Hope White - Mountain Rescue

“Thanks.” Quinn closed his laptop and gathered miscellaneous papers.

He seemed nervous at the mere mention of being Billie’s husband. Well, he didn’t have to worry. She’d tell him so the minute they left the hospital. And take her where? It probably wasn’t safe to go to her apartment.

The doctor gave the nurse instructions and smiled at Billie. “Limit your activity for the next three to five weeks. Lie around, watch TV, read a book.”

“What about work?”

“Aiden can find someone to cover for you,” Quinn said.

“I’d hate to leave him shorthanded,” she countered.

“What is your line of work?” the doctor asked.

“I’m a hostess at the Echo Mountain Resort restaurant.”

“Is there a lot of bending and lifting involved?” the doctor asked.

“Not really. I mostly seat guests and sometimes bus tables.”

“I’d rather you not lift anything,” the doctor said. “The nurse will give you the rest of my instructions.”

“Thanks.”

With a nod, the doctor left the room.

Billie eyed Nurse Rose. “How’s Dylan, the orderly who took me downstairs last night?”

“A nasty bump on the head, but he’s fine. These kids are tough.” She smiled.

Billie felt guilty that she’d indirectly been responsible for his injury.

“Let’s go over a few things for your recovery,” the nurse said. “Keep the wrist wrapped tight for a week to ten days. Then you can take off the wrap and see how it feels.”

“What about the ribs?” Billie shifted and winced against the pinch in her chest.

“Ice the area for twenty minutes, four times a day to help them heal. You can wrap them if it feels better, but not too tight. The tendency is to take shallow breaths but you want to try to avoid that.”

“Okay, sure. How do I wrap my ribs?”

Nurse Rose pulled a compression bandage off a nearby cart and glanced at Quinn. “I need to show her how to wrap her ribs.”

“Okay.” Quinn didn’t move.

The nurse glanced at Billie in question.

“I should watch so I can help her,” Quinn said.

“Oh, I don’t think so,” Billie said.

“But—”

“No,” Billie said. The thought of him touching her with gentle, nurturing hands made her crazy. “Please give us some privacy, Quinn.”

Without another word of protest, Quinn left the room. Billie must have seemed unusually tense because the nurse studied her. “You okay?”

“Yeah, thanks.”

At least she would be as soon as she got to work on a plan to protect herself, not only from Rick’s shady business associates but also from relying too much on Quinn Donovan. In her wounded state it wouldn’t take much to surrender and let him take the lead, especially after he’d saved her last night.

That’s what the old Billie would have done. Handing her life over to a man is what she’d done with Rick. She’d trusted him to support her and take care of her and look how that turned out.

Never again. She’d learned that painful lesson and didn’t plan on repeating it.

* * *

It was midafternoon before Billie was officially discharged. As Quinn steered his SUV to the hospital entrance, he spotted her being wheeled out by a volunteer. Quinn could tell she shivered against the cool, misty rain. He wished he could hold her and warm the chill from her body.

A dangerous thought, Donovan.

He got out of the car and came around to help her but she waved him off. “I’m good.”

Once she was safely buckled, he got behind the wheel and prepared for battle. She wasn’t going to like his plan, but somehow he had to convince her it was the best way to keep her safe. He pulled out of the hospital lot and headed east.

“This isn’t the way to my apartment,” Billie said, glancing out the window.

“We’re not going to your apartment. I’ve made other arrangements.”

“No, I can’t go to the lake house,” she said in a panicked voice.

“No worries,” Quinn said. “I’m not taking you home with me.”

Quinn’s chest ached. She seemed horrified by the thought of going to Waverly Harbor and staying in the coach house on his property. Had it been such a bad five months? It hadn’t been for Quinn. Seeing her at least once a day had always brightened his mood.

That was then. Today he had to respect her need for distance. He knew she was wise to feel this way.

“I think it’s best if I move away,” she said.

He clenched the steering wheel. He suspected she wouldn’t share the forwarding address with Quinn.

“To where?” he asked.

“I don’t know.” She glanced out the window. “Someplace safe where I can hide out and investigate this mess.”

“Moving is exhausting. You need to rest and take care of yourself.”

She scoffed.

“What?” he said.

“That sounds weird coming out of a guy’s mouth.”

“I’m sure it’s not the first weird thing I’ve said.”

“True.” She smirked.

At least it wasn’t a scowl.

“Billie, you need time to recuperate from your fall. I’m going to make sure you do just that.”

“I’ll rest better in my own bed.”

“That may be true, but your apartment is the first place someone will look for you.”

“‘Someone,’” she sighed. “I wish I knew who ‘someone’ was.”

“I’m working on it.”

She glanced at him in question.

“I’ve hired a private investigator to look into things,” he explained.

“I asked you not to do that. I can’t afford—”

“He’s a friend and he owes me a favor, okay?”

“Okay.” She shifted slightly, wincing against the pain of bruised ribs.

His gut twisted when she did that. He wanted to ease her pain somehow, yet knew there wasn’t a lot you could do about bruised ribs but let them heal on their own.

“We’ll ice the ribs as soon as we get there,” he said.

“Where are you taking me?”

“You’ve got a suite at Echo Mountain Resort.”

“I can’t afford those rooms.”

“I own the place, remember?” He winked.

“But Aiden needs the rooms for real guests.”

“They’re not even at half capacity, plus they’ve got a solid security system and plenty of activity. Even if the guy finds out where you are, he wouldn’t risk making a move on you in a busy setting like that.”

She sighed. “I guess, if that’s my best option.”

“It is, in my opinion.”

“You’ll drop me off and head back to Waverly Harbor?”

He hesitated before answering. “I know you want me to say yes, but I can’t.”

“Why not?”

Talk about a loaded question.

“I need to make sure you’re okay,” he said.

“Because I’m still your wounded-bird project?”

“Don’t say that.”

“Or is it because you feel guilty?”

He clenched the steering wheel, but didn’t answer. He had plenty to feel guilty about, from taking away her husband’s income by closing the plant to letting her develop an attachment to Quinn when he knew it wasn’t real.

“You don’t have to feel guilty about anything, Quinn. I was fragile when I first went to work for you, but I’m different now and I can stand on my own two—”

A bump from behind made Billie yelp.

He’d been distracted by their conversation and hadn’t noticed a car following way too close. Eyeing the rearview mirror, he considered speeding up but didn’t want to put them both at risk by going too fast for conditions and spinning off the road.

The car retreated and flashed its lights.

“Does he want us to stop?” she said, eyeing the side mirror.

“That’s not happening.”

The car smacked into them again. Billie lurched forward and groaned against the pain in her ribs.