Nora tried to quell the trembling in her body as they made their way to the hospital waiting area down the hall from Felicia’s room. Nora wished with everything in her that she could stop and see her friend, but Olivia had forbidden it. So why the meeting now? Seth walked with his arm linked through hers, which she suspected was the only reason her legs hadn’t given out. She clung to him more tightly than she should have.
In a quiet corner they found Olivia. She was clearly exhausted, but her hair was neatly braided and she wore fresh clothes. She didn’t get up from her chair, instead gesturing Nora and Seth to take seats opposite her. “You don’t need to look at me like I’m a wild animal. I’m in control now and I’m not going to attack you.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Seth said and there was a steely quality to it, as if he was saying, “You got that right.” She felt a flush of pleasure at his protectiveness. There was no apology from Olivia for her earlier threats but Nora hadn’t expected one. She didn’t blame the woman, not after what she’d witnessed after the car exploded.
“Felicia woke up once only for a few seconds. And she asked for you,” Olivia said, articulating precisely, as though the sentence cut her mouth as it exited.
Nora fought her constricting lungs for a breath. “How is she?”
“Scared.” Olivia crossed one leg over the other. “That’s why I asked you to meet me. Just to be clear, I don’t like you any more than I did before. I know in my bones if it weren’t for you, my daughter would be with a dance company somewhere like she’d dreamed of, and she wouldn’t be lying in a hospital bed.”
Nora swallowed hard, but she forced herself not to look away. Some of the situation she owned and some she didn’t.
Seth held up a palm. “Mrs. Tennison, this isn’t productive when there’s a potential murderer out there planting car bombs. That’s who we should be focused on. Did you know there was an intruder on the ranch who tried to attack Nora last night?”
Olivia sat up straighter. “Who?”
“I think it was Kai,” Nora said.
Olivia remained silent for a moment. “I asked you to meet me here because Felicia’s scared, like I said, and I realized that the threat to her isn’t over.”
“Not to Nora either,” Seth said.
“Agreed. I promised when I adopted Felicia as an infant that I would protect her with my last breath. Someone needs to pay for what they did. The police told me the bomb was placed in a way that would have killed you both.” She shifted. “I need to find out who did it and you’re the only one who might have a clue since Felicia can’t tell me right now. I want to know who tried to kill my baby. Do you believe it was Kai?”
“I think he was the person who attacked me last night. It was raining and somewhat dark, and he wore a mask when he came after me.” She stared at Olivia. “You knew Kai,” she countered. “In the yearbook there were photos of the drama productions, and you helped with the costumes. What did you think of him?”
Olivia tapped a finger on the arm of the chair. “Impulsive. A low achiever, the kind of person I didn’t want around my daughter.”
Nora ignored the harsh answer. “Did Felicia spend time with him?”
“Not really. She wasn’t interested. I was glad when he got sent away. His mother made the right choice. I would have done the same. But what reason would Kai have for hurting Felicia and you? He hasn’t been in town for years.”
“Not sure. I didn’t even know him in high school.”
“Maybe Kai is jealous of Zane and wants to punish him,” Seth suggested. “Zane inherited the farm instead of his brother.”
“What does Zane say about Kai?” Olivia said.
“Defends him mostly.” Seth seemed to consider his answer for a moment. “Appears as if he’s struggling to accept that his brother might be involved.”
“Well, he’s gonna have to, isn’t he?” Olivia snapped.
“Hello, all,” a voice said, startling Nora.
Zane stood there in khakis and a worn tee, holding a bunch of pink roses. “I was trying to visit Felicia. But I still can’t get by the cops,” he said. His gaze shifted between the three of them. “Am I interrupting something?”
Olivia eyed him. “We were just talking about you, actually.”
His eyes rounded, gleaming in the overhead lights. “That right?”
“Yes.” Olivia folded her arms. “I’m wondering if what happened to Felicia has something to do with you or your brother.”
His brows creased. “You don’t beat around the bush, do you?”
Olivia didn’t seem to hear. “Felicia was only back in town for a short while before the incidents, but she’d been messaging and calling back and forth with you, right? Did you tell your brother about it?”
“No,” he said. “I haven’t spoken to my brother since he left town, as I’ve told everyone who’s asked. His choice. I tried to contact him many times but he never responded. When Felicia reached out, it caught me by surprise, honestly. We had fun in high school, but things didn’t pan out. When she ran away from town, I figured we weren’t meant to be.”
“I agree,” Olivia said. “I’ll admit I discouraged Felicia from seeing you back in high school.”
Zane’s mouth fell open. “Why?”
Olivia sighed. “She wanted to dance and there was no future for her here in Furnace Falls. This is an isolated town with zero opportunities for a dancer.”
Zane stared at her. “So what you’re saying is I would have slowed Felicia down?”
“Not to be rude, but yes.”
Zane arched his brow. “That is rude and judgmental. Small-town kid not good enough for your daughter?”
“Small-town kid with a bad-news brother,” Olivia corrected.
Nora saw Zane flinch.
“Kai never had a chance, did he? Mom sent him away because she knew no one would give him a fair shake here.”
“I don’t have the time or energy to sugarcoat things, Zane,” Olivia said. “Let’s just speak plainly. Your mom sent Kai away because he was expelled from high school and she couldn’t control him. He was a lost cause.”
The color rushed to Zane’s cheeks. “Don’t talk about my brother that way.”
“I’ll talk about him any way I want, and if he’s involved in hurting my daughter and you’re protecting him, you better hope I never find out.” Her eyes burned.
Bitterness seeped into Zane’s tone. “And you wonder why Felicia stayed away for a decade. She never should have come back here.”
Olivia’s lips thinned into a tight line. “She wanted to reunite with you, Zane. The donkey was just an excuse.” She stared directly at him. “I’ll ask again. Did your brother hurt my daughter?”
“Kai wouldn’t do that,” Zane insisted.
Nora watched for any tells on Zane’s face, but all she could detect was frustration. She’d feel the same if someone accused her brother and she felt helpless to defend him.
“Was Kai jealous then?” she demanded. “Maybe he wanted Felicia, but she was smitten with you so he got mad.”
“I would never let anyone hurt Felicia. I loved her since the ninth grade. She came back. I thought I was getting a second chance and if Kai was around he’d be happy for me.” He cocked his chin. “But obviously you wouldn’t want that.”
“Correct.” Her tone was cold and flat. “Nothing personal.”
Nora and Seth exchanged a look.
Zane’s eyes narrowed and his lips thinned as his gaze sharpened on Olivia. “You say Felicia’s too good for Furnace Falls and for me and you’d do anything to keep us apart. So just how far would you go, Olivia? Is there anything you need to confess?”
“What are you getting at?” Seth said.
Zane continued to glare at Olivia as he answered. “She sits there spouting accusations about not wanting Felicia and me to get together. Could be she arranged the ATV attack and the bomb thing to scare Nora off and it went wrong.”
Olivia rose to her feet. “How dare you imply I’d hurt my own daughter!”
“Nothing personal,” he mimicked with venom. He glanced at the flowers in his hand and dropped them on a chair but they fell onto the floor. Nobody moved to pick them up. “I don’t suppose you’ll give these to Felicia, but at least tell her I came to see her...if that’s okay for a small-town boy to do.” He spun on his heel and he’d made it only a few paces when a doctor strode up, his face grim.
“May I speak to Mrs. Tennison privately?” he asked.
Heart thudding, Nora followed Zane and Seth a few paces away. Nora hugged herself, terrified. Whatever the doctor had come to say wasn’t good news.
Beside her, she heard Zane gulp and she followed his gaze, seeing a bustle of activity—two nurses and a doctor headed into Felicia’s room.
“I’m getting a bad feeling,” Zane said. Nora found herself patting his shoulder. Olivia had been brutal and Felicia would’ve been mortified at her mother’s treatment of the man she had feelings for.
Seth took her hand and they stood there, linked together, the moments edging along in slow motion. Nora saw the doctor bend toward Olivia, his tones soothing, low.
Then Olivia recoiled, her expression stark even from a distance.
Nora realized she was holding Seth’s fingers in a death grip. “Just keep breathing,” he said, his tone impossibly reassuring.
The doctor finished with Olivia and nodded at them as he passed and vanished into Felicia’s room. Olivia walked over to them. Her eyes burned like coals against her pallid complexion. “Felicia’s got an infection now,” she said. “They’ve put her in a medically induced coma.”
Coma? The word was so hopeless, terrifying. “What...?” Nora’s question trailed away.
“They’re going to airlift her to a Las Vegas hospital,” Olivia said. “But...”
Zane’s voice came out like a croak. “But what?”
Olivia’s voice was flat, almost robotic. “The doctors are not optimistic.”
Zane grimaced. “Not optimistic? What does that mean? They don’t think she’s going to make it?”
Olivia’s gaze traveled slowly to Zane. “She’s going to make it. She has to.” The desperation was palpable and Nora reached out reflexively, but Olivia strode away.
“Is Felicia going to die?” Nora whispered. Seth tucked her to his chest and spoke softly against her hair. “God knows and He loves her more than we do.”
Wracking sobs bottled up in Nora’s throat. She held them in but tears began to roll in hot trails down her cheeks. “I...I want to pray,” she breathed.
“Come on,” Seth said, turning her in the circle of his arms and propelling her forward. “I know where the chapel is.”
Nora looked at Zane, who stood staring at the door to Felicia’s room. His hands were shoved into his pockets, his face like stone. The pink roses still lay on the floor, bright against the dingy background. She felt a surge of pity.
“Why don’t you come with us?” Nora said.
Zane shook his head. “No, thanks. I’ll wait here. Olivia can’t toss me out. Public building, even for small-town nobodies.”
Nora couldn’t stop the tears as Seth led her into a tiny chapel. In the corner there was a small table with a battery-powered lantern and a simple swag of pine and holly. She sank into a chair. “I can’t think...” she whispered, unable even to manage the simplest of prayers. She turned her tearstained face to his. “Will you?”
Seth sat next to her and took her hands. He began to pray. Silently, fervently, sincerely, Nora joined in.
They stayed in the chapel until Felicia was transported. Nora had been so unsteady witnessing her friend strapped in a stretcher with all the tubes and monitors attached, she needed Seth’s supportive arm to make it back to the Bronco and to the ranch.
He’d been miserably uncertain about how to comfort her. Tea? Warm blankets? More prayer? Should he get Mara in case she’d feel more comfortable talking to a woman? Or maybe Jude or Aunt Kitty? He plugged in the silver tree in the corner of the trailer and the colored bulbs cast a warm glow.
She smiled when she saw it. He was happy he’d helped a tiny bit. “This really is a beautiful place,” she said, her glance taking in the view of the massive Christmas pine through the window.
More beautiful with you here, he thought. “The desert is spectacular in December.”
She nodded, specks of tree light reflecting in her eyes. “In spite of everything, I believe you’re right.”
His heart beat with something like hope. “Felicia’s getting excellent care. The best there is.”
She replied with a bone weary sigh. “I’m so tired. I’m going to tuck myself into bed.”
“Rest well.”
“Thank you, Seth.” She offered him a tender smile that had to be the most beautiful smile in God’s great big world. “For everything.”
He felt like he’d done very little, yet there was so much more he wanted to give her, to share with her, things they could accomplish together.
Unless he was wrong and his feelings were not hers.
And he’d been wrong before. Dead wrong.
Early the next morning before the sun had officially risen in the storm-clouded sky, Seth joined Levi at the corral fence where he was studying Bubbles.
“Thanks,” he said, accepting the mug of coffee Levi handed him.
“How’s Nora?”
“Still asleep. She’s exhausted, but she’s strong, and so is Felicia.”
Levi didn’t reply.
Seth gestured to Bubbles, who was nosing at some grain. “She close?”
Levi nodded. “Foal will come soon. Udder’s swollen. Hindquarters are loosened up. She’s restless. Her escapade last night might have sped things up.” Levi rubbed his neck. “Nora’s good with Bubbles. Getting her to trust in such a short time...that’s not easy.”
“Yes, she is,” he said, feeling a flush of pride that he wasn’t entitled to. “Never met a woman like her.”
Levi flicked a thumb along his jawline. “She’s leaving after the foaling, right?”
He shook his head. “I think she’ll stick around until Felicia’s situation is resolved. And things are going better with her family, so maybe she’ll rent a place in town or something after Felicia’s released. Makes sense that she’d want to stay close to them.”
He realized Levi was staring at him. “What?”
“Nora’s leaving,” Levi repeated slowly. “That’s what she wants.”
“Things change.”
Levi cleared his throat. “Sometimes.”
Seth read Levi’s expression then. Pensive and troubled. “Is there a message coming my way, oh sage cowboy brother?”
“Just saying. If you ride too far ahead of the herd, you might turn around and find it isn’t behind you anymore.”
“I’m not.” His response was defensive, even to his own ears. Was Levi right? Was he rushing ahead imagining reasons for Nora to stay because he desperately wanted her to? His mouth went dry.
Levi slapped his back. “Don’t get ahead of yourself is all. Gonna go have some breakfast with Mara if she’s feeling up to it. Come with?”
“No, thanks. You go on.”
Levi left. Seth stewed. He must be broadcasting the fact that where Nora was concerned, his emotions were at a gallop, or Levi never would have said anything. His quiet friend probably wouldn’t again.
Levi cautioned him to maintain the easy friendship trail, to stop running headlong into fields that Nora would never travel. It reminded Seth of what had happened with Tanya. He’d trotted along, imagining their future, woolly-headed with love, only to discover when he turned around he was indeed alone. Levi insinuated he was about to make the same mistake with Nora.
But Levi didn’t know Nora like he did. There was still hope.
A pale light in the ranch kitchen window flicked on and Seth imagined Levi making tea for his wife, settling in to share a meal with her. Levi had Mara, Willow loved Tony, and there was Austin and Pilar, Beckett and Laney.
It was his turn to find the love of his life.
To build a family with a one-of-a-kind woman.
A woman he’d begun to imagine was Nora Duke.
He glanced back to the trailer then went into the mini barn. He busied himself cleaning out Bubbles’ stall so he wouldn’t think of her. The reprieve lasted only minutes until Nora found him.
“Jude called. Felicia is stable and settled in. They’ve got top-notch security at the Vegas hospital, so she’ll be safe.” She slid her hands into her pockets. “Looks like I need a place to stay for a while longer, but I don’t want to plant myself here if...”
Hope suddenly fountained up inside. She was going to stay for a while. That indicated something, didn’t it? “If nothing. You’re welcome to the trailer. If you stay until Thursday you’ll be here for Christmas Eve.” He could not stop the words that spilled out next. “You won’t believe the fun we have planned. I can’t wait to show you our version of a sleigh ride. After Christmas, Austin and I help Willow out with her star-watching tours. Maybe you can come along. Just the horses, the desert and a million stars. You’ll love it.”
He finally noticed she was shaking her head.
“Seth, I’m sorry,” she said apologetically. “The moment things are cleared up here with Felicia, I’ll take Bubbles and her foal and head back to Colorado. My life’s there.”
At that moment, Levi’s wisdom came rushing in.
Yes, Nora was leaving. Yes, he had rushed ahead of her. Yes, he had to accept reality or he would ruin whatever friendship they had. “Right. Sure. I understand.”
“But every time I come back, I’d love to catch up.”
Catch up. For coffee and a chat. He kept his eyes from rolling. “I get it.”
She touched his shoulder. “I can tell you were hoping I’d stay indefinitely, but I told you from the beginning that I wouldn’t.” Her tone was humiliatingly gentle.
“No, I understand, really,” he said, ignoring the cleaver cutting his heart in two. “I sort of hoped you’d changed your mind about that, but it’s no big deal.”
“My plans haven’t changed. They can’t, even if there’s the chance whoever is a threat might follow me. I’ve worked too hard to build a future in Colorado. I’ve got a job there and I’m taking some night classes. I’m going to buy a piece of property when I save up enough. I’ll stay a short while, but after that...” She hurried on. “You’ve been a fantastic friend and I’ll never forget it, but...”
“Likewise,” he said, forcing his lips to smile. He was good-guy Seth, friend and confidant. And that was all.
“I’ll go say hello to Bubbles,” Nora said.
He kept the smile in place until she was no longer facing him before he let it die away.
At least it was done now.
No more self-delusion.
Nora would be leaving the ranch and leaving him.