Embattled SEAL (8 page)

The realtor had outdone herself. The house was beautiful. And completely stocked. There were towels in the cupboards, trash bags, cleaning supplies, everything she needed for a stay. There were even spare toiletries in the bathroom if they needed them. The refrigerator had several types of meat and various accompaniments. It had been expensive to rent the house this way, but she prayed that it would do the job she wanted it to do.

The downstairs had a finished basement too. Might be a good, dim place for Harper to hang out. She could check it out later.

Cat paused in front of the great room windows and gazed out at the view. Short scrub filled the land between a few swaying pine trees and the expanse of untouched land was simply stunning. There were rocky, snow-capped peaks to the west and long, sweeping hills to the right. Simply magnificent.

The coffee pot gurgled as it finished brewing and she walked back into the kitchen to pour a cup. When Harper roused she would take him a cup. Perhaps.

Cat spent a lazy day on the computer catching up with emails and work while Harper slept. Late in the afternoon he got up and got himself a drink from the refrigerator. Cat watched him gulp the better part of a quart of water, then sit at the kitchen table. The dark glasses were there and he slipped them on to turn and watch the sun go down beyond the mountains.

Cat looked down at her Kindle. It had gone dark because she’d been staring at her husband. Though he’d only been out of the hospital two days she could already tell he was regaining his strength. Even as she watched he pushed to his feet and began to circle the room. Picking up and putting down knick-knacks along the way, he made his way over to her chair. Once he was beside her he rested one of his massive hands on her shoulders, squeezed and moved away. Cat heard him explore the entire house but he didn’t go down to the finished basement. Good. She didn’t want to try to pick his big butt up off the floor.

Not long after that he headed back to bed.

The ridiculous part
was he slept most of the next day through as well. Cat kept him fed and when she handed him pills, his antibiotics he assumed, he popped them without a care. It wasn’t until evening that he realized that she’d been giving him a light sedative. When he confronted her about it she’d laughed. “On the doctor’s orders. I promise. He said that after the drive you needed to relax as much as humanly possible.”

Harper had tried to glower at her but it hurt his face. “No more sleeping pills,” he ordered. Cat gave him a narrow eyed look but didn’t say anything.

Unfortunately, when he wasn’t sleeping there wasn’t much he could do. The flash of the TV gave him an instant headache, worse than what he’d already had. Cat found a newspaper on the front drive, but he couldn’t make his good eye track smoothly enough to read. It had been all he could do to even look at the menu the other night. He tossed the paper to the table in disgust and retreated to his room. The only thing he could do was listen to the music he streamed on his phone.

So he laid down on the bed and covered his head to block out the light and listened to music.

And fell asleep.

Cat woke him for dinner. When he shuffled out, grungy and out of sorts without the arm brace on, she gave him a dirty look but didn’t say anything. She offered to cut up his oven-baked chicken, but he waved her away. “I can do it, damn it.”

Hands up in entreaty, she left him alone to struggle through the meal.

“That was very good, Cat. Thank you.”

He stood up from the chair and left the table, knowing he left a ridiculous, mutilated mess on the plate and table.

Being down was royally pissing him off. He went to bed, determined to have a better day tomorrow.

Cat shuffled to
the coffee maker and pressed the power button, then leaned against the counter to eat a banana. When the coffee was ready she pulled down a ceramic mug from the cupboard and poured a cup. Crossing to the patio doors, she was about to open one when she spotted Harper sitting in one of the lounge chairs under the porch. Retrieving a second mug of coffee she let herself out of the house and crossed to the chair beside him.

The heavy black glasses were on but he turned his head to watch her with his good eye as she set the mug down beside him.

“Thank you, babe.”

A shudder rolled through her at the rumbly, sleep-roughened tone of his voice. He’d greeted her just like that many, many mornings over the years. Sometimes he hadn’t said a word, just slipped into bed and loved her awake.

It had been everything she could do not to strip off her bra and invite him into bed with her that first night. Her body craved him. But her heart craved him more. It wasn’t time for them to take that step yet.

“Did you sleep okay?”

She nodded. “I did. I love seeing the sun coming up out here. The area is beautiful, isn’t it?”

“Yes.”

She fidgeted with the cup, wishing he’d let her in on what he was thinking. It was a wish she’d made many times over the years. Harper was not a talkative man on a good day, let alone a sleepy morning.

Cat rested her head on the back of the chair and gazed out at the brightening vista. This area of the state was so secluded. Definitely one of the most solitary areas they’d been through. The thought of having no responsibilities other than taking care of Harper and herself for two weeks was quite liberating. She’d had her mother come up from North Carolina to stay with the kids and dog, so she had no worries there. Although the creeping need to cuddle her little man was growing. It was hard just talking to them on the phone.

“Did you sleep okay last night?” she asked him.

“I did, surprisingly. Even though I slept most of the past two days.”

“Well, your body is recovering. I wouldn’t worry about it. If you need rest, take it.”

He sighed deeply and Cat was actually glad to hear it. The bullet that had struck his chest had deflated his left lung, but his respirations were steadily coming back. For days she’d listened to every sound he made in the hospital room.

In her purse she also had a stack of paperwork from the rehab department on things to do to get back to normal. Harper had been through it all before, but it was still nice to have the documentation. This was the first eye injury he’d ever had.

“I don’t know if I can stay here for two weeks.”

Cat flinched internally at the flat words. “Why not?”

Out of her peripheral vision she could see his hands tighten on the chair arms, the only outward sign he was uncomfortable. She forced herself to stay relaxed.

“Because I need to get back to work. I can’t leave LNF short-handed.”

“They’re not. Duncan said he’d had to hire three people to take your place, but the new guys are already working. Your position is secure, however. I checked with Wilde before I arranged all this.”

The information didn’t seem to relax him at all. The wood creaked beneath his massive clenching hands.

“Why are you stressing?” she asked calmly.

“I don’t know if I can stay here with you that long.”

Searing pain shattered her heart at his cold words, but she forced herself to breathe. Icy determination pushed away the pain. “Well, you’re going to have to, because this is the last time I’m doing this. This time here at the house is also meant to be for us to decide where this marriage is going, because right now it’s circling the drain. I can’t hang in this limbo anymore and it’s not fair to the kids to expect them to either. So before you bolt out of here just be aware that this is the last time I am going to fight for our marriage.”

Unable to stay still any longer, she pushed up out of the chair. “I’m going to go soak in the tub. Or something.”

She went through the patio doors, fuming at the ridiculous situation they were in.

H
arper gasped in
a breath, unable to believe she’d left him gutted that way.

What the fuck?

She’d completely misunderstood him, yet again, because he couldn’t make his mouth connect to his brain. This was the most verbal interaction he’d had with anyone in weeks—hell, months maybe.

Choking down a swallow, he searched for the calm center in his being, but she’d just walked out the door. Cat had always been his calm. Even when he wasn’t with her just thinking about her slow smile and steady disposition leveled him out. Harper looked down at his hands, unsurprised to see them quake. The thought of not having Cat in his life or even connected to it devastated him.

Resolution filled him. He couldn’t let her think he didn’t want to be with her.

Shoving up out of the chair he stalked into the house, barely even noticing the twinge in his chest. Cat stood leaning back at the kitchen sink, arms braced on the counter, her head down.

She looked up when he entered and frowned, crossing her arms over her chest in a defensive motion he hadn’t seen for a long time.

“You misunderstood me out there,” he growled, stalking toward her. “I don’t know if I can stay in the same house with you for two weeks and not touch you. And I don’t know if touching you would be the wisest decision right now.”

She huffed and lifted a sleek black brow at him. “Since when are you the wise one?”

Harper stopped a foot away from her, looking down into her liquid gaze. Had she been about to cry? Her eyes seemed moist. Unable to help himself he reached up to stroke a thumb across her cheekbone. “I’m not the wise one,” he admitted. “But I don’t want to screw anything up worse than it is.”

She gave him a sardonic look. “Things can’t get much worse, Harper. And I’m serious about resolving this. Do you know how many excuses I’ve had to make just to the kids about you? I know you think you’re protecting us all, but you’re not. We are a family, whether you want to admit it or not.”

He shook his head to contradict her, but his equilibrium suddenly spun away from him. Staggering, he reached out where he thought the counter had been, but Cat grabbed him first. Harper let himself lean against her as he fought nausea, his world hurling in circles.

“Oh fuck,” he moaned.

Cat tried to hold him up but he pushed her away. “Just let me go. Let me sit down.”

She let him go down but she didn’t let him go.

Harper landed on his ass hard, but in a way that helped. It gave him a definite point of reference: the cold tile beneath his ass. He closed his eyes, trying to stabilize. Cat went to her knees in front of him and braced her hands on his shoulders, another point of reference. Dragging in as much air as he could, lungs screaming, he waited for his world to still.

It took a while. Several minutes. Cat merely sat with him, her hands good hard weights on his deltoids. She didn’t chatter like a lot of women would. Just stayed there, waiting for him to tell her what he needed.

Harper dared to open his eyes. And though only one eye worked, the world stayed still.

Cat gave him an encouraging smile and sat back on her heels. “Staying solid?”

“Yeah,” he sighed.

Fuck, that was irritating. Just standing there talking and his world spun out of control. How the hell was he supposed to lead any kind of productive life if he couldn’t have a simple conversation?