Ever After (25 page)

But if everything was all right, why did she feel like she wanted to yell at James Michael Taggert? Bawl him out? How could he just leave that way? He'd acted as though nothing had happened. He'd even spoken of turning her over to Braden.

Didn't their making love mean
anything
to him?! “Men!” she said aloud, then went into the kitchen. She closed the door behind her just a little bit too hard. No windows broke, but they certainly did rattle.

Upstairs, Jamie felt as well as heard the door slam with the force of a storm, and for the first time since he got out of the hospital, he didn't jump. Instead, he smiled. His worry had been her reaction to his body, but now that that was settled, there were no more obstacles. At least none that mattered. A blond Montgomery lookalike didn't even count.

Still smiling, he got into the shower. He wanted to be very clean for the coming massage.

W
hen Hallie got to the gym, Jamie was already on the massage table, face down, only a skimpy towel covering part of him. The sight of him put her mind back on her work and she was once again a professional. She began to run her hands over his back, assessing the scars and thinking how she was going to work on him.

“How did this…?” She didn't complete her question.

But he knew what she was asking. “Humvee exploded. One leg and my head and shoulders fell under my buddy's body or they would have been sliced and diced too.”

“And your friend?”

“Didn't make it.”

“Is Valery…?”

“The best of us. I couldn't go to her funeral, but later I talked to her husband and—”

“Shhhh,” Hallie said. His body had begun to tighten, the muscles pulling into themselves. “No more talking. Breathe like I showed you and try to clear your mind. Think of a happy place.”

“That tea room comes to mind.”

She was glad he couldn't see her smile. “Think of something more peaceful. Maybe a childhood place with grass and sunshine.”

When he started to relax, she knew he was falling into someplace far away. “There's a house with a porch,” he whispered.

She began to work on him. “Just be calm.”

She knew enough about anatomy to imagine what had caused his injuries and what had been done to repair the damage. That he hadn't bled to death was a miracle. The medical care must have been extraordinary.

There were places on his body that weren't fully healed and she managed to work around them, gently coaxing his muscles to release. Other areas were thick and hard with scar tissue and she wished she could have worked on him from the beginning, right after he was hurt. She might have been able to loosen the skin and kept it from welting.

But she thought Jamie wouldn't have allowed that then. She reminded herself that he was so stubborn, it was only by accident that she was working on him now.

She spent over an hour working on his back before she felt she'd done all she could. Her arms were aching, but she wasn't about to stop.

“Turn over,” she said, and did what she could to help him. The brace made his movements awkward.

“Thank you,” he said, his eyes closed.

She knew what he meant, as she was beginning to feel the tension leave him.

As she unfastened his brace and began to work on his injured leg, she had an idea that the story he'd told of his knee
injury was a sugarcoated version. Had he panicked at some sound and forgotten he was on skis? Dived for cover and landed on his knee?

His eyes were closed and she wasn't going to ask him.

She refastened the brace and started on his other leg, noting his injuries and working with them.

When she felt him beginning to sleep, she knew her treatment was starting to work. His face was relaxing. He was falling asleep without the use of any pills! That she had accomplished this made her feel as though she'd just climbed a mountain.

When she finally finished, she'd been working on him for nearly two hours. She was weak, shaky even, from exertion. It had been a very long morning. She'd jumped out of bed very early, then had the trauma of finding out about Jamie, then…then…

Smiling, she ran her hand over his cheek. If anyone deserved rest, it was this wounded soldier.

Stepping back, she put her hands on her lower back and stretched. She'd like to go to the house, but she didn't dare leave him alone. His big body filled the table. If he had one of his nightmares, he'd roll off and hit the ground.

She looked around for someone to watch him, but there was no one in the garden. Yesterday Ian said the family was going to a beach so that's probably where they were. She was about to pull up a chair when the red gate opened and in walked a man she'd never seen before. He looked older, with gray at his temples, and he was built like a bigger version of Jamie. The word “bull” came to mind. Obviously, he was one of the Taggerts.

He saw her right away, as though he was looking for her. Smiling, she motioned for him to come over.

When he got closer, he asked in a deep rumble of a voice, “Need some help?”

“Could you please watch Jamie while I go inside?” she said in a whisper. “Let him sleep and don't do anything to wake
him. If he starts, uh, dreaming, do something nice, like sing him a lullaby. But whatever you do, do
not
let him fall off this table.”

The man was looking at her oddly, as though he was trying to figure her out.

Hallie was walking backward toward the house. “But you probably know all this, don't you?”

“Not all of it,” he said. “Go. I'll take care of him.”

She was reluctant to leave. “You can't step away for even a minute. When he starts thrashing about, he's fast and he's strong.”

“I won't let him fall. I promise,” the man said and for the first time, he smiled. “Now go before he wakes up and wants you to give him a mani-pedi.”

Laughing, Hallie turned and ran to the house.

“Dad,” Jamie said when he woke up. His father was sitting on one of the wooden chairs and reading a newspaper. Jamie realized a blanket was covering him and he was still on top of the massage table. “I think I dozed off.”

“For over an hour,” his father said. “Half the family's been over here to gawk at you. I almost couldn't keep Cory from climbing on you.”

Jamie ran his hand over his face. “Did I…?”

Kane knew his son was referring to the nightmares. “It was a mild one. This girl Hallie seems to be good for you.” Kane was watching his son, trying hard not to let the fear show in his eyes. He'd nearly lost his son in a war, and since Jamie had returned, every day Kane worried that Jamie's grief and guilt and all that he'd been through would overwhelm him. Kane had read too much about the suicide of young soldiers to dismiss the possibility.

“She is,” Jamie said, but didn't elaborate.

But Kane saw the way his son's face softened, the way he was looking around to see if she was there. When Jamie tried to sit up, Kane had to resist the urge to help him. And when the blanket fell away, he couldn't repress a wince at the sight of his son's scarred body. This isn't what you envisioned for your child when you diapered him and held your hands out for his first step.

Jamie saw the grimace and pulled the blanket up to cover himself.

“You want to tell me about her?”

“No,” Jamie said. “Not yet.” He kept looking around the garden.

“She took a nap,” Kane said. “Your mother went up to check on her and she was stretched across the bed asleep. I have a favor to ask of you.”

“About what?” Jamie asked, his voice cautious.

“Take care of your aunt Jilly tonight. We're all going out to dinner and I think it might overwhelm her. We arranged that you and Hallie would have her and Uncle Kit over for dinner. Something quiet.”

They both knew Kane was lying. A full family dinner, probably in some restaurant where they'd reserved every table, would be too much for Jamie. Kids screaming and running around, adults laughing, glad to see one another, would be as loud as a battlefield.

“Sounds good,” Jamie said, but he didn't meet his father's eyes. “When's the groom going to get here?”

“As soon as he can. Speaking of grooms, Graydon's wedding is tomorrow morning. Some of the kids are setting up a screen in Kingsley House. You want to go there or have a setup put in here?”

Jamie had to look away and swallow a few times before he answered. He knew that his family meant well. Their constant, never-ending care and concern for him were based on love. He
knew that and appreciated it. However, the last few days with Hallie, being yelled at, being told to
do
things, had been the best he'd felt since he was pulled out of the wreckage of an armored vehicle.

“Put in a set here,” he said at last.

“Todd said—”

“Don't send him,” Jamie said quickly.

Kane's eyes widened. Since they were born, the twins had been inseparable. The only argument they'd ever had was when Jamie said he was going to serve his country. Todd had gone berserk, shouting at his brother, saying that he was a fool and that he could be
killed
. It had taken three Montgomerys and a Taggert to hold Todd down, while Jamie just stood there, unbending in his resolve. “Todd will want to see the wedding with you.”

“Yeah, I know,” Jamie said and there was a flush on his cheeks. “But he and Hallie don't get along. He keeps testing her.”

“He thinks she's a gold digger?”

“He thinks she'll leave me when she gets tired of my…of my…” He couldn't finish or meet his father's eyes.

“What do you think?”

“That if she's smart, she'll run away.” He was scratching one of the scars over his rib cage.

“I think that if she's smart she'll overlook a few mosquito bites and see my son underneath.”

“Thanks,” Jamie said and met his father's eyes.