Chapter Ten

 

ZACH PRESSED THE button to end the call and turned to Natalie. They’d finished breakfast in tense silence and it was past time to get her to therapy. “Cal’s ready for you.”

She raised her eyes from her steaming cup of coffee. “I think I’ll skip today.”

“He said he just wants to evaluate, to see if he needs to change or reduce your therapy since you re-injured your leg. Honestly, I think he just needs to see you with his own eyes to make sure you’re okay.”

“I’m not up to him badgering me, Zach.”

“Cal won’t badger you today. I know he can and will, when necessary, to get us to do therapy, but that’s not the vibe I got from him over the phone. Besides, you know he’ll be here to get you himself if I don’t deliver you to his door. You don’t want to pull him away from his other patients just because you’re being stubborn, do you? I know you’ve got to be tired. I’ll bring you right back afterwards, and if it gets to be too much when you’re there, just call me and I’ll spring you.”

If he had to play the guilt card, so be it. He was afraid if she hid away, she’d start sliding back into that deep depression she’d been mired in weeks ago when she first arrived. Her demeanor and mood had much improved over the days and weeks they’d been sharing meals and spending time together. No way did he want to see her slide back into that dark place.

“Fine,” she sighed. “I’m ready to go now. I can shower and change clothes afterwards.”

“I’m hoping you’ll feel better after, but I meant what I said. Call me if it’s too much for you, and I’ll pick you up right away.”

Her nod of acquiescence had him grabbing his keys and wallet before turning to his daughter.

“Belle honey, grab Mr. King and let’s go. Natalie needs to go see Uncle Calum.”

Zach eyed Natalie as her hooded eyes tracked Belle when she jumped from her chair and skipped out of the kitchen. He knew being around his little girl was torturous for her, but what could he do? No way would he banish Belle to her room for the duration of Nat’s stay.

His heart tightened when she turned turbulent moss-green and gold flecked eyes his way. They seemed to be begging him for something, but for the life of him, he couldn’t figure out what she needed. Or wanted.

He brushed a finger down her smooth cheek, mesmerized by what looked like affection flashing through her eyes.

“I’m gonna carry you to the truck.”

At her nod, he slid an arm under her thighs and one behind her back, scooping her against his chest. Felt like it was right where she belonged. When she tucked her face under his chin, he beat back that insistent voice in his heart and soul proclaiming, “Mine!”

“Daddddy!”

Zach breathed a sigh of relief when Belle skidded back into the room and broke the intimate moment.

“Okay, let’s go or you’ll be late. You don’t want Calum to scold you.” His teasing grin softened his words as they followed his little angel skipping down the hall.

He strode to the truck and set Natalie on her good foot to open the passenger door, then helped her onto the seat. After settling Belle in the back, he circled the hood and opened the driver’s door.

The drive to Cal’s took less than five minutes. Belle had been unusually quiet on the ride over and once he dropped Natalie off, he was going to find out why she’d been subdued since the fire. He was getting a bad feeling about the cause of it.

He unbuckled Belle, lifted her out of the truck and set her on her feet, then scooped his reluctant passenger into his arms again. “Don’t worry, you’ll be back on your feet in no time and won’t have to put up with me carrying you around.”

She mumbled something, and his eyes jerked to hers, to see her avert her gaze. He could have sworn she’d said, “I don’t mind.” No, he had to be mistaken. He knew she felt this attraction they shared, maybe as much as he did, but he didn’t think she’d encourage him. Or that she was actually ready to pursue the heat they generated whenever they were within five feet of each other. He was pretty sure he was miles ahead of her in wanting to pursue a relationship, and she was still struggling with the thought of opening herself up to one. Especially to a man with a kid.

He could be wrong, though. Lord knew he’d been wrong in the past. A man could hope, though.

“Belle, push the button to open the door, please.”

Zach waited while the automatic door slowly opened, then followed Belle into the therapy room and stopped. Calum was working with a pretty young woman across the room. It didn’t surprise him to see concern in his buddy’s eyes as he helped the woman do leg lifts on a machine.

What did surprise him was the flicker of attraction that darkened Calum’s eyes when her sweat-stained tank pulled up, exposing a four-pack and colorful hummingbird tattoo low on one side.

“Hey, buddy. Where does Natalie need to be?”

Even more interesting was the flash of guilt in Calum’s eyes—at being caught ogling his patient? If Zach wasn’t mistaken, Calum’s hand on her shoulder seemed possessive. More like a caress. Very Interesting, he thought. He couldn’t wait to get Calum alone to grill him.

“On that bench in the corner,” Cal said with a nod, apparently unaware his long fingers still gripped the woman’s shoulder, his thumb caressing the bare skin above her tank.

“I’ll hook you up to the CPM machine to get your knee warmed up, Nat,” Calum continued. “You said you’ve used the continuous passive motion machine before, right?”

Natalie gave a nod. “Yes, since a week after my last surgery. The doc in Portland said I could start on calf and thigh exercises this week, too, although with re-injuring it yesterday, I’m not sure that’s still okay.”

“We’ll evaluate and see. You may need to just use the CPM for a few days to see how it goes. After the CPM, I’ll get you started on light thigh strengthening with a band loop, just above your knees. No extra weight on that tibia yet, or your knee.”

Zach hated the thought of leaving her, but knew she was in expert, caring hands with her cousin. He knew Calum wouldn’t let her get away with doing anything that would damage her leg, and wouldn’t let her leave without Zach being there to take her home. He glanced down at the tug on his hand.

“Daddy, are we going to get our tree now? You pwomised we could go this week. How many days did you say until Christmas?”

“Just a few, sweetpea, and yes, we’ll get the tree today.”

He bit back a smile at the scandalized look on Belle’s face when she must have realized the holiday was only a few days away, and they still didn’t have a tree. Christmas was her favorite holiday, next to Halloween, and he’d been super busy, putting off getting the tree till much later than usual.

He glanced at Natalie and his smile fell away at the shadows swirling in her eyes, knowing she ached for her son. And now missed her grandma. He imagined what the holiday would be like without Belle and would bet the bank Natalie hadn’t celebrated a holiday, much less life itself, since she’d lost her little boy.

With a nod at Calum, he glanced back at Nat and looped his little finger with hers, giving it a squeeze. He could see the pulse in her neck jittering when he linked his pinky with hers, it somehow being almost more intimate than a kiss. It linked them together, brought a solidarity to their—what—their relationship? Did they have a relationship of some kind after weeks of spending time together? That look of affection that flashed in her eyes brought warmth to his soul and hope to his heart.

“I’ll be back for you, sweetheart.”

Zach could tell Natalie was biting back a comment, probably not wanting to hurt Belle’s or his feelings, but he’d bet no way did she want anything to do with Christmas or a tree.

He glanced back at her cousin, still holding her finger with his. “We’ll be back in about an hour. That enough time?”

“Sure.” Calum nodded absently, still concentrating on the woman at his side. “Sounds good.”

 

❄ ❄ ❄

 

“YO, BUDDY, Natalie ready to be picked up?” Zach held Belle in one arm, juggling a shopping bag with the same hand, while he held his phone to one ear with his other hand.

“She’s bitching and doing her best to talk me into letting her stay at my house. Promise you won’t cave if she starts in on you. I know it’s a lot to ask, man, but I just can’t see her staying on my couch for however many weeks it takes for her house to get fixed up. And I won’t be able to monitor her and ensure she stays off that leg.”

“No worries.” He leaned down to set Belle on a bench outside their favorite model train store, This Little Engine Could. They’d picked up a new caboose for their Christmas train, and had been ready to grab something to eat when he realized it was time to pick up his reluctant roommate.

“Hey, confession time. I overheard you talking to her yesterday when I took out the trash. About Matty. You and I had talked about it before, but I didn’t realize she blamed herself, and didn’t know he’d been the same age as Belle.”

Calum’s pained sigh came through clearly. “Yeah, I should have told you already, what with Belle being the same age Matty was when he died.”

“I was afraid you were going to say something like that.”

“Hang on a minute, I’m gonna step into my office, then you need to get over here and take her off my hands. PT was pretty painful, and she’s on a short fuse. I know Belle will help diffuse it, though.”

“You got it. Just give me the Cliff’s Notes version for now.”

“Okay, bullet points for now. I mentioned before she’d been married to a real son–of–a-bitch. Flipped a switch and started being physically abusive right after she had Matty. She kicked him out and filed for divorce immediately, got a restraining order, for all the good that did. Fast forward four years, he’s out of prison early for good behavior. What a crock of bull. He shows up out of the blue, kidnaps her and Matty at gunpoint. Crashes the car, killing himself, and that sweet little boy.”

Zach hated putting his friend through the retelling, but if he was going to be caring for Natalie, if he had any hope at all of a relationship with her, he didn’t want to step on any emotional landmines and blow either of them up. He waited silently while his buddy pulled it together.

Cal cleared his throat, his voice hoarse when he continued. “Nat was in critical condition for two months. Almost lost her leg. Has been re-injuring it off and on since then. I think subconsciously she’s doing it on purpose. Now that she’s here, I’m going to make sure she gets back on her feet. Physically and emotionally.”

Zach turned his head a little and lowered his voice so Belle wouldn’t hear. “Thanks man. I want to lay my cards out with you. I don’t think you buy into that ‘not with my sister or cousin, you’re not’ bullshit. You may not have noticed,” he paused, then continued, “but I’d love nothing more than for Nat to decided she wants to be with me. For the long haul. I’m just not sure how to help her be comfortable with Belle. Learn to love her, and me.”

“You’ve got that right, buddy—I don’t buy into that BS. I was actually hoping you two would click and get together. That’s the reason I didn’t tell you she was moving here. So you could both meet again without prior warning, or preconceived notions about how the other person was going to act, or be able to shore up any emotional walls. I honestly wasn’t sure about you, what with Jo Ann’s antics with drugs and then her kidnapping Belle. I’m glad to see you come around. Now, if you can just be patient with Nat, I think she will too. I’ve seen the way she looks at you, Zach. Longing, lots of affection. I’m ignoring any lustworthy looks you two are tossing back and forth, though.”

Zach chuckled and shook his head. “You’re a devious one, my man, and always have been. Shoulda known you had something up your sleeve, with never being able to pick her up for PT or drive her home.”

“Yeah, yeah. Get down here and take her off my hands, man. She’s ready to head out by herself if she has to crawl. And treat her right, or I’ll have your hide.”

“Wouldn’t have it any other way. Be there soon.”

He pocketed his phone and turned to his munchkin. “Belle, let’s go get Natalie. Uncle Cal says she doesn’t feel well, so we’ll just let her rest on the way home. Let’s not ask her questions, okay?”

“But Daddy! What about the tree we picked out?”

“I’m having it delivered, honey. Natalie’s in too much pain to go with us, and I don’t want to leave her home by herself. They’ll deliver it this afternoon. Don’t pay any attention if she’s a little grumpy, okay?”

“Um, okay. She probably won’t talk to me anyway, Daddy. I think she doesn’t like me, cause she looks at me funny, like she’s mad at me.”

“Oh, sweetpea, she’s not mad. She’s sad. She had a little boy years ago, but he died, so I think she doesn’t know how to act around kids anymore.” Zach had waffled about whether to tell his daughter about Matty, but decided Belle needed to know any attitude from Nat wasn’t her fault.

“That’s so sad, Daddy. I bet she misses him bad.” Belle slipped her thumb in her mouth, something she hadn’t done in years. She slanted him a glance that slid away to stare at her shoes and mumbled around her thumb, “Is she mad about the fire, Daddy? Sometimes fires are accidents, right?”

Alarms started going off in Zach’s head at her questions. He couldn’t shake the feeling Belle had something to do with the fire.

Zach squatted down in front of his daughter and gently pulled her thumb from her mouth. “Look at me, sweetpea. You know I love you more than anything ever, right? And that nothing will ever change that?”

She turned dark-chocolate eyes swimming in tears to him. “Yes, Daddy.”

“You know we’re always honest with each other, right? Belle, did you have something to do with how the fire started at Natalie’s house? No one’s going to be mad at you.”

His heart about broke to see her little lip quivering as she whispered, “I just wanted to turn the lights on, Daddy. I thought she should have lights, too, and maybe she wouldn’t be mean anymore, cause lights are happy. So I plugged them in.”

Zach tugged Belle into his arms and wondered how he was going to tell Natalie his daughter had set her house on fire.