“You’ve been here since the accident. Mom said you refuse to go home.”
“Where else would I be? There’s a hotel across the street. I’m used to hotel living. I’m fine.”
“But Lennon—”
“Lennon and I talk every night. Besides, I’m going home today.”
“You are?” she asks.
“Yeah, I just stopped by to check on you first.”
“Oh…”
I frown. The change in her is palpable. Something is off here and as always, when it comes to Katie, I’m not exactly sure what is going on in her head.
“Okay, talk to me. What are you thinking?” I just ask flat out. I’ve not always been good at that in the past and that needs to change. Just like she needs to learn to communicate instead of shutting down.
“Nothing. I’m glad you’re going home, you need to,” she says, but she’s not really looking at me.
I press my hand against the side of her neck, feeling the reassuring beat of her pulse throb against my palm. I force her to look at me.
“You and I were good at a lot of things together, Katie, but we sucked at communication, sweetheart. In the past, I would let you hide in your head because it was easier and that was my fault. You held everything in because that’s what your fucking bitch of a biological mother taught you. We both need to stop that. Now, tell me what you’re hiding behind those beautiful eyes of yours.”
Katie sucks in an audible breath and her pulse speeds. I watch as she bites down on her lip. She looks so much better than she did, but she’s still way too pale and her full lips are pale pink and ravaged from her stay in the hospital and all of the stress her body has been under. Still, she’s prettier than any woman I’ve ever seen.
She always has been.
“Why?” she whispers, and I frown, not quite sure what direction she’s gone off into now.
“Why?” I ask. “What do you mean?”
“Why do we need to learn to communicate better? What’s going on, Jake? Why are you being so….”
“So?” I prompt when she looks down at the bed and I lose eye contact with her again.
“Caring,” she finally says, her forehead crinkled when she finally lifts her face so I can see her.
I use the pad of my thumb to smooth out one of the lines on her face and try to figure out how to respond. There are times when you deal with complicated issues that Katie always reminded me of a baby deer caught alone on the road in the headlights of your truck. It wants to run but is afraid to move. Ittook me years to get her where she felt safe with me. I hate that she doesn’t now. She’s back to being skittish and judging every single movement I make—every word I utter.
“Well, we have a beautiful little boy who is depending on the two of us to get our acts together and be good parents to him. We need to learn to let go of the past and work together for his future.”
“Oh.” She takes a deep breath and gives me a slight nod. “You’re right we do. Lennon is what is important here.”
“He is,” I respond.
“We’re agreed. It’s good you’re going home to take care of him. He needs you, Jake.”
“What about you, Katie? Do you need me?”
“Wh…What?” Instantly, her face goes back to being wary. I know I should probably let it go. It’s too soon. Yet, I’ve made my mind up. I don’t want Katie thinking there’s nothing between us when, clearly, there is. The last thing I want is for my brother to come back into town to try and win her over—leaving me out in the cold again. Hell, it doesn’t even have to be my brother. It hasn’t escaped my notice how the surgeon keeps coming in here and looking at her. He may be trying to be professional, but he is failing. Katie attracts men like flies. She always has and it was annoying as hell. The only saving grace about it was she failed to realize the way they gravitated toward her. I was never blind to it and I’m not now.
“It’s a simple question, sunshine. Do you need me?”
“Why do you keep calling me sunshine? That pet name died seven years ago, remember?”
“No, it didn’t. It just felt wrong using it, knowing I hurt you and we weren’t together any longer.”
“We’re not together now, Jake. We haven’t been in a lifetime.”