Page 11 of A Cowboy's Claim
Aiden cleared his throat. “You want someone to look you over? Sydney, the redhead who was here last night, is a doctor, and she’s discreet.”
“I’m good,” Brian insisted. A shiver took him from top to bottom. “If it’s okay with you guys, I’m going to fast track my departure. I feel the need to keep moving for a bit.”
“We understand, although you should know Russ is leaving within the next few minutes,” Aiden said. “We’ll be dropping him off with someone who will get him into a controlled location a long way from here.”
“We’re the ones who need to apologize.” Declan took a deep breath. “This is supposed to be a safe place.”
“Sometimes bad shit happens.” Brian tilted his head toward the house. “Think there’s food and coffee yet? I’m still more comfortable to load up and then be off, but food before I go would be appreciated.”
“Tansy was up,” Jake offered, obviously listening in on the conversation. He held a hand over his phone as he waited on hold. “Go on inside.”
Declan waited until Brian was out of earshot before he turned to Aiden. “Russ’s name came in through the usual channels, yes?”
“Yeah, nothing out of the ordinary.” A frown folded between his brows. “We’ll need to start double-checking them.”
Guilt slid in. Declan had been so distracted the previous day. Had there been some signhe’dmissed while showing the man around?
A solid squeeze landed on his shoulder. Aiden leaned in close, meeting his eyes. “Don’t beat yourself up over this. You couldn’t have known, and you did everything by the book when it was time to react.”
“I guess.”
Still, the knot of tension in his gut wasn’t going away for a long time. High Water was supposed to be a refuge.
For himself as well, he realized. The fact danger could slip in that quickly rubbed something inside him the wrong way, an ache wearing away at his soul.
Maybe doing the right thing wasn’t always the safe thing. He didn’t know if he liked that truth. Not when the people he loved could pay the price.
3
Sydney decided she should’ve gone back to the office instead of trying to sleep. Sex with Declan should’ve left her boneless and floating on endorphins. Instead, she tossed and turned for hours until getting up and scrubbing her kitchen until it was surgery room clean.
As a person in the medical community, she knew some of the fears she had were irrational, but that didn’t make them any easier to get over.
In spite of a very strong coffee, she was still feeling a little blurry at the first visit of the day.
Nora Yemen’s little cabin sat at the end of a gravel lane, a good twenty minute drive from Heart Falls. The woman was in her late seventies and doing fairly well on her own, but in the three years that Sydney had been casually coming out to provide healthcare, she’d spotted the changes.
It was easier to deal with the issues of aging by planning ahead. Convincing people of that fact was an uphill battle.
She picked up the basket of fruit from the passenger seat, dropped out of the truck, and headed for the door with her chin held high. A visit like this was why she did what she did.
The Skye brothers weren’t the only ones who were trying to make a difference in peoples’ worlds.
The door opened before she could knock.
Nora offered a small smile then shuffled backward, gesturing her in. “Saw you coming up the drive so I added a little water to the teapot. Do you have time to stay?”
“Of course. I brought you something as well. Just some fresh fruit that made more sense to buy in bulk, and there’s no way I’ll eat it all before it goes bad.” Sydney lay the basket on the counter then settled in at the neat-as-a-pin table as ordered.
Nora rolled her eyes for a moment, but she didn’t turn the gift down. Just went to work, making up a plate of cookies and cups of tea. Which gave Sydney time to observe her motions and conclude the woman was still safe in her own home, but the time was coming when that wouldn’t be true.
Like most of their visits, this one began without a lot of words. Sydney nibbled on a cookie, sipped tea, and breathed in the quiet. Nora watched Sydney like a hawk.
“I’ve been thinking about what you said,” Nora finally informed her. “About how the wise plan ahead to enjoy all the seasons of life.”
“I said something that poetic?” Sydney shook her head. “I’m sorry, you must be confusing me with someone from daytime TV.”
Nora laughed. “Okay, fine. You didn’t say it that way, but that’s how I started to think about it. You’re right. It’s always smarter to make a move when it’s your choice than when it’s forced on you. I called the senior lodge in town, and they’ll have room for me sometime in the next month or two.”
