Ben drove into Janine’s driveway, hoping she was home. So far the Morrison residences were like ghost towns. No one about, not even a tumbleweed or two. No barking dogs, no kids running around. No babies crying.
He saw a light in the window and thought he might get lucky here. Finally. Exiting the truck, he grabbed his bag and slammed the door shut.
The back door opened before he reached it. Janine stood silhouetted in the doorway. “Well, look what the cat dragged in.”
He bent to kiss her and she hugged him. “Yes, just as I thought. You’ve lost at least ten pounds. Ben, you can’t afford to lose that much weight.”
“I’m getting this from my team, I don’t need it from my sister,” he growled. “Where is everyone?”
“Up at the lake.”
“Why aren’t you there?”
She turned away. “I’ve never been invited.”
He stared at her, mouth agape. “What? You don’t need an invitation, you just go.”
“I’ll have to buy a cabin then.”
“No you don’t. There are 800 relatives, all you do is show up and someone, probably a lot of someones, will offer you a bed. You’ll probably be fought over.”
“I see.” She stared at him, her expression bewildered, as she blinked those amazing amber eyes.
“Get packed, we’ll head up there now. When you go up by yourself, you use my cabin if it’s not rented.” He wondered if he’d gotten all the brains from their parents.
“That’s right, you do have one of those. But I still don’t know where I’m going.”
“Are you telling me that Max and KC haven’t bugged you to go with them?”
“KC seemed to think it was odd that I wasn’t going along.” Janine bit her lip.
“There you go – an invitation.” He waved his arms. “Now, go pack a bag. It’s only Friday night. We’ve got the entire weekend.”
Her eyes gleamed briefly before she cut off all emotion. He sighed. They had to work on her tendency to hide how she felt. That was thoroughly un-Morrison-like behavior.
Five and a half minutes later, she ran lightly down the stairs, a packed bag in her hand. His eyebrows winged. “A little eager are you?” He grinned so she knew he teased.
She didn’t appear abashed in the least. “I’ve never been to the lake.”
“Let’s go.” He headed for the door.
“Have you eaten?”
He turned to face his sister. Lying came easily these days. “Sure. Now, let’s go.”
Janine didn’t move. She stood and subjected him to a very intense scanning. Nodding to herself, after he assumed she came to some conclusion, she set her bags aside and entered the kitchen.
“Janine,” he protested, but she ignored him. She was good at this sister bit. Already. With a sigh, since he was a professional when it came to sisters, he followed her.
“Did you hear?” She opened the refrigerator. “The moms came and kidnapped Treeny.”
“What?” He choked on the sip of the soda he helped himself to.
“She wasn’t eating either. Nor was she feeling. I’ve seen some human robots before, especially while in Kuwait, but none who were as convincing as Treeny.”
“Janine, don’t start,” he warned. He couldn’t handle this right now.
“You’re a SEAL; you’re supposed to be tough. An alpha male. I think you’re a weenie,” she stated. She was too good at this sister bit.
“Thanks.” He heard the dry tone in his voice.
She spun abruptly to face him. “I’m serious. Mom and Aunt Monica and a bunch of the others went to Will and Rachel’s because the hot water heater blew. They convinced Treeny they needed to go upstairs to her apartment to check things out. But I’m sure Mom had other plans.”
“Like what?”
“She checked to see if Treeny was eating. She wasn’t. Nor had she cried. Why she’d cry over your sorry carcass, I don’t know, but she hadn’t. The moms, of course, rectified that.” She placed the plate she filled from the refrigerator contents into the microwave.
“She hasn’t cried?” Because he sure remembered doing so, mostly in the shower. He’d stood under the water and wondered what he had done. Why had he left Treeny? Why hadn’t he stayed so they could work through their problems? “She wasn’t eating?”
“No. She’s lost ten pounds or more.” Janine stared him down again.
He held up his hands in surrender. “I didn’t know.” That wasn’t quite true. Because he knew he couldn’t swallow much, so he wondered if Treeny experienced similar problems.
Janine frowned at him. He resisted the urge to squirm. She was his younger sister. He didn’t have to meet her demands. Ben met her stare for stare. Knowing she was right didn’t help his cause.
His newest sister wasn’t easily intimidated, he soon learned. Unlike all of his other sisters. Usually he could stare them into doing what he wanted. Not Janine, obviously. She’d probably been through similar training.
Janine finally cut their eye contact when the microwave dinged. “Max happened to be there, at Treeny’s apartment.”
“Ah.” It finally clicked where she had received her information. “I didn’t know Max was a gossip.”
“He’s not. On the other hand, he has an incredible brain, and remembered the entire event with ease. He recounted their conversation to me. Probably verbatim.”
“What’s your point?” Ben kept the exasperation out of his voice.
“I’ve been thinking about Max. You know, Ben, he worried about KC too. I think that’s normal for a man. Both your ladies are doctors. The difference here is that Max sent his doctor off to war.” Maybe because her voice was so quiet, Janine’s words impaled him with nail-gun impact. Her subsequent silence was likely on purpose too.
Since the quiet gave him ample opportunity to think. Thanks, Janine, he thought.
Unfortunately, her words rang true. Max had sent his woman to war. He had to remain at home, thousands of miles away, waiting desperately for news from her. Max had managed during those long months. KC came home, and soon after married him.
Max mentioned soon after their wedding how they had nearly thrown their love away, because of miscommunication. They had been thinking exactly the same way, but crossed their wires somewhere and nearly shorted themselves out.
Recalling those last few moments together with Treeny, he was appalled that he’d just given up and walked away. Like a coward. Coward shouldn’t be part of his vocabulary. Shouldn’t, but obviously was. SEALs didn’t wimp out and walk away. But he apparently did.
When Janine placed a steaming plate of food in front of him, he didn’t taste anything he ate. He kept thinking about those last few moments with Treeny and cringed. Yeah, he showed how awfully tough he was. At least the awful part fit. He’d been a jerk. She wanted to work out their problems. He walked away.
Janine cleared his empty plate away as quietly as she offered it, and nudged him to the door, bag in hand.
“Let’s go,” she declared. After a quick glance at her, he was grateful she didn’t know where she was going, otherwise she would have made him sit shotgun while she drove.
He scooped up his bag, wondering what he could possibly say to Treeny when he saw her. Thanks to Janine, he knew she was at the lake. Whether she was in her cabin beside his, he didn’t know, but he could track her down. So he wasn’t worried about that. What he was worried about was saying the right thing.
If that wasn’t his most impossible mission ever, he’d be surprised.
Ben settled Janine in his spare bedroom and waited. After a while the noises from her room ceased and quiet blanketed the cottage. He waited a little longer. Patience was a virtue of his.
There were no lights on in Treeny’s cabin, but he thought she was there. If not, he could try Will and Rachel’s house. If that failed, he planned to enter every cabin here until he found her.
He didn’t hope to speak to her, but he wanted to see her. Moving silently across the floor was more instinct and skill than something he concentrated on. He pried open the door and eased out, conscious of movements on the floor above. Whether Janine suspected he intended to leave the house or was just restless, he didn’t know. But at this moment, he also didn’t care.
She might imagine he left for a run. Something he might do after he saw Treeny. All would depend on how bad he felt after seeing her face. He didn’t want to wake her, but he had to see her. Make certain she was okay. He kept thoughts of being a stalker out of his mind. His behavior might border on that, but his family was worried about Treeny, and so was he.
Entering her house was much like walking. Something he did without thinking. He effortlessly opened the locked door into the downstairs of her cabin, assessed the shadows, then made for the stairs. Nothing but him moved in the dark. Too late, he forgot about Pete, who barreled down the stairs, barking for all she was worth.
Fortunately, the puppy knew him, so he was able to calm her. His heart raced, as he thought about Treeny waking, but he didn’t hear any indication that she noticed. Pete was evidently one of those pups who barked at everything, and Treeny was accustomed to that.
Eventually, the dog would understand what to bark at and what to ignore. He hoped. Otherwise she’d be a worthless guard dog. Looking at Pete, he realized he had offered Treeny some built in protection right there. When he was away, Pete would be an excellent first line of defense.
While she was little now, she carried all the hallmarks of being a bruiser. Already she had grown to the size of Rocky, Admiral O’Riley’s golden retriever. He suspected Pete still had a lot of growing to do.
If she reached Bentley’s height, Mitch and Lainy’s dog, and there was every indication she would, she would be a force to be reckoned with. Also, with the Mastiff and Rottweiler blood, she likely would grow an impressive expanse of chest. All the better.
He didn’t hear any rustling, but continued to play with the dog. Hearing nothing after a few minutes, he climbed the stairs. Pete scurried around his ankles, and made noise, but that was okay. Treeny would be used to dog noises.
Turning left to enter her bedroom, Ben’s heart galloped again. He moved on silent feet to the side of the bed. Moonlight streamed through the window, highlighting the woman who lay there. In testimony to Janine’s words, Ben saw Treeny had indeed lost weight. Her shirt had ridden up, and where it exposed her skin he could count ribs. Her arms looked sticklike. Her stomach so flat, the smooth surface appeared concave. Much like his own stomach. He understood. Ben suppressed a sigh. This woman meant everything to him, and he repaid that by hurting her.
Still, alarm coursed through him as he took stock of her absolute thinness. She looked like a cancer patient. Too frail and fragile and not healthy in the least. Her red-gold hair, spread in a pool across her pillow, caught his attention. He reached out to filter the strands through his fingers.
He wanted to kiss her. He wanted to snatch her off the bed and carry her to his. A place where he could keep her safe. But that wasn’t an option. She’d no more accept him now than she would ask for another quarantine session.
After gazing at her for long minutes, he hoped he drank in his fill. Turning from her was harder than he imagined. Pete, tail wagging, accompanied him down the stairs. His lip curled up in thanks for the dog’s company. At least Pete was happy to see him.
He doubted her owner would share her sentiments.
Not since he acted like such an idiot. What woman wanted a man who didn’t even want to try? If she did want such a man, she shared a part in his idiocy then. And something told him Treeny couldn’t be counted in that category.
Sighing, he left the cabin with a final pat for Pete before setting out for the path. Running would help burn the excess energy building inside. Besides he needed to keep in shape.
His job demanded peak physical conditioning.
And right now, because of his choices, all he had was his job.