Aiden looked up at Arizona and then his dad, not understanding. Would this be the last time she saw the boy? The strength of her disappointment surprised her.
“Is the helicopter lady going with us?”
“No, not this time.”
“How come?”
“She has her own house.”
Again the boy looked up at her, his new friend. She crouched to his level. “You’re going to go see your aunt Tatum.”
“Why can’t you go, too?”
The mind of a child was amazing. What had the boy picked up on that he liked about her? For the life of her she couldn’t guess. It didn’t matter. He made her feel good inside.
“If you’re good, I’ll send you a real helicopter.”
“I have a real helicopter.”
“Yeah, but this is a really cool helicopter. It makes noise and almost flies on its own.”
“Really?” She didn’t know but she’d find one if it killed her. “Come on.” She offered her hand.
He walked with her all the way upstairs, where her mother waited.
“Thank you for watching my son, Mrs. Ivy,” Braden said.
Arizona let go of Aiden’s hand and he went to his dad’s leg.
Arizona’s mom swatted her hands. “Oh, no need to thank me. You go on. I’m sure we’ll be seeing you soon anyway.” She winked at Arizona.
She stiffened and Braden didn’t respond.
Animation dimming, her mother glanced between the two.
“Let’s go, Aiden. Thanks again.” Braden nodded to Arizona. “Arizona.”
That was it? She watched him leave, shutting the door behind him without looking back. That was all the goodbye she was going to get?
She went to the door and opened it, watching as Braden climbed into the front seat, his son in the back with Tatum and Courtney, who’d waited in the SUV. The driver drove away from the stone fountain and disappeared around the first turn in the driveway.
Arizona struggled with a rush of intensifying sorrow. Would she never see them again? Braden had been so indifferent. It was a deflating end.
“Arizona?”
Reluctantly, she faced her mother. The big house was quiet. But only until she could no longer hold back her tears. They echoed in the gigantic entry.
* * *
Walking away from Arizona had torn a hole through his heart, but it had to be done. Both of them had to be sure of what they were doing. He especially. He had a young boy to think about. Women coming and going in his life may not have a positive influence on him. And her withdrawal after sex disturbed him.
The SUV stopped in his parents’ driveway and they all got out, except the driver, who simply drove off after doing what the Ivys had instructed. But to him it was like the last of Arizona was disappearing down the street.
“Are you all right?” Tatum asked.
Aiden bounded ahead toward the door. It had been a long drive to Denver. Only an hour, but it may as well have been a lifetime.
“Yeah.”
“Did something happen with Arizona?”
“No.”
“When are you going to see her again? Did you two make some plans?”
“No.”
“No?” She gaped at him with parted mouth, incredulous.
Their mother opened the front door, ruffling Aiden’s hair before he ran past her for the toys they kept here for him.
“Are you sure I should be here?” Courtney asked, stopping on the sidewalk leading to the porch.
“Of course we are.” Tatum hooked her arm and walked to the porch. “Arizona should be, too.”
Braden ignored her. His feelings were too jumbled to explain anything right now. He’d left Arizona the way he had as a tactic to win her. But he wasn’t sure he was ready to have her. Being with her felt lasting, like they had what it took to go the distance. But he’d felt this way before with women, and look where that had gotten him.
His mother covered her mouth with her hand, already crying at the sight of Tatum. Tatum let go of Courtney to hug her.
“Hi, Mom.”
“Oh, my sweetie. I’m so happy to see you.” She braced Tatum’s head between her hands, tears flowing, taking in her daughter.
“I’m fine,” Tatum said.
“Did he hurt you?”
“Not a scratch.” But Tatum looked back at Courtney.
Braden had explained everything to his mother before coming here. His parents weren’t the type to take surprises well. Right now, especially. His mother had been hesitant on the phone, but ever the doer of right, she insisted they bring Courtney. She also said she’d arrange for Dad to be here.
“Come in.” His mother opened her arm to Courtney. “Come in. You’re welcome here.”
Courtney smiled bashfully.
In the living room, there were trays of food and a glass bowl of ice and sodas. He took Courtney there and she sat primly and timidly with her hands folded on her lap.
His mother doted on her, nervously, chatting away, offering food.
“I’m sorry if you weren’t expecting me to appear in your life,” he heard Courtney blurt.
His mother stood frozen, stunned. And then she melted into the warmhearted person he’d grown up with. “Oh, honey.” She sat beside her. “None of this is your fault. We’ll work it out.”
Braden went to stand beside Tatum, who hadn’t wanted to sit, like him. He’d been meaning to get a moment alone with her for a while now. With his mother listening to Courtney talking, this was as good of a time as any.
“So...why did you take the files?” he asked.
She wasn’t even fazed, only looked over at him calmly. “Would you have given them to me?”
“No.”
“Would you have let me go after Courtney?”
“Definitely not.”
“That’s why.”
“How did you know to leave the algorithms?”
“You said they were needed for the weapon to operate. Remember I asked you if it could be built without them?”
“Yes.” And he’d said no.
“You took a big risk.”
“At the time I didn’t feel like I had a lot to lose.”
She’d already lost her job and her reputation.
“Besides, Dad’s affair would have killed Mom. I was trying to spare everyone by going alone. I hoped to get Courtney and bring her back. Introduce her without so much trouble going on.” She laughed ruefully. “Pretty stupid, huh?”
He shrugged. “But honorable.”
Tatum sobered. “How’s Mom handling it? Really?”
Of course, she must know he’d told her. “She’s pretty upset.” Doing a good job of covering it for Courtney, a woman who’d just been kidnapped and raped repeatedly. Their half sister.
“Are she and Dad going to split up?”
“Not if Dad has any power over it.”
“I was hoping that would work in their favor. They love each other. Mom won’t throw that away over something that happened before they were married, would she?”
“He slept with her a week before the wedding.”
“Yeah, but...”
“And then he knew about Courtney and didn’t tell her for years.”
“Yeah.” She nodded reluctantly. “That is pretty bad.”
Just then the door opened and their dad entered. He smelled fresh and looked ready to woo his wife. Their mother stood from the couch, Courtney
with her, wringing her hands, her breathing visibly taxed.
“Marlana,” he greeted.
She forced a smile. “This is Courtney Andrews.”
His dad nodded once, at a loss for words. Then to Marlana, he said, “Thank you for having us here. You didn’t have to.”
“Yes, I did.”
He moved closer, extending his hand to Courtney. “Marlana kicked me out of the house for not telling her about you. I deserved that. I’m so sorry for not being there for you all these years.”
“You were. In your own way.”
The room fell into uneasy silence. His dad kept looking at his mom for signs of forgiveness, and Courtney seemed to need a rock to crawl under.
“Well...why don’t the two of you take a few moments to get to know each other,” Marlana said to her husband and Courtney, then she went to Tatum and Braden. “We’ll start dinner. It’ll take a while. I’m making a turkey and a few sides.”
“It’s not even Thanksgiving,” Tatum said.
“No, but we have a lot to be thankful for. Braden, where’s that lovely woman you had with you last time?”
He wished they’d stop asking him about her. He was having a hard enough time keeping her from taking up real estate in his head.
“She’s in Evergreen with her mother.”
“Why didn’t you bring her with you?”
“He’s worried he’s going to make another mistake,” Tatum said.
“It’s too soon, and Aiden...”
“Aiden loves Arizona,” Tatum said. “I saw the way they were together. And I also saw how she looks at the two of you together. She’s wildly in love with you.”
“Your only mistake has been overthinking it, Braden. Take Serena. I told you she was materialistic and you insisted she was a nice girl. You argued with me for an hour over all the things you liked about her. It was as though you felt forced to come up with items to explain to yourself why you loved her.”
He remembered his mother telling him that. He’d denied it. And he had worked hard to find things he could say he liked about her. Things that weren’t about sex. He could hardly tell his mother the best thing about Serena was the sex.
“What do you like about Arizona?” Tatum asked, pushing him.
Everything.
“She skydives.”
“She does?” his mother asked. “Well, you enjoy those things, too, Braden. Have you ever met a girl like that?”
No. “She lost her fiancé four years ago. He was killed and she isn’t over him yet.”
“Oh, I bet she is. I saw you with her,” Tatum reminded him.
“Can we talk about something else?”
“No. Go get her, Braden. So what if it doesn’t work out? You don’t have to marry her until you’re sure.”
He stared at her for a long time, Tatum’s words replayed in his traitorous mind.
She’s wildly in love with you.
Tatum laughed. “You should see your face.” She pushed him toward the door. “Just go get her. We’ll wait for you before we eat.”
* * *
Pacing the floor at her brother’s house, Arizona bit her thumbnail in front of the Monopoly game spread out on the coffee table.
“Stop that. It’s your turn.”
“You’re milking this for all its worth, aren’t you?” She bent and rolled the dice, landing herself in jail.
He chuckled. “That’s what you get for negativity.”
“You really think I should go to see him?”
“Yes. How many times are you going to make me answer that question?”
“As many times as it takes me to decide.”
Using his crutch, Lincoln rose to his feet and hobbled out from behind the couch. “Just go see him.”
He crutched into the kitchen, getting a glass of water from the tap even though he had a water dispenser in his refrigerator. Leaning over the sink, he peered out the window.
He’d done that three times since she’d been here. “Who’s out there?”
She walked to his side, leaning forward. There was a midsized SUV in the driveway of the house beside his, the back open and full of groceries.
“New neighbors?”
A leggy redhead in jeans and a spandex T-shirt appeared, trekking to the back of her vehicle to reveal a sexy behind, lifting two grocery bags and turning. Squinting her eyes against the afternoon sun, her face was that of a porcelain doll, petite nose, full lips with perfect bow on top. From what she could see.
“Does she have green eyes?”
He crutched away from the window.
Arizona laughed and followed. “I’ll take that as a yes.”
Still, he ignored her. Women were usually a sore subject for him. That’s why they’d gotten so close over the last four years. They had that in common. “Have you met her?”
“No.”
“You want to though, don’t you?” Wow. He was interested in someone. That was a milestone.
“It’s nothing, A. Just something to pass the time. It gets boring sitting around this house.”
Was he glazing the truth? “Something hot to look at while your leg heals?”
He sat on the couch, sullen now. “It’s your turn.”
Leaning down, she rolled again, turning her head to pin him with a look.
“Stop it.”
“I’m still in jail.” Kissing his cheek, she moved to the front window, trying to catch a glimpse of this mystery woman. A man appeared next. Big, strapping. “There’s a man over there.”
“Don’t you want to know who it is?”
“It’s her boyfriend.”
“How do you know?”
“A...” he warned. “Stop staring out the window.”
That’s when Braden’s Subaru rolled to a stop in the street. She sucked in her breath.
“A. Come back here. Let’s finish the game this time.”
“Oh, my God. Braden is here.”
She pivoted and walked briskly over to him. “Braden just drove up!”
“Calm down.”
“What’s he doing here?”
“He’s going to sweep you off your feet.”
She put her hand on her forehead, anxiety prickling her nerves.
“You’re going to be okay.”
Would she?
The doorbell rang.
“Holy crap.”
“I’d get the door, but...” He was grinning. How could he grin when they had this phobia in common?
When she didn’t move, he shouted, “Come in!”
The door opened and Braden stepped in. Handsome. Intent on something. Her.
“Your mother said you were here.”
“You drove all the way to Evergreen?”
“I called her.”
“Oh.” Of course, he had the number because of Aiden.
He strode into the living room, stopping before her. “I don’t have your number or I’d have called you.”
“I don’t have yours, either.”
“We’ll have to fix that if we’re going to start dating.”
Her pulse tightened her vocal cords. “W-we are? W-we’re going to start dating?”
“If you’re up for it. I just got a divorce. I have a son. And you...”
“I’m ready for whatever is next in my life,” she said.
He stared at her.
“With you,” she added.
A slanting grin appeared on his mouth. �
��We don’t have to get married right away. We can just see each other.”
He made it seem so simple. Or was this a convenient excuse for something that was sure to explode into more than dating?
“Are you sure?”
“No.”
She loved his honesty. “We’ll take it slow.”
His hands slid up her back and down, getting comfortable, adjusting her firmly to his body. “Are you sure?”
“No.”
He chuckled.
“You two will be planning a wedding before the end of the year,” Lincoln said, spinning the dial on the game.
Arizona smiled, and Braden kissed her, one after another.
“You’re not leaving until we finish this game,” Lincoln teased.
More kisses. There were no promises for the future, but she didn’t need any. Kissing him made all her fears go away. All she needed was him. And when she fell in love, she wasn’t going to lose him. She’d fight for him if she had to. Because one thing was sure: she and Braden were not victims. And she was going to make a life out of helping those who needed to get their power back.
Braden broke off the kiss. “You’ll have to finish the game another time.”
Why? Where was he taking her?
“There’s something we have to do first.”
* * *
Arizona couldn’t keep the smile off her face as the plane flew over the city. They’d just finished suiting up into their jumping gear. And now Braden was waiting for the pilot to tell them when to jump. When they received the go ahead, Arizona jumped first, falling into the forward throw from the momentum of the plane, traveling forward for a bit before going down. The wind force created by her falling body grew.
Braden appeared in front of her. She gave him her hands and they turned in a circle. The land below seemed so far away. Up here, she was like a bird, nothing stopping her from going anywhere. The sense of danger exhilarated her, made her feel alive. Though skydiving was actually relatively safe, the thrill was incomparable.
The therapy worked. It drew her out of her dark shell of mourning and forced her mind in a different direction. It forced her to live, to feel alive. She didn’t know if being an adventure junkie helped other people who were victimized in some way or had suffered a loss as she had, but it worked for her, and she was confident she could make it work for others. If not skydiving, then other adventures. Anything to get the person out of their hole.
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