Susan Mallery - Straight From The Hip

“We’re pressing charges,” Izzy told him. “At least I am.”

“There’s no law against being an idiot,” the sheriff said as he shook Nick’s hand. “But we draw a line when an idiot hurts someone else. How you doin’, son?”

“Good,” Nick said, a little stunned by the invasion.

Skye and Dana disappeared for a few minutes, then reappeared with more chairs. The sheriff was eating cookies and talking with Lexi. Izzy stood next to him, holding the hand on his uninjured arm. Apparently no one was leaving anytime soon.

“Oh, Aaron called while you were asleep,” Izzy told him. “He’s taking care of everything. Steve came by to help. The corporate guys are very subdued and following orders. The beer is locked away and everything is good. But we’re still pressing charges.”

He didn’t know what to make of what was going on. He’d never had family before, and while Garth had been his friend for years, neither of them ever fussed over the other.

The Titan women fussed. Even as they spoke to him and each other, his blankets were straightened, his pillows fluffed. They discussed his meals, his color and asked him if he needed to use the bathroom. When the sheriff was ready to talk about what had happened, they sat in the corner with Dana, talking quietly, constantly glancing at him as if to make sure he was all right.

It felt good and at the same time made him feel like crap. Because Izzy wasn’t going to be the only one hurt by the revelation about Garth. They would be devastated, as well.

He had to tell her, and quickly.

He looked at the women. He would tell Izzy as soon as they had a moment alone. He had no choice-he was running out of time.

“HAVE YOU TASTED Skye’s cookies?” Aaron asked as he followed Izzy down the hall. “Silly question. Of course you have. How could you grow up with cookies like that in the house and not weigh four hundred pounds? They’re fabulous.” He lowered his voice. “Don’t tell Norma I said that. She’d cut me off her biscuits for weeks.”

“I won’t say a word,” Izzy promised, staring at the half-closed door to Nick’s bedroom.

She wanted to check on him. The doctor had let him out of the hospital that morning only after Nick had promised to take it easy, including staying in bed for a couple more days. She’d agreed to make sure he followed the doctor’s orders. But she had a feeling he wasn’t the type to do what he was told, which meant he was probably doing jumping jacks right this second.

She had to go make sure. The only problem was, she couldn’t seem to bring herself to walk into his room.

“Would you look in on Nick and make sure he’s resting?”

Aaron frowned at her. “Why? Aren’t you two speaking?”

“We’re fine. The man saved me from a rattlesnake. He gets a free pass for at least a month. I just don’t want to hover too much.”

“Okay.”

Aaron poked his head in the room, then backed out. “He’s either asleep or faking being asleep,” he said in a low voice.

“Good. He’s lying down, which is important.”

They walked to the living room.

“Tell me what happened during the rest of the weekend,” Izzy said. “The guys were gone when we brought Nick home.”

“I kicked them out Sunday morning. They didn’t seem all that upset to go.”

“I’m sure they’re sorry they ever signed up for the retreat in the first place,” she said. “They were all morons. I just hope they aren’t working on something important, like third-world financing.”

“I’m with you on that,” Aaron told her. “I don’t know that Nick is going to go forward with wanting to press charges.”

She looked at him. “He has to. He could have died.”

“I think he’s more concerned that you could have died and doesn’t want to put you through that.”

His words made her feel funny. All hot and squishy on the inside. And a little sick to her stomach. “We can talk about it later.”

“Are you all right?” Aaron asked. “You’re acting very strange.”

“I’m fine. Just dealing with the stress of what happened.”

He didn’t look convinced. “Did something happen that I don’t know about? You know I hate being the last to know anything.”

“I’m not keeping secrets,” she promised, knowing it was true. She couldn’t keep a secret about something she wasn’t willing to admit even to herself.

“What are you going to do now?” he asked.

“Take care of the horses.”

“Not look after Nick?”

“I’ll check in on him later. He’s a big boy. He can survive a few hours by himself.”

“A few minutes ago you said you were worried about hovering too much.”

“Right. Well, I can’t hover in the stable. I need to go or Rita will be screaming.”

“Rita never screams. What’s going on with you?”

“Nothing.”

She made her escape and ducked outside. But once there, she didn’t feel any more comfortable. The need to run, to hide, to move, to do something was as powerful as it was unexplained. She felt like jumping out of her skin.

It was the whole incident with the snake, she told herself as she walked toward the barn. It had been terrifying. Her delayed reaction made perfect sense. She’d never seen anything like that in her life. Nick could have died. She could have died. She would be better in a few days.

As she went into the barn and walked toward Jackson’s stall, she felt both hot and cold, as if she were coming down with the flu. But it was also different. Uncomfortable and scary and…

She stopped in the middle of the stable and stared into Jackson’s big, brown eyes. Possibilities flashed through her mind, each more frightening than the one before. Would she? Had she?

She’d been terrified about Nick’s snake bite. The drive to the hospital had seemed endless and she’d been unable to stop crying, no matter how many times Nick calmly promised he would be fine. It was only after the doctor had sworn he was out of danger that she’d allowed herself to hope.

Nick was a friend, she told herself. Of course she would worry about him. Only she knew it was more than that. Much more. Losing Nick would have crushed her in ways she’d never experienced. The reason she was confused, the reason she didn’t know how to act or what to say was that everything was suddenly different. At least from her end.

Love.

Sometime, when she wasn’t paying attention, she’d fallen in love with him. She, who had never loved anyone. Who never got involved. She’d fallen for a man who had vowed to never let himself be happy or connect with anyone else. Which was pretty much just her luck.

NICK WATCHED Izzy carry in his tray for dinner. She brought it over to the bed and set it on the low table Aaron had already settled across his lap.

“Thanks,” he said, more interested in looking at her than the food. “I haven’t seen you all day.”

“I’ve been around,” she said, not quite looking at him. “You know, busy. There’s so much to do. Things to get caught up on. Despite appearances, you are more than a pretty face. I’m trying to pick up the slack.”

She sounded fine, but something wasn’t right. He could tell. “It’s been three days. There isn’t much slack to pick up.”

“I like staying current,” she murmured. “Anyway, here’s your dinner. Norma made all your favorites, which you should really mention. She said it about three times. And she kept Aaron from eating all the biscuits. Here’s my question. How does he eat so much and stay so damn skinny? It’s annoying.”

She gave him a tight smile that looked more pained than happy, then started backing out of the room. “I’ll just let you eat in peace.”

“Or you could keep me company.”

She froze, momentarily looked trapped, then gave him the fake smile again. “Sure. If you’d like. That would be great. Really nice.” She pulled over the armchair from the corner.

“Go ahead,” she said. “Eat. I’ll do the talking. I’m good at that.” She paused as if searching for a topic. “I, ah, got the catalog from the community college. I missed the fall semester start by three weeks. Which is okay. I can take my time and figure out my major. Not that I have to declare right away.”

He cut into the roast beef. “I thought you were studying psychology.”

“I am, but there are a lot of choices in the field. Not at the community college level, of course, but you know, um, later.”

“Izzy, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I’m fine.” She smiled again and this time did a better job of faking it. “You’re getting tons of get-well cards. You’re way more popular than I would have guessed. Aaron has them all. He’ll bring them by later. I’m sure small but tasteful gifts will be arriving soon. Oh, look at the time.”

She started to stand. He grabbed her arm and held her in place.

“You’re not leaving until you tell me what’s going on.”

She stared at him, wide-eyed. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“You’re acting strange.”

“No, I’m not. It’s the snake bite, isn’t it? Your brain is addled.”

He frowned. “You don’t say things like addled. What happened?”

“Nothing. Seriously, I’m good. And I really have to go. I’ll see you later.”

She slipped free of his grasp and walked out of the room.

Nick thought about going after her, but wondered if she needed time to deal with whatever it was that had…What? Scared her? It would be his first guess, only very little scared Izzy. She was tough and gentle, an impossible combination.

He would give it time, but eventually he would figure it out. Something had happened. Something that had her running scared and he was going to find out what it was.

THE KNIVES CAME OUT of the darkness. Nick recognized the burning as the blades cut through him. It was always the same, he thought, doing his best to fight. Silence, then the burn, then the warm trickle of blood followed by the intense pain. They liked to cut in a place that had almost healed. It hurt more that way. Sometimes they jabbed under his fingernails or the bottom of his feet. He never knew where they would strike or when. Or how long it would last.