True North

by Amy Knupp

  It was supposed to come out as light, humorous, but when Sierra peered up at him, the lightness failed, and there was only a pulsing tension between them as their eyes met and held for two seconds…three. Finally, she opened her mouth, as if to say something, but no words came out. Then she laughed lightly on an exhale, lowered her gaze, and dropped his arm. “I better change my clothes so we can go.”

  Cole swallowed and nodded, worked at stuffing down his attraction to her yet again, took half a step to the side at the same time she turned toward the private part of the apartment. He was still leaning for all he was worth against the cabinets when she reached the hallway to her bedroom, paused, and looked back toward him. She smiled distractedly, and he could swear her eyes narrowed a fraction, as if she’d seen more than he wanted her to see. As if he’d given away too damn much.

  Chapter Six

  Sierra closed her bathroom door and leaned her back against it. Her head was spinning, and not from the three partial drinks she’d had—and unintentionally abandoned before finishing—over the course of the reception.

  What the heck had just happened?

  That look from Cole… It had stolen her breath, and God’s truth, if she’d stood there staring into his eyes for one second longer, it would’ve been impossible not to step closer to him and…

  She exhaled hard, tried to gather her wits and regain some perspective on the man in the other room.

  Cole had worked his way up to foreman quickly, as he had a lot of experience and was unquestionably intelligent. So intelligent that she’d wondered more than once how he’d ended up doing construction, suspected that it was something he’d settled for, but she didn’t question it too hard because she was glad to have him, lucky to keep him. She’d never seen any sign of anything besides boss-employee between them.

  But that look out in her kitchen—and if she was honest, it was more than a look, more like crackling sexual tension—that had blindsided her and she didn’t know what to do about it. She tried to wrap her head around the idea that Cole might feel something for her. Might. Or maybe she’d just misread him.

  She stepped toward the mirror to take off her jewelry.

  The only thing to do was to ignore those five seconds in the kitchen and finish out the night on a friendly note. She would’ve hesitated to label Cole a friend before tonight, because that was muddying up the lines, and frankly, she didn’t know much of anything about him outside of job-related traits. But she liked him, respected him, wanted him to enjoy the rest of the evening. She hoped he could relax and unwind after enduring a family-filled formal affair that she was certain was way out of his comfort zone.

  “Sierra?” Cole’s voice reached her from the kitchen, so she turned away from the mirror and her struggle to release the clasp of her necklace and opened the bathroom door, still fully dressed in the dark blue gown.

  He sat on the end stool at the island, and it struck her again how well he wore that black suit. His tie was folded neatly on the counter in front of him, apparently retired for the evening, and the top couple of buttons of his white shirt were undone.

  “Your phone’s exploding with texts,” he said. “I thought it might be something important.”

  “Thanks.” She crossed the room to the island and took her phone out from her evening bag. “Two from Ivy, one from Violet, and one from my brother, wondering why we aren’t there yet,” she said.

  She was about to reply when another text notification sounded. Not on her phone this time.

  Cole pulled his phone out of his pocket. Read whatever was on the screen, stood abruptly, and went pale. Sierra stepped closer, studying his face.

  “Is something wrong?” she asked.

  He tapped his phone, unlocked it with his fingerprint, and she could see a long text message that filled the screen. He remained silent, reading, his distress climbing. His eyes widened, his fist covered his mouth, and his breathing seemed to stop.

  “Cole?”

  “It’s my mom,” he said, his voice sounding choked with uncharacteristic emotion. “Oh, hell, my mom.” He tightened his fist and squeezed his eyes closed. “She’s being rushed to the hospital. Possible heart attack.”

  “Here in town?”

  He swallowed, nodded. “I have to go.”

  “I’ll take you.”

  He shook his head distractedly. “You have a party to go to.”

  “Cole, I’m taking you. My truck is out back. Yours is two long blocks away in the garage, and you don’t look like you should drive.” Without hesitation, she jammed her feet back into her heels. “Let’s go.” She grabbed her purse and keys, pulled him out the door, locked it in a rush, and they hurried down the hall to the back.

  He was silent down the two flights of stairs, didn’t argue again when she led him to her Ford F-250 parked in a spot off the alley. As she walked, she typed in a message to her brother, telling him they wouldn’t make it and why.

  Once they were in her truck, she started the engine and asked him which hospital his mom was en route to. He swore, as if he hadn’t yet thought of that, and his large thumbs fumbled over his phone screen.

  She studied him across the darkened cab as they waited for a response. She’d never seen him like this. Shaken to his core. Never seen him anywhere close to it, as he was generally an even-keeled guy who kept his emotions locked out of sight. Without thinking about it, she reached out and put her hand on his forearm, wishing she could comfort him somehow.

  “He’s typing,” Cole said, his eyes locked on the screen.

  “Who’s he?”

  “Gabe,” he answered absently, then seemed to realize she had no idea who Gabe was. “My brother.”

  “I didn’t know you had a brother.” He’d worked for her for more than three years. How did she not know he had a brother? Or a mother who lived in town?

  “Head to Oliver Medical Center.”

  They were silent as she pulled out of the alley and into Saturday night traffic.

  “Older or younger brother?” she asked.

  “Both. Gabe is five years older.” He checked his phone every few seconds, as if willing it to give him more information.

  “And the younger one?”

  “Zane and Drake. Twins.”

  “Four boys.” His mother must be a saint.

  “Five. Mason’s the oldest. None of them like me much,” he said. “So you know.” He said it with zero emotion, but the fact that he said it at all conveyed more than his tone.

  Sierra couldn’t help being curious about his family—and that he’d never before mentioned a single one of them. Though she made a point of not calling him or the rest of the crew her friends, he knew plenty about her family just through her mentions over the years. He’d met both her siblings multiple times and knew a lot about her parents, even though they lived in Arizona.

  “What about your dad?” she asked hesitantly.

  “He died when I was seventeen,” Cole said in a monotone, his gaze glued straight ahead.

  She was not making anything better. “I’m sorry.”

  “Long time ago.”

  His phone sounded with another message. “Gabe made it to the hospital. The ambulance just pulled up.”

  They were still about twenty minutes out, and she pressed harder on the gas pedal. Cole wouldn’t be able to do a thing to help his mom right now, but maybe he’d be able to see her soon.

  They were quiet for the rest of the drive. The quiet came to an abrupt end the second they stepped through the ER doors. Saturday night. Close to eleven o’clock. Worst time ever to have an emergency because that was apparently when everyone else did.

  The bright lights of the waiting room beat down on them as they made their way inside. The room was crawling with people, from a screaming baby being held by a stressed-out girl who couldn’t be more than twenty, to a family with three kids clustered in the corner and looking like they had some kind of plague, to a loud, obviously drunk guy who was being handled by
security. Dressed formally as they were, she and Cole received more than a few curious looks.

  After a brief hesitation, Cole headed toward two men standing near the hallway to the rest of the hospital. She could tell in a glance they were his brothers. Both had dark hair like Cole’s, and one of them was wearing a suit. The other wore khakis and a button-down shirt. The suit guy glared at Cole, and if she had to guess, going by looks, he must be the oldest, Mason if she remembered right. Sierra followed, her shoes officially reaching the torture stage, but that wasn’t important right now.

  “Hey, Cole,” the khakis brother said. “Glad you’re here. They took her to the cath lab.”

  Sierra saw Cole swallow hard as he absorbed that news. “Sounds bad,” he said.

  “She’s in the best place to get help,” the suit guy said in a low, authoritative, not-really-warm voice. “We’re lucky she was able to call for help on her own.”

  “What happened?” Cole directed the question to the brother in khakis, barely sparing the suited brother a look.

  “I talked to her around six because she wasn’t feeling well earlier in the day. She insisted she was fine, just had some indigestion.” The khakis brother shook his head, gritting his teeth. “I wish I would’ve asked more questions. She texted me around ten thirty that the pain was worse and she’d called 911. I was at a thing downtown, so it was faster for me to meet her here.”

  Though Cole didn’t say anything more, his body was tense and worry radiated off him. Feeling helpless, Sierra grasped his forearm lightly, squeezed it once, just to remind him she was there for him, then let her hand fall to her side. The action seemed to catch khakis brother’s attention, and he looked at her for the first time.

  “Hello,” he said to her, his eyes roving up and down over her gown. “I’m Gabe North.” He extended his hand, all manners in spite of the circumstances.

  “Sierra Lowell,” she said as she shook his hand.

  “This is our oldest brother, Mason,” Gabe said, pointing his thumb at the guy in the suit.

  Mason was reading something on his phone, and he lowered it and gave Sierra’s hand a firm shake. “Nice to meet you,” he said, sounding on autopilot.

  “Likewise,” she replied. The tension in the air was thick, and she didn’t think it was only because of their mom’s grave situation, though that would be more than enough to make anyone unfriendly and pensive.

  “Were you two out on a date?” Gabe asked as Mason went back to his phone.

  “Sierra’s my boss,” Cole said emphatically. “She owns Dunn & Lowell Remodeling.”

  Gabe nodded, raising his brows as if surprised to learn what she did for a living, which Sierra was used to. There was a hint of admiration in his expression as well, which she wasn’t used to. Mason shoved his phone in his pocket and directed his attention—his somehow commanding, hard-to-ignore attention—at her.

  “I’ve heard a lot of good things about your company, not just from Cole,” Mason said, and she couldn’t help liking him a little. “We considered getting a bid from you when we renovated our eastside store, but Cole said you specialize in historical renovation.”

  “We do, but we’ll take on just about any kind of remodeling project.” She glanced at Cole, wondering why he’d shut down their chances for what sounded like a decent bit of business.

  “It was a few months ago, when we were already juggling the theater reno, the Preston project, and the Meyers project,” Cole said to her.

  “Ahh. In the middle of which we were also short-handed,” she recalled. It had been a stressful couple of months, for sure, but she still would’ve bent over backwards to see what she could do to win Mason’s business—whatever that was.

  “We had a limited turnaround time for the store renovations,” Gabe said, smoothing things over for Cole.

  Interesting dynamics between these three, and her mind raced with questions about Cole’s family and their relationships and the business that at least two brothers were apparently involved in.

  “It would’ve been a challenge, but we’re good at handling challenges,” she said to Gabe and Mason, smiling to show she had no hard feelings. She had to literally bite down on her tongue to keep from saying she would love the opportunity to help them if they had remodeling needs in the future. The ER, with a mother whose fate was in question, was not the place or time to do business.

  “Good to know,” Gabe said diplomatically. “So you two were at a business function tonight or…?”

  Sierra stole a look at Cole, whose jaw was taut, eyes hard as he peered toward the doors that led to the emergency department.

  “Her sister got married tonight. Sierra needed a plus one. You think we’ll hear something soon?” He glanced toward the doors again, leaving no question he didn’t want to talk about their fake date.

  “Not as soon as we want,” Mason said.

  “They’ll talk to us as soon as they know something,” Gabe said.

  “Is Drake coming?” Cole asked.

  “I texted him multiple times. Called him twice but can’t get ahold of him,” Gabe said, his frown deepening.

  Cole scowled as he glanced around the waiting room. He nodded toward the other side. There were two available chairs in a corner, adjacent to each other. “We’re going to sit. Sierra’s been on her feet all night.” Without another word to his brothers, he put his hand on the small of her back and guided her away.

  This time, Sierra didn’t give any thought to all the lines they were blurring. Cole needed someone, and it was crystal clear he didn’t want that person to be one of his brothers. After what he’d done for her tonight, she was more than willing to step up.

  Chapter Seven

  Cole had gone emotionally numb a good twenty minutes ago. He was aware, at some level, that was probably his brain’s way of coping with news he couldn’t otherwise handle.

  He wished he could go deaf to the chaos and noise around them. The corner he and Sierra were sitting in was anything but private, and his head throbbed in time with the toddler two seats away who was pounding an old-fashioned toy hammer on a mini workbench that had eight plastic pegs sticking up at varying heights. The tyke’s father was bent over his own knees looking like death warmed over, and Cole couldn’t help but wonder if he was ill or if he had a loved one behind those looming automatic ER doors.

  Easier to think about other people’s problems right now.

  “Want me to grab some coffee?” Sierra asked, leaning close to him to be heard over the racket of three or four dozen people stuffed into a too-small room.

  “You should go home,” he said, a little surprised she was still here. He appreciated the ride, barely remembered the drive, in fact, so it was good that he hadn’t been behind the wheel, but she didn’t have a horse in this race, didn’t know his family, and sure didn’t need to endure the nightmare of this Saturday-night ER waiting room.

  Sierra glanced over at his brothers, who were still leaning against the same wall across the way, not talking much, checking their phones periodically as they waited for more info on their mom. “I’m fine.”

  “It’s your sister’s big day,” he said. “Everyone’s waiting for you.”

  “I’m staying. Kennedy’s not even there,” she said, and he didn’t miss the thread of don’t argue with me laced in her tone. He knew it well from work.

  She was crazy to sit here any longer than she had to, but he could admit to himself he was glad to have someone around besides Mason and Gabe. She served both as an excuse not to hang with them and as someone to keep him from getting lost in his head.

  “Let’s go to the cafeteria, get the hell out of here for a few.” He stood without waiting for her to answer, and she rose with a nod.

  They had to walk by Mason and Gabe to get to the elevators to the lower-level cafeteria.

  “Can we get you guys something to drink?” Sierra asked as they approached. She was nicer than him, as he wouldn’t have asked.

  “No, th
ank you,” Mason said.

  “I’m good,” was Gabe’s response.

  “Text me if there’s news,” Cole said and then he ushered Sierra away with his hand on her waist. He didn’t know if he’d ever touched her in a personal way before tonight, and all the previous ones, at the reception, were required, but this one was for him. He needed the contact.

  The elevators were down the hall and around a corner, and when they turned, the noise and cacophony faded by several degrees. Cole breathed in the relative calmness as they waited for the car to arrive.

  “It’s a madhouse back there,” Sierra said.

  “One of the nine circles of hell. Not sure which one.”

  The doors opened to an empty elevator and they stepped in. When they exited one floor lower, it was immediately evident that the cafeteria was closed. Though there were no doors and all the seating looked to be accessible, a metal gate blocked off the area with the stainless-steel food service counters, and two thirds of the lights were off. The remaining third illuminated the route to the attached vending machine haven. They walked toward it, her heels clicking on the hard floor.

  There was a vending machine that brewed coffee, and they went directly to it. Cole took out his card. “My treat.”

  “Vending machine coffee is my favorite,” Sierra said lightly, then tilted her head slightly, as if struck by an idea. “They should make one of these for wine.”

  “Or beer,” he said as he handed her the first paper cup of “freshly brewed” coffee. The machine dispensed his, he grabbed it, and they walked by the other vending machines. “Want something to eat?”

  She homed in on the machine that offered every kind of candy under the sun. “I got this,” she said, opening her purse. “You like Peanut Butter M&Ms?”

  “No.”

  “What?” She paused with her card halfway to the machine and looked at him, jaw gaping, as if he’d said babies weren’t cute.

  “Plain or peanut are good. Almond is okay. But if you want peanut butter, there’s Reese’s.”