Chapter 14

Blowing out a breath, Blake stepped back from Adam.

He dropped his hand, and concern glimmered in his eyes as he searched her face. “Blake, you look pale. I’m worried about you. You went against orders, and you’re back in this café way too early, and don’t try to tell me you’re not working. On top of that, you have Larson upsetting you—”

“He’s not upsetting me.” She reached up to smooth her hair back into its usual knot and winced as she accidentally hit the lump that had begun throbbing for the last hour.

Her reaction didn’t go unnoticed by Adam, who reached out and anchored his arm around her waist as he began walking her past the customers and back toward the kitchen.

“Where are we going?” She glanced to her left, noticing that the book club ladies—plus Jax, who seemed to have joined them—had abandoned their weekly selection and instead sat on the edge of their seats, watching Blake and Adam with fascinated interest. She was kind of surprised they didn’t have a bowl of popcorn.

Busy ringing up a customer, Rachel offered Blake a little smirk as Adam pushed open the door to the kitchen.

“What are you doing?” As soon as they were away from prying eyes and ears, Blake swung around to look at Adam, and she immediately regretted her action. When she stopped, her head kept whirling, and she felt herself lose her balance.

An uncharacteristic curse came from Adam, and in a heartbeat, his arms were around her, lifting her and cradling her against his chest.

Resting her cheek against his muscular chest, she could feel the heat radiating from him and hear the steady beat of his heart. It calmed her as the spinning in her head slowed.

Adam carried her across the room to the desk where she figured the receipts and gently set her in her cushiony office chair. He knelt in front of her. “Look at me, sugar.” He’d pulled a penlight out of his shirt pocket and shined it in each of her eyes.

“I’m fine, Adam. Really.” But her voice sounded tired even to her own ears.

Dropping the pen back into his shirt pocket, Adam lifted one finger. “I want you to focus your eyes right on the tip of my nose and tell me when you see my finger enter your line of vision.” He held his finger out to the side.

“Now,” she said when she saw it.

“Good.” He tried it again from the other side, from above, and from below, and seemed a bit more relieved after she’d answered even though she wasn’t quite sure exactly what that told him.

Without a word, he rose and went to the sink to get her a glass of water. He was bringing it back to her when Rachel walked in.

She looked from Blake to Adam then back again. “Everything okay?”

Adam placed the glass of water in her hand. “Drink,” he ordered before turning to Rachel. “Would you say that Blake’s overdone it any today?”

“That’s an understatement.” She folded her arms over her chest and began tapping her foot in a move Blake had seen her do a thousand times with the twins. “I can’t get her to take her pain pills, either.”

She gulped down the water as Adam glared at her with a stern expression. All of a sudden, she didn’t want to cross the easygoing doctor.

“That’s it, Blake. You’re done for the day. You are going home so you can take your pill and rest.”

Frustrated, she set the water down a little too hard on the desk. “I am sick of everyone ordering me around. If it’s not Kyle, then it’s Sean or you. I can take care of myself, you know. I’ve done a pretty good job for the last thirty-two years.” Maybe it was the stress of the last few days or the fact that she really wasn’t feeling as good as she would like everyone to believe, but suddenly, she found herself dangerously close to tears.

Rachel perched her hands on her hips. “Why is Sean ordering you around?” She shook her head. “Never mind. I don’t want to talk about this right now.” She walked over to Blake and leaned on the desk near her. Adam still stood in front of her, shifting his weight from foot to foot. The frustrated lines on his face made it seem as though he didn’t quite know what to do with her.

“Sweetie, listen to me,” Rachel said gently. “Giselle just came on shift. I’ll take you home and come right back, okay? We’ve got it covered.”

Stubbornly, she crossed her arms. “This is silly. You guys are blowing this out of proportion.”

“Fine,” Adam said in a clipped tone. “Blake, stand up.”

“What?” She was sure her voice expressed her surprise.

“Stand up for a minute.”

She slowly rose from her chair, fighting the woozy feeling.

“Now, touch your toes and stand back up. Do that, and I’ll leave you be.” He took a step closer, his eyes intense.

Refusing to admit that she was wrong, Blake firmed her chin and stood up straight, then she bent over, touching her fingertips to her toes. That was the easy part. The hard part was standing back up. As soon as she did, her brain spun as if it were on a carousel. Not to be outdone, her stomach roiled in protest.

She felt herself falling, and once again, strong arms were there to catch her. Adam held her close, his lips in her hair. “It’s okay, sugar. I’ve got you. I’m not trying to stop you from being independent, Blake. But I want you safe. You could fall here and really hurt yourself. Please, please listen to me.” His voice sounded heartfelt, and she wanted to kick herself for acting like such a stubborn fool.

“Okay. Okay, I’ll go home.”

“I’ll get my purse.” Rachel untied her apron, lifted it over her head, then hung it on a hook on the wall. “I’ll drive your car, then Ryan can just pick me up at your house and bring me back here.”

She nodded and waited in silence as Rachel got their purses and went to tell Giselle they were leaving.

Putting his hands on her shoulders, Adam gently massaged them, stepping closer to her. “Don’t be mad, okay? I’m just looking out for you.”

“I know. I think I’m just feeling a little overwhelmed. I really do know that.”

He leaned in and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “I’ll check on you tomorrow. But if you need anything in the meantime… anything at all…”

She smiled a little. “I’ve got your number, Doctor.”

Rachel cleared her throat, and Blake turned to find her waiting by the back door, another smirk on her face. Blake said goodbye to Adam and followed Rachel out to the car, figuring she might as well accept the fact that it was going to send Rachel’s excitement about matchmaking into orbit.

By the time Rachel left Blake’s house—which she did grudgingly after Blake insisted she didn’t need a babysitter—she’d practically started picking out china patterns for Blake and Adam’s wedding. But after taking the pain pill, Blake had gone from feeling frustrated to giggling as she lay on her couch, watching her sister-in-law bounce around, talking with her hands.

When Ryan had shown up to pick up his wife, he made the very not-subtle attempt to examine Blake. Luckily, he’d brought the twins with him, so she was distracted by the cards they’d made her. Emma had drawn a picture of a huge pink-and-purple butterfly with little hearts on its wings. Aiden had made a card that read, “Aunt Blake Rocks” and had drawn colorful moon rocks all over it. Snuggling with the twins made her feel better than any pain pill ever could. Even though they were five, she never got tired of burying her nose in their fine hair and sniffing that intoxicating combination of energy and innocence.

Still, after they left, she was happy to lie on her couch and doze. She knew she should move up to bed, but somehow, she just didn’t have the energy. Plus, she would disturb Ninja, who was serving as the guard cat, perched on her stomach, his loud purr rumbling through her body.

Blake was in that semi-conscious state between dreaming and being fully awake when a noise penetrated her sleepy fog just enough to bring her back to full consciousness. For a moment, she thought she’d imagined it, but then she heard it again. She shot straight up on the couch, Ninja bolting off her as she heard a very distinct thump coming from the back of the house. “What the crap?”

Easing herself off the couch, Blake was scared to make any noise. It was probably nothing—maybe a dog or a possum. Those things seemed to be everywhere lately. She was thankful her dizziness had eased, but she still moved slowly as she tiptoed down the short hall to the dark kitchen. Without turning on the lights, she crossed the room to the back door. She rested her hand on the doorknob but didn’t turn the deadbolt. She’d seen one too many horror movies, and if there really was a guy in a mask hanging out in her backyard, she wasn’t quite sure she was ready to call his bluff.

Chicken. Batman wears a mask, and he’s not scared. “Oh, shut up.” Her subconscious was really starting to get on her nerves.

Moving to the sink, she bent forward to look out the window and see if she could make anything out. A noise from the front of the house scared her so much that she let out a yelp, jumping a good foot into the air. Someone was opening her front door. Hadn’t she locked it? She bolted to the back door and was ready to wrench it open and run for her life when she heard a voice calling her name.

“Blake? Blakey, where are you?”

“Maybe she went to bed already?”

Her body went weak with relief as recognition fluttered in her brain. “Kyle? Jason?” She walked back toward the front of the house on rubbery legs, her hand on her chest in an attempt to calm her pounding heart. “You two just about scared me to death.”

Jason was closing the door behind him as Kyle came over to wrap her arms around Blake. “Didn’t you get my text? I told you we were going to come over after our shift.”

Moving back into the family room, Blake took a shaky breath then dropped back down on the couch. “I put my phone on my charger then fell asleep on the couch. I heard a noise and thought there was an intruder.” Leaning back, she pressed her palms to her eyelids and groaned. “Lord, I think everything is getting to me. I’m losing my mind.”

Jason tossed himself into her giant club chair as Kyle sat next to her on the couch. “You’re not losing your mind.” Kyle patted her hand. “Jeez, Blake, you’ve been under a lot of stress. I think it’s a little understandable that you’re on edge.”

“Yeah, I think I’m going to go to bed early to try to sleep off some of this tension.” The adrenaline still pumping through her wasn’t much of a sedative, though.

“That’s a great idea.” Jason leaned forward, propping his elbows on his knees. “But we wanted to talk to you about something real quick first.” His eyes trailed to Kyle, and Blake saw the silent urging on his face.

Panic began to set in. “Oh God, what? If you tell me someone else has been killed, I swear I’ll—”

“No, it’s not that.” Kyle shook her head. “Look, I talked to Rachel. I know Sean was in there today, checking on you.”

Checking on me… is that what he was doing? It seemed more as if he’d come just to warn her. But she really didn’t feel like getting into all of that right at that moment. Plus, she really didn’t need to give Kyle one more reason to doubt Sean. And she had a feeling the conversation was heading in that direction.

“He just dropped by. It was really no big deal. Besides, I think you have him half-terrified to come near me.” She couldn’t quite read the expression that passed over her sister’s face, but it was somewhere between distress and satisfaction.

“Blake, what’s going on with you and him? Half the time, you seem scared that he might be a killer, and the other half, you act like you want him to be your boyfriend. It’s a little confusing. What exactly are your feelings for this guy?”

She started to open her mouth to protest but then realized her feelings for Sean were a big part of her tension. She had finally come to the conclusion that Sean wasn’t a bad guy, despite what her sister might think. Even so, she still wasn’t a hundred percent sure he wasn’t hiding something. Making sense of her feelings was at the top of her priority list. She knew she got all warm and fuzzy when he was around, especially when he touched her, but she didn’t think she could realistically come to a conclusion about him until everything was out in the open—whatever everything might be.

“I don’t know what my feelings toward him are.” She looked over at Jason then turned to study her sister. “But why do I get the feeling that’s not just a casual question?”

Kyle’s mouth formed a firm line. “I’m looking into him, just like I am with anyone on the suspect list.”

When Kyle paused, Blake prompted her. “And? We know he lied about knowing Nikki. We know she was in his class. Do you know something else?”

Kyle blew out a breath, her brow furrowed in concentration. “I called my contact at the Lawrence PD and put in a request for any records related to Sean, standard procedure. Well, they got a hit, but they’re not able to tell me exactly what it is yet because whatever they have is somehow tied to the university’s campus PD. Until they can figure out what jurisdiction it falls in, I can’t get the information.”

“What jurisdiction what falls in?”

Jason spoke up this time. “That’s just it. We don’t know. All we know is his name showed up in a police record. It could be a parking ticket, for all we know.”

“Or it could be something more,” Kyle finished.

Frustration reared its head once again. “So you’re telling me that you came here to tell me you have nothing?” Blake knew her irritation was evident, but she didn’t really care. “I can take care of myself. I’m the big sister. Or did you forget that?”

Lines of irritation etched Kyle’s forehead. “You may be the big sister, but I’m the cop. Or did you forget that? And you taking care of yourself?” She huffed out a sarcastic laugh. “Yeah, you’ve done a real bang-up job of that lately.”

Emotion was ready to boil over inside of Blake, and she had to bite back a retort. She knew deep down that she just wanted someone to take out her anger and confusion on. But Kyle was the last person who deserved to be the recipient of that.

Blake sank onto the couch, her body sagging. “I just want this to be over.”

Kyle’s face softened as she sat next to Blake and gathered her into her arms. “It’s going to be okay. I promise you it’s going to be okay.” Her voice was gentle but not placating, and her eyes had started to mist over. She reached up to smooth a stray hair away from Blake’s face. “But you’re going to have to deal with the fact that I worry about you. You let your emotion run high, and sometimes I’m scared you don’t always think things through. You follow your heart, just like…”

“Just like Mom.” As soon as she said it, Blake felt her throat crack.

“Yeah. Just like Mom.” Kyle’s lower lip started to wobble, then she caught it in between her teeth for a moment before continuing. “And Ryan’s like Dad was… at least, how I remember Dad was before he left.”

Kyle was right. Their father was kind and funny; he didn’t let a thing faze him, just like Ryan. The difference was, Ryan was devoted to his family. Their father had up and disappeared when they were kids. Blake had been ten years old, Ryan had been twelve, and Kyle had been only eight. One day, their dad had been tucking them in and telling them how he loved them more than anything, and the next day, he went to work and never came home.

“I know Dad leaving really messed me up,” Kyle continued, dabbing at her eyes, “but you seemed to take it all in stride. You’re a people pleaser, like Mom. You want everyone to be happy and everything to be peaceful, and you’re willing to sacrifice yourself to do that.” She looked back up at Blake. “I know you don’t like confrontation. You’re so trusting, Blake, and I don’t want to see you get hurt.” Kyle’s lip started to quiver again, but she clenched her jaw and cleared her throat, lifting her eyes to the ceiling. Blake knew her sister didn’t like to shed tears if she could help it.

A puff of air blew past Kyle’s lips before she looked back at Blake. “You and Ryan are my family. I couldn’t handle it if something happened to you. So maybe I am a little overprotective, but it’s only because I love you.”

“Oh, Kyle…” Blake’s voice was thick with emotion, and she threw her arms around her little sister, all of her earlier frustration evaporating in an instant.

After a few moments of silence, Jason cleared his throat. “Uh, I’m going to go raid your fridge, Blake. There’s gotta be chocolate in there.”

The two women separated as Jason all but sprinted out of the room, and giggles replaced the threat of tears.

“I think he’s a little uncomfortable when girls cry,” Kyle said.

Blake wiped her eyes. “You know, I can be protective too, Kyle. You’ve got a good guy in Jason. But I’ve seen you cut guys loose before because you were scared. Don’t do that this time, okay? I haven’t been around him much, but I know that Hot Cop really loves you. Just remember he’s not Dad.”

Kyle looked past her into the kitchen, rolling her bottom lip between her teeth. “I know. He’s a good guy.” She squeezed Blake’s hands tightly. “And Sean might be a good guy too. Really. I just want you to wait until we know everything about him before you let yourself fall.”

“Well, right now he seems to have the same idea as you with the warnings and all.” The number of people trying to warn her away from doing certain things was starting to get ridiculous. Didn’t they know the best way to get her to do something was to tell her not to do it?

“What do you mean?” A frown turned down Kyle’s pursed lips. “What same idea did he have?”

“He said to stay out of it. He doesn’t want to see me get hurt any more than I already have. Apparently, he’s worried about me too. But there’s no need to be worried about—” Oh, crap. Kyle didn’t know Blake was planning to talk to Saffron. For a moment, she thought about not bothering to mention it, but then she figured there was no point in hiding it.

“What? Worried about what?”

“Well, Saffron mentioned that she wanted to talk to me about something. She visited in the hospital and started to say something about my attacker, but we got interrupted. I’m meeting her in the morning. I don’t know if she knows something or what, but it’s worth hearing what she has to say.”

Kyle pinched the bridge of her nose for a good five seconds before she looked back up at Blake. “Why didn’t you tell me this?”

Blake tucked her feet up underneath her as Ninja jumped up on her lap to knead her thigh until he had tenderized her enough to sit down. She absently stroked his fur as he began to purr. “You’re crazy busy running down leads. And I have no idea what Saffron wants. The woman has a subscription to the National Enquirer, so I’m not holding out hope that she has any useful information.”

Kyle’s frown turned into a little smile. “She is big on the conspiracy theories, isn’t she?”

“Remember last year when she was convinced that Mr. Jeffries who runs the museum could communicate psychically with all the cats in town?” She echoed the laugh that bubbled out of Kyle. “So you see, you’re worried about me. Sean’s worried about me. But that’s silly. I’m not doing anything for anyone to be worried about me.”

“Sean.” With a sigh, Kyle reached out to rub Ninja behind the ears. “I still think there’s a reason he hasn’t been completely honest, and I want to know what it is. If he’s on the up and up, and you want to be with him”—her piercing eyes gave Blake a soul-searching look—“I’ll fully support what you choose. Or maybe…” She smirked, her eyes twinkling.

Blake narrowed her eyes. “Or maybe what?”

“Maybe you’ll choose someone else?” The corners of Kyle’s mouth tipped up. “Rachel told me that Adam came by this afternoon too.”

A laugh escaped Blake. She had to shake her head at the fact that her sisters seemed so fascinated by her love life… or lack thereof. “Yeah, I’m not sure Adam’s all that interested in me.”

Kyle’s blue eyes widened in surprise. “Why would you say that? That’s not the impression I get. I saw him when you were in the hospital. You should have seen how concerned he was when you were unconscious.”

Blake’s eyes rolled heavenward. “Oh my goodness, he’s a doctor! I’m sure he’s concerned about all his patients. Besides, I’m not even his patient. He told me I needed to make a follow-up appointment with Dr. Stevens. If he liked me, he’d want to spend time with me, wouldn’t he? He wouldn’t be directing me to go to another doctor.”

Kyle reached up and flicked her on the forehead with her thumb and forefinger, an action she’d always done when they were kids and she didn’t agree with something Blake had said.

“Ow!” Blake rubbed her head. “What was that for?”

“Adam can’t date his patients, doofus! That’s like unethical or something. Of course he wants you to go to a different doctor. Because he wants to go out with you.”

“What? I…” She crinkled her brow as she thought about it. “I never thought about it like that before.”

Kyle shook her head in mock exasperation. “Just let me pick out your boyfriends from now on, and we’ll be fine.”

A thump against the wall next to them made them both jump. Even Ninja leapt on to the back of the couch so he could look out the window. His glowing green eyes searched the night for the disturbance.

“What was that?” Kyle rose to look out the window, immediately grabbing the purse she’d tossed on the side table when she came in. Her hand dipped inside her sensible black bag as she strained to listen, and Blake knew her sister was ready to go for the gun she kept with her at all times.

“That’s what I heard earlier.” She peered over Kyle’s shoulder, but with the lights they had on in the living room, she couldn’t see anything in the black night. “I heard thumping just like that. Maybe it’s the possums again. Remember last year, there was a herd of them under my back deck during mating season. I had to deal with the continuous thumping of ongoing possum lust for a good two months before it finally subsided.”

“Still, I should—”

“Are we ready, babe?” Jason asked through a mouthful of brownie as he rounded the corner.

Turning to him, Kyle raised one eyebrow. “I thought we were going out to dinner. And you’re eating brownies?”

He swallowed deeply. “Nope, not at all.” He winked at Blake as he walked over and threw his arm around Kyle.

With a grin, Blake motioned them both toward the door. “Go. Get out of here. You two get out and go eat dinner.”

Kyle’s eyes shot to the window again.

“Possums,” Blake said. “Really, don’t worry about it.”

“You want to come along, Blake?” Jason reached out to put a brotherly hand on her shoulder. “Or we could bring you something. Chinese, maybe?”

“Thanks, but I’m headed to bed. I have an early day tomorrow, and I don’t want a repeat of the whole dizziness thing.”

She walked Kyle and Jason to the door, and her sister leaned in to give her a hug. “Just to be safe, I’m going to glance around outside and make sure I don’t see anything.”

They said their goodbyes before Blake shut the door and turned the deadbolt. A few minutes later, she heard Kyle’s car start, and she looked out her front window to see her sister’s RAV4 drive away.

Kyle would have come back in if she’d seen anything weird around the house, so Blake pushed away from the door and headed upstairs to her bedroom. “I knew there was nothing outside but a few suspicious possums.”

Ninja gave a little meow in response as he bounded upstairs in front of her. But she still couldn’t quite shake the feeling of unease in her stomach. A weird tingling sensation told her something was going to happen. She just hoped against hope that it was something good for a change.