She recalled again the sound of Jamie’s moans as he’d been caught in the grip of his nightmare. She hoped never to hear those sounds again. They’d terrified her, made her want to weep for what he’d been through. When he emerged from the bathroom, showered and dressed, he’d once again donned the persona of the audacious, teasing lover and any chance to ask about what had happened was gone.
They ate a quick breakfast in the majestic lobby of the lodge, sitting at the foot of the waterfall, and then they headed back to the hospital. Now they stood outside Dylan’s room as the doctor finished his morning examination.
“How is he?” Rachel asked, when the doctor and a nurse emerged from the room.
“I’d say he’s much better,” Doctor Hartmann replied, jotting notes onto a clipboard. He looked at Rachel and grinned. “He’s asking how long before he can jump again.”
Rachel smiled. “That sounds about right. Is it okay if we go in?”
“Of course.”
Dylan had his eyes closed, but he opened them when he heard their approaching footsteps, and his expression immediately transformed into a smile of welcome.
“Hey! This is a surprise!”
To Rachel, his voice sounded weak, but he looked much better than he had the previous day. He’d removed the green surgical cap, and now his hair spilled around his face in the glorious honey-brown waves that had driven girls wild for as long as Rachel could remember.
“Don’t try to sit up,” she advised, as she bent over and kissed his cheek. “I came as soon as I heard.”
Dylan gave her a weak grin, and rubbed his fingers along the scruff on his jaw. “If I’d known you were coming, I’d have cleaned up. And where’d you pick up this loser?” He lifted a hand and fist-bumped Jamie, who had moved to the opposite side of the bed. “Jesus, man, you look like shit.”
Jamie laughed. “Yeah, well have you looked in a mirror? I know you’ve always been jealous of me, but did you really have to jump into a tree just to one-up me? Looks like you’re going to have a pretty impressive scar to show off to the ladies.”
Dylan gave a dramatic groan. “Man, that wind caught my chute and I was like dandelion fluff, going whichever way it blew me.”
Rachel took his hand. “You’re lucky to be alive.”
Dylan was silent for a moment, and Rachel knew he was thinking about his former boss, who had been killed in an accident eerily similar to his own a few years earlier. Then he seemed to give himself a mental shake, and shifted his gaze to Jamie.
“You doing okay, bro? I tried to come see you, right after they shipped you home, but the timing didn’t work out. I got called up for a wildfire in Alaska, instead.”
Jamie shrugged. “I can’t complain. I have a follow-up appointment with the surgeon early next week, and hopefully they’ll take this off and transition me to a boot.” He grinned and nodded his head toward Rachel. “And I have this one here taking excellent care of me.”
Dylan looked bemused. “Yeah, how the hell did you two hook up?”
Rachel’s gaze sharpened on her brother. Did he suspect she and Jamie were more than just neighbors?
“Mom and Dad are on their annual cruise with the Colters,” she reminded him, “so they asked me if I would mind helping him out while they’re gone.”
Dylan frowned. “So you’re home now? Why didn’t anyone tell me?”
“It was a last-minute decision.” She pulled her hand free from Dylan’s and focused on removing an invisible bit of lint from her jeans. “Deke and I are officially divorced, and I just needed to get out of New York.”
“About damned time,” Dylan said darkly. “I always hated that prick. You should have listened to me when I told you not to marry him.”
Rachel gave him a weak smile. “Well, you were right.”
“So what are you going to do now?” he asked. “Not a lot of potential clients in Glacier Creek, although we do have seasonal residents with a lot of dough. Maybe Lucas can hook you up with some of them.”
Rachel vaguely remembered Lucas Talbot, the third friend in her brother’s childhood trio. He lived on Long Island, but had spent his summers in Glacier Creek, since his billionaire stepfather had owned a luxury mountain home overlooking Flathead Lake. The three of them had been inseparable every summer when they were growing up. She recalled Lucas’s family had even paid for Dylan and Jamie to accompany them on several ski vacations to Europe.
Now her eyes flicked to Jamie. “Thanks, but I don’t know how long I’ll be in Glacier Creek. I was thinking maybe I’d start my own business in California.”