CHAPTER 23

How many times was he going to wake up to find Avery missing from his bed? Theo had no idea why she’d left, only that once again, he’d woken up after a tremendously satisfying night’s sleep to find her gone. Glancing over at the clock, he winced. Ten already? He’d slept the morning away. After last night, he was probably entitled, but there was a lot he needed to get done. Such as going to see Cole.

Half an hour later he was down at the Sheriff’s Department, freshly showered and dressed. Rhonda Lee greeted him with a big smile as he walked through the front door.

“Why, Theo, what a pleasure to see you,” she said, removing her headset and giving her poufy blond hair a pat. “It’s been such a long time.”

“Too long,” Theo responded, reaching over the desk to give her a kiss on the cheek. “How’s Bobby?”

“Oh, just wonderful,” Rhonda Lee gushed. “He’s taking me to Acapulco for our twentieth wedding anniversary this spring. I’m such a lucky woman.”

“He’s the lucky one,” Theo said with a wink.

Rhonda Lee gave him a coy look. “You charmer, you.”

Theo chuckled. “I think you must be confusing me with Sebastian. And speaking of brothers, is Cole in?”

“No. He’s out in the field. But he should be back soon. Want to wait?”

Theo glanced around the Spartan office. His brother was a stickler for order, and it showed in the precise alignment of the books on the shelves and the uniform angles of the desk arrangements. Giving a wave to Hank Jacobs, Theo smiled at Rhonda Lee. “No, thanks. You can tell him I’ll be writing at the LMK. He can come get me when he’s back.”

“Okay, Theo. Nice to see you.”

“ ’Bye, Rhonda Lee.”

Theo walked the few blocks to the Kitchen. Lexie was in the back and the place was nearly empty at this hour, so he slid into one of the booths along the wall, unloaded his notebook and laptop, and got to work. Forty-five minutes, two cups of coffee, and half-a-slice of coconut cake later, Cole strolled in. He made a beeline for the booth and there was a scowl on his face. Val’s sarcastic nickname for him—Sheriff Sunshine—had never seemed more appropriate.

“Smart of you to stay upstairs last night,” Cole said by way of greeting, sliding in opposite him. “You kept yourself and your woman safe. But I sure wish you’d walked her back to her aunt’s place this morning.”

Theo snapped his laptop shut. “Why?” he exclaimed. “What happened?”

“Met up with her on the street this morning, and a good thing, too. Some drugged-out old client of hers broke into her aunt’s house.”

“You’re joking.”

“I never joke about a case,” Cole said, grabbing Theo’s fork and helping himself to a healthy bite of the cake.

“Is she okay?”

“Sure. Got the EMTs down right away. Stabilized the woman and took her to CCH.”

“Oh, my, God. Avery. Was Avery hurt?” He made to rise.

“I would have told you up front if that had been the case. Avery was just fine. Freaked out at the gun, but she jumped into the fray all the same. Tough woman.”

“Where is she now?”

“I left her at the hospital,” Cole said. “She wanted to visit with her aunt.” Theo shoved his things into his bag. “Where are you going? You still owe me a statement.”

“Where do you think? To the hospital to see Avery.”

As Theo crossed the dining room to leave, he heard Cole call out, “Can I have the rest of your cake?”

Cursing himself for not being there for Avery, Theo didn’t even bother to respond.

“Sir? Sir! You can’t go in there, sir! Please, sir, come back!”

Theo burst through the doors to the Urgent Care ward, ignoring the pleas of the physician’s assistant who was chasing after him. Where was she? He didn’t trust Cole’s explanation of what had happened, and a call to Avery’s cell phone had gone straight to voicemail. He was getting more frantic now. He quickly scanned the corridor. No Avery.

“Sir!” The poor assistant was getting desperate, but he didn’t care. He turned the corner and came up short just before he rammed into Julie Kensington.

“Theo?” Julie looked startled. “What are you doing back here?”

“Avery,” he bit out. “Where is she?”

“Not here,” Julie said firmly, taking him by the arm and leading him away from the physician’s assistant, who finally seemed to be calming down. “I’ll take you to her.” Thankful for the fact that he’d always been decent to Julie in high school, and even more thankful that she was now a doctor who had hospital access, he let her lead him down the corridor, through some double doors, and into a different wing. “Kate’s doing well, so they transferred her to the general ward. Avery’s keeping her company. She’s fine. Just so you know.”

The tightness in his chest abated somewhat, but he wouldn’t be fully satisfied until he saw her.

“There she is,” Julie said, discreetly pointing down a long hallway toward a bench. She gave him a little pat on the back.

“Thank you,” he said to Julie before making a beeline for Avery, who sat slumped with her hands clasped in her lap. She looked so small. Small and sad. The thought of her feeling even a little bit miserable made him feel downright awful. He strode the length of the hallway as quickly as he could, sat down right next to her, and wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

Avery took one look at him and her face crumpled. “Oh, Avery,” he said, enveloping her in a hug. He just let her cry, stroking her back and hair. Just let her get it all out, every wrenching sob, every hot tear. She kept everything bottled up so tightly, it was no wonder that she needed to explode. When she finally pulled away, her eyes were red and her face was blotchy.

She tried to avert her eyes from him, but he gently tipped her chin up. “You never need to hide from me. I’m here for you.”

When she spoke, her voice was surprisingly even. “Seeing Wanda again was such a shock. I—I couldn’t believe how bad she looked. How far she’d fallen. And I kept thinking about Mia and how she must have died. Alone. And if not scared, then strung out and out of her mind. I found her body, you know. She was late for our appointment, so I went to the housing center to get her. I found her on her back, eyes wide open. She’d had a seizure, passed out and choked on her own vomit. It was,” she paused to swallow, “it was the most horrible thing I’ve ever witnessed in my life. On top of that, I felt like such a failure. What I had to give wasn’t good enough. And to think that I might have failed Wanda, too? What if she hadn’t broken into Kate’s place? What if she had died alone in the woods or somewhere in the cold snow where no one would have found her until spring? Oh, my God …” She choked a bit as her voice rose and fresh tears fell. Theo didn’t say anything; he just held her tightly and let her compose herself. After a few moments, Avery swallowed and continued.

“With Kate being ill on top of everything else, it’s all been a bit much for me to handle. When it was just the cancer, I could deal with it. It’s the unknown that makes me crazy.” She shook her head. “I thought getting away from Boston would help me figure out whether I could do this job. Give me some distance. Can I be a successful social worker or can’t I? But things are just as confusing here, especially with you.” A little tear made its way from the corner of her eye down her cheek.

Theo wiped it away and kissed her. “Our relationship is the last thing you should be confused about.”

She looked up at him doubtfully. “Is what we have a relationship?”

“Of course.” He brushed her lips with his, and then looked her dead in the eye. “Don’t second-guess us. I want to be with you, Avery. Do you understand?”

She stared back at him for a long time before glancing away. “Well, I’m second-guessing every interaction with Wanda, that’s for sure,” she said finally, giving a sweet little hiccup. “The fact that I almost lost another client? Let’s just say it hasn’t been good for my confidence.”

“Think of it as an opportunity to make things right,” Theo said.

Avery blinked rapidly. “I—I never thought of it like that. It’s rare that anyone gets a second chance at anything, let alone something this important.”

“See? You’re already looking on the bright side.”

She snorted and wiped her nose. “The bright side to drug addiction. Just great.”

“If anyone can see it, you can. Channel that passion into helping Wanda.” And into me.

“I’ll try. I need Kate to get better, too.”

“She will. She’s being taken care of by the best,” he said. “You’re not alone in this. Don’t forget that. Let others in to help. Let me in.”

She was silent, her head resting on his shoulder. “Theo?” she finally said, not raising her head.

“Yeah, Avery?”

“Thank you. I didn’t realize until now how much I needed you here.”

Her heartfelt words humbled him. For one of the few times in his life, he was at a loss for words. Instead, he simply enveloped her in his arms and pulled her to his chest.