Anita Clenney - Embrace the Highland Warrior

“I bandaged you more than you bandaged me. Remember when we were kids, sneaking out to save the world, signaling from our bedrooms with flashlights?” They spent half their childhoods saving the world from evil, be it fire-breathing dragons, evil monsters, or top-secret enemy spies. With Cody at her side, she had felt invincible.

“Nina would’ve had both our hides if she’d caught you bypassing the alarm, shimmying down that old oak to meet me.” His hand touched hers, his finger finding the scar on her palm that she got during one of those escapades. “What the hell happened to us, pip-squeak? I know I was irresponsible, but I tried to make it right. Why did you shut me out? Did you hate me that much?”

Shay glanced away, feeling tears prick her eyes. At one time, she had been closer to Cody than anyone in the world… before that summer , when everything fell apart. “I didn’t hate you. I was confused and angry. You lied to me.”

“Some things are more important than the truth.”

“We were best friends. We never kept secrets.”

“I’m sorry, Shay. We did what we thought was best.”

“Did you ever think what it was like for us? Losing someone who’d been there all our lives? Having you wash your hands of us and walk away?”

He dropped her hand. “For weeks after you left, your aunt begged my father to go after you, to make you come home.”

“I didn’t know. No one came after me.”

“My dad said it was your choice. You were eighteen, an adult, and we’d hurt you enough, though it wasn’t intentional. We needed to give you room to think and make your own decisions.”

She had decided to stay away, to avoid them all. Until the letters Cody hadn’t gotten.

“We can’t change the past, might as well forget it and enjoy your visit.”

“I guess that’s why I came. To see if I can forget.” Or had she come because this was where she felt safe?

“If you can’t do it for yourself, do it for Nina. Your leaving nearly killed her.” He stood. “I’m going to turn in. I haven’t slept much lately.” He looked like he hadn’t slept for a week. “Yell if you need something. I’ll be down the hall.”

“You’re staying here?”

“I’m afraid your ankle might be fractured. I’m not having you go up and down those stairs if you need something to eat or drink. You got a spare toothbrush?”

“There should be some in the guest bathroom.”

His eyes narrowed. “You’re sweating.”

She was roasting, but she wasn’t certain if it was from the sweater or Cody’s hands.

“Sure you don’t want to take off the sweater?”

“I don’t have anything else to wear.”

He eased her wrapped ankle under the covers and then disappeared into the bathroom. A moment later, he returned shirtless, buttoning his jeans. He tossed his T-shirt and underwear on the bed. “They’re clean. I showered and changed after the lake.” He picked up her wet clothes. “Sleep tight,” he said, and with a shuttered look, he left.

Shay stared at the T-shirt and boxer briefs, still half-molded in his form. She slowly picked them up. A rush of heat surged from her head to her bandaged ankle. She’d worn Cody’s underwear before, when she was in a jam, but that was when they were kids, not with him all… filled out. Swallowing, she got out of bed, took off the sweater, and put on his things. They smelled like him, clean but male. Sensations she didn’t want to describe zinged through her body.

She climbed back in bed, but was too wound up to sleep, thinking about how close Cody’s T-shirt and underwear had been to his body. She needed a distraction. Renee. She would have a conniption when she found out who had just left Shay’s bedroom. Renee would douse Shay’s fire. Shay dialed from the phone by her bed, but still no answer. Where was Renee? She was prone to spontaneous trips, but it wasn’t like her to disappear when she knew Shay was coming.

Shay glanced at her watch. Nina and Matilda never went to bed before midnight. Better check in with Nina before she and Matilda showed up pounding on the door. Matilda answered the phone before it finished the first ring. “Frank Simpson, go jump in the lake, or go find that floozy, Ethel Mae. She’s probably strutting her stuff over at the Moose Lodge right now, since she got rid of those big ol’ varicose veins.”

“Matilda,” Shay shouted, but the phone went dead. She sighed and redialed.

“You oversexed pervert—”

“Aunt Matilda, it’s Shay.” Matilda wasn’t her aunt; she was Nina’s cousin, but Matilda didn’t have kids, and she liked it when Shay called her aunt.

“Shay?” Matilda’s voice dropped from deafening to almost deafening. “I thought you were Frank Simpson.”

“I’m sorry I called so late. I hope you weren’t asleep.”

“How could anyone sleep with Frank Simpson roaming the earth?”

“What’s he up to now, Aunt Matilda?” Matilda and Frank were always fighting over something.

“He’s writing a review for some old folks’ magazine. Keeps pestering me to check out some bed and breakfasts with him. Old folks? Well! You know as well as I do that I just turned fifty-nine.” Matilda had been fifty-nine since Shay finished middle school. “Says he needs a female perspective. Last year he asked Janice Childress to check out ski lodges with him. The stories I heard would’ve made a sailor blush. It wasn’t her perspective he was after. Had to get her to repeat the tale twice, just to make sure I heard right. Thought I’d have to go to confession, just from listening to it, or do penance or something. Do they still do that?”

“I—”

“Anyway, the man just won’t take no for an answer. It’s my red hair, you know. It’s like waving a red flag in front of a bull. I’ll bet Frank’s over at the pharmacy right now picking up Viagra. Pervert. It took me five years to find this color, and now I’m going to have to change it. I’d rather have my heart ripped out than tell Eduardo. He customized this color for me. Razzing Red, he calls it. Nobody else has it. I just don’t know what he’ll do. You remember, Eduardo. He’s so temperamental. All those artists are. I think he’s a Homo sapien .”

“You mean homosex—never mind.”

“All the good ones are. They just understand hair. I think it’s genetic.”

“I just—”

“You really think that Viagra works? I’ve heard that some men go around… you know, stuck like that for hours. Must be uncomfortable, not to mention embarrassing. Why, you couldn’t even leave the house. And what if you had to tinkle? Oh, listen to me blabbering on when you must want to talk to Nina. She’s been going on and on about you coming home. I’m so glad you’re there. You belong in Virginia. It’s a good, safe place. No one would break into your shop here. I’ll call Nina for you.”

Shay yanked the phone away from her ear, but not fast enough.

“Nina! It’s Shay!” Matilda yelled. “Now you take care of yourself, Shay, and kiss those boys for me. If you were smart, you’d marry one of them.”

Marry? Shay looked down at Cody’s T-shirt draping her body and his underwear caressing her intimate parts.

“Shay, how are you?” Nina’s voice was a hair lower than Matilda’s. Neither of them could hear squat. In the background, Matilda continued to rant about Frank.

“I’m okay, Nina.”

“How nice to hear a sane voice. Did you talk to the police?”

“They arrested the guy. It’s fine.”

“Did you happen to get his name, this intruder?” Nina asked, her voice stilted.

All Nina knew was that someone had broken into Shay’s shop. Shay wouldn’t have told her that much, but Nina had known something was wrong. “It was some strange name. Franklin or something.”