by Kristy Tate
“You’re not wanted here, Dan.” She waved her hand at the cabin. “And neither is Jake. None of you belong here.”
“Hey, it’s just as much our cabin as it is yours,” Dan said. He quirked an eyebrow. “And as long as he’s here, I’m here.”
Lisa stepped out of the cabin. She carried baby Heath on her hip and looked as angelic as ever. With her fair hair, pale skin, and light blue eyes, she reminded Charlie of a fairy. “I’m glad we had a reason to come,” she said, holding out her arm for a hug that would include both Charlie and Heath. She kissed Charlie’s cheek and whispered in her ear, “I’m excited about this one!”
She extended her hand to Zach. “Hi, I’m Lisa and this is Heath.”
He took her hand, flashed his dimples, and tickled Heath under the chin.
Heath gurgled happily.
Charlie wanted to tell Lisa that there wasn’t anything between her and Zach—how could there be? But her gaze caught Jacob’s scowling face and her anger nearly exploded.
Charlie pulled away from Lisa and faced her brothers. “I am almost thirty years old! I don’t need you babysitting me!” She grabbed Zach’s hand and yanked him away. The fading sun glinted on the ice-covered trees and the landscape looked Christmas-card perfect, except for the driveway, where the cars had milled the snow and dirt into mud. My brothers ruin everything, Charlie thought.
“Uh, Charlie?” Zach said after a few minutes. “Where are we going?”
“That’s a really good question,” she said. “And the only answer I have is away.”
He laughed softly and tucked her hand into his pocket.
“What’s so funny?”
“I envy you, and you don’t even know how lucky you are.”
She flashed him a quick glance and pulled her hand from his pocket. “Why do you think I’m lucky?”
“Your brothers dropped whatever they were doing to come up here and rescue you.” He paused. “I had a head injury, was in the hospital for almost a week, and when I reached out to my brother, his response included swear words.”
Charlie swallowed. “I’m sorry, but your brother’s jerk attitude doesn’t excuse my brothers’ performance.”
“No, of course not, but still, it must be nice to have people who love you.”
“You have people who love you. You do know there’s not one, but several, Zach Walden fan Facebook groups, right? And you have almost a million Twitter followers?”
“But I don’t know any of those people. And they don’t know me. Not really.”
“Oh Zach, I’m sorry. Really. I wouldn’t trade my brothers for yours, but it’s not a competition.”
“Right. Let’s not talk about our brothers. But since yours ruined our retreat, do you want to go home? Or somewhere else?” He swallowed. “We can go our separate ways…”
Charlie’s heart twisted for him. He had to be so lonely. Losing seven years of your life would be like losing yourself. She reached out and touched his hand.
“Did you know they say that every seven years your body completely rejuvenates? We become essentially new people, because in that time, every cell in your body has been replaced by a new cell,” Zach said. “I’m a totally different person—living a totally different life than I had ever imagined.”
“Maybe this is your God-given opportunity to start over.”
“I just can’t believe I’m thirty-two and I have nothing—or no one—to show for my years on Earth.”
“I can’t even tell you how so not true that is.”
Zach bit his lip. “The money…it doesn’t seem real.”
“It could make a real difference in the world.”
“What would you do if you woke up tomorrow and discovered you had a billion dollars? Would you still be a nurse?”
“I’d like to think so, but I’m not sure. I like helping people, but…don’t tell anyone…I’m really sick of bodily fluids…like really sick. Sometimes so sick I want to gag. That’s why I had to move out of the E.R. There are other nurses who seem to thrive on the rush of adrenaline and those who are clearly a lot more fascinated by the body than I am. I like people. I like easing pain and providing comfort—but blood, mucus, vomit? I’m so over it.”
“So, do something else.”
“That’s super easy for you to say.”
“It’s easy for you to say, too.”
Charlie swallowed. “I don’t want to go back to school.”
“So, don’t. I’m serious, if you had a billion dollars, what would you do with it?”
For him, this was more than a rhetorical question. But the question for him was different than the question for her. “When I was a little girl, I dreamed of being a writer.”
“Ah, the mysteries you love to read.”
“Yes. How did you know?”
“I know you,” he said with a smile.
And she believed him. “But it’s not a practical profession, you know?”
“Unlike playing football…”
“Some of us—but very few—make the big league.”
“Some of us make the big league and have to drop out,” he said. “But just like I can still go to a park and toss around a football, you can still write stories. Do you?”
Why did she feel like he could look right through her? No one had ever asked about her stories before. Other than her high school English teachers, who didn’t count. What if she did decide to share her stories? How would she even go about doing that?
“Zach! Charlie!” a voice called out.
Charlie twisted around to see Kirk and Layla coming from behind. Layla had on a red leather jacket and black and red tartan mittens with a matching scarf and hat. With her jeans tucked into a tall pair of black leather boots, she looked more like a model than a nurse.
“We’re going to a pond! Want to join us?” Layla asked as they drew closer.
Zach lifted his eyebrow at her.
“There’s a pond just over the hill,” Charlie told him. “Because it’s only a few feet deep even after the rainy season, and is in a thicket of trees and out of the sun, it often freezes solid in the winter.”
“Do you skate on it?”
“It’s more like slipping,” Kirk said. “But I promised Layla I’d show it to her.”
The last thing Charlie wanted to do was watch Layla cling to Kirk as they paraded around the pond.
“I think we’re going to head back to Orange County,” Zach said.
Charlie nodded. “But you two have fun.”
“Go? Like home?” Layla whined. “But you just got here!”
“Charlie!” Dan hailed her from the crest of the hill.
Now what? Why couldn’t her family just leave her alone?
Dan jogged toward her. “Ian’s hurt!”
CHAPTER 6
Zach started to follow Charlie, but Layla put her hand on his arm, stopping him.
“We don’t all need to go,” she said with a toothy smile.
“She’s right,” Kirk said. “Too many people will just get in the way.”
“We don’t even know what happened,” Zach said.
“If it was serious,” Kirk said, “they would have asked for me.” The man sounded like he thought he was God.
“But you should probably still go,” Layla told Kirk. “A nurse can only do so much.”
Kirk looked torn.
“I’m going,” Zach said.
“No, don’t be silly,” Layla said. “You’re better off here with me. Besides, I want to see the pond and I wouldn’t feel comfortable out here in the wilderness by myself.”
“Well, we don’t want to be uncomfortable!” Kirk said right before he stomped off toward the cabin.
If Layla was at all embarrassed by his outburst, she didn’t show it. She flashed her smile at Zach, tucked her hand under his arm, and pressed against him. “Want to show me the pond?” She made it sound almost pornographic.
Zach shook his head, tempted to laugh. “Neither one of us knows h
ow to find the pond.”
“I’m confident we’ll find it, but if we don’t…” She finished her sentence with a shrug. “At least we’ll have some time to get to know each other.”
“Am I misreading the situation with you and Dr. Palmer?” Zach asked.
“I don’t know. What are you reading?” She cocked her head at him and fluttered her eyelashes. “We’re friends. Colleagues. How about you and Charlie?”
“You know I’m engaged, right?” Why had he mentioned Eva? He hadn’t thought of her once while he was with Charlie.
“But you haven’t seen Miss Littleton since you woke.” Her intonation sounded like half a statement and half a question.
“It’s complicated. I hate cheaters,” he told her. “My dad was unfaithful to my mom, and I promised myself I’d never do that to someone I love.”
“But you’re here with Charlie.”
“Charlie was my nurse,” he said. “Besides, I don’t even remember meeting Eva—how can I possibly love someone I don’t know?”
“So, your relationship with Charlie is strictly professional?”
“Why are you asking?”
“I just don’t want to see you get hurt. Everyone knows Charlie’s been in love with Kirk for years. It’s a joke at the hospital. Kirk is a good sport about it, but seriously, she’s just annoying. I wouldn’t put it past her to bring you up here just to make Kirk jealous! I would hate to think she’s using you.” As they rounded a hill, Layla gave a happy little squeal and pointed at a silvery pond of ice. “We found it! I knew we would.”
#
When Charlie heard Ian’s wailing, she picked up her pace and ran as hard as she could. Dan hadn’t said how Ian had hurt himself, but his cries told her all she needed to know. Since becoming a nurse, she’d learned to decipher children’s cries. A mad cry differed from a sad or hurt cry, just as a hungry cry differed from one of terror. Ian was hurt and panicked.
“What happened?” Charlie asked as soon as she blew through the door. Ian was curled in Jacob’s arms while Lisa stood facing them, holding a bloody dishcloth to Ian’s hand.
“His finger,” Lisa gasped. “He cut off the end of it with one of your grandma’s Carve-Co knives.”
Kirk strode across the room, grabbed Ian’s arm, and lifted it into the air.
Ian responded with a howl.
“I’m sorry, Ian,” Kirk said without sounding at all apologetic. “But you have to keep your hand elevated to slow the bleeding.” He flashed a glance at Jacob. “Do you have it?”
Lisa showed him a bloody plastic baggie with the severed digit.
Charlie’s stomach heaved.
“Put an ice pack on that, but don’t let the ice touch the amputated finger as we don’t want ice burns. We’ve got to get him to the hospital, where we can reattach it in a sterile environment,” Kirk said.
“I’ll drive,” Dan said.
While Jacob and Lisa argued whether or not to try to make Ian sit in his car seat, Charlie followed, feeling helpless and queasy.
It wasn’t until they were all outside, piled around the car, that Dan observed they wouldn’t all fit in one car.
“This is why we need a minivan!” Lisa screeched.
“Really? We’re going to talk about cars now?” Jacob demanded.
“Everyone, just get in!” Dan demanded.
When no one volunteered to be left behind, Charlie asked, as it suddenly occurred to her, “Where’s Heath?”
“He’s asleep!” Lisa wailed. “What kind of mother am I?”
“A good one,” Charlie said, wrapping her arms around Lisa. “Look, I’ll stay here with Heath. You all just go. And hurry.”
Dan grabbed Charlie in a fierce hug and kissed her cheek while the others squeezed into the BMW.
#
Zach returned to the cabin as soon as he could without seeming rude. He deposited Layla at the Palmers’ cabin before heading for the Monsons’. He noted that the BMW he’d spotted earlier had disappeared, and that the cabin—despite the smoke curling from the chimney—looked empty. When he got to the porch, he peeked in the window and saw Charlie sitting in a large chair beside a roaring fire with baby Heath curled on her lap while she read him a book. The child had his thumb in his mouth and his head pressed against Charlie’s breast.
His gaze must have drawn her attention, because she looked up, caught his eye and smiled.
“Hey there,” she said as soon as he came in.
Zach stomped the snow off his boots and hung his jacket on a hook.
Heath, who apparently didn’t want his story interrupted, pointed at the book and grunted without sparing Zach a glance.
“How’s Ian?” Zach asked.
“He’ll be just fine,” Charlie said in her Baby Bear voice.
Zach sat on the sofa, watching her.
Her eyes twinkled back.
“What happened?”
“It was a big scary knife!” Charlie said in her Papa Bear voice. “But reattachment is especially easy for young children,” she said in her Mama Bear voice.
Heath pointed at the book and grunted, letting them know they weren’t fooling him. Charlie quickly turned the page.
“Is there anything we can do?”
“Just hang out here with Heath,” Charlie said. “Maybe get some dinner.”
“Let me do that,” Zach said.
“We can call and order a pizza,” Charlie suggested.
“What? Are you kidding? No. You made me dinner last night plus breakfast this morning. It’s my turn.”
“What are you going to make?”
“I don’t know, but I’ll think of something. Do you mind if I take your car to the store?”
Heath squirmed around and gave Zach the evil eye.
“That’s fine,” Charlie said in her Baby Bear voice. “Keys are in my purse,” she added in a grizzly-monster tone.
#
“Zach!” The sound of Layla’s voice froze him. What now? Hadn’t he just gotten rid of her? She stood on the Palmers’ cabin’s front porch. “Are you leaving?”
“I’m just going to the store to pick up something for dinner,” he told her.
Her face fell. “Drat. I was hoping you’d give me a ride back to Orange County.” She lowered her voice. “I don’t think Kirk’s parents like me. They’re totally misreading the situation.”
Zach wanted to ask her to define the situation, but he also didn’t want to prolong the conversation.
“Let me come with you,” Layla said, jogging to his car. “Please get me out of here,” she added in a tone just as dramatic as but totally different from the ones Charlie had been using to read to Heath.
#
If Charlie was surprised to see Layla following him into the cabin carrying bags of groceries, she had the grace not to show it.
“I bought enough to invite the Palmers as well,” Zach offered as an explanation as he set down the groceries. “Where’s Heath?”
Charlie put her finger to her lips and pointed at the sofa, where the baby lay curled into a blanket, his thumb still in his mouth.
Zach wondered if Charlie’s babies would look like Heath and the thought hit him like a blow to the gut, which took him completely by surprise. He fussed over the bags of groceries to hide his feelings that he didn’t have time to diagnose.
“My Grandma Alfonsie was half Italian.” Zach pulled out a container of ricotta cheese, six tomatoes, a small basket of mushrooms and a sprig of fresh basil.
“This is not a Wonder Weight Loss recipe, I take it,” Charlie said.
“Sure, it is. It’s made with zucchini noodles, not pasta.”
“And I’m making a chocolate cake with Oreo frosting,” Layla announced and she proudly pulled out a box of Betty Baker’s fudge cake mix, a can of premade frosting, and a box of Oreos. “Also not a Wonder Weight Loss recipe.” Layla wrinkled her nose at Zach as if sharing a joke. “I think women who are constantly dieting are so boring.”
“But
health conscious,” Zach said, noticing how Layla’s words had made Charlie’s back stiffen.
“Did you buy any vegetables?” Charlie asked.
“Who needs vegetables?” Layla poked out her tongue.
“I do,” Zach said. “Dinner wouldn’t be the same without the green beans in brown butter sauce.”
Charlie looked as if she wanted to kiss him, which was exactly the look Zach was going for.
“Do you want me to make the beans?” Charlie asked.
“Sure,” Zach said. “Layla, why don’t you go and invite Mr. and Mrs. Palmer?”
“But the cake?” Layla pouted. “Shouldn’t I get started on it right away?”
“The mixer would wake the baby,” Zach told her.
Layla looked as if she wanted to argue, but after a moment of battling indecision, she shrugged and went out the door, closing it harder than she needed to.
“Do you think she was trying to wake Heath?” Charlie asked, staring at the door.
“I don’t know what she was trying to do,” Zach said, although he had his suspicions.
“Oh, I think I know,” Charlie said with a laugh.
“What?”
She bumped him with her hip. “Don’t play naïve. It doesn’t suit you.”
“How do you know what suits me?”
She reached around him and pulled something out of a drawer. Shaking out an apron that looked like a giant red lobster, she held it up in front of him. “This suits you.” She put it on him and tied the strings behind his back. “There,” she announced. “You look Mainely.”
“Mainely?”
“It’s an old family joke. This apron is the one my grandpa wears when he cooks. Your grandmother is from Italy, mine is from New England.” She glanced at the package of Oreos. “I wonder if Layla is from Candy Land.”
“So sweet she makes my teeth hurt.”
“Maybe to you,” Charlie muttered under her breath.
“You don’t like Layla?” Zach asked.
“It doesn’t matter what I like,” Charlie said.
“I’m guessing Dr. Palmer isn’t going to think much of her after this weekend.”
“Why would you think that?”
