“Laurel, I’d like you to meet Dylan’s sister, Rachel.” Jamie nodded in her direction. “Rachel, this is Laurel Cavanaugh.”
Laurel’s face cleared, and she stepped forward with a wide smile. “Oh, what a pleasure it is to finally meet you! I’ve heard so much about you from Dylan!”
To Jamie’s astonishment, Rachel didn’t seem inclined to return Laurel’s friendly smile. She shook the other woman’s hand, but the overture seemed grudging, at best.
“So Jamie hasn’t mentioned me?” Rachel asked, tipping her chin up and sliding a quick look at Jamie.
Laurel gave a small laugh, and looked confused. “No. Why, should he have?”
“Rachel—” Jamie tried to interject, but Rachel held her hand up, forestalling whatever words he might have said.
“No, there’s no reason why he should have mentioned me,” she replied, but the smile she gave Laurel didn’t reach her eyes. “And now that I’ve met you, I understand why.”
“I, uh, think there’s been some misunderstanding,” Laurel said, casting a worried look toward Jamie. “Maybe I should go.”
“I’ll call you later,” Jamie said.
He didn’t know what had gotten into Rachel, but he didn’t want her taking it out on Laurel, who had done nothing to deserve it. He waited until Laurel had closed the front door behind her, and then spread his hands out.
“What are you doing?”
To his astonishment, Rachel put a hand to her eyes and half turned away.
“I don’t know,” she muttered. “I wasn’t expecting to see you here, and it just sort of threw me. I mean, I know you’re with her now, but I didn’t expect to actually see you with her, okay? I had no idea she would be here.”
Jamie frowned. “Who? Laurel?”
“Yes, Laurel!” Rachel’s voice broke. “I tried to call you, Jamie. It took me about an hour to figure out I’d made a mistake in letting you leave that day.” She looked at him, stricken. “A huge mistake! I went over to your house, but you’d already left.”
Jamie took a step toward her. “I couldn’t stay, Rachel. You know that. Seeing you every day, being that close and not being able to be with you—I had to leave.”
“And Laurel was right there to console you,” Rachel said bitterly.
Jamie stared at her, dumbfounded. “What?”
Rachel turned to him, her face contorted in pain. “I saw you! I saw you together, Jamie, so don’t try to deny it!”
Now Jamie did step forward, unmindful of his stiff leg, and took her by the shoulders. “I do deny it! What did you see, Rachel?”
She struggled not to cry and it was as if someone had ripped his beating heart from his chest. He dragged her into his arms, ignoring her stiff resistance, intent only on trying to soothe her.
“I saw you outside the hospital,” she said, her voice muffled against his chest. “You were hugging her, and it looked like more than just a neighborly hug, and I almost don’t blame you because she’s beautiful and young—”
Jamie tightened his hold on her. “Oh, Rachel…”
*
Jamie’s chest heaved up and down, and for just an instant, Rachel thought he might actually be crying, but when she lifted her face from his shoulder, she realized she was mistaken.
He was laughing.
Rachel leaned back in his arms and stared at him, even as a part of her brain registered he wasn’t releasing her, and in fact seemed to be holding her even closer.
And it felt wonderful.
“What’s so funny?” she demanded, and swiped her fingertips across her eyes.
“Laurel is nothing more than a friend,” he said. His eyes traveled over her face like a caress. “That day at the hospital, the doctor gave me news I wasn’t ready to hear, and she was just trying to make me feel better.”
Hope flared inside of Rachel. Friends, not lovers!
“So you’re not together?”
“Not even close. My heart already belongs to someone else.”
“Oh, Jamie…” She started to melt against him, and then the full meaning of his words sank in. “What news did the doctor give you?”
“My leg will never be as strong as it was, and I’ll always walk with a limp.”
Rachel understood what it was he wasn’t saying. “What does that mean for you? For your military career?”
“I’m not sure. I haven’t been on active duty in almost six months, and I’m still facing months of rehab. If I can’t return within a year, I’ll be medically discharged.”