Ever After (Nantucket Brides 3)

Hallie was stunned. She had no idea what had just happened. What had made him so angry? Usually when she asked if he needed help he smiled and said yes. In fact, he pretended to need her help with his crutches, with walks around the garden, to go up and down the stairs. So why was he different now?

Todd! she thought. He was what had changed everything. As soon as he’d arrived, he’d scooped up his brother and taken him away. Was he jealous? Did Todd resent that Hallie and Jamie were…what? Becoming friends? But didn’t Jamie say that his brother was the reason he was here?

Hallie sat at the table, feeling stunned. She didn’t know what was going on. When she reached for the teapot, her hands were shaking, but then the tea was icy cold. “It’s the way I feel,” she whispered. She put her face in her hands and for a moment she let herself shed tears.

She looked about the pretty room. “I don’t know if there are ghosts here, but I’d certainly like some help right now. Everything in my life is changing and I don’t know if it’s for good or bad. I like this man Jamie a lot. I tell myself he’s not for me, but then I see him and…I don’t know, I’m drawn to him.”

She paused, feeling silly for talking to nonexistent people, but she couldn’t seem to stop. “Dr. Huntley said that only people who have not met their True Loves can see you. Since I can’t, I guess I have met him. He’s Braden, of course. The man at the top of the heap. Incomparable and perfect.”

There was only silence. But saying her feelings out loud had made her feel better. She took a few deep breaths, then stood up. As she glanced at the cold teapot and the uneaten food, she knew she should clean up, but she didn’t. She just wanted to lie in a tub of very hot water and think about nothing at all.

When she went through the door into the kitchen, Raine was there. His face lit up when he saw her, and she couldn’t help thinking how simple it would be if she turned her attention to him. Raine was pleasant company, gorgeous, etc.

But all she did was give him a weak smile and wish he’d go away.

He understood. “I’ll clear everyone out,” he said. “Rest. You’ve done a lot today.”

“Thank you,” she said and by the time she got upstairs she could feel the emptiness of the house.

She filled the tub with water as hot as she could stand and stayed in it until it was cold. While in there, she reached a decision. She would forget the personal aspect of her relationship with Jamie and concentrate entirely on the professional one. She’d been hired by his family to rehabilitate his injured knee and that’s what she was going to do.

Kit had said, “My family isn’t for cowards,” but she was being a coward. She was letting a bunch of very charming men distract her from her purpose of making Jamie better. And the worst of these distracting offenders was Todd.

As she dried off and put on her pajamas, she made a vow that tomorrow she was going to do whatever was necessary to get to work on Jamie. Neither his quick temper nor his brother’s grouchiness nor the delightful interference of all his cousins was going to keep her from her goal.

By the time she got into bed, she felt much better—except for the loneliness of the empty house. Why did it seem so small when Jamie was there and so big when he wasn’t?

Think professional! she thought as she snuggled down and went to sleep. But as always, she awoke at two A.M. and before she thought, she started to get out of bed. Then she seemed to see and hear the swish of a silk skirt, and as a great calm came over her, she lay back down.

When she awoke again, she looked at the clock and saw that it was almost six A.M. Usually, she would have gone back to sleep, but she was wide awake. “Jamie!” she said and got out of bed.

He worked out at this ti

me so maybe he was in the gym now. She practically ran to the bathroom, hopped about on one foot as she put on underwear, then shorts, a shirt, and sandals. As she hurried down the stairs, she was tying her hair back in a ponytail.

She ran out the back door, across the dew-covered grass, and the first person she saw was Todd. He was outside the gym, wearing sweatpants and a T-shirt, and he was towel-drying his hair. He looked as though he’d just stepped out of the shower.

When he saw Hallie, his eyes widened, and he gave a furtive glance at the outdoor shower.

It didn’t take much for Hallie to put it all together. Jamie and Todd had already finished their daily workout, Todd had showered, and now Jamie was in there.

Hallie headed toward the shower. She didn’t know what she intended to do, but she was going to stop this nonsense right now.

Todd put his big body in front of her. “My brother wants privacy,” he said in what could only be described as a growl.

She glared up at him. “Yeah? Well, I want to do my job! Move.”

He was a big man and he stayed where he was. He was as determined to not let her pass as she was to get around him. They glared at each other, neither of them backing down.

It was Jamie who solved the problem. He threw back the wooden door and stepped onto the stone pavement. A towel was wrapped around his waist and the brace covered his right leg, but the rest of him was bare.

At last, Hallie saw what he’d been keeping secret. His body from the waist up to his shoulders, as well as his left leg, was a mass of scars. There were gashes and dents, places that had skin grafts. It looked as though he had been flayed with metal claws, his skin torn off in rows, then sewn back on.

At her first sight of the mutilation of what had once been a beautiful body, Hallie thought she might faint, or cry, or throw up. Or all of them.

Jamie was drying himself and she was hidden behind Todd, so he didn’t know she was there.

“I’ll take you back to the house,” Todd said, his voice barely a whisper.