Josh should go. Cole would never ask him to leave, but he was in the way. What if Gemma came back? What if they needed space to work through things and he stood in the way of that?
He’d start looking at short-term rentals that day—with any luck he’d find something workable and get out of Cole’s hair.
At six o’clock on the Sunday after the engagement party, Josh arrived, Chinese take-out in hand. Carly pulled the door open and the smell of Kung Pao chicken filled the entry of her small house.
She made a point not to notice the fact that he could make a simple T-shirt and pair of worn jeans look like that, focusing instead on what he had to offer.
“Hungry?” He held up the paper bag and gave it a shake.
“Starving,” she said. “I’ve been cleaning all day, getting ready—” But she couldn’t say it. She didn’t want to talk about Jaden’s surgery. She’d been over it and over it and she knew he would be fine, but every once in a while, those niggling what-if thoughts weaseled their way in.
Lord, I don’t know how to take control of this situation. I don’t like feeling helpless. I don’t like wondering whether or not he will be okay—I just pray you protect him tomorrow. No more surprises. Let everything go according to plan.
The prayers had been on a constant stream in her subconscious, as if her spirit was continually praying as she sprayed down toilets and folded laundry.
Josh must’ve seen the way she shut her thoughts down because his gaze on her was so intent she felt it in her stomach, as if he was asking if she was okay and telling her it would be all in a single glance.
But she didn’t need assurances from Josh or anyone else. They just needed to get through the next few months and then life could get back to normal.
“Hey, I found something interesting,” Josh said. He pulled a sheet of folded paper out of his back pocket and handed it to her.
“What’s this?”
“Read it.”
Carly opened the paper and found an article printed off the internet. Michigan Swimmer Powers Through Heart Condition. Her eyes skimmed the words on the page. This collegiate swimmer had Long QT and she was not only competing, she was winning.
“Her doctor gave her the all clear,” Josh said. “But it’s not just her doctor, it’s most doctors. If you look it up online, you get tons of articles that say they no longer restrict athletes with ICDs.”
“But Dr. Roby—”
“Is an old dude,” Josh said. “Maybe he hasn’t kept up on the latest developments.”
That couldn’t be true. Could it? He was older—a lot older—so maybe he’d grown tired.
“If there’s even a chance he could keep competing, we should look into it,” Josh said. “We promised.”
“No, you promised.” Carly sighed. She couldn’t deny he had a point. “Maybe I could call the school and get in touch with this swimmer.” She looked at the paper. “Elizabeth Maney.”
“Yeah?”
Carly re-folded the paper. “Let’s not mention it to Jaden though. I don’t want to get his hopes up.” Or mine.
Josh nodded in agreement.
“You gonna stand out there all night?”
Jaden must’ve come down from his room in the span of the last ten seconds without Carly noticing. His words tugged Josh’s attention, and he moved past Carly, who inadvertently inhaled his familiar scent as he walked by.
Get it together, Carly.
She reminded herself she was angry with him. She reminded herself that this was a man who would not stick. She reminded herself, but her self didn’t much want the reminder, it seemed, because when she entered the kitchen and found Josh and Jaden dishing up lo mein, the only thing she could think of was how very much she liked seeing them together.
And that defied all logic.
She shook the thoughts aside. She was just emotional with everything going on. Her head knew the truth.
“What did you do today?” Carly asked as Josh plunked an egg roll on his plate.
He licked some sauce from the end of his finger and glanced up at her. Her eyes dipped to his lips and she turned away.
“I went house hunting,” he said.
Her eyes darted back to his.
“Yeah?” Jaden asked. “You moving here?”
Her heart did a two-step. Josh would never move back here—according to Jaden, his life in the city was impressive to say the least. He wouldn’t trade an office in a high rise and a professionally decorated loft apartment for a quaint cottage in Harbor Pointe, Michigan. And he’d never consider moving back to the same town where his parents lived, no matter who else lived there.
Would he?
Josh took his plate and set it on the table with a shrug. “Nah, just looking for something temporary.”
Her pulse started to slow. Thank goodness.
Disappointment nagged at her innermost edges. What was that all about? She pushed it aside.
“Any luck?” Carly spooned fried rice onto her plate as Jaden sat down next to Josh.
“No, unfortunately. Everything is pretty booked. Seems like Harbor Pointe is the place to be in the summer.”
“Yeah, lots of tourists nowadays.”
The town hadn’t always been so desirable for vacationers. Sure, they had their share of visitors, but Josh hadn’t been around to experience a truly busy Harbor Pointe summer. They weren’t simply being visited anymore—they were being overrun.
Lots of the locals griped about all the extras—extra traffic, extra congestion, extra people on the beaches—but most could appreciate those extras for the good they brought.
Extra revenue being the trump card.
Carly added an egg roll to her plate, then turned around to find both Josh and Jaden sitting at the table, not eating. “What are you doing?”
“Waiting for you,” Josh said simply.
She glanced at the plate of food in her hand as a blush crept up the back of her neck. “You didn’t have to do that.”
“I tried to start,” Jaden said. “He made me wait.”
“It’s the polite thing to do,” Josh said.
She looked at the empty spot at the table, directly across from Josh, and it occurred to her how intimate a simple meal could feel—not because they were alone but because they weren’t. Jaden’s presence made them feel like a family, and that was the notion she couldn’t shake.
“You must be tired.” Josh stood, took her plate and set it on the table. He pulled out her chair and looked at her. “Sit.”
Robotically, she did as she was told, refusing to make eye contact with either one of them.
Josh walked over to the refrigerator and took out a pitcher of lemonade, pulled three glasses down from the cupboard and filled them with the tangy drink.
“Can we eat now?” Jaden asked.
Carly’s laugh was less because she was amused and more because she’d been holding on to a heap of nervous energy from the second Josh walked through the front door. Which was stupid—this was Josh. She shouldn’t feel giddy and nervous around Josh.
And yet—this was Josh. And Josh had always made her feel giddy and nervous, even when she was most comfortable with him.
Finally, he sat down, which turned out to be even worse for her ailing nerves because every time she looked up from her plate, there were those tragic blue oceans, intently focused on her.
“I had no idea this town had become such a hot spot,” Josh said.
She chose not to mention that his own father had been a key player in the rejuvenation of Harbor Pointe. As the city planner, it was often his office implementing the ideas that had led to the growth.
“Did you have a Realtor helping you?” she asked between bites of fried rice.
“Yes, Linda something-or-other,” Josh said. He’d never been very good with names. “She talked to me like I was crazy for even suggesting a short-term rental in this market.”
“Is Cole kicking you out?” Carly asked.
Josh bit i
nto the egg roll and shook his head. “He’d never kick me out—but I’m starting to feel in the way. You know Cole.”
Everyone knew Cole. He was the football coach the town was counting on to get their boys back on the right track. He was also the kind of guy who rarely spoke to anyone unless he had to—it amazed her that he seemed to know just what to say to a team of high school boys but appeared completely lost when it came to any other conversation.
He’d always been a little on the grumpy side, even before he and Gemma started having trouble. She could only imagine what he was like now that they’d split. “How’s he doing?”
Josh shrugged. “Doesn’t talk about it, but she showed up this morning, and then he spent the rest of the day in his workshop. I’m pretty sure he just needs to be alone right now.”
“Are you sure that’s good for him?” Carly asked. Cole Turner wasn’t the type to do anything stupid, but when someone was hurting, was leaving them alone really the best decision?
“I’ll still check in with him,” Josh said. “I just don’t want to be underfoot.”
“What about Grandpa’s old fishing cabin?” Jaden shoveled a bite into his mouth.
Carly nearly choked on her food. “What?”
“It’s not like Grandpa uses it,” Jaden said.
“It’s not exactly in the best condition.” Carly looked at Josh. “I don’t think you’re going to want to stay there—it’s probably pretty rough.”
She didn’t actually know that because she hadn’t set foot in that old cabin for over sixteen years.
Josh shrugged. “I don’t mind.”
She frowned. “No.” She wouldn’t say so, but she was ninety-nine percent certain her dad wasn’t going to want Josh there. Besides—she wasn’t sure how to reconcile the idea of Josh spending his days (and nights) in that cabin. Their cabin.
“A little dirt isn’t going to scare me off,” he said. “I’ve slept in worse places.”
Worse places like the old garden shed in her backyard.
The image of an eleven-year-old Josh at her back door, face stained with tears and back covered in welts, washed through her mind. “Can I sleep in your shed?” he’d asked. “Just until my dad falls asleep?”
She looked away. She didn’t want her sympathy for him to return—it messed with her resolve.
“I’ll text Grandpa.” Jaden had his phone out before Carly could blink.
“No, Jay.” Carly glanced up and found matching blue eyes trained on her. “Maybe I can talk to Quinn—she has a lot of connections around town. I’m sure she’ll know of someone with something you can rent short-term.”
“What’s the big deal?” Jaden asked, still poised to send his text to her dad.
She glanced at Josh, whose expression made it clear he knew exactly what the big deal was—and yet, he made no move to back her up.
She lifted her chin, as if to prove that there was absolutely nothing sentimental about that old fishing cabin. “No big deal. Go ahead and ask.”
Jaden clicked Send and set his phone on the table. She picked up her half-eaten egg roll and dragged it through the soy sauce on her plate.
No big deal. She’d just pretend that old cabin wasn’t the place where she and Josh would sneak away to when they wanted to be alone, that it wasn’t the place where Jaden had been conceived.
A lazy grin spread across Josh’s face, as if he’d just been reading her mind.
Unbelievable.
Jaden’s phone dinged, and he picked it up, slid it open and read what she could only assume was a text from his grandfather. “Grandpa says it’s totally trashed out, but you’re welcome to it.”
Carly glanced up and found Josh watching her again. Or maybe still. Had he stopped looking at her since he walked through that door?
“And you told him it was me who’d be staying there?” Josh asked, obviously aware of how her father felt about him.
“Yeah,” Jaden said. “He might’ve made some remark about it being about as good a place as you deserve, but he agreed, he said, because I asked.” He shoveled the last of his food into his mouth and stood. “Now that that’s all settled, we’ve got a date with a certain game.” He started toward the door.
“Hey,” Josh called out.
Jaden turned.
“Dishes.”
Jaden sighed, took his plate to the sink, rinsed it off and stuck it in the dishwasher. “Happy?”
“I’ll be there in a minute.”
Carly pushed a pea around her plate with her fork.
“Are you really okay with this? Me staying out there?”
She picked up her plate and walked over to the sink. “Makes no difference to me.”
“Carly.” And then he was standing beside her, close enough for their arms to touch.
It makes no difference. She’d tell herself that as many times as she had to to make herself believe it.
“But it’s not in great shape.” A step away from him to calm her racing pulse. “We can go out there tomorrow if you want to see for yourself. My dad never uses it anymore. I tried to convince him to turn it into a rental or to sell it, but Sheriff Gus never does anything that’s not his own idea.”
“And you’re good with it? Me staying there?” he asked.
She fished a container out of the cupboard next to the sink and scooped her leftover chicken and rice into it. “Yep. I’ll be fine.”
Was she trying to convince him or herself?
“I know you will be,” he said. “You always are.”
“I mean, you’re going to have to let me be the one to clean it up and make sure things are the way they’re supposed to be.”
His smile teased. “Of course.”
She shrugged. “Don’t mock me because I know what I want.”
A steady hum took hold of her as he forced her gaze to his and held on. “I won’t. So long as you don’t fault me because I know what I want.”
He wasn’t talking about the cabin. Oh, wow. Was he talking about her?
He cleared the leftovers and cleaned the table, and in a flash the room closed in on her and she struggled for a much-needed breath.
“I’ll get this,” she said, needing distance from him.
He turned off the faucet and looked at her. “I don’t mind helping.”
“I know,” she said. “But Jaden’s waiting for you, and I can get this. Thanks, though.”
He leaned against the sink and watched her for too many unnerving seconds.
“What?” she asked.
His lazy smile had returned. “It’s just nice to be in the same room with you is all.”
“If you’re going to be hanging out here after Jaden’s surgery, I think some ground rules are in order.”
“This should be fun,” he said.
She ignored him. “Rule number one: you’re not allowed to flirt with me.”
“Am I allowed to admire you?”
“From a distance.”
He took a step toward her. “How about from here?”
She inched away. “Absolutely not.”
He took a step back, crossing his arms over his chest. “But here’s okay?”
“You’re impossible,” she said.
“And you’re worth admiring—at any distance.”
“Josh.”
He held up his hands in surrender. “Sorry.”
Nothing about his tone sounded apologetic. “Go.”
“All right, I’m going.” He backed toward the door.
“What are you doing?” She faced him.
“Admiring from a distance,” he said. “Gonna do that every chance I get.”
She threw the dish towel at him and turned away.
The last thing she needed was for her traitorous smile to give him the wrong impression. Because she most certainly was not amused. And she did not find his flirting cute. And she did not feel the slightest fracture of the wall around her heart.
I’m in trouble now.
16
/> Dear Elizabeth,
My name is Carly Collins and my son was just diagnosed with Long QT Syndrome. He will have surgery in just a few days to have an ICD implanted. Jaden is a competitive skier, and his surgeon is advising that he stop skiing altogether as a result of his condition and the ICD. We ran across an article about you and your great success on the MSU swim team, so I wondered if we might be able to talk with you about your experience and maybe even get the name of your doctor?
If you have time, I would love to chat at your earliest convenience.
My number is below.
Thank you,
Carly Collins
Carly sat in the passenger seat of Josh’s truck, trying her best not to remember a single thing about that little fishing cabin her dad kept on the edge of town.
The cabin had been in their family for years, and her father swore that even just leaving their house felt like a vacation, regardless of the fact that it was barely twenty minutes away.
“I emailed that swimmer,” Carly said, mostly to break up the silence.
Josh glanced at her then back to the road. “And?”
“I just sent it, so we’ll see.”
“Should we reconsider this surgery?” Josh asked.
As they drove, she kept her eyes glued on a big white farmhouse with four kids out front jumping on a trampoline.
“I think he needs the ICD no matter what,” Carly said. “And Dr. Roby really is a good surgeon.”
“Should we maybe get a second opinion?” Josh asked.
Carly didn’t want to think about it. Dr. Roby had a big ego and a lot of pull at the hospital. If she disregarded his advice and Jaden started skiing, he would certainly hear about it.
And then what? She would look like she didn’t trust her own superiors. That didn’t bode well for someone wanting to move up the ranks.
But her son was more important than her career. And skiing was important to her son.
“Let’s just see what Elizabeth says.”
They pulled up in front of the cabin and Josh killed the engine. He’d packed his things into a duffel bag and picked her up promptly at nine that morning, fresh coffee waiting for her in the cab of his truck.
Just One Kiss: A Harbor Pointe Novel Page 13
