“It means a lot to me that you’re here,” he told her.

One of her brows lifted. “Even though you didn’t want me to come,” she added.

Ah shit, she’d figured him out. Damn observant woman. Too observant for her own good.

He shook his head, trying to make light of it, even though she was right. “That’s not—”

“Brody,” she said on a sigh. “Don’t insult me by pretending I’m wrong. You’re a man, and you feel like you have to be macho and unbreakable all the time. And the last thing you want is the little woman trying to comfort you. I get that.” Her gaze softened and she ran her fingers through his hair. “But doesn’t this feel better than dealing with it on your own?”

Hell yeah, it did. So why couldn’t he admit it?

Before he could say anything, she took the cup of coffee from his hand and placed it on the counter behind him. Then she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and pressed her body close. Close enough to savor her plush breasts and feel the indentation of her waist. Despite his body’s instant reaction, it wasn’t a sexual hug. She obviously had no intention of seducing him out of his clothes, and the realization created a tingling sensation in the pit of his stomach.

Without really thinking about what he was doing, Brody reciprocated by entwining his arms around her and pulling her even closer.

Yes, he did need this. Despite being bullheaded and “macho,” as she’d called him, he needed her. The reassurance her presence offered wasn’t something he could find from anyone else. Nor did he want it from anyone else.

Just consider him another man who’d fallen under the spell of a bewitching woman. And he’d damn well fall with a smile on his face.

“Want to go find your family now?” Elisa asked after pulling away from him. Too quickly, if you asked him.

He blew out a long breath. “Yeah, I’d better.”

Elisa held out her hand, which he took and linked his fingers with hers.

It turned out the waiting room was just down the hall, with everyone from his family there, except for Avery and Lacy.

Even Rebecca had taken a spot in a chair, with red eyes and a ragged tissue in one hand. Brody had just clapped eyes with his father, whose attention dropped to Brody and Elisa’s linked hands, when a man wearing paint-stained jeans and a Denver Broncos T-shirt came strolling into the room. He stopped and ran a hand through his shaggy dark hair. “Rebecca called me. She told me Courtney was still in surgery.”

No one spoke for a moment, most likely because they were all trying to process who this guy was. Then RJ voiced what everyone else was probably thinking. “Who the hell are you?”

The man tossed a glance at RJ and looked like he didn’t want to answer. “Her fiancé.”

TWENTY

COURTNEY’S INJURIES HAD BEEN FAR more extensive than any of them had anticipated. Hours had slipped by while the doctors tried to put the young woman’s body back together. Elisa had no idea how much time had passed. She’d lost count after hour number four.

Finally, an exhausted-looking doctor with thinning gray hair had appeared in the waiting room. He’d addressed the room as a whole, trying to detail all Courtney’s injuries in terms they’d understand. Elisa couldn’t comprehend most of it, but she’d managed to pick up a few words here and there. The ones she understood were fractures and broken bones, which apparently were on the lighter side of Brody’s sister’s injuries. Other, more serious ones were hematomas from severe internal bleeding, a laminectomy, which was something to do with spinal damage, and injuries to several internal organs, including her kidneys and her liver.

Then the doctor saved the worst bit of news for last, essentially dropping a bombshell.

Coma. The result of severe head trauma, including swelling and bleeding of the brain. The word had sent Carol, Brody’s stepmother, into a fit of tears. RJ had turned around and punched the wall. Elisa hadn’t known what to do. She’d simply grabbed Brody’s hand and listened to the doctor apologize like his life was at stake.

“Wait, I want to see her,” Carol pleaded the doctor through a thick rush of tears. “Can I see her please?”

The doctor’s eyes softened and he spoke to her in a hushed voice. “I can only allow one of you at a time.”

“Go ahead,” Brody’s father urged.

Carol disappeared around the corner, leaving the room in stunned silence. No one spoke. In fact, it seemed like no one was breathing. Except for Chase, Brody’s older brother. He’d been pacing around the waiting room like a caged animal, making Elisa increasingly nervous with the way his long legs moved with agitation. Then he stopped, pulled his cell phone out of his pocket, and glanced at the screen.

A string of soft curses flew out of his mouth. “Mason’s awake. Lacy says she can hear him talking in his crib.” He glanced up and looked at each person in the room, as though he wasn’t sure what to do.

Brody’s father, who was just as tall and broad as his sons, stepped forward. He placed a hand on Chase’s shoulder. “Go. There will be time for you to come back and see your sister.” Chase hesitated as a flash of regret darkened his eyes. “If anything changes before you get back, we’ll let you know,” Martin reassured his son.

With that, Chase left the waiting room to take care of his bedridden wife and young son.

“Avery’s on her way,” Noah announced after tucking his own cell phone away in his pocket.

Brody hadn’t said anything, or even moved, with the exception of his left knee, which bounced up and down and kept brushing along Elisa’s. The sexual awareness that shot through her every time his leg brushed hers felt inappropriate, given the situation. She tried to push the feeling down, but her body wouldn’t listen.

The man who’d barged in here, announcing himself as Courtney’s fiancé, which Elisa guessed no one knew about, remained by himself in the corner of the room. No one had spoken to him, to demand an explanation, and he didn’t bother speaking to anyone else. He probably figured the bombshell he had dropped had been at an inopportune time.

These people were hurting, and Elisa wished there was something she could do to help, or at least to soothe their worry. She couldn’t even think of a way to help Brody. She didn’t know his sister, and all she could think of was be there for him and hold his hand.

The redheaded girl next to her, who’d introduced herself as Rebecca, rose from her chair and took slow, hesitant steps toward RJ. Since punching the wall, Courtney’s brother had been restless, alternating between pacing and rubbing the knuckles that had put a crack in the wall.

He stopped when Rebecca placed herself in front of him. His face was stone cold and hard, the muscles in his jaw flexing with tension. At first she thought Rebecca was going to tell him to sit down or something, because he was making Elisa nervous as hell. The man was like a predatory animal being held captive.

Instead of speaking words of comfort, Rebecca placed a hand on one of RJ’s thick shoulders. She ran her hand back and forth in an awkward attempt to soothe him. RJ didn’t move, didn’t speak, and his face remained hard. But something else clouded his eyes, something very close to longing, or maybe regret.

Elisa watched the interaction between the two with fascination. Rebecca pulled her hand back and started to move away. At the last second, she changed her mind. She wound her arms around RJ’s shoulders and held the man tight. RJ was tall, much taller than Rebecca, and the girl had to stretch to her tiptoes to hold on to him. At first, the embrace looked strained as though the two of them were holding themselves back from something more. After a moment, RJ’s arms snaked around Rebecca, one going to her waist and the hand of his other arm threading through the strands of her hair, cupping the back of her head.

The two of them were oddly familiar with each other, and Elisa had the feeling that familiarity had once tiptoed into the intimate category. It was something about the way RJ held her, as if he knew the little nooks and crannies of Rebecca’s body. Suddenly Elisa felt like watching them was intruding on something too personal, so she looked away. When she turned her head, her gaze connected with Brody’s.

“That’s about twelve years too late, if you ask me,” he muttered.

“You got that right,” Noah added.

Elisa glanced back at the hugging couple. Tears were streaming down Rebecca’s face. “What do you mean?” she asked Brody. “Aren’t they a couple?”

Noah chuckled and Brody’s mouth turned up in a grin. “No. I’ve never understood them.”

“Are you okay?” she asked Brody, and dropped the subject of Rebecca and RJ.

Brody stared at her for a moment and didn’t say anything. Just as he opened his mouth to respond, he was interrupted.

“I want to see her.” The man, Courtney’s supposed fiancé, emerged from the corner of the room and took a step toward Martin. Brody’s father, who’d taken Carol’s seat, stood and stared the other man down.

“No, you’ll wait your turn,” Martin said in a hard voice.

The man, who’d yet to introduce himself by name, stopped directly in front of Martin. “No, I’ll see her now.”

The muscles in Martin’s jaw tensed. “I don’t know you, son. Courtney’s got a lot of family here to see her.” He paused, then repeated his earlier words. “You’ll wait your turn.”

“I’m her fiancé,” the man said through gritted teeth.

RJ pushed away from Rebecca and took a step toward Courtney’s supposed fiancé. “Funny, how she’s never mentioned you, asshole.”