Page 58 of Silent Threat
“Cole—”
“You’re right. Nothing happened.”
“And it’s not going to happen again. Not even if we’re not having sessions. Anything between us is completely unethical.” She begged him silently to understand. “We can’t be more than friends. And if we can’t manage that, we can’t be anything.”
He reached for her. “Annie—”
She’d made mistakes with men before, but never this big. “I need to go.” She ran.
By the time she changed in her room, then walked to the conference room for her morning session with Trevor, she should have had her emotions under control. She didn’t. She pushed Cole out of her mind, regardless. Not all the way—that seemed impossible—but enough to be able to function in a professional capacity.Focus, dammit.
Trevor deserved her full attention.
Technically, Annie was still on vacation, but Trevor was a fragile case. And she was on-site anyway. So she’d uncanceled their session.
When his face lit up as she walked into the room, she knew she’d done the right thing.
The conference room was light and airy. A dozen chairs surrounded a large poplar-wood table in the middle, one wall all windows, another decorated with three dozen orchids, an installation she had put in. The flowers cheered up the place. With this many, a handful was always blooming.
“How are you, Trev?”
He stood from his chair, like a gentleman from some old movie. She wasn’t sure whether he stood because he had that kind of manners, or excitement simply pushed him to his feet. “Good. Well. I think I kinda made a new friend.” As she sat, he plopped back down again. “Too bad we can’t go for a walk in the woods, huh?”
“We’ll go tomorrow. If the rain stops. Who’s your new friend?”
“Cole. He’s a Navy SEAL.” The way he said the words, admiration and respect in his tone, Cole might as well have been a celebrity or some major sports figure. Trevor grinned. “He said you were great.”
“Did he?” And why did her heart leap at the news? She wanted to ask for details, but suppressed the urge. She wasn’t here for self-gratification. “He’s all right, isn’t he?”
“Yeah.”
She approved of Trev making friends. He was high-strung, too wired most of the time, jumpy. He was a good kid, but a lot of the other patients had their own jumpiness, and sometimes they stayed away from him. He took a lot of mental energy.
“So what are we going to do today?” he asked.
She nodded toward the large cardboard box she’d put in the corner early that morning. “I was hoping you could help me repot the orchids.”
He was on his feet in a blink. Then right next to her in two seconds, so close that their elbows bumped together. “Sure. I mean if you ever need help with anything ... I’d love to help.”
She definitely got that. She had to bite back a smile. He was so eager. He clearly liked the idea ofgivinga hand instead of being the broken one whoneededa hand. Annie relaxed. Today’s improvised therapy was going to work.
“So we have the bark,” she began. “It’s wet. I soaked it for an hour this morning. Then we have some orchid food. That’s pretty much all we need.”
“The old bark can go back in the box?” He was already opening the flaps.
She nodded. “You know anything about houseplants?”
He gave a sheepish smile. “My mom has a few. But, I mean, us boys don’t pay no mind to them.”
“Maybe when you go home, you can surprise your mom with a nice orchid.”
He looked at her as if she’d invented beer in a can or something equally earth-shattering. “She’d love that.”
“Then your brothers will be jealous that they didn’t think of it first. You’ll definitely be the favorite.”
He laughed, still a pretty rare occurrence. “I’m already the favorite.”
Because they were bumping elbows again, she stepped back and put some space between them. She picked up the next orchid.
