Page 59 of Healing Love

Cam chuckled, not envying the man having to deal with two irritated women. “Come on in. I’ll get the coffee.”

While Cam poured the coffee, Miriam sat with her brother, trying to stay mad but, the truth was, she knew he cared.

“My head is fine,” she assured for the third time, taking the ice pack down to show him that she was not sporting a bruise.

“I just want you safe, sis. I’m not having you get rescued only to have you live in fear.”

“I’m trying to find a counselor now, but I want one with victim experience. And PTSD experience,” she added. “Just because I’m a nurse and understand about PTSD doesn’t mean that I’m going to conquer it quickly.”

“How bad is it, sis?”

Sighing deeply, she glanced over at Cam, receiving his reassuring gaze. “Some anxiety, a few panic attacks,nightmares. Sometimes just a general irritability with people. That’s what I felt all the time at work.”

Jobe walked over, enveloping his sister in his arms. Kissing the top of her head, he reiterated, “I want you safe.”

“I know, I know,” she said, as Cam handed her a cup. She took a sip and immediately smiled at him. “Cream and sugar?” she asked.

“I seem to remember hearing that somewhere,” he grinned.

“Okay, I can see you two don’t need me, but Cam?—”

“I got you covered, Jobe. As soon as we are at Jack’s, he’s going to patch into Tony’s place.”

Jobe nodded his agreement, leaned over and kissed Miriam and then headed out of the house. Her eyes followed his departure before turning back to Cam. “So, are you going to tell me what you two talked about on the porch?”

Cam lifted her up from the sofa, twisted with her in his arms before he sat down and settled her on his lap. His eyes drifted up to her forehead where he was pleased to see only a slight bruise, before coming back to meet her gaze.

“I laid it out for him, how it was for us down there. How we got to know each other, talk, and discover that we wanted to take a chance on building on that.”

Sucking her lips in, she asked, “Did you tell him that we?—”

“No,cariña. That’s yours to share if you want to, but for me…that night was just for us.”

Smiling, she took a sip of her coffee, fixed just the way she liked it. “Good answer,” she mumbled.

Glancing at the clock on the TV, he said, “We’ve got to get going, babe. You jump into the shower first, don’t worry about getting fancy, and I’ll be right behind you.”

“Fancy? I think after most of your friends saw me looking pretty rough, just having clean clothes and clean hair will be fancy enough.”

She stood and walked to the hall entrance before turning to look over her shoulder, her gaze pinning him to the spot. “Cam, thank you…for taking care of me.”

He walked over and kissed the top of her head. “I’d take care of you no matter what. But you’re mine and I definitely take care of what is mine.”

Miriam’s eyes were wide as Cam turned off the road, stopping at a security gate to gain entrance before driving down the long driveway toward Jack’s house. He had told her about Jack’s place, but it was different seeing it in person. The cedar, oak, and maple trees were thick on either side of the drive until they came into a clearing and she saw a huge, two-story, log cabin with a wide front porch. Two chimneys, one on each end, stood as sentinels to the imposing structure. Several trucks and SUVs were already lining the circular driveway in front and Cam pulled his right up next to the others.

Licking her lips nervously, she wondered what shehad gotten herself into. Before she had time to blink, Cam was at her door assisting her to the ground.

Throwing his arm around her protectively, he said, “Come on, babe. You’ll be fine.”

Stepping through the front door, she looked around at the cavernous space. The living room on the left was two-stories with a stone fireplace on the inside wall and large windows on the two walls facing the outside. The panoramic view of the mountains behind Jack’s woods was spectacular. The furniture was oversized but, considering the size of men lounging on it, she knew it had been bought with them in mind. Dark, exposed wood was everywhere and the few pieces of artwork on the walls were expensive but not ostentatious.

Mixed in with the very masculine décor were some colorful throw pillows, flowers on the mantle, and a few knick-knacks that she assumed belonged to Bethany.

One of the men—tall, dark, with a thick, neatly trimmed beard—stood and headed directly to her, with his hand out. “Miriam? Jack Bryant. Welcome to my home.”

Smiling up at him, she said, “Thank you. It’s absolutely breathtaking here.”

He smiled back at her before shifting his gaze to Cam. “You got her phone?”

---