Harbour of Refuge (31 page)

“Hi, Halyn!” A svelte blonde waved at them.

“Josie, good to see you. How are things?”

“Good here. Been a while since we’ve seen you.”

“I know, staying busy so I don’t get into trouble.”

“I know how that goes. Just the two of you today?”

“Yes, please.”

“Well, we’re slow so grab wherever, I’ll be by in a few to take your order.”

Swiping a menu, she led the way to a booth. “This work for you?”

Jaydee slid in, helmet off, then removed her jacket. Halyn claimed the other side and pushed a menu in front of Jaydee. Halyn didn’t need to open it—she got the same thing each time she came.

Josie took their order then left them alone. Drinking her water, Halyn waited for Jaydee to say whatever was on her mind. She didn’t speak until Josie stopped by to refill her drink.

“Do you love Enzo?”

She choked. Halyn sputtered, setting her cup down and wiping her eyes. “I’m sorry?”

Her expression unreadable, Jaydee watched her. “Do you not love Enzo?”

What the hell did she say to that? And why did she feel like this was some sort of test she had to pass?

“Why?” There. That was a fair response.

“I am trying to understand why the two of you stopped dating.”

“And my status of dating or not dating him concerns you?”

“No.” That answer came very fast. “My concern is for Enzo.”

Nothing like being blunt. Halyn reached for her drink again. “I see.”

Jaydee shrugged. “Apparently, since he is family, I should be concerned. My husband refused to ask you himself.”

The light bulb came on. This was supposed to be a fishing expedition, but Gio had forgotten that Jaydee was too straight of a shooter to play those games. He got to see the side of Jaydee no one else did.

“So he sent you in his stead.”

“I guess he thought there would be some female bonding or something.” Another lazy lift of one shoulder.

“But you don’t care.”

“No. He is a grown man, you’re a grown woman. I fail to see why I need to get involved.”

She couldn’t stop her smile. “How about we don’t involve you and just have lunch?”

“And after you will supply me a suitable answer to tell my husband?”

“Deal.”

They enjoyed their meal and as she placed her fork down on the plate, Josie showed back up again.

“Dessert?”

Halyn deferred to Jaydee. “No, thank you.”

“I’d like a brownie, Josie.”

“Of course, doll. Coming right up.” She walked off again.

“How is he?” Halyn asked, biting the bullet.

Her lunch companion seemed to think about it for a few before she answered. “He is staying busy with his racing. To me he sounds sad when he calls, but he tries to cover it up.”

“Sorry to hear that.”

“Why?” Genuine curiosity filled her expression.

Excellent question. Why was she sorry? She hadn’t a blipping clue. Shrugging, she smiled slightly. “Not sure. Just seemed like the thing to say.”

“Interesting.”

Once Josie delivered her brownie, she made short work of it. This was her vice, she loved their brownies. She’d not been able to leave without having once since that first day she tried it. They didn’t speak until she finished eating. Halyn noticed how it never seemed to bother Jaydee to be silent. She liked that about her. Many people needed to have conversation to fill the quiet. Personally, she preferred to eat when it was time.

Washing the brownie down with the rest of her water, she readjusted on the seat. “You can tell your husband that I’ve not talked to Enzo since he left. We’re not a couple any longer.”

Crap, it hurt to say that. Despite knowing it, she’d not verbalised it yet. Hearing herself speak it only solidified the truth.

Jaydee stared at her with such frank directness she wanted to turn away. “I know we don’t know one another all that well but if you need to talk, I can listen.”

“Thanks, but don’t you think it would be awkward?”

“How so?”

“Enzo is Gio’s brother. I’m Enzo’s ex.”

“You are worried it will cause a conflict of interest because my husband is his brother. I don’t tell him everything. If you do not wish me to say anything to him, I won’t.”

“Things just…got complicated.” The only person who she had told was Mila and after all these months, it still hurt.

Hurts because you care.

She didn’t need to think about that. Or all the nights she woke, fingers buried between her thighs as she screamed out his name to the dark. How much she missed being in his embrace, the feel of his stubble along her skin, the taste of his kiss. Then there was how well he kissed. She wouldn’t mind being lip-locked with him for hours on end.

“Complicated.”

She nodded. “That’s the best way I can describe it.”

“Was he mean?”

She couldn’t say that his words had been pleasant. “It was a whole slew of things. Mostly, I didn’t want to be the babysitter for Liev.”

“Does it bother you he has a son with another woman? Or is it that Liev is what makes it difficult?”

Although her expression never changed, Halyn felt the chill in the air. She might not feel the need to defend Enzo but there was no doubt she would defend Liev.

“No, it’s not Liev at all. Not in that way. I love him, he’s one of the sweetest boys I’ve had the pleasure of meeting. But it does deal with him, Enzo saw how I dealt with him and put me in that position without listening to me.”

“They do tend to hear what they want.”

“How true.”

“You know he’s coming back to town in a week, right?”

Her heart thudded. “No, I hadn’t any clue. Is the race coming?”

“No, they have some time off and he is staying here.”

“I’m sure that’ll be nice for your family, to see him again.”

Jaydee made a noncommittal grunt. “If you need anything, Halyn, don’t hesitate to call. If you will excuse me, I have to return home. Thank you for your time.”

She was so proper. Trailing after her, Halyn paid and left the building. Jaydee already sat on her bike and it shocked her when the woman gave her a smile and wave before driving off.

Enzo. Back in a week. Goodness, she wanted to hide. She was just getting to a point where thinking of him didn’t make her want to break down into tears. Seeing him—and Liev—wouldn’t be easy.

Back at Joe and Mila’s, she let herself in the house and exchanged vehicles, having already dropped her bike off at home. After taking the time to jot them a note, she climbed in her car and drove off, the top down allowing the wind to flow over her.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Crisp air met him as he disembarked from the jet. Enzo inhaled deeply, walking down the steps from the plane to the tarmac, one bag in hand. Behind him, his son followed suit, his hat pulled low over sunglassed eyes. He hid the smile. Liev had begun to come out of his shell, but was still extremely reserved and brooding.

“Ready?” he called back to Liev. “Uncle Gio should be just inside to get us.”

“Yes,
Papà
.” Liev had his black backpack over his shoulder, filled with all the items he considered important. He picked up his pace and was soon at Enzo’s side.

After pulling open the door, he stepped inside the small airport. There was only one baggage claim, beside which he saw his brother lounging.

“Gio!”

“Hey, bro.” They shared a hug then Gio turned his attention to Liev. “How are you doing, Liev?”

“Well, thank you.”

Gio met his gaze and sent him a wink. They waited for their luggage and were soon on their way to his apartment, which he hadn’t been able to let go.

“Dinner with us tonight,” Gio told him before he left them. “We’ll catch up then. Right now I have to get some groceries.”

“Thanks, man.”

Another hug and his brother left them to settle in. He gazed over at the mantel where a framed picture of him and Halyn sat. One from the time when they’d stayed up in the cabin during autumn.

Every time he’d called his brother, he’d asked him if he’d seen or heard from Halyn. More often than not it was a negative, although sometimes he would say they’d gone to the store and had seen her there.

Halyn.

It didn’t matter what anyone said, what the paper reported, he’d not been with anyone since Halyn, and didn’t have any plans to. He’d done a lot of thinking while separated from her and he’d come to a conclusion.

In his room, he unpacked swiftly before picking up his phone. Seated on the bed, he pressed a pre-set number.

“Hello?”

Halyn’s voice was scratchy and not at all sounding good. Hell, she sounded like death warmed over.

“Are you okay, Halyn?”

“No. Leave me alone.”

Click.

He glanced at his phone. Like that would happen. He called back.

“Hmm?”

“Can I bring you something?”

“No. Let me die in peace.”

He knew she was about to hang up on him again. “Don’t hang up on me, Halyn, or I’m going to come to your house. What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong. I’m peachy. Feel as if I’m on top of the world.”

“Sarcasm. I get it. Let me take care of you.”

“No. I’m sick.”

And apparently delirious. “I know. I’m going to be up there soon.”

She mumbled something and the phone shut off. “She’s gone.”

Going to his door, he called out for his son. “Liev!”

“Yes?”

“Shove some things in a bag, we’re going to go see Halyn but she’s sick so it will be more of a checking on her thing.”

Two minutes, then Liev met him at the door. He never complained about going, so long as he knew he was not being left behind. They piled into his Forester and got on their way.

At her house, getting no response after he knocked, Enzo tried the door, shaking his head when it swung open. Small-town mentality, leaving your house unlocked. He sent Liev to the sofa and walked slowly to her room.

He knocked softly. “Halyn?”

A tortured groan met him so he pushed into the darkness. The only daylight in the room came from the door he’d just opened. Her bed was a rumpled mess, her head hidden under a pillow, wadded-up tissues all along the floor by her head and the nightstand.

“Sweetheart?”

Moving forward, he left the light off, the amount coming in by the door allowed him to see clearly enough. He drew the pillow from her head and his heart tripled in speed. Seeing her again, after all this time…he just wanted to hold her. But he refrained. It was obvious she was sick, her nose reddish, eyes puffy, she continually shifted as if she couldn’t get comfortable at all.

“Aww, hell.” She looked miserable.

He placed a hand against her forehead, dismayed by the amount of heat she generated. Despite all of the heat, she had buried herself beneath tons of blankets as if she couldn’t get warm enough. He went to the kitchen drawer where she kept trash bags and took one back with him.

In her room, he picked up all the trash and put her clothes in the wicker hamper. Once it was cleaner, he disposed of the garbage and washed his hands. With a new box of tissues to place beside her in the bedroom resting on the counter next to him, he heated up some water and grabbed a mug. Hot lemon water in one hand, tissues in the other, he made his way back to her room.

She’d buried her head again and this time lay towards the far corner of the bed. He sat and peeled back the blankets. Hand on the small of her back, which was damp with sweat, he shook her.

“Wake up, sweetheart.”

“Leave me alone.”

“I will, right after you drink this.”

“No.”

“Just a few sips. Come on, for me.”

“You’re not here. Enzo’s gone. We’re broken up. I don’t have to listen to you just because you sound like him.” Her words, although slurred, were clear enough.

“Of course not. Just drink this, come on. Sit up.”

He had to drag her to a sitting position. Even then he wasn’t sure she would be able to drink anything. Her body was boneless, flopping over. Supporting her, he brought the cup to her lips.

“Little sips.”

“No.”

“I’ll give you anything you want.”

“Okay.” She took a small sip. “Leave me alone.”

He didn’t, not until he’d changed her into something dry. It was like dressing a doll, limbs limp, head lolling on her neck.

Months of celibacy to be this close to the woman he wanted more than anything, undressing her—well, it wasn’t the easiest thing for him to do. He ignored the desire for her that poured through him. 

Leaving her didn’t sit well and he checked on her constantly until the time came for him to leave. She still slept. He’d managed to get some more liquid down her, but her temperature never broke.

Returning as soon as he could after dinner, Enzo peered in to see how she was doing. Pulling off a pillow, he frowned when he saw her feet. She’d turned herself completely around. Readjusting her, he tucked her back in and went back out to get Liev to bed in the spare room.

“She’s sick.”

“Yes, she is.”

“I hope she gets better soon. I’ve missed her.”

“Missed her too.”

Liev carefully rolled up his earphones around his iPod. “I like her better than Carly.”

Carly Madk was the woman he’d hired to basically babysit Liev. She tutored him as well, but some days he wondered who taught who things. Despite him not encouraging her in any sort of way, she constantly came onto him. He ignored it—he just wanted his son to be taken care of.

“What’s wrong with Carly? I thought she was a good teacher.”

He folded the clothing he’d just removed before getting in his pyjamas. “She asks too many questions about you instead of teaching. She would rather be watching your races than helping me if I needed it.”

Enzo furrowed his brow. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I don’t need her help to learn. I am capable of reading a book myself.”

“Would you rather we didn’t travel so much?”

“You are the father, where we go is your decision. I can read anywhere.”

“I know you can, but would you rather stay somewhere, say, like here? Do things like other boys do.”