“I’m sorry?”

“He wants to ask you out.”

• 82 •

Winds of Fortune

Nita gaped. “Joey? My God, he’s just a boy.”

“He’s eighteen,” Deo said with a straight face, enjoying seeing Nita off balance.

“He’s also a patient.”

“He won’t be forever.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Nita snapped. “You know I’m a lesbian.”

Deo lifted a shoulder. “Can’t prove it by personal experience.”

“And you never will.” Exasperated and recalling what Pia had said about their family enterprises, Nita said, “Then send one of your brothers to do the estimate. You must have half a dozen working with you.”

Deo jerked as if Nita had slapped her. Beneath her tan, Deo’s bronze skin paled and a world of hurt fl ashed across her face. For a fraction of a second, Nita actually thought she might faint. Without giving it a thought, driven only by her instinct to comfort, she grasped Deo’s hand. “What is it?” The fi ngers lying motionless in her palm were cold and trembling. “Deo?”

“Sorry,” Deo rasped, jerking her hand free. “No, no brothers.”

“I’m sor—”

“No problem.” Deo backed away a step. “Sorry to bother you.”

“Deo…” Nita called quietly, but Deo had already spun away. She felt terrible for bringing up something that was obviously still painful.

She didn’t mind clashing with Deo’s arrogance or misplaced sense of entitlement where women were concerned, but she would never have willingly hurt her. “Damn it.”

“Everything all right?” Tory asked.

Nita gave a start, then fl ushed, wondering how much of the encounter Tory had witnessed. She’d always been a private person, and the terrible public humiliation of her relationship with Sylvia had solidifi ed her desire to avoid any kind of display of her personal business. “Yes. Everything’s fi ne.”

“Oh, okay. I just thought Deo…never mind.”

“I…I unwittingly said something to upset her.” She should simply let the matter drop, Nita knew that. But the agony in Deo’s eyes had been so deep, so raw, she still ached from having seen it. “I asked her about having brothers.”

“I see.” Tory sighed. “Her twin brother Gabriel was killed in a boating accident when they were teenagers.”

• 83 •

RADCLY fFE

“Oh,” Nita murmured, “that’s horrible.”

“I know,” Tory said. “I hadn’t been in town very long, but something like that in a community like this affects everyone. I can still remember Nelson calling me down to the harbor. It was the middle of the night, and it was pointless to transport Gabriel anywhere. We tried to resuscitate him right there on the beach…God, we worked on him for almost two hours, and we just couldn’t get him back.” She shook her head. “I thought Deo was going to lose her mind.”

“She was with him?” Nita automatically searched the room, wishing desperately she could fi nd her and say something to ease the pain she had carelessly incited. But Deo was gone, and so was the young offi cer she’d come in with.

❖

“You don’t have to leave,” Deo said dully, opening the driver’s side door. “I’ll just wait in the truck.”

Allie climbed in the opposite side and slid as close to Deo as the gear shift would allow. “I need to get back.”

“Why don’t you try to catch some sleep, then.” Deo started the truck and pulled away from the hospital.

“You look pretty bummed out. Are you okay?”

Deo forced a smile. “Yeah. Close your eyes.”

Allie gave her a questioning look, but fi nally gave in and curled up sideways with one hand on Deo’s thigh. The small connection felt good, and Deo covered Allie’s smaller hand with hers as she drove.

Within seconds she could tell from the soft even cadence of Allie’s breathing that she was asleep. Route 6 was deserted at one-thirty in the morning, but she was careful of her speed. Allie trusted her, and she wanted to take care of her as she slept.

Forty minutes later she shook Allie’s shoulder gently. “How do I get to your house?”

Following Allie’s directions, she soon pulled into the narrow drive of a small cottage set on a side street between Wellfl eet and Truro.

“There you go.”

“It’s late. Come on inside,” Allie said.

“No, you need to sleep.” Deo didn’t add that she didn’t feel like sex. Usually when she was stressed or angry, sex helped. When she was

• 84 •

Winds of Fortune

hurt, she mostly wanted to be alone, because being intimate when she was needy made her feel too exposed and uncomfortable.

Without a word, Allie got out of the truck, walked around the front, and pulled Deo’s door open. Then she took her hand. “I don’t know about you, but I’ve had a really bad day. I could use some company.”

Deo couldn’t think of a good reason to say no. She followed her inside the small cottage and into the neat, tidy bedroom at the rear. A double bed sat in one corner, a dresser with a small TV occupied the wall at the foot, and a dressing table with chair fi lled the far wall.

“Bathroom’s across the hall.” Allie yawned and unbuckled her gun belt. “You can go fi rst.”

On Deo’s way back, a naked Allie passed her. She undressed by the side of the bed and climbed naked under the sheets. A few minutes later, Allie crawled in and curled up against her side. Deo put an arm around her and kissed her gently.

“Night,” Deo whispered.

Allie drew her leg up over Deo’s thigh, murmured something, and fell promptly asleep. Deo listened to the sounds of the unfamiliar house, lightly stroking Allie’s shoulder. There were times when she felt like an impostor in her own life, when she couldn’t fi gure out why she was doing what she was doing or why she didn’t feel anything when she knew she was supposed to. Allie was warm and soft and Deo knew if she stroked Allie’s breast she could wake her, arouse her, and Allie would beg her to make love to her. Her need would become Allie’s, and her pain would be transformed into Allie’s desire. She could lose herself in Allie’s body, in her excitement, in her need, and the places that were numb inside her would fi ll with Allie’s pleasure. If it were any other woman, she wouldn’t hesitate, but she couldn’t bring herself to use Allie that way.

Allie stirred and kissed Deo’s neck. “You okay?”

“Yeah.”

“Go to sleep, baby.”

“Okay.” Deo kissed Allie’s forehead and closed her eyes.

• 85 •

• 86 •

Winds of Fortune

CHAPTER NINE

Time to wake up, baby,” Reese murmured as she kissed Tory’s cheek.

Tory rolled over on the stiff muddy-brown vinyl couch in the ICU

waiting room and grimaced at the cramp in her lower back and the fuzzy headache clouding her brain. “Oh God. I am too old for this.”

She smiled up at Reese and grasped her hand. “Hi, sweetheart. What time is it?”

“About fi ve-thirty.”

“Have you been up all night?” Tory took in Reese’s rumpled uniform and the ever darkening circles beneath her eyes. The shadows above her high cheekbones were not new, but it was rare to see Reese in an unpressed uniform. “I thought you were going home to sleep?”

“I stopped by the station and started going through Nelson’s inbox.” Reese shook her head. “I just started this job and I’m already behind. Any news?”

Tory sat up and skimmed her hands through her hair. Bri and Caroline slept on the adjacent couch, their arms and legs entwined, Bri’s face pillowed against Caroline’s breast. Even in sleep, Caroline seemed to be sheltering Bri, one hand cupped against the back of her head and her arm circling Bri’s waist. Keeping her voice low so as not to awaken them, Tory said, “Our last progress report was around two, and they were having some problems with his blood pressure. The nurses had just started an intravenous drip and promised to let me know if there was any problem.”

Reese sat beside Tory and drew her close with an arm around her shoulder. “If everything’s okay, I’ll take you home. The baby is still with your sister, and Kate will pick her up this morning. You’ll be able to get some sleep.”

“What about you? Aren’t you coming home?”

• 87 •

RADCLY fFE

“I will. As soon as I get the day shift squared away.”

Tory wanted to object, but she knew how diffi cult Reese’s task was right now with Bri not working, the Chief absent, and the height of the season upon them. With thirty or forty thousand summer residents plus countless day-trippers crammed into the tiny village, a constant stream of minor accidents, injuries, thefts, bar brawls, and the occasional more serious assault resulted. She stroked Reese’s thigh through her khakis.

“Promise me you’ll try to come home this morning?”

“I’ll try.”

“I need to go in to the clinic later, too. Nita has been working nonstop all weekend and now this week. I need to pick up the slack.”

Reese tilted Tory’s face up with a fi ngertip beneath her chin and studied her. “You can’t work if you’re exhausted. Close the clinic this afternoon and go in tonight if you have to.”

“You’re one to talk,” Tory protested.

“Baby,” Reese said quietly. “I just came back from a tour where I was lucky to get two hours of uninterrupted sleep a night, and even then I was constantly listening for the sound of incoming missiles. Believe me, this is a picnic.”

Tory checked to make sure Bri and Caroline were still asleep, then she took both Reese’s hands in hers. “I feel like we’re constantly moving and I never get a chance to connect with you. And when I do see you, it’s never the right time or place to talk about some things.”

“What is it?”

“Your father pushed the papers through, right? You’re out?”

Reese sighed and Tory’s heart plummeted.

“Oh, Reese. You promised you wouldn’t re—”