by Vivian Arend
They headed down the hallway, peeking into what must’ve been individual rooms. Not much was left except the structure itself, but Karen ran a hand down the dark walnut paneling with approval. “These would be beautiful reused.”
They’d made it through about a half dozen rooms, picking out things that were worth saving, when Ollie took off. She barked loudly as she headed up the stairs to the second floor.
Lisa apologized quickly, slipping after her pet. “Sorry. Don’t know what’s gotten into her.”
Karen stepped toward the next room, sliding past Finn close enough that their bodies touched. Warm and soft and sneakily intimate. The hallway was narrow enough to explain having bumped together, but that didn’t answer why she had that look in her eyes. Her hips swayed just enough to brush against him a second time.
He stared, hunger aching in his gut.
Reality returned in a rush when Zach nudged his side. His friend’s concern shone clearly as he pointed upward. “I don’t know that anyone should be running around on the second level.”
Shit. “Lisa, hold up. It might not be stable up there.”
That got everybody’s attention.
Karen was on the move as well, calling after her sister. “Lisa. Slow down and call Ollie back.”
“It’s okay. The stairs are solid, and she’s right here.” Lisa stopped at the top of the landing then bent and wiggled her fingers. “Come on, sweetie. Come show me what you found.”
Finn slipped up the stairs and past Lisa, assessing the boards between him and the dog. “I’ll grab her.”
He moved slowly, trying to guess where the support beams were beneath the floorboards.
Ollie was sitting now, nose pointed intently at a small hole in the corner of the room. Finn got down on his hands and knees and peered inside to discover a pair of diamond-shaped eyes staring back at him.
The teeniest meow triggered a series of barks from Ollie, and suddenly the kitten was gone, back into the wall.
“I’ll grab this one for you, then I’ve got someone else to deal with.” Finn had Ollie by the scruff a second later, transporting the squirming beast back to her owner.
Lisa tucked Ollie under her arm and slipped down the stairs.
“Need a hand?” Zach asked.
“Careful,” Karen said. The two of them stood at the top of the stairs. Karen’s gaze snapped over the floorboards with growing horror. “Finn? I think you’d better get back here.”
The meow sounded again.
To hell with it. Finn dropped to his knees, reaching into the hole and hoping nobody had set rat traps in the building in the past.
A swear burst from Zach. “Finn. Leave it. Something’s coming apart. That section of the floor is going to—”
“Get out. Now,” Finn ordered as his hand brushed fur. It was enough to allow him to hook a finger around a limb and haul the creature forward.
As he lifted the kitten in the air, a cloud of sawdust exploded in his face. The wall in front of him deconstructed like a mummy being hit with a cyclone wind. A loud crash echoed in his ears.
He fell.
Finn scrambled at the floorboards with his free hand, but the wooden slats pulled apart like toothpicks, flying from his grasp as he plummeted downwards. He hoped like hell Karen and the others had retreated down the stairs far enough—
He hoped his feet would touch first so he could roll with the momentum, but something swung into him from the side, pushing his legs to the right and propelling him into a solid object.
The space above him dropped, and he landed hard as something stabbed through his lower leg.
His teeth jammed together, trapping a shout inside even as his body screamed silently in protest.
Searing pain shot through his right leg, and something soft but extremely pokey jabbed his left hand. Finn pushed through the waves of pain radiating from his shin and sucked in a breath. Adrenaline rushed his system.
Clouds of dust were settling around him, and shouts sounded from a distance. Zach and Karen. Familiar voices that made him tense for a moment until he realized they were calling his name.
Good. They were safe.
He held it together long enough to lift his hand in front of his face to discover he held a snow-white kitten. The little thing had its claws sunk in deep, and it was quivering but not trying to escape.
He saw stars. Then nothing.
9
Karen finally knew what that phrase heart in your throat actually felt like.
It wasn’t something she’d been hoping to experience.
After they rushed down the stairs, the deafening noise that exploded behind them had ripped her apart in so many ways.
All she could picture was that second before escaping, where Finn had stared back at her, concern in his eyes as he ordered her to safety. Then everything had crumpled like a house of cards collapsing in on itself.
“Finn. Dammit, answer me,” Zach shouted, scrambling forward before the timbers had finished settling.
Karen caught the back of his collar with both hands, jerking him to a stop so he didn’t rush into danger. “Finn won’t thank you if you get hurt going after him. Wait.”
Although, she was quivering on the spot as well. Everything in her wanted to push past Zach that second and find out what had happened.
Thankfully, the crashing soon died down, and the instant the air quieted, both she and Zach were on the move, shouting Finn’s name. The air was full of dust, sunlight turning the motes into cloudy spotlights.
A muted groan sounded, and both she and Zach veered to the right. They stepped over fallen debris, moving toward the spot where a pile of timbers crisscrossed over Finn’s body.
Fear coated her tongue. She hurried as quickly as possible to his side.
“I called 9-1-1,” Lisa shouted from somewhere behind them. “And a bunch of the crew members are on their way over.”
Which was a good thing because Finn was buried under heavy beams, his tanned face shockingly pale in the shadowy corner where he lay.
Karen held her breath as she pressed her fingers to his neck. A second later she exhaled sharply. “He’s got a strong pulse. Hey, Finn. You’re going to be okay.”
He had to be okay. That was all there was to it.
“Dammit, Finn. What the hell were you thinking?” Zach shifted a piece of wood away then cursed. “Lisa. We need some help in here.”
The next timeframe passed in an eerie combination of slow-motion and high-speed chaos. Half a dozen guys were in the space, lifting things off Finn. A tiny kitten opened its mouth, its little pink tongue drawing Karen’s attention. She scooped it up from where it had nestled in the crook of Finn’s arm and settled it inside her outer shirt.
Zach had his hands clamped around Finn’s leg, rich red smearing his fingers. Karen held Finn’s hand, and as a log beam was lifted off, his eyes fluttered open, and he groaned loudly.
“Hang in there, buddy,” Zach said. “Don’t try to move.”
“You guys good?” Finn’s stunned gaze danced over Karen’s face. “You get hurt?”
“Dumbass.” Zach responded before Karen. “You’re the one who went surfing. The rest of us took the stairs like normal human beings.”
“Wasn’t my idea.” Finn’s face contorted for a moment. “Hurts like hell.”
Karen squeezed his fingers, leaning in a little closer so he didn’t have to strain to see her. “We’ll take care of you.”
In spite of the pain on his face, hopefulness flashed in his eyes. “Promise?”
It was good to be able to answer honestly and instantly. “Promise.”
As if her answer was as good as a shot of morphine, the tension drained out of him. Finn’s eyes closed, but the grip of his hand in hers increased as he held on tightly.
His thumb started that back-and-forth motion again. The one that was so familiar and so right.
“Do we get him out?” asked one of the crew, staring in horrid fascination.
Zach met Karen’s gaze. “Everything else seems solid enough. I think it’s safer to keep him here.”
“Then we won’t move him,” she agreed. She looked up and offered a few orders. “Grab some blankets. And send someone to the gate so the emergency crew knows where to come.”
“What can I do?” Lisa asked.
Karen reached into her shirt for the kitten that had been kneading its claws against her stomach. “Take this. Wait—first, we need something to help Zach apply pressure.”
Zach motioned Lisa over. “Take off my belt. I need to get the bleeding slowed, but I’m not about to go near that bone.”
The one that was poking through sturdy jean fabric, and God, Karen knew Finn had to be in a ton of pain, but he just lay there, breath ragged, his fingers linked iron-tight with hers.
They stabilized him as best they could. Lisa helped Zach tighten the belt around Finn’s upper thigh then took control of the kitten. Karen ignored the blood on Zach’s hands and soaking through Finn’s jeans. Instead, she offered Finn a steady stream of reassuring words.
The local emergency crew arrived before the ambulance did, which meant Julia was there, sliding in next to Karen, while Brad Ford took his place on the other side.
“You with us, Finn?” Julia asked, all business after giving Karen a quick shoulder squeeze.
“Don’t want to be.” The words came out rumbling and low. “Hurts.”
“We’ll get you fixed up, then you’re taking a trip to Black Diamond.” Brad motioned to Julia, and they worked quickly, stabilizing him even more and offering a painkiller to help until the ambulance arrived.
“Much better,” Finn said, his grip on Karen’s hand loosening slightly. Then he opened his eyes, heavy-lidded, and unerringly met her gaze. “Come with me.”
“You got it.” He wasn’t going anywhere without her.
In the end, Zach drove and Karen rode with him, following the ambulance to the hospital where Finn was taken into surgery almost immediately.
Karen’s skin crawled as she sat there in the white-walled emergency waiting room, hands clenched, staring at the clock as they waited for news.
God, she hated hospitals.
Beside her, Zach seemed just as miserable. He alternated between sitting forward, head supported in his hands, and bouncing to his feet and pacing. His boots scuffed heavily on the linoleum floor.
He dropped into the seat next to her for what had to be the twentieth time before he finally spoke. “So damn stupid. We checked all the buildings. Somehow I fucked up.”
“It’s not your fault,” Karen began.
“It’s got to be my fault. I’m the one who okayed the building. I could’ve sworn it was structurally sound enough to be in. I never would’ve taken any of you in if it was close to collapsing.”
Karen laid a hand on his arm. “Of course you wouldn’t have. There must’ve been some flaw that showed up in the past while. The big rainstorm we had the other day—maybe it messed with the footing.”
Zach threw himself back in the chair, legs stretched out in front of him, utter dejection on his face. “Doesn’t make sense.”
“Doesn’t help anything for you to beat yourself up over something we can’t change,” Karen said dryly. “And you tell me. You think Finn will give you hell for this?”
He hesitated. “Probably not, but we’ve already established that he’s kind of a dumbass.”
A snort of amusement escaped her before she could stop it. The next thing to arrive was a wave of emotion that overwhelmed her. Tears rushed upward, and the next thing she knew, Zach pulled her against his chest and patted her back as she cried her eyes out.
“Hey. It’s okay. It’s going to be okay. That stubborn bastard will be bossing us around in no time. Hell, he’s probably telling the doctor how to fix his leg right now. Opinions? He’s always got a few.”
It had to be partly from memories as well as the current tension, because Karen wasn’t the type to lose it like this. Hospitals were not somewhere she enjoyed, and she would admit that to anybody who asked.
But her loss of control was humbling, nevertheless. Slowly letting the tension go, her breathing evened out. Zach patted her back the same way Tamara would’ve. His hug was comforting, like having family to hold.
Finn’s words came back to mind. How he trusted Zach implicitly.
While Karen wasn’t certain what exactly she was signing on for, she knew her future involved being with Finn, at least for the summer.
She gave Zach a final squeeze then pulled herself together, accepting the tissues he handed her to wipe her face dry.
The smile she put on was a little on the watery side, but it was an attempt. “Thanks. It will be okay, but you know he’s stubborn.”
“As the day is long,” Zach offered.
Karen ran through options quickly. “I don’t know what they’re fixing, but I know how it felt when I broke my leg. What can we do to make the time when he gets out of here easier?”
Zach considered. “Depending on what type of cast he gets, he might not be able to drive.”
“Skip that part for now,” Karen suggested. “How are you guys set up at the house? Will he be able to get around safely?”
“We can set up a bed in the living room. There’s no way he’ll be able to do stairs.” Zach hesitated. “Or put it this way, he’d probably insist on doing the stairs, but we should try to set it up so that he avoids them.”
She refused to beat around the bush. “There’s a second bedroom in the cottage. I think he should move in with me.”
Her determined announcement seemed to knock the wind out of Zach’s sails for a moment. Then he examined her carefully. “You don’t have to do that.”
Ride or die.
“I want to,” she admitted. She met his gaze straight on. “I’ve been waffling for too long. Finn says you know about our past, so you’ll get that me having to help him with anything personal won’t be an issue.”
She didn’t expect the soft chuckle in response. He reached down and tucked his fingers under her chin. “Sugar, Finn wanting to be in a relationship with you again wasn’t him looking for a nurse.”
“Yeah, but we don’t always get what we want, do we?” She waved a hand. “Look, first off, I meant it about the two bedrooms. This is about him having a place to sleep that’s comfortable and safe. Secondly, you know Finn. The amount of nursing I’ll get to do will be slim to none after he gets his feet under him, so to speak. I’m just saying…” She hesitated, because it was still so fresh and new, this idea of taking the chance. “I need to be there for him. Does that make sense?”
A slow smile spread over Zach’s face. “It makes sense. And if you need anything, like help holding the bastard down because he’s doing something he shouldn’t, you call me. You got that?”
“It’s a deal. We’re a team.”
The entry door opened, and Karen’s sisters piled into the room.
“What’s the latest word?” Tamara demanded.
“How are you doing?” Lisa echoed in the same tone.
Julia tilted her head toward the nurse’s station and went to run interference. “I’ll grab an update.”
It was like having a whirlwind join them, and it was perfect. It was family wrapping themselves around her and Zach in the way her sisters always had.
Which made waiting that much easier. She wasn’t alone.
She didn’t have to be alone.
Bright light stabbed through the window. A pulse set off at the back of his skull, the same tempo as the blood drilling through his veins. Finn closed his eyes briefly then tried opening them again, but everything refused to focus.
“Slow down, pal. You’ve got nowhere to go and a long time to get there.”
Finn swiveled toward the voice, and a sharp pain struck. “Shit.”
Raising a hand to rub his neck ended with his arm jerking to a stop after not even an inch.
“Finn. Chill.” A hand settled on his
arm, and Zach’s familiar voice buzzed on, a low lilt of laughter in the tone. “Figured you’d wake up swinging. You’re okay. You’re in a hospital bed, and you probably feel like you got hit by a Mack truck. Stop jerking yourself around and ease into it.”
It sounded like good advice, so as tough as it was, Finn took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Relaxing even as he did a quick assessment of what hurt and what didn’t.
The first list was a hell of a lot longer than the second one.
When he finally opened his eyes and blinked the world into focus, Zach was sitting beside him, his cocky grin noticeably missing.
“Who died?” Finn asked, his throat raspy and dry.
Zach’s lips twisted for an instant. “Bastard.”
“Can’t get rid of me that easily.” Finn glanced down to take a closer stock of the situation. “Hell, that’s going to make it difficult to finish my dance lessons.”
The bed was bent into a vee, pillows behind Finn propping him until he was almost upright. His left leg stretched under the blankets, but his right one was raised in the air, a half dozen pulleys and ropes propping it into a convoluted position.
His left arm was strapped to the guard rail, IV tubes disappearing to the left of the bed.
A curtain to his right, a window to the left, and a clock on the wall that said nine. “It’s a little bright out for that to be nine p.m.”
“You lost a night,” Zach told him. “You were awake earlier but pretty doped up from the surgery. I’m sure the nurses will be in here to explain stuff, but other than head-to-toe bruising, most of you survived a building collapse really well.”
Finn reached up and ran a hand over his thigh. “And the part of me that didn’t hold up well? Looks like crap.”
“I have been up close and personal with more of your bones in the last twenty-four hours than I ever want to see again.” Zach undid the strap holding Finn’s arm in place then leaned back in his chair and folded his arms over his chest. “There was some fancy medical term for it, but basically you smashed your tibia hard enough that it decided to try and crawl out of your body. Congratulations. You will now set off TSA security. They installed two metal rods while putting you back together.”
