The cold travertine floor crackled under Julia’s steaming feet as she stepped out of the shower the next morning. At eight a.m., she had already thrown her sheets into the wash and wiped down her entire bathroom with sanitizing wipes to eliminate the lingering smell and sterilize the area before Dax arrived.

Her stomach rumbled with hunger as she threw on a clean pair of microfleece pajamas, but she couldn’t bring herself to eat anything, not yet. And there was a very high probability she’d never eat chicken soup again. With her congested chest, her muscles still weak, and not having eaten, her stamina remained low, but at least her mind had cleared.

A deep thunk echoed off her bathroom window, interrupting her post-shower ritual of leaning over and rubbing down her hair with a thin towel. It was a similar sound to a hummingbird hitting glass, but this was January. Hummingbirds wouldn’t visit these mountains again until the end of April. She opened the wood shutters to find a paper spit-wad stuck to the upper corner of the window. A deep red goo dripping down the glass where it hit.

Thunk. Her body tensed as another wad hit the window at eye level. She scanned her side yard. A thick patch of bushes stood twenty yards away, backed by a rolling, forested hill. She steadied her breath as her heart threatened to thump out of her chest. She reached for a Sharpie from a bathroom drawer and proceeded to draw a bullseye on the window. Whoever this was, silly kid or creepy adult, she would stare down the fear, and they would soon learn they couldn’t frighten Julia Newell.

The alarm suddenly blared through the house. “Abi!” Julia yelled as she sprinted toward her sister’s room.

“It’s okay,” Abi met Julia at the alarm pad on the wall next to the front entrance and disabled it within seconds.

Dax stood in the front entry. “Good to see you’re using your security system.” His face lifted into a tired smile.

Julia gave him a nod. “Just testing it out on our visitors.” Her voice wasn’t ready for speaking after her run and it sent her into a coughing fit.

“Sorry to set it off. I didn’t mean to make you cough.”

“It’s my fault,” Abi shook her head. “I’m not used to disarming it before opening the front door.” She gave Julia a light squeeze. “I’m headed in to work. Call me.”

Abi left the two of them in a moment of awkward silence.

“Long night?” Julia questioned.

“Couldn’t sleep.” He shrugged. “Not too deep.”

“Do you want to nap on the couch?” Julia offered.

“Maybe this afternoon.” He held up a paper grocery sack. “These need to get in the fridge.”

Julia gave Dax a quick hug. She would have held onto him and given him a thank you kiss but didn’t want to risk infecting him. “You’re too good to me.”

“That’s the idea.” He raised an eyebrow as he walked toward the kitchen. “Where do I stand with the jury?”

“I’d say a verdict is on the horizon.”

He stopped suddenly and turned back to her. “Like on the horizon today?” His eyes lit with excitement.

She laughed. Stupid idea—it caused her to nearly hack up a toe.

Dax led her to a bar stool and quickly filled a glass of water. “Have you eaten?”

The tepid water soothed her cough momentarily. “Nope.” She sighed. “Too scared.”

“Let’s get you fed and back to bed.”

She fought the urge to laugh, breathing in and out slowly instead. “Are you trying to make me cough? That’s cruel.”

He gave her an incredulous look as he placed an egg carton on the counter and fired up a burner. “Why would I try to make you cough?”

“You’ve been Dr. Seuss since you walked in the door.” She tilted her head to the side and lifted her eyebrows. “You’re not trying to make me laugh with your little rhymes?”

Butter skittered across the cast iron frying pan.

“Little rhymes make you laugh?” He cracked two eggs with one hand over the pan. “Like,” he said, casting his eyes from side to side, “how you got a kick out of we lost Blue in Peru?”

She relaxed her elbows into the counter and studied him for a minute. “You got that?”

“Of course. It was cute, but not humorous. Our captain was the first man down.”

She feared his answer, but forced the question out, “Is that how you see it?”

“That’s how I saw it.”

Her heart raced. “And how do you see it now?”

Dax plated the fried eggs and slid them in front of her. “I’m already lost, but it feels like I’ve found paradise. A paradise I don’t ever want to leave.” He touched her hand. “You don’t have to say anything.” Light permeated his eyes, causing them to brighten to a tawny yellow. “I just want to spend time with you.”

“I’m good with that.” Her voice was steady, but her body burned, and her mind blurred and swirled with hope.

This could be the real thing.

* * *

Dax scrutinized the bullseye on Julia’s bathroom window. Julia had recently drifted off to sleep, or he would have asked her to explain it.

Something felt off. He had an unsettling feeling that he couldn’t seem to shake. Julia and Abi were now using their alarm system, and the front door alarm worked. He assumed if the windows were triggered, they would effectively siren as well.

He clenched his fists as he made his way to the kitchen. With his hands chopping, he would forget the patient convulsing in her hotel room last night. Her friends screamed as he stabilized the teenage girl, but her prognosis didn’t look good. Drugs. He slammed a fresh chicken onto the counter, its bones cracking under the weight as he pressed down then cut the limbs off. He took in a deep breath as he placed the pieces of chicken in the pot of boiling water he had started before checking on Julia. He could have used some calming conversation, but maybe it was better she slept, not having to witness his “therapy session” with the piece of meat that would become chicken broth.

After an hour of dicing and simmering to smooth music, Dax had reconciled his brain with the events of last night. He carried the tray carefully to Julia’s room. She was still low on fluids; soup would do the trick.

Julia stirred when he lightly knocked on the door before entering her room. “Hey,” her eyes blinked at the light filtering in through her window as she sat up.

He set the tray on the dresser and adjusted the shutters to divert the streaming light. “I made you some soup.”

She groaned.

“You don’t like soup?”

“Not chicken soup.”

“Well that’s good, because this is hot and sour soup.”

“Like spicy and super acidic?” She contorted her face into an expression of fear. “I thought you were trying to make my stomach better.”

He laughed. “I am. It’s the ultimate heal quick soup. It has ginger, garlic, mushrooms…” He tapped his finger on his chin as his eyes went to the ceiling. “…eggs and tofu for protein.”

“Okay.” She waved for him to bring it over. “Sorry if I seem unappreciative. I am grateful you’re here and would love to try your soup.”

He settled the tray over her legs.

“Two bowls? You eating too?”

“You better believe it. This stuff is delicious.” He sat next to her in bed, then pulled his iPad off the nightstand. “Abi said you would want to watch a Rom-Com, so I picked one out.”

Dax signed in to his account and brought up the movie. As it started into the first scene Julia grunted.

“The Green Mile?” she said with scrunched brows. “You consider that a Rom-Com?”

“Thought it was right up your alley. Attorneys and jails.”

“And darkness and misery.”

“About that, there is this amazing guy who has this power and saves people but then is wrongly accused and executed.”

“Touching story—how it echoes Christ’s life, but not real. It’s Hollywood. In real life, the evidence convicts the perp.” She slowly took her first spoonful of soup. “Oh, that is so good.” She stared down into the bowl for a minute. “But so was the chicken soup.”

“You’re getting better. Eat more,” he encouraged. “Can you tell if someone is innocent or guilty just by looking at them?”

“What kind of a question is that?” She took another large spoonful. “The law is: innocent until proven guilty.”

“Right, but can’t you sometimes sense someone’s goodness?”

She gave him a crooked smile. “You’ve been talking to Abi.”

He put his hands in the air to signal his surrender. “Do you really see light in people?”

“It isn’t always a sure thing. For instance, I’ve had clients that were sociopaths. They didn’t, or couldn’t, feel empathy. The prisons are filled with them. They were neglected and abused as infants or toddlers and this is the consequence.”

“How did you know they were sociopaths?”

“They were eventually certified by a licensed doctor, but I knew before. It’s hard to explain.”

“Try. I’d like to understand.”

She waved her spoon in the air. “When someone does something against their conscience, they feel guilt, and their light wanes. For sociopaths, they don’t feel guilt. They don’t care if they hurt others. Their faces are innocent and clear.” She took another sip of soup then played with the spoon in her mouth for a moment. “But they don’t shine like people who love those around them.” She paused. “But their countenance isn’t dark either. They seem like nice people, and their victims don’t know to be on their guard.” She shook her head. “Does that make any sense?”

“Absolutely.” He blew out a breath. Her insight floored him. “But are you convinced they don’t get a sick thrill out of hurting people.”

“I’m sure some do, but I hate to think that way.”

“Tell me about that bulls-eye in your bathroom.”

“It’s nothing.” She stuck her hands under the covers as they began to shake. “Just some neighborhood kids with spit wads.”

He didn’t like how she was brushing off her fear. Yes, confront fear and don’t let it rule you, but take caution and talk. He’d pull it out of her.

“You sure that’s all it is? Because if someone’s messing with you, we need to put an end to it. Right here. Right now.”

“No one is messing with me.” She sighed. “I think it’s time for a pick-me-up with a happy ending.”

“I’m here for you when you need me, but I’ll also make sure you get the space you need.” He could tell she wouldn’t budge, and he didn’t want her to see him as another controlling guy. He’d keep a close watch from here on out. “Touching Rom-Com movie?”

“Yes. Please.”

He willed a straight face as he pulled up the next flick. “How about this one?”

“Seriously?” She tilted her head down and gave a dramatic blink of her eyes. “Shawshank Redemption?”

“What?” He shrugged as she punched his bicep. “It has a happy ending.” He had ten similar movies in his cue to tease her with, but why stop there? He could do this the rest of his life.

She pulled the iPad from his hands. It only took her a minute to pick out a movie. “Here.” She demonstrated the screen to him. “How about this one?”

Dax scrunched his nose at her selection. “Let’s do it.”

He settled back into the pillows before studying Julia’s profile as she drifted off into Jane Austen’s world of Pride and Prejudice. He couldn’t stand that show, but she liked it. If watching a Jane Austen with her would make her happy, he’d do it. But could he watch chick flicks with her for the rest of his life? He groaned as he rubbed his face. This girl had his head spinning. He shouldn’t be thinking about marriage this early on in the game. He never thought about marriage, and he needed to figure out his issues before he allowed that notion to infiltrate his mind again.

Dax rolled his eyes as Julia released a cooing sound when Mr. Darcy crossed the dance floor. Why did girls swoon over such girly men? He’d try to get her to watch a Die Hard movie next, then she’d see a real man in action.

The screen to his phone lit as he pressed his thumb to unlock it. It was time to search for flights to Brazil and make peace with his past.