DR. GRACE SINCLAIR stared at Cole over the top of her ever-present notebook. She was a couple inches shy of five foot tall, and her brown hair was pulled back into a tidy bun at the base of her neck. Her age was somewhere between 45 and 65, but he suspected she was closer to the latter. She lifted her chin and waited patiently for him to answer her question. He never would have guessed that the key to his recovery would be this relentless, ageless gnome.
Who knew it was possible for him to talk so damned much? Dr. Sinclair pushed and pushed at him. The past three weeks had been rough. Hell, it had been absolute torture at times, reliving every detail of his three military tours, especially the final episode.
“I’m still waiting, Cole. Tell me why your family hasn’t visited when they’re only a few hours away.”
“I told them not to come.” Seeing them would remind him of her.
“Care to share the reason for that?”
“I just wanted to focus on the healing process, Dr. Sinclair.” He did his best to look sincere, but she didn’t buy it for a minute and started to laugh softly.
“Yeah, my bullshit alarm just went to Def-Con Five, so let’s try that again.” Her head tipped to one side with an expression that took no prisoners. “Who or what are you hiding from?”
She didn’t miss the way his body stiffened at her question, and her expression softened. “Look, we’ve spent all our energy talking about your service experiences, but it’s time to shift our focus to what’s going on in your home life.”
“There’s nothing to worry about at home, Doc. I live alone. I have friends and family around to support me. They’re all working hard to keep my farm going and I don’t want them taking time to come here. I talk to my brother every few days to make sure things are good, and they are.”
Ty brought Bree up once in conversation, but Cole shut him down as soon as Ty said the stalker was caught and she’d left North Carolina. He’d told her to go, and she had.
Breathe in 1-2-3. Breathe out 1-2-3-4-5. Breathe in 1-2-3. Breathe out 1-2-3-4-5.
It was just one of the coping exercises Dr. Sinclair had taught him in therapy. It slowed his pulse, but it couldn’t slow his thoughts. Just like that, he could see Bree walking into The Hide-Away that first afternoon like she owned the joint, long red hair swinging and green eyes flashing with fire. He could feel her soft skin under his fingers and smell her spicy perfume.
She’d taken up residence in his heart, and he didn’t know if he’d ever be able to evict her. He’d been a fool to think she might actually stay in North Carolina. But then, he was the one who told her to leave. He shifted in his chair. Yeah, that wasn’t one of his more brilliant moves.
“Everything is fine with your friends and family. So it’s a woman?” The smart little gnome could really be scary sometimes. “Look, this silent act isn’t going to work. I can outwait you, Cole, and you know it. We’ve made great progress helping you deal with your combat experiences, but I need to know what we should address on the home front. There’s no sense putting new tires on the car if you’re just going to take it home and crash it into a tree. So start talking, soldier.”
Breathe in 1-2-3. Breathe out 1-2-3-4-5. Breathe in 1-2-3. Breathe out 1-2-3-4-5.
He cracked at about the three-minute mark.
“A leggy redhead walked into my life last month, Doc, and she did a number on me, okay? I kept hurting her.” He shook his head at the doctor’s expression. “Not like that. I hurt her heart. I didn’t trust her. I did things that frightened her. She fought to help me, and I chased her away. She said she loved me, but I thought she deserved better. She does deserve better. Now I’m going to have to go home to the house where we...”
Damn it, his hands were shaking. Maybe it was the aftermath of the exhausting session, or maybe it was just that he was finally confronting the truth. His house, Nell’s place, The Hide-Away—they were full of memories of Brianna Mathews, and he was going to have to face it all when he left Flat Rock.
“Tell me more about this leggy redhead, Cole.” Dr. Sinclair’s calm but insistent voice was all it took for him to fold like a house of cards, and, despite the fact that they’d just ended a draining two-hour session, he found himself telling her everything.
* * *
THE SUN WAS settling low over the Pacific when Bree walked out onto the balcony of her Malibu home. By next week, it would belong to Damian, and she’d basically be homeless. As much as she wanted to go back to Russell, she’d promised herself she wouldn’t do it without knowing where Cole’s head, and more important, his heart, was.
Her phone pinged in her pocket with an incoming text. She swiped it open and grinned at the picture of Amanda’s husband, Blake, sound asleep in a wing-backed chair with a tiny baby girl snuggled in his arms against his bare chest. Bree dialed her cousin’s number.
“My God, Amanda, I don’t know whether to hang that in my room as a pin-up poster of the hottest man alive, or put it with my collection of cute little puppy and kitten pictures.”
Her cousin laughed. “I know, right? Mr. Uptight Executive has turned into a big pile of mush over our little Maddy. She misses her Auntie Bree already.”
“I think she looks pretty content right now.” Bree spent a week in Gallant Lake after Martin Kettner was arrested, arriving just in time to help welcome the new baby.
Since her return to Malibu, it had been a whirlwind of business meetings, press conferences and interviews with the police and the FBI. Because Kettner had crossed state lines with the intent to kidnap, he was being investigated for federal charges, too. The guy was going away for a very long time. And the foundation Bree was creating with the money from selling the house was beginning to take shape.
“You’re closing on the house this weekend, right? Have you thought any more about our offer?” Amanda and Blake had invited her to stay with them in Gallant Lake until she knew what she was going to do. She might not have a choice but to take them up on it. Of course, her dad had offered to let her come home, but staying in California—and in her childhood bedroom—felt all kinds of wrong.
She looked down and watched people walking hand in hand on the beach in front of her. “I don’t know, Amanda. I really have no idea what I’m going to do.”
“You haven’t heard from Cole yet?”
She sighed heavily and shook her head. Did he have any idea the power he wielded right now to grant her happiness or crush her hopes? Did he think about her at all?
“No. Ty said Cole still refuses to discuss me. It’s like he’s just excised me from his life. On the bright side, Ty says the therapy is helping a lot. He should be home in a few weeks.”
“Are you going to be there waiting for him?”
“I’m not the type to sit and wait for my man like a good little girl, hoping he might want me. If he wants me, he’s going to have to work for it a little.” And if he didn’t want her...
“I admire your determination, Bree, but are you really willing to let your pride keep you away from the man you love? Does he even know how much you love him?”
“I told him, but he refused to listen. But if I’m waiting there for him and he still doesn’t think he’s ready to have me in his life, I don’t think my heart could survive it.” She turned away from the blazing sunset to face the cluttered mess in the master suite and sighed. “I have to finish packing, Amanda. I’ll be in touch.”
Two mornings later she taped up the last of the boxes. Most of the furniture had been sold with the house, but there were personal items and artwork she wanted to keep. She didn’t trust the movers with things like her mother’s keepsakes, so she’d packed those herself. Her phone rang with a call from Emily, and she shook her head. She talked to the girl almost every day, and each conversation ended with a plea for Bree to “come back to Russell where she belonged.”
She swiped her phone to answer. “Hey, kiddo, what’s going on?”
“Oh, not much. I’m working at Miss Nell’s and thought I’d call. Are you all packed?”
“I’m just finishing up. What are you helping Nell with?”
“I’m cleaning the house for her, and I’ll run the produce stand today. Mom is out cleaning stalls in the barn, and then she’ll be in to cook a few meals.”
“Why are you doing all that? Is Nell away?”
“No, she’s here, but she’s in bed.”
Nell was never in bed after the sun rose.
“Why is she still in bed?”
“She needs to rest and recuperate for a while, but it’s okay. We’re taking care of her place. And Uncle Cole’s place. And the bar...”
“What are you talking about? What exactly is going on there, and don’t make me drag it out of you, Emily.”
“Oh, didn’t Mom tell you? Miss Nell fell off the porch and hurt some ribs and her ankle, so she can’t do any work.”
Bree’s heart jumped.
“When did this happen? How bad is it? Is she awake? I want to talk to her.”
“She fell yesterday morning. She says it’s nothing serious, but you know, at her age she can’t take any chances. She’s had a headache, too.”
“A headache? Did she hit her head on something?”
“No. I mean, maybe. Hey, I think she’s awake now. I hear her in the kitchen. Hang on, Miss Bree.”
Bree sat in the nearest chair and listened as Emily slammed the screen door and called out to Nell. She could picture the girl and the woman in that bright country kitchen, and her eyes suddenly filled with tears. She missed the farm. She missed her friends.
“Bree, honey, is that you?” Nell’s voice sounded faint.
“Nell? Are you okay? What happened? Why didn’t you call me?”
“Whoa, slow down, girl!” Nell’s voice came on strong, and it almost sounded as though she was laughing, then she faded again. “I lost my balance yesterday and missed a step. It was hot and I’d been out in the garden.” Bree frowned. The woman worked too hard and was alone too much. “The next thing I knew I was on the sidewalk.”
“How bad is it?”
“Nothing’s broken, but I’m sore all over. But don’t worry, Emily and Tammy and Ty are taking care of everything. I just feel bad because they’re already stretched to the limit running Cole’s place and The Hide-Away, and school starts up soon so Tammy and Emily will be gone during the day. I’ll just have to dig deep, I guess, and push past the pain. How are you, dear?”
Bree didn’t even think before the words were out of her mouth. “Nell, I’m coming to help you. I’ll be there tomorrow.”
“Are you sure, Bree? I’d love to see you, but I know you’re busy.”
“My work is done here. I just need to get this stuff in storage today and have dinner with my dad, and then I’ll come work the farm for you until you’re better.” Bree thought about the one potential pitfall to her plan. “Cole’s not...”
“Oh, no, honey, he’s still at Flat Rock for another week or two.”
That was good. She didn’t want him to think she was running to North Carolina for his sake. This was just to help Nell.
“Okay. I’ll fly into Charlotte in the morning and drive over.” And this time she’d rent something more practical than the Mercedes. She couldn’t keep the smile from her face. She was going back to Russell, if only for an emergency visit.
“Oh, honey, that’s wonderful. We can’t wait to see you!” Nell’s voice suddenly sounded strong again, as if just the news of Bree’s trip was enough to make her feel better.
“You go back to bed and rest, Nell, and I’ll see you tomorrow.”