She turned to find a room full of women staring at her. And why not? The entire time she’d worked at Blue Heaven she’d been careful to keep to herself as usual. She’d been careful not to make any close friends or commitments so it wouldn’t be difficult to pick up and leave. It was always important to leave before you were asked to leave.
“I’m sorry, Gina,” Kailey said. “But I have to go see Joe. I think he might need me.” The TV announcer hadn’t said the word ‘fatality.’ There was still hope, wasn’t there? There had to be.
“Now?”
“Who the hell is Joe?” Mrs. Earby asked.
Kailey didn’t answer but gathered her tools and products, and placed them in her ever-present duffel bag. She’d already given her roommate a thirty-day notice because of the Housewives show, and now all she had to do was run home and get the rest of her clothes.
“Where should I send your last check?” Gina asked. “Will you be back to get it?”
“I’ll call you.” Kailey ran out the door to her car.
She threw her bag in and climbed in the driver’s seat of her old beater. Joe hated this car. He’d called it a nasty name and said she was risking her life every time she drove it. She’d told him it was all she could afford right now. Moving every few months cost a lot of money in deposits and she had debt she’d slowly been working to pay back.
Joe had suggested she move back in with him to save money. Tempting, yes, but no. Joe made leaving difficult, and leaving and moving on was what she had to do. It was in her blood.
She dashed back to her apartment and started throwing clothes and shoes into bags. Might as well move everything now, and since she traveled light it wasn’t an issue. She was a good two-hour drive away from Joe depending on traffic. Recently, she’d considered it was too close, actually, too tempting to take a drive up on the weekend. The Housewives show in Los Angeles was supposed to help with that problem, even if she wasn’t sure she could ever get far enough from a man who owned an airplane.
But being a drive away would come in handy tonight, as she’d be up north soon and able to find out Joe’s condition. There was only one hospital in Starlight Hill, and she dialed it from the inside of her car.
“I want to find out if you have a patient there. Joe Hannigan.”
The nurse sighed loudly. “I’m sorry, I can’t release that information.”
“But I’m—” What was she? Not his girlfriend, and since a month ago not even his hook-up. “His friend.”
“Honey, if you were his own mother I couldn’t tell you whether or not this person you’re speaking about is here or not.”
“You can’t even tell me if he’s there? You don’t have to tell me anything else!”
“Sorry.”
There was one person Kailey could call, but the last time they’d spoken the fiery redhead didn’t have anything nice to say. She’d hurled out a few “bless your hearts” (and not in a good way, Kailey could tell) and told her she didn’t deserve Joe. Even when Kailey agreed with her, Genevieve still wouldn’t stop talking.
But calling Gen was Kailey’s only real option, and taking the chance Gen might understand, might cut Kailey a break, she dialed Gen’s cell phone number. It went straight to voice mail.
“Gen, it’s me. Please call me back and tell me he’s okay?”
On the supremely long odds Joe might answer his phone and tell her it had all been a huge misunderstanding and there was actually another small plane pilot named Joseph Hannigan in Napa Valley, Kailey dialed his cell phone. It went straight to voice mail and his sexy husky voice leaving the usual curt message. He was a man of few words, a shame because his southern accent got her wet every time.
“Joe, call me back when you get this. Text me, call me, email me, Skype me, Facebook me, Tweet me. Anything, babe. Please. Just be okay.” Because she was that pathetic, Kailey dialed him back several more times to hear his voice.
Then she started up her car and drove out of the parking lot.
2
A two-and-a-half-hour drive to Starlight Hill took four instead.
That would be because Kailey turned back twice. Joe wouldn’t want her there. She’d screwed it all up beyond repair. He’d given her everything and she wouldn’t even give him friends-with-benefits status anymore. She’d never told him it was because she’d started to want much more, and one thing Kailey understood was the more you wanted something, the more it tended to disappear.
“Sooner or later you’ve got to stop running, darlin’.” Joe had said the last time they’d been together.
Then he’d rolled on top of her, kissing the column of her neck, her shoulder, teasing a nipple with his tongue and licking his way down. Worshipping her body as he always did, taking her right out of herself.
I don’t know how to stop running.
This was running too, and she was doing it again. She’d thrown everything in the car and left Los Gatos behind in one night. Not the first time she’d done it, either, and she didn’t think she could honestly say it would be the last.
“We’re doing this,” she said and pointed her car in the direction of Starlight Hill.
A couple of hours later she was in wine country again. A tiny little town similar to the kind of picturesque postcards foster mother number five liked to collect and post up on the refrigerator. The kind of place she’d never lived in before she’d met Joe. Her car drifted through the entrance of town and she passed the old fashioned firehouse. The twinkling fairy lights in trees were apparently kept lit year-round.
Welcome to the Gateway to Wine Country, a wooden sign read. Starlight Hill, population 7,334. There were cheery signs lining the streets announcing Founder’s Day this weekend.
When she arrived at St. Vincent’s at eight o’clock, Kailey had no idea where to go. She wandered the hospital floors, winding up on the maternity ward. This was no way to find him. As usual, she was lost with no sense of direction and no one to give her any help. She figured ‘where do they take plane crash victims?’ might not be the right question to ask. She’d already earned a few stares from orderlies and the watchful eye of a nurse.
Kailey took a seat on a chair in the hallway and tried to hold back the waterworks.
“Can I help you?”
Kailey looked up into beautiful blue eyes, almost violet. The name tag on her chest read Ivey Garner – Maternity Ward. “I don’t think so.”
She sat down next to Kailey. “Why don’t you try me?”
Kailey pressed her eyelids with the pads of her fingers. “I’m looking for someone and I don’t know where he is. And I’m not family so I can’t see him anyway.”
“Oops. You’re definitely on the wrong floor.” She laughed.
“No kidding.” Kailey appraised Ivey’s swollen stomach. “Doesn’t look like you’re on the wrong floor.”
She patted her stomach. “A little early. But I work here at the hospital, and so does my husband. Maybe he knows where your—”
Not such a subtle cue to reveal who Kailey was looking to find. Maybe make sure she wasn’t actually here to steal a baby or some such nonsense. “My boyfriend.”
“Okay. Maybe we can find your boyfriend, even if you might not be able to see him until tomorrow.” Ivey rose.
“Seriously?” Kailey didn’t know what to think. Women who looked like Ivey didn’t help women who looked like Kailey. Usually they judged her at the nose ring, but if they ever got past that, the half sleeve of tattoos on her arm ended most conversations.
“What’s your boyfriend’s name?” Ivey hit the elevator button.
“Joe Hannigan.” Kailey stepped inside the elevator, following Ivey. “Actually, he’s not my boyfriend anymore. He used to be, and now—”
“It’s complicated?” Ivey pushed for the fifth floor.
Kailey nodded. Complicated might be an understatement. “Do you know him?”
“Of course.”
“Right. I forgot everyone knows everyone in this town.” N
o chance to be an anonymous cog in a wheel here. It was how she’d lived most of her life, and the way she liked it. In the city no one thought her style was out of the ordinary. Here, she’d probably stop traffic.
“Eventually. But it was a plane crash, and that kind of news travels fast.” Ivey stepped off the elevator.
It probably sounded strange to say Kailey could feel him, but dang if it wasn’t the truth. Something wild and unnamed bubbled up in her chest and she wanted to scream his name down the hallways until he wandered out of his room annoyed.
For Ivey’s sake, Kailey held back. “He’s on this floor, isn’t he?”
“Yep.” Ivey nodded. “I was up here earlier with some of his friends and family.”
“Gen?”
“Gen, Wallace, Billy, Brooke, Scott, Sophia.” She smiled. “Have I forgotten anyone? I think they had to be chased out of here.”
Kailey sighed. Joe was here. Close. She could actually sit in this hallway and feel much better about everything. Being a few feet away from him might be enough for now.
But Ivey walked up to the closed door of Room 507 and tapped her hand on it. “This is his room. I didn’t treat him, so I’m telling you what I know as a friend. He had a concussion and they’ve kept him overnight for observation. Mostly he’s banged up— lots of cuts and bruises. Needed a few stitches. Quite a few actually. But the good news is he didn’t break any bones and no internal injuries. Tough guy, isn’t he?”
“Yeah.” Kailey placed her splayed palm on the door. Stupid.
Ivey gave her a kind look, which made Kailey want to start up with the waterworks again. “Maybe a quick peek?”
When Ivey opened the door an inch, Kailey nudged past her to see Joe, asleep. Looking as though he didn’t have a care in the world. As if he hadn’t just dropped out of the sky. A large bandage covered his left eyebrow but other than that he looked exactly like he had the last time she’d seen him. Hot. Hers.
“He’s not up for chatting even if you could go in and visit with him.”
“Sure. I understand.” Her spirits lifted, Kailey smiled at Ivey. “I don’t know how to thank you.”
Ivey touched Kailey’s shoulder. “Tell him. Okay?”
Kailey didn’t have to ask what Ivey meant. They both knew, and a silent kind of acknowledgement passed between them. “I will.”
Kailey walked back towards the elevators with Ivey. As they arrived, the doors dinged and out walked Genevieve carrying an overnight bag. “Bless your heart.”
“Hi, Gen.” Kailey pressed her lips together, ready for the onslaught.
“I brought Joe some clean clothes for when they release him tomorrow,” Gen said more to Ivey than to Kailey.
“I should go,” Ivey said, hopping on the elevator.
“Good-night, Ivey.” Gen smiled in Ivey’s direction.
“Thank you again.” Kailey wished Ivey would stay.
When the elevator doors closed, Gen turned her wrath up full tilt. “I don’t think you should have come. My brother is going to be fine. He had some cuts and bruises and a mild concussion. That’s it. And you know he never once asked for you? He’s worried about his plane.”
It was a nice dig, and nothing less than Kailey deserved. She was certain it was also true. “I wanted to see him.”
“Why? So you can mess with him some more?”
Kailey looked at the floor, then at Gen. “I guess I deserve that.”
Gen’s eyes narrowed and she studied Kailey. “Why are you really here?”
“I don’t know, Gen. Why would I drop everything and drive up here to see if he’s dead or alive? You wouldn’t return my calls!”
“I heard your message and I haven’t had time to call you back. I’ve been on the phone with my mother non-stop.”
“I was coming to see him either way.”
“I see.” If Kailey wasn’t mistaken, Gen’s eyes had softened a little bit.
“Yeah.” When a doctor stepped off the elevator, Kailey moved away from the elevators back to the chairs lining the hallways.
“What’s different this time?” Gen followed, and set the overnight bag down on an empty chair. “You know he’s never going to leave this town, and you hate it here.”
“Maybe I didn’t give this place enough of a chance.” Right now Kailey hoped there were more people like Ivey in town. People with heart. Like Joe.
“You sure didn’t.” Gen seemed to agree. “I wasn’t sure I wanted you for him, you know.”
“I know.”
“I want someone who will love him forever.”
“I will.” It wasn’t the first time she’d realized how much she loved him, but it was the first time she hadn’t run in the other direction. Instead, she’d run straight back to him. “I want him back. I think, I mean I hope he needs me.”
Neither one of them spoke for a minute.
“Where are you staying tonight?” No doubt about it, Gen had softened.
Kailey would have never guessed getting Gen to understand could be as easy as admitting the truth. “My car?”
Gen looked disgusted. Both Hannigans hated Kailey’s poor old car. “Don’t be silly. If Bert catches you asleep in your car he’ll take you home, make you sleep on his couch and feed you breakfast in the morning. And his wife is a horrible cook. I should know.”
“My credit cards are maxed out.” And as usual, she was a little strapped for cash. She hadn’t thought this trip through all the way. Obviously. Plane crashes had a way of doing that to her.
“You can stay at Joe’s,” Gen said.
Kailey wasn’t sure she’d heard right. “I can do what?”
Gen waved her hand dismissively. “You’re lucky I believe in second chances and all. Plus, I’m engaged to the love of my life. I’m going to be in a good mood for the next decade.”
How had Kailey missed the rock on Gen’s left hand? “Congratulations. Who did you get engaged to?”
“Wallace, of course.” This was said as if it were the most logical thing in the universe.
“Joe’s best friend Wallace?” Joe hadn’t mentioned it the last time they’d been together. Then again, they hadn’t done much talking. Holy cow, she would have loved to have been a fly on the wall when Joe found out. He tended to be uber protective of the women in his life. She had firsthand experience.
“The one and only.” Gen smiled. “I’ll be right back.”
Gen carried the overnight bag in the direction of Joe’s room and was back within a few minutes. “He’s still sleeping.” She moved towards the elevators, stopped and turned to Kailey. “What are you waiting for? We’ve got work to do.”
Kailey hopped up and ran to the elevator before Gen changed her mind.
3
The next morning, Kailey woke up in Joe’s bed. Alone.
It seemed as natural as the daylight flooding through the blinds for her thoughts to turn back to when she’d lived here, with him. Such a short time in her life, but by far the most wonderful memories she had in a life without many good ones. She had a habit of taking them out often, when she was alone and feeling depressed and discouraged.
“Mornin’, sleepyhead.” Joe stood beside their bed.
Kailey didn’t even need to open her eyes to know he’d be holding out a mug of coffee for her. “Ugh. What time is it?”
“Nine thirty. C’mon baby, time to get up.” His callused hand ran the length of her naked back, cupping her ass.
“Yes, it is time to get up. I agree.” She sat up the rest of the way, took a sip of her coffee and stared at the bulge in his jeans. Joe happened to love morning sex as much as she did, and they’d already had round one when he’d woken up three hours ago.
He gave her a sexy smile, equal parts grit and lust. “Don’t you have a second interview at the Curl up and Dye today?”
She did. With a manager who had looked over her bifocals at Kailey’s kick-ass boots and short skirt, and frowned. Kailey had a feeling she’d get the job because the manag
er loved Joe, and not because she thought Kailey would fit in with their establishment. She got it. She didn’t think she’d fit in, either. The only place she did seem to fit in was with Joe. If only they could live here in their little bubble forever. But she knew better.
“Not till later.” She set her mug down and tugged on Joe’s hand. “Get in here.”
He didn’t take his eyes off her. “This time I get to be on top.”
Kailey sighed and got out of bed, straightened the covers and fluffed the pillows. Last night she and Gen had hatched a plan, but Kailey worried Joe wouldn’t like it. He hated surprises.
Gen had brought over plenty of food, and a pre-cooked roast. All Kailey had to do was warm it up. Gen had encouraged Kailey to pretend she’d cooked it herself, but Joe would see right through that. He knew she couldn’t cook. But what could Kailey do? Gen was trying to help, and it felt good. Like someone other than Joe actually wanted her here. Though she wasn’t sure he still wanted her.
Today she would find out for sure.
She cleaned the entire house top to bottom like when she’d lived here. Something she was good at, since she’d spent most of her childhood cleaning. Bathrooms, especially. Her fourth foster mother liked the kind of spotless floor you could eat off of.
Following Gen’s precise instructions, Kailey took out the pot roast Gen had cooked and started warming it on a low flame. According to Gen, Joe had doctor’s orders to rest and relax for the next two weeks, which would be difficult for him. That’s where she came in. She’d entertain him—in his favorite way, and then in a thousand other ways. She had a list somewhere. They were finally going to check out this little town the way he’d wanted her to do when she first moved here. When all she’d wanted to do was lay around in bed with Joe. She hadn’t given anything else much of a chance.
By four o’clock Kailey had bitten off the last of her nails, when she heard a car door slam outside. She heard Joe and Gen arguing about whether or not he needed help getting inside. Sounded like Joe won the argument, and Kailey heard Gen’s car drive away. She waited, holding her breath. How would he respond to seeing her here again, in the same little house they’d lived in for a month? She hoped he would be happy but for one second as she heard the door opening, a cold stab of fear kicked her in the gut.
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