Date Next Door

“And let your brother help you. He needs to feel useful.”

“I, uh—”

But Aislinn had already disconnected, leaving him shaking his head in bemusement.

Ethan was looking at him oddly when Joel dropped the phone back in Nic’s bag, and he was glad his brother hadn’t heard Aislinn’s parting advice.

“That was Nic’s friend, Aislinn Flaherty.”

“The psychic?” Ethan’s lip curled a bit as he said the word.

“She doesn’t claim to be psychic. She just has…feelings.”

“And she had a feeling something happened to Nic?”

“Yes.”

Ethan shook his head in open disbelief. “Bull.”

Joel shrugged. “Well, she has been calling all weekend worrying that something bad was going to happen.”

“Doesn’t prove anything. Maybe she calls all the time with veiled warnings. She’d have to be right every once in a while.”

“No.” Joel shook his head. “That isn’t Aislinn at all. You’d have to meet her to understand, but you’ve got her all wrong.”

“I’m not interested in meeting her. She sounds like a crackpot. But never mind about that. What’s your plan now? You said they’re keeping Nic overnight?”

“Probably. She’ll be watched closely today, but if everything looks good, there’s no reason to think she won’t be released tomorrow morning. I need to call and reschedule our flight for tomorrow afternoon. I know Nic will want to go home as soon as possible. I guess I should call the police department and let them know she won’t be at work for a few days. I should have asked Aislinn to do that.”

“Yeah, that would have been a helpful thing for her to do,” Ethan muttered. “Rather than calling once a day with predictions of doom.”

Joel wasn’t in the mood to argue with his brother about Aislinn at the moment. It wouldn’t accomplish anything anyway. “I’m glad everyone else finally went home for a while. Heidi will probably be back, but I needed some time to take care of details without all those other people hovering around.”

“Have you heard from the resort management yet?”

“Yes. The owner made me promise to call him if Nic needed anything at all.”

“I’m sure his first call was to his lawyer,” Ethan said cynically. “Nic won’t have to worry about any of these medical bills and she’ll probably get some sort of settlement for pain and suffering. Someone’s going to have to take responsibility for that balcony collapse, especially considering that the number of people using it this morning was well within safe limits.”

Joel shrugged off talk of liability and settlements. “We’ll let their lawyers and Nic’s lawyer handle all that stuff. I’ve got more immediate concerns to attend to. And speaking of which, I’d better start making those calls. Nic probably has her work number stored in her phone.”

“What can I do to help?”

Remembering Aislinn’s comment that Ethan needed to feel useful—and what the heck had made her say that anyway?—Joel gave it only a moment’s thought before replying, “I never did get breakfast this morning. If you could round me up a muffin or something…”

“I’m on it.” Ethan was on his feet with an alacrity that made Joel suspect that Aislinn had been right on target again. His head now aching in earnest, he dug for Nic’s phone again.

Nic had never been so happy to walk into her own bedroom as she was when Joel escorted her in late Monday afternoon. Though her head was aching and she was sore all over, she moved quickly and without limping, determined to show Joel that she was well on her way to full recovery.

He hadn’t exactly hovered over her during their trip home, probably knowing how much she would hate it if he did, but she’d been aware that he’d watched her closely. In response, she’d been even more determined to show no weakness, so that now she was about ready to collapse.

She wouldn’t, however, until she was alone. And it didn’t look as if that was going to be anytime soon, since Joel was still right at her heels. He set her bag down at the foot of her bed. “You should get some rest. Maybe have a cup of hot herbal tea first. It will help you relax.”

She managed a smile. “That sounds great. I’ll probably do just that.”

His smile was much too knowing as he raised a hand to cup her cheek. “What would really help you relax is for me to get out of here and leave you alone. But I’d like to stay just a little while longer, if you don’t mind too badly, just to make sure you’ll be okay after that tiring trip home.”

“Of course I don’t mind. You can join me for a cup of that tea you mentioned,” she said, her skin feeling suddenly warm beneath his touch.