Cyrus squeezed Dana’s hand again, and Myron gripped her shoulders, all of them infusing her with their strength. “Together,” Cyrus agreed. No one was going to hurt his family again.
No one!
Chapter One
Three weeks earlier, New York City
Ashlynn Stone bit her lip as her nerves got the better of her. The kindhearted nurse stood above her, she wondered if she had the courage to go through with this.
“Ms. Stone, are you sure you’re ready to see the scars?”
“No, but sometimes our imagination is worse.” She accepted the mirror from the nurse and closed her eyes. Brave words, but she would never be ready. With shaking hands, she raised the mirror and let out a cry. She traced the scar above her left eyebrow moving down to the place below her ear on her neck.
She returned the mirror with a thank you and laid her head back on the white hospital pillowcase. The plastic surgery had done little to hide the ugly and ragged mark. Her career as a model was over, and any hope she had lay like those bandages on the floor. The headaches kept her up at night with such pain it split her head in two. Hurt so fierce she thought she would die from it. To hell with a career built on fake beauty. What she wouldn’t give for some inner peace.
The nurse touched her arm. “Bad luck the light falling from the truss.”
“Indeed.” What else could she say? At least this nurse hadn’t mouthed platitudes, saying it would heal, or it didn’t look so bad. At least she hadn’t lied to her. Because it was bad, but her beauty would’ve faded anyway, right?
So far, she was less upset about the loss of her career as a top model than she’d expected to be. Her mother seemed more devastated by the turn of events, but she always put a great deal of credit on appearance and name, and what a coup it had been to have a beautiful daughter to brag about. Her daughter the model. But now her mother could barely bring herself to look at her. In the last two weeks, she’d visited only once for a moment.
Her father, who had through her life always been less hands-on, came every day, sitting with her for hours on end. He would come between his rounds to check on her and stay with her while she slept. For the first time in her life, she saw her father as a person, not only the top OB/GYN in New York or the society husband she’d always thought him to be.
The soft knock filled the room, and she flinched as the sounds bounced around inside her skull. The nurse frowned at her. “Shall I send them away?”
“I think it depends on who they are.” She would prefer her mother went away, rather than rattle on about how much weight Ashlynn had put on or some top-notch surgeon she had found.
“Okay, but if you want me to get rid of them, just say your head hurts and you need your meds.”
“Thank you.”
“Jessie?” The last person she expected to see walk through the door was Jessie Ranata, her estranged sister’s best friend. As Dana had been disowned by her mother over a year ago in front of friends and family and had shown no interest of keeping in touch with anybody else, Jessie’s visit shocked her. A small part of Ashlynn had expected Dana to call or show up. If anything would’ve brought her back, this should have, but having been on the receiving end of her mother’s displeasure, Ashlynn had to acknowledge it sucked enough to send her running away.
“I hope it’s all right. I thought about calling but chickened out. In the end, I figured a surprise might be best.” Jessie glanced at the nurse before walking in, her voice low as if mimicking the darkness of the room.
“Jessie, of course it’s okay. I’m simply surprised.”
A larger-than-life smile came over Jessie’s face. She was weighed down with the shopping bags of a woman with too many credit cards and too much time on her hands. “I have to admit I have paced outside the hospital today for about an hour, wondering whether to come in or not. Then I spent another twenty minutes wandering the halls, wondering if I should enter your room.”
“I’m glad you stopped in. It’s nice to have visitors.” Ashlynn watched as Jessie fought with the bags in her arms and then dropped them on the table across the room, a gigantic shopping bag with blue bears on it from one of the uptown baby boutiques on the top. “Someone’s having a baby?”
Jessie paused. “You’re joking right?”
“I saw the baby bag and wondered if you were….”
“No I’m not pregnant, I thought you…. It’s Dana.”
“Dana’s pregnant!” Ashlynn screeched and regretted it as her head reverberated all the way to the base of her neck.
“I thought you knew.” Jessie stood and reached for a wet cloth from the sink. “Headaches? This might help if I place it over your eyes. I promise not to stay long. I wanted to see if I could help. I never meant to make it worse.”
“Does she know?” Ashlynn asked then clarified. “About my accident. I assume she knows she is preggers.”
Jessie shook her head before laying the cloth over her brow. “Did you call her? Did anybody think to inform her?”
“The news played the damned video of the light falling on my head for days on end.”
“Yes, well, The Wiccan Haus isn’t known for its TV and Internet. Someone should have given her a call.”
“Why would we call? She hasn’t called us since she left, didn’t even bother to tell us she got married until after the fact.”
After a long silence, Jesse spoke. “I can’t imagine she would’ve said anything to anyone after the way your mother disowned her.”
“I didn’t disown her.” And she hadn’t. She and her sister had never been close, but she wished they had been.
“No, but you didn’t stand up for her either, so perhaps she found your silence agreement enough.” Jessie flipped the wet cloth. “I shouldn’t have come. I heard about the accident, and then I heard about the scar tissue and I thought I’d give you this.” She fished something out her bag.
“What is it?” Ashlynn asked peeking around the cloth.
“It’s a cream. It might not help. It won’t take away the scars, but it should soften them, make them less visible, less noticeable.”
“What is in it?”
“Oh, don’t open it yet, smells horrid but it works. Sage Rowan at the Wiccan Haus made this for me. There isn’t a lot left, but if you want more, I’ll ask her to make some.”
“Thank you. That is kind. I wonder if she has something for these headaches.”
“You might be surprised. Perhaps you should book a week or two there. When all else fails, they seem to be able to work miracles.”
“That might not be such a bad idea.” The deep voice of her father, Dr. Eugene Stone, pulled her attention back to the door which had opened without her noticing.
“Dad?”
“Have another headache, do you? Hello, Jessie, what a surprise.”
Jessie fidgeted in her seat. “I wanted to stop in and see how she was doing and give her something.”
His smile held sadness. “Very kind of you.”
An awkward silence followed as Ashlynn wondered when Jessie would check her watch and make the inevitable is that the time? excuse. But it didn’t happen, and after some time, her father said in a voice choked with emotion, “How is she?”
“Dana?” Jesse asked, her voice strained.
“Yes.”
“You have to say her name if you want me to answer. You have to acknowledge she exists.” Bitterness laced Jessie’s comment.
Ashlynn’s head hurt from the tension in the room, but she needed to know more about Dana’s life than her marital status and intent never to come home again. Shock ran through her at the tears glistening in her dad’s eyes.
Ever since the night Dana left her fiancé at the altar, nobody had spoken her name in their house. Even the day a courier delivered the exact amount of money spent for the wedding that never happened, no one talked about her. Almost as if Dana never existed.
“Is Dana all right. I
s she happy? Does her husband treat her well? I don’t even know his name.” Dr. Stone rubbed a hand over his weary face.
Jessie’s shoulders relaxed. “She’s very happy, and Rekkus treats her like a princess. He adores her. His last name is hard to pronounce. Don’t ask me to try, I can’t, it’s some old Welsh family name.”
“This Rekkus, what does he do?” Her dad took a seat in the rolling chair at the foot of her bed. He inched closer to Jessie, waiting for information on his daughter.
“Officially, he is head of security for the Wiccan Haus, but I will eat my purse if he is simply a security guard. And, he isn’t your run-of-the-mill mall cop. This guy screams Special Ops.”
“You seem to like him,” he noted, leaning forward.
“I do but I don’t know him very well. He isn’t a get-to-know-you kind of guy. I think he tolerated me because Dana wanted me there.”
“Do you think she’s happy?”
Jessie nodded. “I think you need to consider taking Ashlynn to the Wiccan Haus. You’ve tried every bit of modern medicine to help her. It’s been in every paper on every newscast. I have seen them work miracles on the island, and Dana has talked about the amazing work they do. It would be worth a try.”
“You think they can help?”
“I do, and what have you got to lose?”
“Feeling as she does about us, do you think she would even want us there?”
Jessie shrugged again but nodded. “There’s only one way to find out. Make a reservation. If they accept it, then you go. If they say no, you have your answer.”
“I did some research on the island when your sister decided to stay. They seem legitimate. I worried at first they were a cult who’d gotten their claws into her. But the more I read, the more impressed I became. I am very worried about these headaches, and if they can help, I think we need to try.”
“Me, too, Dad.” She took his hand and squeezed it. “There’s something else. Jessie told me she’s pregnant.”
“Pregnant?”
“I don’t think it’s been an easy pregnancy, either. My last visit was at Rekkus’ request, not Dana’s. He thought a visit from me would cheer her up, and when you meet your son-in-law, you will understand why I am concerned.”
“I’m not following.”
Neither did Ashlynn, but she assumed her headache made it hard for her to follow the conversation.
“Rekkus, though he loves Dana, is not what you would call a people person. He would be quite happy to never have a single soul besides Dana and the Rowans set foot on the island.”
Chapter Two
The thick mist engulfed the ferry. Jessie had mentioned it, but until Ashlynn saw the wall with her own eyes, she hadn’t grasped how immense a fog wall could be. A small amount of terror ran down her spine. It was something out of a horror film. Almost as if they would never return the same as they left.
The crew worked together without a single word being spoken. A pale woman no more than four and a half feet tall approached Ashlynn and handed her a set of big, obnoxious brown earphones. She pointed to her head. As the pressure in her skull increased so did comprehension. She put the ear protection on, and, for the first time in weeks, all pain receded.
The pressure in her skull eased, and a wave of exhaustion came over her. Fighting the pain had become so draining. She’d believed she would never be without it again. She relished the feeling of nothing and dreaded the return of normal. As the island came in sight, she removed the headset, overcome by the view in front.
“On my.”
“Just you wait. This is nothing.” A middle-aged woman with streaks of silver running through her black hair took a deep breath and smiled. “It gets better every time I come.”
Her dad stood at the port side. “What do you think, Dad?”
“I think I can understand why your sister stayed.” His smiled was edged with apprehension. After all, no one could guess how Dana would react to them. And having always been the golden child, Ashlynn had never bothered to understand the plight of her older sister. In fact, growing up, she would have done anything to remain the golden child. Now her mother did all the things she had done to her sister. She belittled the weight Ashlynn had packed on since the accident, ignoring the basic needs of the daughter she purported to love. Ashlynn had a glimpse of the hell Dana had experienced growing up. “Where’s Mom?”
“Your mother is in a snit. She’s in the dining area and refuses to come out. Perhaps informing her where we were going after the boat had sailed was not a good plan after all.”
Ashlynn didn’t understand her dad’s need to have her mother come along at all, but perhaps if the people on this island could help with her headaches, it could help her mother as well.
A long, well-maintained dock came into view. Ashlynn walked to the bow of the ship and viewed the path leading to the hilltop. Before the enormous Bavarian building stood three forms. “I think that’s Dana there, by the main building.”
Her dad put an arm around her shoulders. “I wasn’t sure they would know who we were. When I made the reservation, the curt woman didn’t ask or allow me a second to say we were related to Dana.”
“Perhaps Dana greets every boat.” She gazed back up toward the three figures. The two men dwarfed her sister, made her look petite. A word no one in her house had ever used to describe Dana.
“Perhaps, or maybe she is meeting her demons head on.”
At the sound of someone clearing their throat behind them, they turned to find one of the crew members. “Dr. Stone, your wife is refusing to disembark when we dock. Shall we ask security to escort her off? We are not heading directly back to the mainland, so she cannot stay on the boat.”
He shook his head. “I will deal with my wife.”
Ashlynn followed her dad into the cabin as the crew brought luggage up on deck in preparation for docking. They didn’t need to deal with the diva woman as well. Although, looking at the well-muscled crew, she doubted they would have any problems dealing with anyone.
Their mother sat by a table. “Nancy, it’s time to get ready. Come up on deck. The island is beautiful,” her father said in a calm voice.
“I will be damned if I set foot on that hippy island.” She stared past them. “They will take me back to the mainland immediately, or I’ll go on every social network and make sure everyone hears how subpar this hotel is.”
“You have two choices. You can move of your own volition or you can have security remove you. You can make a scene and have your daughter’s husband order his men to deal with you.”
“And Jessie said Rekkus would like nothing more than to embarrass you the way you have embarrassed Dana,” finding her voice, Ashlynn added.
“I embarrassed Dana.” Turning on Ashlynn, her mother’s screech echoed through Ashlynn’s head causing her to grab it in pain.
“Nancy, enough. Ash and I will be disembarking. If you don’t, I’ll see to it every person on the ship chats with the press when we return if security has to remove you! I’m here to see if we can’t amend our broken relationship with our daughter while healing the other. I don’t need you to do this, my dear, whether you come on or don’t, I don’t care.”
The boat bumped the edge of the dock, and Ashlynn grabbed the rail to stay upright.
Ashlynn murmured, “Mother, you coming?”
“I don’t have much choice, do I? But I don’t have to like it, and I certainly don’t have to be polite to your sister. Dana is no daughter of mine. You might remember that as you collude with your father.”
She wanted to say something to her mother about how Dana seemed happy enough without any of the Stones in her life. Ashlynn began to believe perhaps not having her mother in her life would make her happy as well, but she left it unsaid. Whatever she wanted to say wouldn’t make a difference anyway, even if it would’ve left her mother openmouthed with shock. Seeing her mother speechless would’ve given her great joy, b
ut in the end she did what she always did, she lowered her head and walked away. She joined her father, yet neither acknowledged her mother’s presence behind them.
Her father picked up his bags and went to pick up Ashlynn’s as well when a tall dark man stepped forward. The other man boarded as soon as the ramp had been attached to the ferry. His uniform connoisseur of a tight-fitting black T-shirt over what even Ashlynn had to admit was a well-cut body from his broad shoulders to his formfitting black jeans that left nothing to the imagination.
“Miss Stone, we will take your bags up to your room.” He lifted the two bags as if they weighed no more than a feather pillow and threw them over his shoulders before he headed back off the dock, leaving Ashley with a weak smile. She hadn’t packed much but carrying anything more than her purse hurt, and she didn’t want her father having to carry it up for her. From behind, she could hear the sound of another security guard.
“Mrs. Stone must carry her own.” She spun to see another security guard dressed in the same black uniform and combat boots.
Her mother bridled, unused to being ordered about. “I thought this was a top-notch resort. I will not carry my own bags like some peon.”
“Every able-bodied guest carries their own bag. You are able-bodied, thus you can carry your own bag.”
“Eugene, I thought you said this would be an exclusive, top-of-the-line resort.”
“It is, but perhaps it’s long past time you pull your own weight.”
Ashlynn watched the man with her two bags pause partway up the hill to chat with the other men and her sister, who held the hand of a man who stood a good foot taller.
“If that’s Rekkus,” Dr. Stone said, “Jessie wasn’t exaggerating.”
They took the hill at a snail’s pace, stopping face-to-face with a very pregnant Dana. To Ashlynn’s shock, her dad dropped his bags and embraced his elder daughter, tears streaming down his face. Dana stood, arms at her side for a moment then threw them around their father, tears streaming down her face. The big man—must be Rekkus—hovered nearby, brows furrowed. The other man, tall with long blond hair, murmured, “They are tears of joy. Relax, Rekkus.”
Healing His Soul's Mate Page 2
