CHAPTER TEN
BROOK LYNN BOLTED UPRIGHT, unable to catch her breath or hear a single sound, a residue of panic slowly fading.
Panic? Why? She searched her surroundings for clues. A tube extended from one of her arms, ending in an IV bag. A blood-pressure cuff was anchored to her left biceps. Hospital, she realized.
Ugh. She hated hospitals. As a kid she’d spent countless hours inside sparse, sterile rooms with strangers as roommates, drugged to the max to counteract the constant, uncontrollable pain in her ears.
Her ears!
Frantic, she reached up. The moment she encountered the implants, she relaxed. They were in place and clearly working, deaf as she currently was, and though the motion caused a dull throb to reverberate through her head, like a fresh bruise in the process of healing, it was far better than the itching—and what had come after.
Once again, I’m Frankenlynn. But at least she could function.
The room was small but private, Jessie Kay sleeping in the chair by the window. The blinds were open, allowing her to see outside. Bradford pears, oaks and wildflowers surrounded a busy parking lot.
Memories flooded Brook Lynn. She’d been inside Rhinestone Cowgirl. Brad had just accepted her invitation, and as they’d made plans their hands had brushed together—masculine contact she hadn’t experienced in a very long time. But there had been nothing. No spark. No shiver of pleasure or internal tingle. Not like the mere thought of Jase often caused. Brad had leaned toward her and, afraid he was going to try to kiss her, she’d jerked away. She’d stumbled. When she hit the floor, one of her implants had ripped free.
The pain—oh, the pain. Every sound, from the whistle of wind against the shop windows to the patter of footsteps outside, had agonized her. Then Jase had arrived and...she couldn’t remember anything after that.
Fingertips brushed over her wrist. Gasping, she faced the culprit. Jessie Kay had woken up and now stood at her bedside. Her lips were moving.
“You’ll have to start over,” Brook Lynn said, speaking over her sister. “I’m on silent, and I’m not ready to change that. I have to read your lips.”
Jessie Kay nodded and, with tears welling in her eyes, said, “I’m so sorry this happened. Sorry I wasn’t there to help you.”
“It wasn’t your fault.”
“I know, but...” Features tight with tension, Jessie Kay latched on to her hand and squeezed. “I was with Sunny. She’d just gotten a huge check for the oil leases on her land, and she staked me a few hundred bucks. We went to the casino in the city to try and win more.”
Just like Uncle Kurt. Trying to hide her dismay, Brook Lynn said, “And while you were there, you threw a penny in a wishing well and asked that one of my implants fall out?”
“Never! Dude. You know I hate wishing wells.”
True story. Jessie Kay feared the Pet Sematary effect. “Then I still don’t see how this is your fault.”
“It just is. For once in your life, don’t argue with me.”
“Fine. You’re to blame. You suck.”
A relieved nod. “Much better.”
Brook Lynn squeezed her sister’s hand in return. “How long have I been here?”
“Two days. You’ve actually woken up and talked to me a few times before, but the doc told me the drugs might screw with your memory.”
Brook Lynn clenched her eyes shut and dragged in a breath. She’d missed two days of work? After she’d told Edna she would be more reliable. After only two days on the job with Jase. I’m the worst employee ever. Both of her bosses had to be tee-icked.
“By the way, Jase is in the waiting room. He hasn’t left, not one time,” Jessie Kay said, her eyes going wide with awe. But the awe was soon replaced by dismay. “He yelled at me. Told me I was nothing but a drain on you, and I needed to step up and do my part.”
Two reactions bubbled up at once...warm flutters dancing in her stomach, anger burning through her veins. Jase had stayed? Had worried about her? He cared about her that much? But he’d yelled at her sister, insulted her, when he’d had no right to do so. He didn’t know the fires and trials that had molded Jessie Kay into the woman she was. He hadn’t been there every time she’d tossed and turned with nightmares, crying out for their parents. He hadn’t been there when she’d scrimped and saved to buy their uncle a birthday present—only to find out he’d hocked it the next day.
“I love you,” Brook Lynn said. “You know that, right?”
Jessie Kay gave a reluctant incline of her head, wiped away the tears that had sprung up and quickly moved on. “Kenna is here, too. Brad was, but he had to go to work. I’m supposed to call him with a progress report and...” Her gaze shifted. “Hey! No one invited you in here, death-peddler.”
A shadow fell over Brook Lynn just before Dr. Murphy claimed her attention.
“Nice to see you, too, Miss Dillon,” he replied.
Jessie Kay hated doctors almost as much as spiders, and Brook Lynn could only blame herself. As much as Brook Lynn had cried before and after each of her visits, her sister had learned to associate medical treatment with anguish.
Dr. Murphy was an older black man with a full head of silver hair and eyes the loveliest shade of chocolate. He was one of the most distinguished-looking men she’d ever come across.
“How are we doing, my dear?” he asked with a warm smile.
“Well. I think.”
“Good, good. Let’s have a look at those vitals.”
The exam lasted only ten minutes or so, and as he checked her over, he explained how the tube anchoring the new implant to her ear canal hadn’t adhered properly and had come loose, wreaking havoc on her whole system. From her equilibrium to actual brain activity. While knocked out, she’d even had a seizure. But she was on the mend now and could go back to her regular schedule upon her return home tomorrow, as long as she stayed off trampolines and away from jump ropes for the next several weeks.
When Dr. Murphy left, she lumbered into the bathroom to clean up as best she could, which was actually easier than anticipated. Propped on the sink was a plastic bag filled with goodies. A washrag, hairbrush, toothpaste and a toothbrush. A ponytail holder, T-shirt and a nice bar of soap. She returned to the bed feeling ten thousand times better.
Jessie Kay hadn’t left from her spot and once again clutched her hand, as if she couldn’t bear another moment of separation.
“Thanks for the supplies,” Brook Lynn said.
“Do you seriously believe I’m that thoughtful?”
“Good point. Who brought them?”
“Beck, at Jase’s order.”
Jase again. The man confused and angered her...but he also delighted her. What am I going to do about him?
“I was so afraid,” her sister admitted. “If I were to lose you...”
“You didn’t. You won’t. You heard Dr. Murphy. I’m fine.”
“Yes, but for how long? You work too hard. You need a break. You deserve one.”
“We have bills. More now than ever.”
Jessie Kay shook her head, the first hint of a smile revealed, like the sun peeking out from behind dark clouds. “We don’t. Jase is taking care of everything.”
What! “No. No, no, no.”
“Yes, yes, yes,” her sister insisted. “You can bury your stubborn side in a cow patty, where it belongs. He’s already paid the hospital bill. You think they’ll give the money back to him?”
She wouldn’t be a drain on him. She would rather die. “They won’t, but I will. I’m paying him back even if I have to get a third job.” And a fourth one. “Even if I have to sell my organs on the black market!”
“First, I call dibs on your liver. I could use a new one. And I’ll expect a sisterly discount. But why can’t we let him—”
“I said no!”
“Okay, okay. Calm down.” Jessie Kay pursed her lips, as if she’d just sucked on a lemon. “I’ll get a job.”
Please. Heard that before.
“I know you’re not actually speaking any words, but I don’t think you’ve ever been ruder to me,” Jessie Kay said. “Your eyes are saying plenty.”
“Well, I hope you’re listening. They don’t like to repeat themselves.”
“I’m listening, all right, and they have a seriously dirty mouth.” Her sister gave her hand another squeeze. “So...did you talk me up to Jase?”
Sickness churned deep in her stomach. “Of course.”
“Did you mention my ability to make any conversation about sex?”
“Somehow that detail got left out,” she said drily.
“Well, it’s time to put it in.” Jessie Kay wiggled her brows. “See what I did there?”
Brook Lynn rolled her eyes.
“I’m going to marry that boy, you know,” her sister said with a firm nod. “And I’m going to break him in like a carnival pony then ride him into the sunset for a happily-ever-after. For both of us.”
The churning and sickness grew worse. Marry him? As in, take his last name, sleep in his bed every night and have his babies, marry? “Why Jase? After the way he’s treated you, the things he’s said to you, why not pick, say, Beck?” Please.
“Beck was a mistake. He’s like an older brother now. Jase, on the other hand, is the white knight I want guarding my back.”
The moisture in her mouth dried. I can’t steal a white knight from my sister. I just can’t.
Not that he was Brook Lynn’s to steal.
“We need him,” Jessie Kay said. “He can make our lives better.”
He could. He was strong. Smart. Funny. Teasing. Passionate. Resourceful. Sexy. “Or he could make our lives worse.” Am I trying to change her mind for her good...or my own?
Once-bright cheeks turned waxen. “Do you not think I can win him over?” Jessie Kay asked with a tremor. “Do you not think I’m special enough?”
Her sister’s vulnerabilities didn’t show up often, but when they did...I would rather have my heart ripped out by a zombie than see that look on her face. “I think you’re the specialest. I know you think he doesn’t know what he wants, and that you can show him, but are you sure you should try? Shouldn’t a man be willing to fight for you? You are a prize, and if he can’t see that on his own...”
“Am I, though? Am I really a prize?”
“I think so. Mom and Dad thought so. I mean, are you a total underachiever? Yes. But you’re also smart and witty, and you sure aren’t ugly.”
Her sister snorted. “Your compliments are like poetry.” She fluffed her hair. “But you’re right. I’m definitely a prize, and he’d be crazy not to want me. I will find a way to change his mind. Because I want him. Bad. I’ve never met a guy so capable and concerned, so willing to step in and make everything better.”
A flood of different emotions hit Brook Lynn, one after the other. Anger. Frustration. Worry. Sadness. Regret. Affection. Hope. More anger. Her chest hurt. Her temples, too.
“I texted him a bit ago,” Jessie Kay said. “Told him you were up. He’d like to see you.”
“No. Absolutely not.” Can’t face him right now.
“But why not? He’s your future brother-in-law.”
“Because,” she gritted out, doing her best not to reveal her frustration with the term. “Just because.”
Jessie Kay hesitated, nodded. “Okay. I’ll go tell him you’re not up for visitors.”
“Thank you.” Yes, she needed to express her gratitude to him for all he’d done. He’d gone above and beyond what was expected of a boss or even a friend. But with her sister’s words clanging around in her head, she didn’t think she could bear to be in the same room with him, looking at him, breathing him in. “Tell him, and then head home.”
“No, I—”
“Yes. You need to rest, and so do I. Just...find me a notebook and a pen before you go. Please,” she tacked on when she realized how rude she must sound. Warden strikes again.
Jessie Kay shook her head. “Sorry, sister dear, but I’m here for the long haul. I’m staying, and that’s that. I’ll be right back.” Before she left, she kissed Brook Lynn on the forehead. And, true to her word—for once—Jessie Kay did, in fact, come right back with a notebook and pen.
Expression bemused, Jessie Kay said, “Dude. Jase does not like being told no.”
“Learned that my first day as his assistant.” Her heart drummed erratically. With guilt or longing, she wasn’t sure. “Did he leave?”
“No. He’s basically moved in to the waiting room, and it’ll take a crane to get him out.”
He was that desperate to see her? Why?
Palms beginning to sweat, she fluffed her pillows and decided to put him out of her mind. He’d leave soon enough. Surely.
“Help me make a fun list,” she said. Despite the change in her circumstances and the looming possibility of having to nail down a third job—whimper—she wasn’t going to abandon her plan to enjoy life. Not anymore. But the list she’d made with Kenna had failed to inspire her, which was probably why she’d never made a real attempt to work through it. She needed a new one. One tailored specifically to her.
Jessie Kay pulled her chair closer to the bed. “Ohhh. A fun list. You certainly came to the right person.”
“An expert.”
“Do you want X-rated, PG-13 or PG?”
No need to think about it. “PG-13.”
“Boooo, hiss.” Jessie Kay made a face and gave her a thumbs-down. “Mild wild girls don’t have as much fun.”
“This one will.”
Jessie Kay tapped her fingers together, saying, “Well, the first thing you’ll need to do is flash a room full of men. At a bar!”
Ugh. The crowds. The music. Drunks who might grab what they shouldn’t. “No, thanks.”
“Write it down,” Jessie Kay insisted, pointing to the notebook. “Or I start counting.”
“Fine.” She wrote “Flash one man, preferably a boyfriend” and said “I’m also writing ‘hustle someone at pool and/or poker.’” While she wasn’t the biggest fan of the skills her uncle had imparted to her—all those late nights in smoky pool halls and man caves learning with the best—she decided to take something that once pained her and turn it into something that amused her. Kenna was right. The past created who a person was, but shouldn’t define who they could become. “Oh, and I’d like to attend a wine-and-cheese tasting.”
Jessie Kay’s head fell on her shoulder, her eyes closed. She let out a loud, exaggerated snore.
“Am I boring you to sleep?” Brook Lynn asked.
Her sister peeked through her lashes. “To death.”
“Too bad for you. Because I have never been so alive.” She wrote down “Drink whiskey straight from the bottle” and “Smoke a cigar.” Oh, and “Learn how to properly fight zombies.”
The notebook was snatched out of her hand. Jessie Kay read what she’d written and gagged. “When did you become a Victorian maiden living in a paranormal-romance world? Should I write down ‘learn to do the scandalous waltz while turning into a vampire,’ too?”
Brook Lynn grabbed the notebook and spoke aloud the next words she wrote. “Shave off all my sister’s hair. Have a secret identity for a day, and host a mystery dinner.”
“Touch my lustrous mane and lose a hand,” Jessie Kay said, fluffing the mane in question. “Honestly, you’re seriously depressing the crap out of me right now. You need to add ‘oil wrestling with a guy dressed like Tarzan.’ Oh, oh, and ‘holding a long, hard—’”
Looking down at her list, she lost track of her sister’s words. She wrote the dreams she’d had since she was a little girl...and a curious teenager. “Rescue a dog from a shelter” and “Dance for a hot guy, preferably the boyfriend I flash.”
Jessie Kay might have been the one to take ballet lessons, but Brook Lynn had been the one who’d yearned to spin and pirouette and dress as the swan princess. And, okay, sure, no guy on the planet would find her attempt at ballet sexy. But she could certainly perform some kind of naughty striptease.
What would Brad think of this desire of hers?
What would Jase think?
She trembled.
Nope. No. Not going there.
Maybe she needed to forget the men of Strawberry Valley and say yes to the next citidiot who asked her out. He wouldn’t be boyfriend material, but he also wouldn’t stick around town and gossip about her lack of talent. Of course, he wouldn’t settle for a few hip thrusts, either. He’d want all her clothes to come off and her backside grinding into his crotch until he reached a happy ending. Which wasn’t actually a half-bad idea, except for that last part...and it would certainly stop Jessie Kay’s snoring fit.
A tap on her arm had her glancing up. Her sister’s mouth was moving, but her gaze was not on Brook Lynn.
“—be in here,” she was saying.
Brook Lynn smelled him before she saw him. Honey-and-oat-scented soap. Tingling and heating, she turned her head and found Jase standing at her bedside. His features were taut, his arms crossed; the muscles beneath his skin flexed. His clothes were wrinkled, proof he’d slept in the waiting room, unwilling to leave her.
And I don’t have the lady balls to talk with him? I suck.
“Give us a few minutes,” she said to her sister.
“Are you sure?” Jessie Kay asked, looking nervous on her behalf.
No, but she nodded anyway.
After giving her hand a final comforting squeeze, Jessie Kay strolled out of the room and shut the door behind her.
Brook Lynn drew in a deep breath and faced Jase. He wasn’t peering at her, but at the wall over her shoulder. He plowed a hand through his hair and stalked to the chair Jessie Kay had vacated. She watched him, silent, unsure. Waiting, hoping. Dreading.
Finally, the wait proved to be too much.
“Thank you for paying the hospital bill,” she said. “But I can’t accept your money.”
That green gaze at last moved...and locked on her. His blank mask was firmly in place. “You refused to see me. Why?”
She racked her brain for the proper response. Her reason had been a good one—Jessie Kay wanted him, and being around him only made Brook Lynn ache for what she couldn’t have. She refused to lie, but at the same time she had to protect her emotions.
“I’m choosing not to answer you,” she finally said.
“Are you afraid of me?”
“Define afraid,” she said.
He didn’t speak for a long while, and she began to squirm on the bed. Fought the urge to babble. Yes, I’m afraid of you. Of what you make me feel. Of what would happen if ever I fell for you.
“You don’t have a choice about the money,” he said. How like him. He’d ignored her request and changed the subject. “It’s already done.”
“I know, but I will pay you back.”
“And I won’t accept.”
They’d see about that.
“Tell me about your ears,” he said.
Suddenly self-conscious, she shifted on the bed. “Without the implants, I hear everyday noises at a higher volume than other people.”
“What caused it?”
“I was born that way.”
“So you’ve suffered all your life?”
“I used to wear earmuffs. They helped. And I realize I’ve missed two days of work,” she said, changing tracks, “but you don’t have to worry. I’ll take care of your list tomorrow.”
He was shaking his head before she could finish. “No. You’ll be resting.”
He was going to treat her like an invalid, wasn’t he? “Are you planning to fire me?”
He flinched, as though horrified by the thought. “No.”
“Then I’m going to do my job.”
“Then I’m firing you,” he said simply.
She sat up, grabbed him by the shirt collar and yanked him closer to her. As strong as he was, he could have resisted, and she wouldn’t have been able to do anything about it. She leaned toward him until they were almost nose to nose.
“Now you listen to me, Jase Hollister. My ears are messed up and unless there are extreme advances in medicine they will always be that way. Some days, like today, I’m totally deaf. Other days I can hear just fine. I have little machines attached inside and out, and sometimes they have flashing lights. People stare.”
His gaze dropped to her lips, and she shivered, almost losing her nerve to continue.
“But that’s it,” she said. “That’s the extent of my problem. I’ll heal from this newest surgery, and I will work. I will do a good job. You will not baby me. Do you understand?”
His eyes narrowed to tiny slits as he plucked her fingers from his shirt. Something about him...as if the icy husk he surrounded himself with was now melting before her eyes. Cold-blooded? Oh, no. This man suddenly burned.
But when next he spoke, his tone gave nothing away. “You’re saying I should treat you like a normal, healthy woman?”
Should I be nervous? “Yes. Because that’s exactly what I am.”
“Okay, then. That’s exactly what I’ll do.” He let her go and straightened. He smoothed his clothes, gave her one last lingering look and strode from the room—leaving her trembling...and desperate for their next interaction.
Despite his words—and his actions—something had changed in him. Between them. That look...
What would he do when she showed up for work tomorrow?
She could hardly wait to find out.