“Good luck with my brother, poppet. Remember, under all that gruffness, he’s a really good guy. He’ll take care of you. If you let him. It’s okay to rely on other people. Sure, sometimes you get hurt. Sometimes they leave. But that’s life. Time to start living again, Caley.”
* * *
Time to start living again, Caley.
Goddamn, Archer. Did he know what he was doing to her with those words? She still held a lot of guilt about Dave. About feeling like she was betraying him by being with Issy. That was likely another reason her Little was still locked away.
She trusted Issy. Knew he wouldn’t betray or harm her. She rubbed her pounding head; she should stop and take something for her headache. Last thing she needed was to get a migraine. But she only had ten more pages to edit before she could send this off to her editor.
So she persevered, ignoring the call of her bladder and the rumbling of her tummy. If she got this done, maybe she could have a rest before he got home. She sighed, rubbed the back of her neck and dove back into her story.
19
Doc pulled up outside the cabin. It had been a long day and he was glad to get back to Caley’s place. He opened the back of the rental vehicle and drew out his bags of shopping. Going shopping always put him in a foul mood and he was trying not to give in to that.
Saying goodbye to Archer at the airport had been harder than he’d thought.
Stupid, not like he couldn’t go visit his brother whenever he wanted. He hadn’t been back to Dallas since he’d basically runoff two years ago. But things were different now. It almost felt wrong not to have his brother with him.
He shook his head at the idea.
It took a couple of trips to unload the truck. He knew that Caley would still be busy working, but he didn’t want to interrupt her until he was done. He didn’t want her to insist on helping him. It was far too cold for her to be traipsing in and out of the cabin.
Mind you, the inside of the cabin wasn’t that much warmer since she’d let the fire go out. He shook his head. Part of him, the Daddy side, didn’t actually want her touching the fireplace. But he knew that wasn’t possible
He quickly started the fire then put the groceries away before putting his other purchases in the spare bedroom.
Archer’s room.
Don’t be ridiculous, man. He glanced at the clock with a frown. The coffee pot was empty, and the sandwich was missing from the fridge. So at least she’d eaten today. And gotten up and moved around.
He knocked on her door. He heard her let out a cry and pushed his way through the door, looking around frantically.
“What is it? What’s wrong?”
She gaped up at him, her hand on her chest. “Oh my God. You gave me a fright.”
“I gave you a fright? I heard you yell out and thought something was wrong. You’ve taken years off my life.”
“I wasn’t expecting you back so early.”
“Early, girl? It’s nearly five.”
He frowned as he took her in. Her hair had mostly fallen from the bun she’d put it in this morning. Even though she was bundled up, but she still looked cold. And pale. There was a tightness around her eyes as though she was in pain. She reached up and rubbed at the back of her neck.
Sore muscles? Or a headache as well?
He caught sight of the bottle of water next to her desk. Mostly full. Okay, that wasn’t good. A plate sat on the desk with a half-eaten sandwich. So not only had she not finished her lunch, but she’d eaten it while still working.
Oh, she was in so much trouble.
“You didn’t hear me pull up or empty out the truck?” he grumbled.
“Umm, no,” she said hesitantly as though sensing his upset but not entirely certain about the cause.
He folded his arms over his chest. “Finished your book?”
“Oh yes. I did. Sent it away to my editor. And I started plotting out a new one. And I got some social media stuff done. I’m actually well ahead of schedule.”