What’s with the secrecy? You’re not going to be able to hide it for long.”
“I just needed some space. If Addie saw me, she’d know something was up, and she wouldn’t hesitate to call in the cavalry. Grace and Teddy would ditch the rest of their once-in-a-lifetime Mediterranean cruise and run home. Rocki would drop everything and leave her new family, and I’d become her newest pet project. That’s not happening. There’s nothing anyone can do but wait and see if my brain heals, so why worry them?”
“And if Addie knew you were in town, it would kill your chances with Kendall.”
“This has nothing to do with Kendall, and you know it. I had no idea she’d show up here. Besides, there’s nothing between Kendall and me. Who the hell would want someone who can’t even count spare change?”
Jaime ran a hand over his face. “That’s just fucked up. I never thought about it before, but numbers are everywhere.”
“I never thought about it either—until recently, and now it’s the one thing I’m trying not to think about. That’s why I’m here.” He looked at the sagging, leaking roof. “Here there’s something I can do—I can fix the roof, clean the place up. I can accomplish something between now and the date of the MRI.”
“And how are you going to do that without measuring things?”
Jax pulled a pencil from behind his ear. “I can pull out the rotted pieces and put new ones in their place. I can measure—I just mark where I have to make the cut and cut it. I can do this. I’m going to do this.
“I have to do this, or I’ll go crazy thinking of everything I can’t do.”
CHAPTER FOUR
K endall climbed, breathing deep and steady as she traversed the steep trail. Her thigh and calf muscles screamed from exertion, but she kept up the punishing pace, trying to outrun her demons, wishing the part of her mind that saw and heard them had an on/off switch. If it had, she hadn’t discovered it. She’d thought getting away from the cabin, where the memories had assaulted her for the past week, would do the job. It failed miserably.
Maybe she needed to take Jack’s advice. She had turned a corner, and the view from her new vantage point was unfamiliar. There were so many trails branching off from where she stood, but not one would allow her to return to what had been. Even if she’d wanted to, it was as if a fire had destroyed all remnants of her past with David. The life she’d lived no longer existed in anything other than memory. It hurt like hell—the physical pain between her breasts was still sharp and clear and ever present—but she’d get past it. At least she wasn’t coming out of this period of her life empty-handed. She had her master’s degree. She’d learned a lot and she’d keep her credentials, her three years of work experiencein her field, and all the knowledge she’d gained, and nothing—not David or anyone else, for that matter—could take that away from her, save a blow to the head like Jack had suffered.
She tried and failed to push that thought from her mind. Talk about demons. She wouldn’t trade hers for Jack’s if given the choice. No, at least now she had a real sense of control, something Jack didn’t have.
She took a deep breath and tried to clear her mind. She needed to look toward the future—a future she’d never imagined but one she would choose for herself, not one given to her or one for which she’d have to settle. She wished she could help Jack as much as he’d helped her, but, unfortunately, there was nothing either of them could do. Her only option was to wait and help him deal with whatever came. Maybe he could be her first patient in Harmony. The thought brought a smile to her face, and then she rejected it—she was already too personally involved with him to be clinical. But she could be his friend, and that might be the best thing for both of them.
Jack had been a good enough friend to point her in the right direction,
“I just needed some space. If Addie saw me, she’d know something was up, and she wouldn’t hesitate to call in the cavalry. Grace and Teddy would ditch the rest of their once-in-a-lifetime Mediterranean cruise and run home. Rocki would drop everything and leave her new family, and I’d become her newest pet project. That’s not happening. There’s nothing anyone can do but wait and see if my brain heals, so why worry them?”
“And if Addie knew you were in town, it would kill your chances with Kendall.”
“This has nothing to do with Kendall, and you know it. I had no idea she’d show up here. Besides, there’s nothing between Kendall and me. Who the hell would want someone who can’t even count spare change?”
Jaime ran a hand over his face. “That’s just fucked up. I never thought about it before, but numbers are everywhere.”
“I never thought about it either—until recently, and now it’s the one thing I’m trying not to think about. That’s why I’m here.” He looked at the sagging, leaking roof. “Here there’s something I can do—I can fix the roof, clean the place up. I can accomplish something between now and the date of the MRI.”
“And how are you going to do that without measuring things?”
Jax pulled a pencil from behind his ear. “I can pull out the rotted pieces and put new ones in their place. I can measure—I just mark where I have to make the cut and cut it. I can do this. I’m going to do this.
“I have to do this, or I’ll go crazy thinking of everything I can’t do.”
CHAPTER FOUR
K endall climbed, breathing deep and steady as she traversed the steep trail. Her thigh and calf muscles screamed from exertion, but she kept up the punishing pace, trying to outrun her demons, wishing the part of her mind that saw and heard them had an on/off switch. If it had, she hadn’t discovered it. She’d thought getting away from the cabin, where the memories had assaulted her for the past week, would do the job. It failed miserably.
Maybe she needed to take Jack’s advice. She had turned a corner, and the view from her new vantage point was unfamiliar. There were so many trails branching off from where she stood, but not one would allow her to return to what had been. Even if she’d wanted to, it was as if a fire had destroyed all remnants of her past with David. The life she’d lived no longer existed in anything other than memory. It hurt like hell—the physical pain between her breasts was still sharp and clear and ever present—but she’d get past it. At least she wasn’t coming out of this period of her life empty-handed. She had her master’s degree. She’d learned a lot and she’d keep her credentials, her three years of work experiencein her field, and all the knowledge she’d gained, and nothing—not David or anyone else, for that matter—could take that away from her, save a blow to the head like Jack had suffered.
She tried and failed to push that thought from her mind. Talk about demons. She wouldn’t trade hers for Jack’s if given the choice. No, at least now she had a real sense of control, something Jack didn’t have.
She took a deep breath and tried to clear her mind. She needed to look toward the future—a future she’d never imagined but one she would choose for herself, not one given to her or one for which she’d have to settle. She wished she could help Jack as much as he’d helped her, but, unfortunately, there was nothing either of them could do. Her only option was to wait and help him deal with whatever came. Maybe he could be her first patient in Harmony. The thought brought a smile to her face, and then she rejected it—she was already too personally involved with him to be clinical. But she could be his friend, and that might be the best thing for both of them.
Jack had been a good enough friend to point her in the right direction,
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