“I see you two are awake.” With an amused smile, Dale crossed the threshold and came to the side of the bed.
“Blame Shannon,” Dax grumbled, his tone accusing even as a grin played at the corners of his mouth.
“If Shannon hadn’t done it, Myriah would’ve,” Holly returned with a knowing look, fighting a grin of her own.
“Yeah.” He frowned thoughtfully. “Suppose they’d notice if we shut the blasted phones off and forgot to turn them back on?”
“They’d probably file missing persons reports and send the police after us.” She let the grin bloom. Hopefully the teasing rapport stuck around.
Dax shot Dale a wry half-smile. “Knowing my family at least, she’s right, but it was a nice thought while it lasted.”
The doctor chuckled and crossed his arms over his chest, clipboard in hand. His gaze shifted from one to the other. “I’m glad you finally got some sleep. That’s not easy to do in this joint.”
Another knock on the door cut into the conversation.
Chad entered and stopped at the foot of the bed. A smile of greeting couldn’t mask the weary shadow in his eyes. “Getting off work and thought I’d check on our girl.” His gaze met Holly’s. “You look better than the last time I saw you.”
“Dale and Dax have taken excellent care of me.” She gave both men a soft smile.
“Just doing my job, ma’am.” Dale pointed to Dax. “He’s the real hero here.”
Dax shook his head, squirming a bit in his seat, and Holly could’ve sworn his neck turned a faint shade of red.
“Never mind him, Dax.” Chad leaned both hands on the bed’s footboard. “He’s just buttering you up so you don’t give the job of babysitting her back to him.”
“Hey!” Holly’s protest fell on deaf ears as three men grinned at each other. Since he was the only one within reach, she shoved Dax just hard enough with one hand to nearly topple him from his seat. She winced when the motion sent a stab of pain through her opposite shoulder that stole her breath away.
“Serves you right.” He righted himself with a smug grin. Teasing lessened as concern crept into his expression.
She glared at him and forced her body to relax, trying to unlock her lungs.
“You okay?”
Holly nodded once she could breathe normally again.
Worry etched Chad’s features. “So, how are you really?”
“Well, it only hurts when I move, laugh, or breathe.” If only she was kidding.
“I guess you shouldn’t move, laugh, or breathe then, huh?”
“Ha, ha. Very funny.”
Dale skimmed the chart in his hand. “You’re past due for pain medication.” Tapping the call button on that side of the bed, he asked the nurse to bring it.
“I’m glad you’re both here,” Holly said after a few seconds of silence, gathering her courage. “In fact, I’m not sure why you are.”
Dale opened his mouth.
She waved him silent. “Don’t even. I know it’s your job. That’s not what I mean.”
The nurse appeared with medication, putting what Holly needed to say on hold. She accepted the pill and a plastic cup of water and dutifully took the medication under the scrutiny of four watchful pairs of eyes. Did they think she intended to hide the pill under her pillow or something?
Holly waited until the nurse left before picking up what she’d meant to say. “I’m sorry.” She was unable to meet any of their gazes. “I shouldn’t have abandoned you like I did.”
“We understood why you had to leave.” Dale stepped closer to the bed and laid a hand on her blanketed knee.
“Of course, we did.” Chad nodded. “Dale told us what happened with your dad and about putting you on the bus out of here that night. To be honest, we didn’t think you’d ever come back once you’d escaped. There are a lot of bad memories here for you.”
“But not you guys.” Holly shook her head and sighed. “I should’ve called or dropped you a letter or email once in a while. I shouldn’t have severed contact like that. The three of you saved my sanity, and I repaid you by walking away without another word. It wasn’t right.”
Chad’s eyes filled with compassion she didn’t deserve.
Dale’s eyes narrowed. “Do you know why you did it?”
She shook her head. “I honestly don’t. I didn’t mean to. When I left, I intended to call as soon as I stopped somewhere safe.”
“Did you ever think about us?” her doctor friend asked.
“More than you know.” Holly smiled. “I can’t tell you how many times I thought about calling your parents for your contact information or having Shannon track you down.”
“What stopped you?”
“I don’t know.” She shrugged then winced at the pain the movement caused. “I’d get distracted and forget for a while, or I’d think about you and all the times you made me laugh and temporarily forget about my home life, then I’d suddenly remember why you had to do that and get caught in those horrible memories….” She forced down a groan. How could I be so stupid? I should’ve seen it before. She made eye contact with Dale.
“We remind you of the turmoil at home.” Dale glanced at Chad and smirked. “I told you.”
“I didn’t mean to….” Holly looked from one to the other, tears filling her eyes. She covered her mouth to suppress a sob.
“We know.” Dale gently squeezed her knee. “We humans have a nasty tendency to forget good things and remember bad, because we often dwell on the bad. It’s that whole don’t-think-of-an-elephant thing. The very thoughts we try to force away become the ones we can’t get rid of. Meanwhile, the things we want to dwell on get lost.”
A conversation she’d had with Dax flashed into her mind. She closed her eyes then forced her emotions to remain in check. They complied. Mostly. “Yesterday, Dax asked about my mom.” She frowned at Dax. “It was yesterday, right?”
He nodded. Concern etched his features, and he tenderly grasped her hand.
“I couldn’t remember anything good. All these horrible things came to mind, and they still do.” Control slipped, and a sob escaped. Holly sniffled.
Dax wiped an errant tear from her cheek with a feather-light touch of his thumb.
“Your mom made killer chocolate chip cookies,” Chad said after a few moments.
“Oh, yeah,” Dale agreed with a wide smile. “She baked them for our pseudo-camp-outs. Remember?”
The memory emerged from a dark and dusty corner of Holly’s mind, bringing with it warmth.
“That’s right, she did.” She smiled and let the memory develop more fully. “The best chocolate chip cookies ever. When I got a little older, she’d let me help. We’d put some aside for Daddy, and she’d let me take the rest for our camp-outs. I don’t think he ever knew how many cookies that recipe actually made.”
“Oh, and remember the time she came unglued at Chad for dangling you from the tree?”
Chad groaned. “I remember. I was afraid to come down for a while. I’d never seen your mom mad before, but she was madder than a wet hen over that.”
“Yeah.” She sniffled again with a watery laugh. For Dax’s sake, she added, “I don’t know where we got the idea to play Tarzan and Jane, but Mom was not happy. She was certain Chad would drop and kill me.”
She recalled the fear on Mom’s face when she’d looked up and seen one of her children hanging twenty feet off the ground. Her mother had worried for her safety. Holly had known that even then. How could she have forgotten? Why hadn’t Mom shown the same concern when Daddy was the one putting her at risk?
“I think your mom did the best she knew how,” Dale offered gently.
“I’ve thought, a lot over the years, that she didn’t love me.” The need to cry was almost overwhelming. “I forgot so much. I tried to forget the negative stuff, just act like it hadn’t happened. In the process of trying to evict all of that, I set aside the good stuff, too. Like you guys. I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay. We understand,” Dale assured.
A playful glare narrowed Chad’s eyes. “But that doesn’t mean we’ll let you do it again.”
The doctor nodded. “Yeah, we can’t have our favorite Musketeer vanishing again.”
Holly laughed. When laughter faded, she looked from one to the other. Affection warmed her and brought the threat of more tears. She didn’t deserve the unconditional friendship these men offered. “You have no idea how much I’ve missed you.” She grinned as her gaze slid to Dale. “So what are we gonna do while I’m here?”
“Well, now, I’ve been thinking about that.” A twinkle lit his eyes. “Alas, I haven’t thought of anything. Give me more time, though, and I’m sure I’ll come up with something.”
“Hey, hey, hey, you guys, hush!” Chad protested, humor brightening his face. “Non-Musketeer present, or need I remind you? And he’s a cop!”
“Hm.” Dale crossed his arms over his chest, eyeing Dax with suspicion. His gaze sliced to Holly, and he waved a finger to indicate Dax. “Can he be trusted with our deepest, darkest secrets?”
“Um….” Holly turned a playfully speculative look on Dax, who tightened his lips into a narrow line. The corners of his mouth twitched. Then he got a devilish spark in his eyes that stalled out her thought process. What was he up to?
“Tell you what, guys.” Dax turned a half-grin on the other two men. “Convince her to marry me, and your secrets will be safe for life. They can’t make me testify against my wife. If she’s in the middle of something with you, that makes you safe, too. Even if it involves cows in a gymnasium.”
A thrill shot through Holly. That was the second time Dax had brought up marriage. Okay, so both times he’d been joking around, but still….
You can’t possibly believe he’d want you. Not with that foul temper of yours. An old, familiar pair of bullies—fear and doubt—mocked her, stomping the spark of happiness. He couldn’t be serious. Even if he was, would it matter in the long run?
Love always trusts.
Trust? She took a slow, deep breath. I can do this. Steeling herself against the past, she forced the bullies back into their room and slammed the door with a resounding thud. She wouldn’t surrender to them again. She forced her attention back to the conversation, shoved aside threatening melancholy, and hoped her brief battle hadn’t shown on her face.
“Like you wouldn’t be right smack in the middle of it, too,” she accused with a teasing grin. Holly shot Dale and Chad a conspiring look. “What do you say we add a fifth Musketeer? He’s got a devious mind, so….”
Dax lost his fight with that grin. “That’s not actually a compliment, you know.”
Chad barked a short laugh. “How well do you know her? From Holly, that’s high praise.”
She cradled her wounded arm close as she laughed. The pain made the whole thing that much funnier as she got lightheaded from lack of oxygen.
“Laughter like that can mean only one thing. A meeting of the Musketeers.” Shannon stepped into the room with her hands on her hips. Short, curly red hair framed a face soft with a warm smile. She scanned the room. “Where’s Porthos?”
Chad shrugged. “Not here.”
“You mean none of you have perfected the art of invisibility yet? I’m so terribly disappointed.” She rolled her eyes and wove through the men to reach Holly’s side, leaning down for a hug. “How’s D’Artagnan?”
Dax barely concealed a snort. He cleared his throat in a worthless attempt to mask his far-too-obvious amusement.
“Not a word, Deputy,” Holly warned.
He raised his hands with a “Who, me?” expression.
“Seriously though, no Clay?” Shannon perched on the edge of the bed next to Holly.
~~~
Dale and Chad glanced briefly at each other.
Dax frowned. That time he’d definitely seen uncertainty. A similar glance had passed between them moments before at the mention of Clay’s nickname, but it had disappeared so fast he’d almost convinced himself it wasn’t real. The second time left no room for doubt. It reminded him of the hint of trouble he’d seen flash in Chad’s expression at the diner the night he and Holly had arrived in town. He shot a brief glance at Holly to see if she’d noticed, but Shannon’s arrival had distracted her from her friends.
“He’s working this morning,” Dale finally said.
With false cheer, Dax thought.
“You know how it is with farmers. Work, work, work from sunup to sundown and sometimes beyond. I’m sure Holly’ll see him while she’s in town. If not, there’s always the next trip.”
Dax studied the other two men. Something was very wrong in the conversational current when Clay came up. Was it something he needed to be concerned about for Holly’s sake?
“Did I miss Dr. Hyall?” Shannon changed the subject.
“No, and I wish he’d get here. I’m hungry, so Dax is probably famished to within an inch of his life.” Holly cast him a teasing grin.
“I’ll live, I’m sure,” he replied deadpan.
“But I don’t want you getting grumpy.”
He shook his head with an indulgent smile.
~~~
Dr. Hyall arrived and confirmed Dale’s diagnosis.
Holly frowned, anticipating his next words.
“You haven’t kept up on your PT, have you?” the specialist asked after examining her shoulder.
She grimaced then sheepishly shook her head.
“PT?” Dax frowned. “Are you supposed to be going to physical therapy?”
“No, just doing the exercises at home. I get lots of exercise at work.”
“What kind of work do you do?”
“Paramedic.”
The specialist prodded a bit more. “Your work isn’t hitting all the right muscle groups. You’re lucky you didn’t end up with a full dislocation again,” Dr. Hyall chastised. “I’d like you to see Esther while you’re in town, and you may need to get connected with a therapist at home to remind you of the exercises you’re supposed to be doing.”
“Esther? Oh, man. Do I really have to see that sadist?” Not the news she’d wanted by any stretch of the imagination.
“Hey, watch what you say about my wife.” Dr. Hyall’s stern tone belied the teasing sparkle in his eyes.
Horror shot through her. Talk about foot-in-mouth disease. Holly wanted to groan.
“Yes, I married the sadist. Good thing I’m a masochist, I guess.” Dr. Hyall grinned then reached into his pocket and pulled out a business card to hand her. His gaze swept the others in the room. “I trust all of you will make sure she does what she’s supposed to.”
Chad snorted and laughed. “Doc, it’ll take all of us working together just to make sure Holly does what she’s supposed to half the time.”
“Well, then you four better call in reinforcements so you can manage all the time.”
“Can I go now?” Annoyance and amusement waged war within her. Some support she had.
“Wow, I think she’s in a hurry to leave us.” Dale slowly shook his head. “And after all the wonderful care we’ve given her, too.” He shook his head, tsk-tsking in mock disappointment.
“You said yourself that Dax is the real hero here. He’s going to prove it by springing me from this joint.” She mustered a hopeful grin. “Right, Dax?”
“What the lady wants, the lady gets.” He rose to his feet and picked up her purse from the floor along with the book he’d been holding earlier.
Shannon slid off the bed.
“Bad precedent, Donovan. Very bad precedent,” Chad warned with a forlorn look that did nothing to hide a glimmer of mischief and teasing in his eyes.
“Afraid you’re stuck until I get the discharge paperwork filled out. I’ll be back in a few minutes.” Dale left the room.
“Oh, man….” Holly groaned but stayed in bed.
~~~
After Dr. Hyall left, Dax stepped into the hall to call Myriah, leaving Holly to talk to Shannon and Chad. The light sound of her laughter drew a smile. He’d never hear enough of that wonderful sound.
“Dax? How is she?”
“Well, hello to you, too.” He grinned and leaned against the wall outside Holly’s door.
“Good morning, Dax.” Myriah chuckled. “Now, how’s Holly doing?”
“No surprises. Dr. Hyall confirmed what Dale said and suggested physical therapy.”
“What a relief.” She sighed. “Hang on a sec.” Her next words were muffled, but it sounded like she said, “Would you go to work?”
Dax chuckled. Anthony must be hovering. His brother, who had spent years acting like he hadn’t cared that Myriah even existed, appeared to have shifted gears and was threatening to smother her. The heart problem that had nearly taken her life in November two years before probably had a lot to do with it. Dax didn’t think he’d ever understand what had happened between those two, but they seemed to have worked things out. Too bad he couldn’t say the same about him and Myriah.
“Just go already.” Irritation flared over the line. She gave an exasperated sigh. “Dax, your brother is making me crazy. You’d think I was ready to drop dead any second instead of being pregnant.”
“He’s making up for lost time, I guess.” Years worth, in fact.
“Maybe so.” Myriah’s tone gentled. “I know he loves me. He doesn’t need to prove it by suffocating me. We’ve gone from one extreme to the other.”
“I’m sure he’ll find a balance eventually.” The irony of this conversation struck him. A week ago, he wouldn’t have said two words to her—at least, not nice ones—much less offered encouragement about her relationship with Anthony. Maybe Myriah had had good reason to abandon the family for five years. Holly’d certainly had one for disappearing on her friends for nine years.
“I hope so, or I might strangle him.” A soft laugh took the harshness out of the words. “Did you know he’s had me seeing Earl every single month since we found out I’m pregnant? Now he wants to up it to every two weeks.”
Dr. Earl Martin. Myriah’s cardiologist, and friend and mentor to Anthony. Dax had little more than a vague recollection of the man. “That seems a bit excessive.”
“A bit?”
Dax frowned. “Are there complications with your heart because of the pregnancy?”
“No, and Earl keeps telling Anthony that. My heart healed perfectly from the surgery year before last. There’s not a thing going wrong, but Anthony won’t listen to reason.”
“And Mom says I’m the stubborn one,” he grumbled, trying not to laugh.
“You are the stubborn one. Anthony’s the paranoid one.”
Dax laughed. He couldn’t help it. Myriah’s indignant tone did him in.
“It’s not funny.”
“Sure, it is. In a few months, you’ll laugh, too. You know you will.” Unexpected tears welled up and clogged his throat. He cleared it. “I missed you, Myriah.” The words cracked despite his intentions and effort to sound normal.
A long silence followed.
“I missed you, too, Dax.” She sniffled. Then she chuckled. “Although it’s been kind of nice not having someone calling me scrawny.”
“What about Miss Bossy Britches?” He grinned.
“Your brother calls me bossy all the time, so not really missing it.”
Dax chuckled and lowered his gaze to the floor. He swallowed hard. “May I ask you a personal question?”
“Sure.”
“When you and Anthony broke up, why did you cut ties with all of us?”
No answer came at first. What if she couldn’t explain? Holly hadn’t figured out why she’d abandoned the people who cared about her until she’d spoken to Dale. Maybe Myriah was in the same boat.
She sighed. The delicate sound wavered. Was she crying? Oh, man, what had he done now? Would he ever not say the wrong thing? Anthony would have his head for upsetting his pregnant wife.
“I told myself for a long time that none of you would want to see me anymore. That you blamed me for breaking the engagement.”
“But?” he prompted, keeping his tone as gentle as possible.
“That wasn’t the real reason. Hang on a sec.”
Dax flinched at a far-too-familiar sound. She was blowing her nose. He shouldn’t have asked.
“I’m back.” She sniffled. “Sorry about that. This pregnancy makes me cry over all sorts of things these days.”
Not as reassuring as she probably meant it to be.
“I got scared.”
“Of what?” Not even in the ballpark of what he’d expected.
“Of hurting the family.”
Dax frowned. Was he missing something? Her disappearance had hurt all of them. Didn’t she know that?
“I believed I was dying, and I didn’t want to put all of you through that. I know what it’s like to lose someone, and I’d seen how much Taylor’s death hurt the family.”
His stomach dropped to his knees along with his heart. He swallowed a lump. All the years since she’d left, he’d believed she hadn’t cared about them. How could he have been so wrong?
“Before you think my reason was noble or something, you should know that part of it was that I didn’t think I could handle watching all of you watch me die. Running away was as much about protecting me.”
Silence said she was waiting for some response from him, but what? “I’m not sure what to say.”
“You don’t have to say anything, Dax.” She sighed softly. “You better get back to Holly. I’m sure she’s eager to be sprung from the hospital.”
He glanced up and saw Dale coming back. “Yes, she is. In fact, if Dale isn’t returning with discharge papers, he shouldn’t show his face in that room or Holly might hurt him.” Dax threw out the comment loud enough to catch the doctor’s ear.
Dale grinned and waved paperwork as he entered the room.
“I’m sure we’ll talk soon.” More upbeat and no longer weepy. What a relief.
“I’m sure you’re right.” He chuckled. “With you lugging a baby around, I guess I can’t call you Scrawny anymore.”
“Given how big I’ve gotten, I might like the nickname at this point. For a while anyway.”
“Well, in that case, talk to you later, Scrawny.”
He hung up the phone to the sound of her laughter.