B008DKAYYQ EBOK (11 page)

“You don’t need to bring her into this,” James said tightly.

“Guys, come on,” Bailey said, unnerved that her brother had yet to crank up the defensiveness like the volume on his kick-ass stereo. “Can’t we talk about this when we get back?”

Elliott ignored her. “She was the mother of your child. You’re damn right I’ll bring her into it. What are you going to do when you have a car payment due and your boy needs medicine? Is he going to go without the medicine so you can keep your precious car?”
 

Her brother’s anger boiled over in a hot rush. “I make more money in a week than you make in a year at your lousy accounting firm.” He took the next turn entirely too fast.

Bailey clutched the back of her father’s seat to keep from being thrown to the side. “Maybe you should slow down, Jamie.”

Elliott seemed unconcerned by his son’s erratic driving. “You’re acting weird,” he said. “Are you on something?”

James glared at his father and stomped on the brake too hard for a stoplight. “You always think I’m on something. I was on something when I met Theresa. I was on something when I got her pregnant, and I was on something when I asked her to marry me. All I wanted was to have a family with her. And it’s not my fault what happened to her, even though you’d probably find a way to make it my fault. No matter what I do, it’s the wrong thing.” The light turned green, and the car leapt forward. “Well, maybe after everything that’s happened, I finally am on something. What do you think about that?”

“Jamie, please,” Bailey said. “Watch where you’re going.”
 

Seeing her brother and father go at each other so heatedly was upsetting enough, but at the moment she was more worried about what the torrential rain had to be doing to her brother’s visibility. A glance at the speedometer told her he was speeding up.
 

“Let’s pull over until it stops raining,” she said.

“Screw you, man,” James said, as if she hadn’t spoken. “I’ll never be good enough. I’ll never be anything. I’m just a loser.” His foot tramped on the gas pedal. A red light loomed ahead.

Elliott grabbed the dashboard. “What the hell are you doing?”

“Jamie, don’t!”

“Shut up,” James said through his teeth. “Just shut up.”

“Stop this car right now,” Elliott said. “I’m warning you—”

“I don’t have to listen to you anymore. I’m not going to listen to you anymore.” His voice dropped to a normal tone. “I’m not going to listen to you anymore.”

“Jamie!”

As if her voice had snapped him out of his trance, her brother jerked the wheel to the right to avoid barreling into the intersection, where cross traffic was moving fast.

But the wet road was slick, and the car began to spin …

Chapter 13

James finished drying himself and listened. He heard a man talking to Austin, chuckling every so often, heard Austin’s answering giggle. Bailey was silent.

Bracing his hands on the vanity, he hung his head. He was out of control again, and he needed the people he cared about to stay away. He’d already proved once that when he got like this, no one was safe. Just ask his father.

No.

He reminded himself that the drugs had messed with his brain. Coupled with the bitter anger over Theresa’s death and frustration over his inability to ever meet his father’s expectations, the drugs had made him crazy. Worse than crazy. Stupid. Out of control.

That was then.

He wasn’t taking drugs now and vowed he would never again take anything stronger than Tylenol. And he’d dealt with the rage. As much as he could, anyway. He’d learned to control it.
 

Until last night.

He still saw Austin staring at him, tears welling. James had yelled at him for spilling his cranberry juice on the carpet. An innocent mishap. Seeing the tears in his son’s eyes, knowing he’d caused them, had enraged him. Disgust and desperation had quickly followed.

So he’d downed a few beers, wanting the buzz to dull the fear that gripped him.

He was about to lose everything.
 

Again.
 

Raising his head, he caught sight of himself in the mirror above the dresser.
 

Get it together, damn you. You’ll never get out of this if you fall apart.

He wasn’t going to lose his family, he vowed. He was going to fight for what he loved.
 

Even if it killed him.

Chapter 14

Cole walked out of the kitchen, drying his hands on a towel, to see Bailey dozing. She’d curled on her uninjured side and rested her head on the arm of the sofa.

Austin came up behind him. “Hey, you wanna see what Bailey got me? It’s a really super old camera that you have to focus all by yourself and—” He stopped when he saw his aunt. “She’s sleeping,” he whispered.

“Looks like.” Cole felt an odd clutch in the pit of his stomach.
 

“Is she sick?”

“Just a little.”

“She was really sick once. It made her cry a lot. She thought I didn’t see her.”

Cole’s pulse skipped at the thought of what would make this tough, fiercely self-sufficient woman cry. A lot. “It’s nothing for you to worry about, kiddo,” he said as he tousled the boy’s hair. She’ll feel better in no time.”

Austin’s tense shoulders relaxed. “Sometimes she snores. Not like my dad, but really soft. Like a girl.”

Cole chuckled as he bent to stack the dirty plates and glass on top of the pizza box on the floor. He made a mental note to tease her about that. If she ever gave him the chance. “Why don’t you gather up the newspapers and put them in a neat pile by the door?”

Austin dropped to his knees and went to work. “How come I’ve never seen you before?” he asked. “I see A.J. all the time. Do you know A.J.?”

“Yes, she’s very nice.”

“She’s dreaming.”

Cole glanced at Austin, puzzled by his words. The boy was staring at Bailey, newspapers clasped to his chest.

Cole’s gaze tracked to her. Her hands had formed fists, her brow furrowed as she rolled onto her back. A whimper escaped her, and her body twitched, reminding him of how a sleeping cat flinched as if dreaming of chasing a mouse. Of more concern to Cole at the moment, though, was the rigid way Austin stood, his young face white and fearful.

“Here.” Cole took the newspapers from him and thrust the pizza box and dirty dishes into his hands. “Could you take these into the kitchen for me?”

Austin didn’t budge. “I don’t like it when she dreams.”

“Austin.” Cole grasped the boy’s shoulder until his troubled green eyes focused on him. “Take this stuff into the kitchen for me, okay? Please?”

Nodding, Austin hurried away, though he glanced back once, and his steps faltered until Cole gestured for him to keep going. After Austin disappeared into the other room, Cole sat on the sofa beside Bailey. He hesitated, not wanting to startle her awake. But then she gasped, as if someone had driven a stake through her heart, and bolted up.

“Whoa!” He caught her arms and tried to still her, mindful of stitches that could break if she moved too violently. He’d thought she had awakened, but her eyes were squeezed shut. “Wake up, Bailey.”
 

She began to fight, and her strength surprised him.
 

He had to scramble to keep hold of her, shifting so that he was all but on top of her, one knee planted for leverage between her legs against the cushion, his other knee braced against the front of the sofa.
 

“Come on, Bailey.” He was careful to keep his voice low so as not to alarm Austin in the other room but firm enough to penetrate whatever had her in its grip before she hurt herself further. “Time to wake up.” He gave her a slight shake.

Her eyes popped open, and she stared up at him, her breath coming hard and fast. Her body, having gone limp as she’d broken free of the dream, stiffened anew. Her gaze fell, for an instant, to his mouth, only inches from hers.
 

Color flooded her white cheeks. “What are you doing?”
 

Laughing nervously, Cole told himself he should ease back. But he was suddenly aware of how soft she was against him, how warm. “You were dreaming. I was trying to wake you.”

“Oh.” She moistened her lips. “Think I’m awake now.”

The sight of the pink tip of her tongue moving over her lips slammed into his gut with the force of a punch. He stumbled into the coffee table in his haste to back off and caught his balance before he could fall. As he straightened, he was embarrassed to feel a rush of blood heat his cheeks.

Bailey watched him with bemused interest as she slowly sat up. “Graceful.”
 

He scowled at her, angry at himself for letting a certain part of his body take control of his brain for an unguarded moment. “Just trying to give you a hand.”

“Felt more like a grope to me.”

He saw the teasing light in her eyes, but then his gaze dropped to her breasts, and he wondered what it would feel like to run his palms up under her scrubs top. He yanked the hem of his T-shirt from where it had gotten caught in the waistband of his shorts. Jesus, was it hot in here or was it just him?
 

Luckily, she looked away from him to glance around. “Where’s Austin?”
 

“I sent him to the kitchen when you—” He didn’t know how to put it. When you began to whimper in your sleep? When the realization that you were having a dream paralyzed him?
 

She sighed with relief. “Good. That’s good. Thank you.” Closing her eyes, she tunneled the fingers of both hands through her hair and sat like that for several seconds.
 

“Want to talk about it?”

She lowered her hands. “God, no.” The remains of the nightmare faded from her eyes, leaving behind a bone-deep weariness that tugged at him.
 

“Have you?”

“Have I what?”

“Talked about it.”

“About what?”

“Whatever it was you were dreaming about just now.”

“Oh.” She checked her watch. “I need to call Austin’s grandmother to see if she can take him this morning. And, if you don’t mind, could you give me a ride to work? James isn’t … able.” She started to push herself up.

Cole held out his hand to help her, feeling a sense of triumph when she accepted it without hesitation. He decided to let her off the hook on the question she had just dodged. “Are you sure you’re up to working today?”

“I don’t have much choice with Carrie out.”

“I’m sure they’ll get by without you. They survived yesterday.”

“Do you know that for sure?” She gave him a teasing smile. “You haven’t seen today’s paper yet, have you?”

He grinned. “No, but I’m sure there’s more to it than just gray type.”

“I hope you’re not suggesting that photos are an expendable part of the newspaper.”

“Maybe I’m just saying that
your
photos are expendable.”

She feigned a scowl. “You’d better watch out. I hold a grudge.”

“Oh, and when you’re feeling better, you’re going to deck me?” He enjoyed the sparkle that lightened the green of her eyes.
 

“When you least expect it.”

She eased by him, and he stepped back a bit too hastily. To give her room, he told himself, though, more than anything, he’d executed the quick maneuver to avoid further physical contact with her. He was treading treacherous waters, and the temptation to let himself drown seemed dangerously stronger than his instinct to swim for shore.
 

“Austin?” she called.

“He adores you.”

She glanced askance at Cole, just long enough for him to glimpse the fleeting sadness. “Well, I’m pretty adorable.”

He was thinking that he might agree when Austin ventured out of the kitchen, wiping his hands on the back of his jeans. When he saw his aunt, a dimpled smile lit his face. “Hi,” he said.

“Hi,” Bailey said with a laugh. “Want to go to Nana’s?”

He clasped his hands before him as if resisting the urge to clap. “Again? Really?”

“You have to take a bath first.”

“Okay.” He raced for his bedroom but paused at the entrance into the hall and looked at Cole. “You’ll be here when I’m done, won’t you?”

Cole was pleased that Austin obviously liked him. “Sure.”

“Good.” Austin scampered down the hall.

“Hmm,” Bailey said. “I sense some competition.”

“Oh, yeah. By the end of the month, he’s going to be saying, ‘Bailey who?’ “

He didn’t realize what he’d said until he tossed her an exaggerated wink and she simply stared at him as if he’d sprouted angel wings.

“By the end of the month …”

That implied he planned to stick around.

Chapter 15

“I can’t believe you actually thought you were going to work today,” Anna Jordan said as she smoothed a bright yellow, floral sheet over the mattress of her queen-size bed.