Christina Skye - Butterfly Cove

She glanced up at a knock on the door. “More nurses coming to check out the new deputy? News really does travel fast. Come in,” she called.

But Walker Hale opened the door, studying Olivia with concern. “Hey, Livie. How are you doing?”

“Not so bad. I’m still groggy.” She frowned down at the brace on her shoulder. “Not much driving or anything else for me right now.”

“No worries there. I’m under orders from Jilly to drive you home once your paperwork clears here. We can stop by your house, but Caro and Jilly laid down the law. You’re going back to the Harbor House until you feel better.”

“That sounds nice.” Despite the painkillers and a growing throb at her shoulder, she felt tension fill the room. She glanced from Walker to Rafe. “Sorry. I should have introduced you. Walker, this is Rafe Russo, our new deputy sheriff. He’s the one I ran into in the storm last night. And I mean literally ran into. Rafe, meet Walker Hale. He and Jilly were married in Colorado after they met at a knitting workshop there. We couldn’t have managed all the work on the Harbor House without Walker’s help.”

Olivia forced a smile and tried to ignore the pain radiating from her neck and shoulder. If she thought the tension would fade after the two men were introduced, she was wrong. The cool, assessing stares went on and on.

She tried to sit up, but Rafe leaned over her with a frown. “Don’t move. You know what the doctor said. You’re not supposed to do anything until they check you out. Tell me what you need, and I’ll get it.”

“What I need is my knitting. Since that’s out of the question for now, I would love a drink of water.”

Rafe found her glass and held it while she drank.

“Thank you, Rafe.” She gave a big yawn. “I guess these painkillers are working.” Her eyes drifted over to the window. “Is it still raining, Walker?”

“Afraid so.”

“More mudslides?”

“Nothing major,” Walker announced. “Most of the big roads are open again.”

“That’s good.” Olivia yawned. “I may slip off now. I can’t seem to stay awake...”

She saw Rafe walk to the window. His face was harder than it had been when he left Summer Island. He was lean and controlled in all his movements.

Olivia saw a thin scar above his right eye. “You have a scar,” she said sleepily. “I don’t remember that.”

“Fuel dump exploded,” Rafe said tersely. “Go to sleep, Livie.”

Olivia had a thousand questions. Had he been happy? Was there a woman in his life?

And the war...

But Olivia was too tired to think straight. Besides, Rafe had cut her out of his life a decade ago with a finality and coldness that still left painful memories. Though he was back, nothing between them had changed.

Olivia had to remember that whatever they’d once had was over.

“Say hi to the nurses,” she murmured as her eyes closed.

“There aren’t any nurses,” Rafe said.

“But there will be...there always are. You still don’t understand, do you?” Before Rafe could answer, she was asleep.

* * *

“WHAT DID SHE mean about nurses?” Walker asked as he closed the door to Olivia’s room.

“Nothing.”

Walker leaned against the door, sizing Rafe up slowly. “You’ve known Olivia long?”

“Since I was nine. We had a little history between us.”

Walker crossed his arms. “I see.” Both men were silent as boundaries were drawn, strengths and weaknesses measured. This was about testosterone and tribe.

Rafe studied Walker. “Marines?”

Walker nodded.

“Same here. I was in the Sangin Valley.” Among other places, Rafe thought.

“Bad?”

Rafe shrugged. No war was good. The valley had been the scene of a dozen firefights, one of which had left most of his platoon dead. It wasn’t the sort of thing you forgot.

Rafe stretched out a callused hand. “So you and Jilly got hitched. That’s good. Nice to meet you.”

“Jilly says you were all pretty close when you were in school. I figure you could tell a few stories about growing up on the island.” Walker gestured toward a vending machine at the end of the hall. “How about some coffee?”

“Sounds good to me.”

Walker glanced at Rafe’s badge as the two men walked down the hall. “So you’re the new deputy. I thought Tom Wilkinson had a hiring freeze in place.”

“He did. But he had an unexpected dismissal. I saw him the day I got back, and one thing led to another. Here I am.”

“You don’t sound too thrilled about it.”

“Don’t get me wrong. I’m glad to be here. I didn’t plan it, but job offers are a little thin on the ground right now. Long-range reconnaissance skills don’t add much to a man’s résumé. But that’s not your question.”

Walker palmed quarters into the nearby machine, dialed up a cup of coffee and handed it to Rafe. “So what is my question, Deputy Russo?”

“What happened between Olivia and me. But you’ll have to ask her about that.” Rafe ran a hand along his neck and frowned. “One thing I can tell you. Nobody expects to see me on the law enforcement side of things. I had a wild and misspent youth on Summer Island.”

“The town’s bad boy?” Walker bought a cup of coffee for himself and walked to the window that overlooked the curve of the sea. Up north rain was still hammering the coast. Rescue crews were working hard to reach isolated communities. “Tom Wilkinson strikes me as a coolheaded man. I doubt he would extend an offer unless you were the best man for the job.”

“Maybe. Or maybe he was desperate.”

Walker’s eyes narrowed. “Desperate how?”

Rafe let out a slow breath. “I shouldn’t have brought it up. Ask Tom when you see him next.” He took a drink of coffee. “Thanks for driving Olivia home. I wanted to take her, but I go on duty in forty-five minutes. This storm has left the whole county in a shambles. It’s going to be a busy shift.”

“Doesn’t look like you had much rest last night either.”

“I’ll manage. It’s not exactly Kandahar.” Rafe frowned, staring down at his coffee. “It’s still hard to believe I’m actually home. Sometimes I smell the air and wonder what happened to the dust and the burning gasoline.”

Walker nodded. “Give it time.”

Rafe shrugged. “If you say so. Well, I’d better go.”

Walker tossed away his empty coffee cup. “Why don’t you drop by for dinner tonight. It won’t be fancy. We’re down to the wire, trying to finish the renovations on the Harbor House. The grand opening is scheduled in three weeks, and we’re not even close.”

“Thanks, but I’ll be working late.”

“Then come late.”

Something was happening here, Walker thought. He watched an orderly go into Olivia’s room. He noticed the quick way that Rafe turned to assess exactly who was going in and out of that room.

It was clear that Rafe Russo took his responsibilities seriously. That fit with the stories Walker had heard back in Afghanistan about forward recon teams. A man like that carried a lot of baggage. It was written all over Rafe’s face.

“Thanks, but I’ll pick up something at the diner on the way home. I won’t be off shift until ten.”

“We’ll be up. I’ve got plumbing repairs to finish.”

“I’m pretty good as a second pair of hands on a plumbing job,” Rafe said slowly.

“I’ll take that as a yes. Jilly’s making southwest lasagna with jalapeño corn bread tonight. I put in a request for double-chocolate cake to go with it.”

“You make it pretty damn hard to refuse.” Rafe hesitated, staring back through the door to Olivia’s room, where a nurse had wheeled in a cart full of monitoring equipment.