out of his hair, and I didn’t want mud all over my bed.
He tipped his head back as I walked toward the sink. “Am I going to smell like flowers?”
“More like mint chocolate chip ice cream.” I turned on the faucet and wet his hair, running my fingers through it to shake out the mud.
He closed his eyes and gave a contented sigh.
Now it was awkward.
I massaged in the shampoo, careful not to get it near his eyes or bandages, then made sure the water was warm and rinsed out the soap. With a dishtowel, I dried his hair a little. “That should feel at least a little better. You can’t shower until tomorrow.”
“Thank you. That felt nice.”
I wiped drips off his shoulders and chest. “Off to bed with you.”
He shuffled down the hall, then dropped onto the edge of the bed.
“Your boots. I can help you.” I’d never taken off a man’s boots before. Was it better to face him and pull or to face away? I opted for away.
His chuckle made me think that wasn’t the best choice. Most of my choices tonight had been questionable.
I carried his boots out to the kitchen so that they wouldn’t leave any more flecks of dried mud on my carpet.
As I walked back into the room, he shifted into place, his jaw clenched. I covered him but hesitated to walk away. Would watching him keep him alive?
“Tessa, you can get the meds later. Sleep for a bit.”
“I’ll wait until the closest pharmacy opens. But I have to eat first. You hungry?”
“Starved, but I’m not sure what I can eat right now. Even talking hurts.”
“Then quit talking. I didn’t know it was hurting you. I’ll bring you something to eat.” I walked out, forcing myself not to look back. At least now I could honestly say I hadn’t picked up a stranger.
I just didn’t know that when I’d loaded him into my car.
In the kitchen I heated a pan and quickly scrambled some eggs, making sure they were light and fluffy. He could down those without having to chew.
When I ran to the pharmacy, I’d get puddings and Jell-O. For lunch, maybe I’d whip up a creamy soup.
With food loaded onto a tray, I walked back into the bedroom. “Okay, G-man. Let’s get some food in you.”
“You first.” He closed his mouth, looking very much like a toddler refusing vegetables.
I shoveled eggs into my mouth, then swallowed before scolding him. “For someone completely at my mercy, you sure like to pretend you’re in charge.” I piled eggs on a clean fork. “Now, open up.”
He opened his mouth as best he could and practically inhaled the food.
“You were hungry.” I wiped his mouth, dusting away a few crumbs.
His gazed tracked my movements, and I swallowed. One week. I’d help him for one week, and then he could go back to his life, and I’d go back to mine.
“Try to sleep.” I picked up the tray and nestled a bag of frozen peas onto his face. “After you’re a bit more rested, we’ll call the deputy from last night so you can tell him what happened.”
“I will not. He knows what he needs to know. I had an unfortunate mishap, and I don’t wish to press charges. When you went to get clothes, he came back. I talked to him.”
I set the tray down and perched on the edge of the bed. “What happened?”
With the bag of peas covering half his face, he stared at the far wall, and for the better part of a minute, I thought he wasn’t going to answer me.
“Someone jumped me and beat me up.”
“That clears it all up for me. Thanks.” I picked up the tray.
“Hey. I’m not trying to irritate you. Can we talk about it tomorrow?”
I nodded. “But what happened to you isn’t an unfortunate mishap. They could’ve killed you. You might not have survived the night on the side of the road. What if it had rained longer and the water rose? It was cold last night. You could’ve gotten hypothermia.”
“I got played, and I got hurt. Pressing charges might get me killed, and I’m partial to living. Those pecan praline doughnuts are reason enough.”
My stomach knotted at the thought of something worse happening to him.
“When you can chew without pain, I’ll make a batch of doughnuts for you.”
“Are you going to sleep?” He shifted his head on the stack of pillows.
“I’m going to try.” I carried the dishes into the kitchen and made sure the front door was locked and bolted before going back into the bedroom.
Garrett was already asleep.
Before getting into bed, I took a fast shower. It felt wonderful to be free of mud.
Then I crawled onto the bed and curled up on my side. Watching the rise and fall of his chest, I lay there until my timer went off. Then I returned the peas to the freezer, lay back down, and stopped fighting sleep.
Pounding woke me, and I pried my eyes open.
After a frightening second, I remembered why there was a man without a shirt in my bed. I rubbed my face as I rolled off the mattress.
“You were out pretty hard. Your phone buzzed several times.” Garrett hooked his thumb toward the doorway. “I can talk to Eli if that will make things easier for you.”
“Maybe. I don’t know. I thought you didn’t want Eli to know.” I trudged down the hall, wishing I’d checked the time. I pulled open the door barely an inch. “Hello?”
Eli’s green eyes were filled with a wild panic. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. I was asleep.”
“The shop is closed!” He placed a hand on the door, expecting me to swing it open.
I wedged my foot, making sure the door didn’t open any further. “I know. I put the sign up. Can’t a woman take a vacation?”
“Not you. You don’t know how. That shop has been open every day for seven years. The last time you taped a sign to the door and disappeared was—”
“Don’t say it. I’m fine. And I haven’t disappeared. I stayed home. Sorry you didn’t get coffee.” If I talked to Eli much longer, I’d end up telling him all about Garrett’s injuries.
“I know you, Tessa. Something is going on.” He checked his phone. “But I don’t have time to pry the secrets out of you right now. I have to get to work. Call Delaney. She’s worried about you.”
I nodded before closing the door. Why hadn’t I just explained to Eli what was going on?
Two reasons. Garrett didn’t want anyone to know, and Eli was too close to Joji, who lived right by Beau Henry’s ranch. And she was married to the ranch foreman. The fewer people who knew about Garrett’s injuries, the better the chance we had of keeping the fiasco a secret for a week.
Why was I set on protecting Garrett’s secret? That was harder to answer.
I shuffled back to the bedroom. “Sorry he woke you up.”
“I’ve been awake. Watching you sleep is more relaxing than actually sleeping right now.” He patted the bed. “Tessa, why are you helping me? I hate that I’m putting you in an awkward situation.”
Hugging a pillow, I sat down beside him. “When I was twelve, my dad had a garden. He was growing heirloom tomatoes. One day, I heard him fire that stupid BB gun. I ran out back and found an injured squirrel. Dad had just left the poor thing in the yard. He didn’t realize he’d wounded it. He was just trying to scare it out of the tomatoes.”
“The tomato thief?” Garrett rested his brace next to my hand, and only his thumb was touching me.
“Yeah. That squirrel was eating Dad’s prize tomatoes. Anyway, I bandaged the little beast and took him to Eli’s house. I spent more time over there than I did at my own house. His mom helped me set up a little bed and feeding station in the garden shed, and I spent a few weeks feeding the little critter and changing the bandages while he healed. When he seemed back to normal, I set him free.”
“So I’m a squirrel?” His voice held a hint of humor.
I shrugged. “You need me. At the end of the week, you won’t anymore.”
“What seemed like a big deal—interrupting the honeymoon—doesn’t sound so horrible now. You can’t stay closed all week just to take care of me.” He shifted toward the edge of the bed. “Besides, if I fall off the radar for too long, folks at the ranch will worry.” He sounded so sure, but his shoulders told a different story. His slouch signaled resignation and sadness.
“Where are you going?”
“Take me to get my truck. My phone is in it.” He swung one leg over the edge.
I crawled across the bed and grabbed his arm. “No. You aren’t giving the orders. I am. Get back in this bed.”
His muscles flexed under my hand as he obeyed. “Then you need to call Ava.”
I didn’t want to talk to Ava. She went to church with me. How could I lie to her?
“I really need to find you different clothes.” I pulled the sheet back over him.
“I thought you liked looking at my chest.”
Dumbfounded by his audacity, I stayed quiet half a second. “I don’t . . .” Trying to lie wasn’t going to convince anyone. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
Garrett laughed and then groaned. “That hurt.”
“Serves you right. The bruising is getting worse. Boots?”
He nodded.
“Where’s it parked? I’ll get your phone and make sure your truck is safe.” I kept my back to him, feeling the heat in my cheeks and not wanting him to see me flushed.
“If you don’t mind going out to the ranch again, you can get more clothes and my laptop. And if you could let Ava or Clint know that I’m okay, that would be helpful. I’m not sure my voice would be convincing right now.”
It was hard to imagine him using a laptop in his condition, but I’d grab it. Maybe his hands weren’t broken, just banged up. Badly. Grabbing jeans had been a horrible idea, but I’d been sleep deprived. This time, I’d grab him some sweatpants, some with a drawstring so that they wouldn’t ride low on his waist.
“Okay. I’ll pick up your prescription while I’m out.” I tried to think about what I needed to leave accessible for him. “I’ll put some water by the bed and the bag of frozen peas. Will you be okay for a while?”
“Yeah.” He told me where to find his truck.
“We can’t leave it there.”
He lifted his braced and bandaged hands. “I don’t have much choice.”
“I can get a ride to your truck, then drive it to your cabin.” I would have to figure out how to get back home, but I’d think of something.
“And then everyone would wonder about me when I didn’t show up for meals. And they’d come knocking, and I wouldn’t answer.”
I let my hair down, then twisted it back up into a knot and wrapped a scrunchie around it. “Okay, so that doesn’t work. I could park it here. But someone might recognize it. I guess that doesn’t matter.” Someone seeing his car in my lot wouldn’t be a big deal. Right? “What should I tell Ava when I go get your clothes?”
Garrett shrugged. “Something that’s true. She won’t believe you otherwise.”
“Yeah. Great. I’ll figure something out. And we have to schedule your appointment to get your hands checked. I don’t know how I’m going to sneak you out of here.”
He rubbed his brace on a wrinkle in the sheet. “Are you planning to keep the shop closed all week?”
“Yes. And it’s my choice, so I don’t want any pushback.” I sat on the edge of the bed. “People can live without doughnuts for a week. They’ll be unhappy but probably thinner.”
“I have a suggestion, but you might not like the idea.” He still wouldn’t look at me.
“Okay?”
“Your sign says you’re on vacation, right?” He glanced up but only for a second. “What if I got us a vacation rental in San Antonio? They have places all over the city.”
There were benefits to this idea. I wouldn’t constantly run into people I knew and have to worry about what I should or shouldn’t say. But renting a place with him sounded dangerously close to a relationship, and I was not on board with that.
“I can get us a two-bedroom, so it would be easier than your place. Then I wouldn’t feel guilty about taking up so much of your bed.”
That subtle reminder that I’d shared a bed with him had me liking the idea of renting a place with more than one bed. My couch wasn’t all that comfortable.
“Think you can find a place for tonight?”
“Possibly.”
I laid my laptop on the bed. “If you can get around using your thumb, have at it. If not, I’ll find us a place when I get back. Then we can sneak you out when it’s dark.” I dragged my hands over my face.
“Tessa.” Blue eyes focused on me.
“What, Garrett?”
“Don’t ever become a spy.”
My own laughter surprised me. “Thanks for the tip.” I straightened his sheets. Again. “No one has a key, so you won’t have anyone popping in to check on me. If they knock, ignore it. I’ll be back as soon as I can. And don’t forget to ice your hand.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
I made sure he was comfortable, then headed out before I fussed over him some more.