4

“You’re saying this cardinal—or one who looks like him, which is pretty much every other cardinal in existence—nestled against my face and maybe even healed a wound on my head?”

Brady nodded. “Yes.”

“O Ia wale nō...Kamehameha.” The green in Winter’s eyes had almost obliterated the gray. She shook her head. “I’m sorry. What I said was, ‘That’s just crazy.’ You seem like a really nice man, but I think you maybe had one nip too many last night.”

He laughed. “I can’t say I blame you for thinking so, but I don’t drink. Nary a drop. Ever.”

Dark eyebrows that matched the long eyelashes in contrast with the gold of her hair rose up under her bangs. “You’re kidding. Never? Who doesn’t drink these days—at least socially? I mean, other than old fogies and Christian fanatics.”

Brady grinned.

The woman’s eyes widened. “Oh, no. Which are you?”

“I believe you’d probably call me a religious fanatic. I pastor a small church in Cambria.”

Her cheeks pinked. “I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean that the way it sounded.” She rolled her eyes. “OK. Help me out here. Any advice on how to remove a firmly lodged foot from one’s mouth?”

“Bite it off?” At the shocked expression on the patient’s face, Brady relented and laughed—probably louder than he should have within the walls of a medical facility, but he couldn’t help himself. “I’m kidding. Seriously.”

“You’re kidding seriously? Is that even possible?”

“Aha! Got me back.”

“Maybe a little.” Her smile revealed a dimple in one cheek and accentuated the cute, barely-there cleft in her chin. “But you have to admit, I wouldn’t have made such a fool of myself had you not tried to shock me with that ridiculous cardinal tale.”

“A true tale. I don’t have the kind of imagination to come up with something like that on my own.”

“So this bird landed on me while I was sleeping, or unconscious, or whatever, wrapped his wings around my wound, laid his little red head on top of it, and made me all better.”

“All I know is that he sat on your shoulder and pulled that wraparound stunt with his wings. After which, the wound on your head was gone.” He held up a hand when she tried to interrupt. “And you did, in fact, open your eyes and look at me after the bird went away. I mean, you really looked at me. You’d tried to take things in earlier, but I’m not sure you were aware. You just said you had a really bad headache and asked about—” He broke off as puzzle pieces came together in his head. “Pardon me for asking, but are you having any unexplained pain? I don’t mean just being sore from the crash. I’m talking about real pain that the doctors have no explanation for.”

She eyed him as if he’d grown an extra ear between his eyes, but she nodded. “Actually, yes. My—”

“Wait.” Brady interrupted and held up a hand to silence her. “Let me. Your right leg.”

“How—?” She huffed out a breath. “Don’t tell me you’re one of those psychic preachers who looks into a person’s soul and somehow divines their secret sins and hidden ailments?”

Although Winter was clearly trying to make a joke of her question, unease clouded her eyes.

“No, not even close. But if you happen to know a preacher like that, I’d be interested in meeting him.” He laughed.

She did too…after studying his face for a moment. “You really had me going there for a minute. So, if you’re not a mind-reading miracle man, how did you know my right leg is hurting, for no apparent reason?”

“Just a hunch. I just left your brother’s room, and he’s doing great…except for a killer headache, even though there’s no sign of a head injury—not even a little bump or a scratch. However, I happen to know that when Miss Angie and I found you two out at the crash site, Kai’s right leg looked downright scary. He has a pretty impressive cut on his leg that he doesn’t feel at all—says it’s just a scratch. And you…well, you had that nasty laceration on your head.”

“Oh.” She blinked, but didn’t seem freaked out. “Well, that makes sense. I don’t know why I didn’t think of it earlier. Kai and I have always had some kind of twin connection. We often share each other’s pain, and even symptoms of illness.” She smiled, and her eyes went a little hazy. “When we were kids, I was exposed to chicken pox in my class at school. I got sick, had the fever and the all-over achiness. But Kai…”

She smiled at Brady and nearly stopped his heart. Dear Lord, this woman was beautiful!

“He got all the itchy, nasty blisters.”

“Ouch. Poor Kai.”

“Yeah. But then again, I endured the dizziness and vertigo when Kai had an awful inner ear infection. So it balances out, I guess.”

“That’s amazing.”

“Well, it can be interesting, I’ll give you that.” She plumped her pillow and pushed a button to raise the head of her bed. “Kai has forbidden me from ever bearing children, for obvious reasons.” She tilted her head and narrowed those killer eyes. “So, you mentioned Miss Angie. Who is that?”

“That would be me.” The voice came from behind Brady.

He grinned and turned to welcome the older woman with a hug. “How did you get here?”

“Oh, Raine and Summer came by. They’d heard about the crash, and insisted they had to see for themselves that I was all right. You’d think I’d been in that plane myself.” A pleasant trill of musical laughter filled the room, despite the soft timbre of Miss Angie’s voice. “I asked them to bring me to the hospital, since they were coming into San Luis Obispo anyway. I had a feeling someone would be around to take me home.”

She patted Brady’s cheek and gave him a saucy grin and a teasing wink, and then turned to the patient. “And you, my dear. Don’t you look lovely, considering you came hurtling out of the sky in such a frightening manner!” She took Winter’s hand. “When they let you out of here, you’re coming to the lodge. My rental apartment is empty—which absolutely never happens. Now I know why God didn’t send anyone to Paradise Pines for the winter. He knew you and Kai would need a place to stay.”

“Why, thank you, Miss Angie!” Winter’s warm smile sent a jolt through Brady’s heart. “I’m sure Paradise Pines is lovely, and sometime I’d be delighted to take you up on your offer, but I can’t right now. As soon as they let me out of this bed, I have to get back to work. I’m in the middle of an assignment, and this little detour has thrown quite a wrench into the works.”

Brady swallowed his disappointment, though Winter’s polite refusal of Miss Angie’s offer didn’t surprise him. As sweet and beautiful as the lodge owner was, this young woman didn’t know her. Winter was a strong, independent journalist with a definite mind of her own. She wasn’t likely to go along with being told what to do.

Still, she smiled. She nodded. And she stretched out a hand, which Miss Angie grasped in her own.

“Well, let’s wait and see what your doctor says then, dear. If you change your mind, the apartment is yours—for the entire winter season, of course.”





Winter watched the door for several minutes after Brady and Miss Angie left. For whatever reason, she didn’t want them to go and felt almost certain one or the other would return, if only for a moment.

But when five minutes elapsed and neither the beautiful woman nor the too-handsome-to-be-a-preacher preacher returned, she sighed and reached for the telephone on a table near her bed. Her purse and phone had most likely landed in the Pacific. Well, better that than in the hands of some dishonest individual who’d steal her identity and make her life miserable. Of course, she couldn’t just hope for the best. As soon as she could, she’d have to take steps to protect herself.

In the meantime, she had to call her editor before he gave her job to someone else. Winter didn’t see herself staying forever in Cornelius Cove, working for a small television station like KCCN, but for now, it was a rung up on the ladder of success, a step closer to her life plan.

The phone rang in her ear as she thought about that plan. Cornelius Cove was simply a launching ground. She planned to go places with her career—grand places, faraway places, places she’d only seen in books and movies, only visited in her wildest dreams. But someday she’d go there for real. Someday she’d sit in the anchor chair at a major television network. Her name would be known in every household in America and beyond.

Winter Wonder would be a celebrity.

“KCCN. Jeremy Kelly here.”

“Hey, Jeremy.” Winter stifled a sigh. Did she sound as tired to him as she did to herself? And why should she be tired, anyway? She’d done nothing but lie around in this hospital bed all night and most of the day. “It’s Winter.”

“Winter! Thank God you’re OK. What are the doctors saying?”

Startled, Winter couldn’t think of an answer. How had Jeremy known about the accident? She hadn’t called him. “How did you know…?”

“Oh, some lady called last night. Seems that brother of yours crash-landed in the woods near her home. She found your purse and went through your wallet to find someone to notify.”

Miss Angie, of course. Winter was glad to know her belongings were safe at Paradise Pines. Even though she didn’t really know the woman, not trusting Miss Angie seemed ludicrous—even wrong, somehow.

“Oh…well, I’m glad to know my purse is intact and in honest hands. Hey, I’m sorry about the delay in this story, Jer. I’ll get it as soon as they let me out of the hospital.”

“Not to worry. Callie’s got that one. You just concentrate on getting well—and listen to the doctor, Winter. Don’t be your usual, stubborn self and make matters worse.”

“You gave Callie my story?” Temper teased at her senses, but she squelched it. Jeremy had been up front about wanting a quick turnaround, which was why he’d insisted on renting the plane. Her current circumstances shouldn’t put a cog in the works at KCCN. And they wouldn’t, because Jeremy always had a backup plan. “Never mind, of course you did.”

“Darn right. But don’t worry, there are plenty of stories to go around. In fact, this could work out to be a good thing for you. I have a lead on something in Cambria. So when you get out of the hospital, find a place to stay for a while. From what I understand, our subject won’t be an easy mark. How a man can stay hidden for a whole decade in that little seaside village is beyond me, but this guy’s managed to do it. I don’t have a location for you. Don’t even have a name, to be honest. But I have it on good authority that he’s there, in Cambria, somewhere. You’ll find him, get his story, and tell the world about it.” He paused to draw a breath. “This could be big, Winter. Really big. Get well first, but then get on it.”

Familiar excitement tingled in her tummy, and Winter realized she was smiling. “You got it, boss. As soon as I have a base of operations, I’ll let you know where to send the information you have.”

“Well, if you have access to the Internet in the hospital, you might do a little research on a kid preacher that was associated with Rory Cope Ministries, back when there was such a thing. And keep me updated. I’ll send you what I’ve got, but it isn’t much. That’s what you’re for.” Jeremy’s familiar, booming laughter had Winter holding the phone a foot away from her ear. “Hey, gotta go. Get well!”

The line went dead, and she sat holding the phone, her bottom lip gripped between her teeth. Had her laptop survived the crash? Even if it had, it wasn’t here at the hospital, where she could start looking into that Rory Cope lead. She groaned. Of all the rotten times to be without the devices that kept information at her fingertips.

This could be big, Winter. Really big.

“Yes!” She whispered. “Big is good. Big is real good.”

Tap-tap-tap. Tap-tap-tap.

She jerked her head toward the window, where the cardinal perched on the narrow ledge. When Winter looked at him, the bird turned his head to the right, and then the left. Right. Left. Again and again.

“No?” This could not be happening. Could it? “Are you…trying to tell me something, Red?”

Tap-tap-tap. One last sharp series of pecks to the glass. One last twist and turn of his pretty, crested head in a decidedly negative motion. Then he lifted off the ledge and flew away, this time not even bothering to perch on a branch. He flew off into the distance, as if in a huff.

“You’re losing your mind, Kalani. That blow to your head isn’t just giving Kai a headache, it’s stealing your sanity.” She shot a sour glance toward the window. The cardinal hadn’t returned. “Kamehameha ulaula manu…”

Crazy red bird. Despite herself, she almost smiled. Almost.

Instead, Winter slammed the phone onto the receiver and dropped back against her pillow with a groan. She had to stick around Cambria if Jeremy really thought there was a “big” story to be found here. But as far as she was concerned, her best plan of action would be to get in, get out, and get back to Cornelius Cove before anyone at KCCN discovered she was talking to birds and accusing handsome preachers of having dropped right out of Heaven.

And calling herself Kalani—even if she was alone.