“You have to lie still,” Nita snapped. Even though the abdominal pericentesis fl uid had come back clear and KT had pulled the tube out, pronouncing Deo stable, Nita was frantic that something serious could be going on and they’d missed it. “You’ve been hurt. Joey is fi ne.”

“He’s not dead?”

“No. No, baby, he isn’t. He might have been hurt, but you made sure he wasn’t.” Nita wasn’t certain how well Deo was able to distinguish the past from the present, and she didn’t want her to suffer through the pain of losing Gabe again. “Joey is here somewhere. In a minute, I’ll fi nd him so you can talk to him. How do you feel?”

“My head hurts. So does my belly.” Deo smiled fl eetingly. “It’s

• 261 •

RADCLY fFE

good to see you though.”

“It is so good to see you, too.” Nita kissed her on the mouth.

“You’ve got some burns, nothing serious, and a good bump on your head. KT had to make a small incision in your stomach to check for bleeding, but you’re okay.”

“I remember now. Sort of. A big fi re.” Deo frowned. “We needed to work on the pier. Joey. Joey was behind me and the building was burning. Burning. God, Nita, the fl ames were right on top of him!”

“Easy, sweetheart,” Nita soothed. “Joey might have been hurt, but you took care of him. Do you understand me? You took care of him.

He’s all right.”

“Why are you crying?” Deo asked.

“What?” Nita touched her cheeks and was stunned to fi nd they were wet. “I…I guess I’m happy. You make me happy.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah,” Nita said softly. “Now, close your eyes and try to rest.”

“Okay,” Deo said wearily, struggling to keep her eyes open. “Will you stay with me?”

“I might have to leave for a few minutes, if I have patients, but I’ll be back. If you need me, I’ll be here. I promise.”

“That’s good. I love you,” Deo whispered, and closed her eyes.

Nita caught her lip, feeling the tears she couldn’t seem to stop on her cheeks again. She’d never understood what it meant to cry from happiness. Sylvia told her countless times that she loved her, but her love had been a weapon. Deo’s was a gift.

“You need something?” Allie asked quietly. “Coffee or soda or something?”

“No,” Nita said, brushing at her face as she looked up at the young offi cer beside her. Like every other member of the emergency response teams, Allie’s face was streaked with sweat and grime, and shadows marred her fl awless skin. She was, nevertheless, strikingly beautiful.

“I’m holding up. How are you?”

“Fine.” Allie glanced down at Deo. “Is she going to be all right?”

“I think so. We just need to watch her carefully for another twelve hours or so.” Nita wondered how much Deo’s sometime-girlfriend had heard. The look on her face as her eyes skimmed over Deo said there might be more than a casual fl ing fueling her concern. “I should check

• 262 •

Winds of Fortune

with Tory and make sure everyone’s taken care of. Would you mind sitting with her for just a few minutes in case she wakes up again?”

“Sure,” Allie said, her voice registering both surprise and gratitude. “I’ve got about fi ve minutes. What should I tell her if she asks for you?”

“Tell her I left her in good hands and that I’ll be right back.”

Allie grinned. “Smooth.”

“Thank you.”

“I’m Allie, by the way, a…friend of Deo’s.” Allie held out her hand.

“Nita Burgoyne. I’m Deo’s lover.”

“There goes my summer,” Allie proclaimed.

Laughing, Nita nodded. “Looks like it.” She squeezed Allie’s shoulder. “I won’t be long.”

“I’ll tell her.”

Nita hurried in search of Tory. She didn’t want to leave Deo for long, not until she was certain she was completely out of danger. She wondered fl eetingly why she wasn’t jealous, and then she realized that Deo could have had Allie or likely any number of other women. But Deo wanted her. Her.

It felt good to be wanted for who she was. And it felt even better to tell the world that Deo Camara, the sexiest, bravest, and most compassionate woman she’d ever known, was her lover.

• 263 •

• 264 •

Winds of Fortune

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

Sit your ass down and stop being a pain in mine,” KT growled.

“But—”

“But nothing, Deo. You’ve got a hole in your belly that needs to heal and a lump on your hard head that’s going to have a neighbor if you make me tell you again to stay in bed.”

“Is she giving you a hard time?” Nita asked, skirting around the makeshift screen that shielded the cot where Deo lay from the rest of the room.

“No,” Deo said quickly.

“Yes.” KT motioned Deo down. “Pull up your shirt.”

Deo lay back and complied.

Nita held Deo’s hand as KT removed the neat square bandage covering the incision below Deo’s navel. She peered over KT’s shoulder to get a look at the incision.

“It looks good, don’t you think?” Nita asked.

“It’s fi ne.” KT straightened and skewered Deo with a frown. “But you’re still not ready to go back out there.”

“When—”

“The storm’s wearing itself out,” Nita said. “The real cleanup will start in a day or two. Don’t worry, there will still be plenty left for you to do.”

“Listen to the lady,” KT said. “Then I won’t have to hurt you.”

Deo grinned as KT disappeared. Carefully, she shifted on the narrow cot and patted the space next to her, indicating Nita should sit.

“Are you on a break?”

Nita settled beside her with a sigh. “For a few minutes. I just fi nished suturing a Labrador Retriever’s front paw.”

“Stretch out beside me.”

“I don’t want to hurt you.”

“You won’t.” Deo rubbed her back. “I’ve missed you.”

• 265 •

RADCLY fFE

“I’ve missed you.” Kicking off her shoes, Nita curled against Deo’s side. “You scared me.”

Deo cradled Nita’s head against her chest. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to.”

“I know,” Nita murmured. “Don’t do it again.”

“I won’t.” Deo kissed Nita’s forehead and felt her relax.

“I don’t want to lose you,” Nita whispered.

“You won’t.” Deo listened to Nita’s breathing deepen and realized she was asleep. She stroked her shoulder protectively, savoring her closeness and her trust.

Pia poked her head around the screen. “Deo—”

Deo held a fi nger to her lips and gestured to Nita.

“We have to talk,” Pia mouthed, giving her a glare that was part fondness, part ire.

Figuring it was about Gabe, Deo nodded with a sigh. Pia disappeared, and Deo drew Nita closer. For now all she wanted was the peace that holding Nita brought to her. As she drifted off, she let herself hope that what was growing between them would not disappear when the winds blew the storm out to sea.

❖

Nita turned the corner behind her new house just in time to see Deo ratchet down an enormous extension ladder that had been braced against the rear roofl ine.

“You’re not supposed to be doing that kind of work,” Nita called out, striding forward rapidly.

Deo glanced in Nita’s direction, the steel ladder braced between both outstretched arms. Her sweat-soaked hair was tied back with a red bandanna, and she wore baggy khaki shorts and a faded, sleeveless blue T-shirt cut off somewhere in the vicinity of her navel. The row of black sutures that KT had placed just one short week before stood out starkly against her smooth, bronze stomach. Faint red blotches were the only remnants of the burns on her jaw and neck.

“Hi there,” Deo said, her grin gleaming against the tan that had deepened under the relentless sunshine that had followed in the wake of the storm.

• 266 •

Winds of Fortune

Nita tried to project a stern expression, but it was diffi cult when faced with such stunning beauty. She wondered if the initial shock at seeing Deo would ever lessen and doubted somehow that it would.

Some small part of her, she suspected, would probably never believe that Deo might actually be hers.

“Believe it or not,” Nita said, stopping by Deo’s side, “those stitches in your abdomen are there for a reason. That incision goes all the way through, and I prefer keeping everything that’s inside exactly where it belongs.”

Deo slung one arm over a rung of the ladder and leaned it against her hip. Then she kissed Nita. “It’s only fi ve o’clock. You’re early.”

“You’re ignoring me.”

“Impossible.” Deo checked the yard. It was empty. Then she wrapped an arm around Nita’s waist and pulled her close. This kiss lasted longer, a lot longer. “Missed you.”

Nita rested her cheek on Deo’s shoulder. She smelled good—like hard work and promises. She felt strong. Her heart beat rhythmically against Nita’s breast, steady and sure.

“I missed you too. Things were quiet so I decided to sneak out.

The service has me on beeper call.”

“Does that mean you’re mine for the night?”

Deo’s voice was low and husky, and the weight of it settled in the pit of Nita’s stomach and spread like warm whiskey. They hadn’t spent the night together since the hurricane.

Once KT had cleared her to do light labor, Deo and her crews had worked from well before sun-up until far after sundown clearing debris from the streets, making temporary repairs on roofs that needed to be replaced, boarding up broken windows, and pumping out fl ooded basements. Fortunately, Nita’s house had sustained little more than cosmetic damage, and Nita had insisted that Deo leave it until others with more urgent needs were taken care of.

When Deo had called to say she was at the house and invited Nita to meet her for dinner, Nita couldn’t wait to see her. She replayed Deo’s question. “Does that mean you’re mine for the night?”