felt she could breathe again. She looked at him and began to cry in earnest.
Jumping up off the bed, he rushed to her. “Baby, what’s wrong?” She could only shake her head. “You have a scrape on your forehead. There’s a bump. Did you fall?” A nod. Her sobs broke from her, making her chest ache as they rose from deep inside her, one after another. She was trembling as he took her in his arms. “You’re okay. You’re here now with me.”
* * *
KATE WOKE TO DARKNESS. She could hear Collin in the bathroom. She listened. It sounded as if he was on the phone. He had the door closed as if he didn’t want to disturb her. Or didn’t want her to hear his conversation.
Earlier he’d gotten her out of her wet clothing and into a hot shower before tucking her into the bed and lying with her until she fell asleep. Before her eyes closed, she remembered telling him, “I thought I saw Danny.” She had felt him tense next to her and wished she could stop the words. “It looked so much like him...” She’d shuddered at the memory. “But it wasn’t. It wasn’t him. He wasn’t Danny.”
She’d rolled over and squeezed her eyes tightly, her emotions a roller-coaster ride of hope and loss, embarrassment and humiliation, defeat and bitterly aching disappointment. Finally she’d fallen asleep.
His phone call ended. He came out and looked surprised to see her awake. He also looked a little sheepish, so she knew what he’d done before she even asked.
“Were you talking to one of my girls?” she asked, hating the accusation in her voice. Her girls. But she reminded herself that he often would call her daughters just to chat. She knew he wanted them to like him, hoping it would convince her to marry him.
“I called Mia. I was worried about you and...” He met her gaze, looking concerned as to how she was going to take what he was about to say. “She’s worried about you, too.”
Kate sighed and, shoving back the covers, threw her legs over the side of the bed to get up. She was dressed in one of her nightgowns. She reached for her robe, but Collin had already picked it up and started to help her put it on.
“I have it,” she said too sharply, snatching it away from his reaching fingers. As she tied the sash angrily, she said, “I wish you hadn’t called her.”
He took a step back, and she was reminded of the man in the woodworking shop also stepping away from her with that same worried look. “Kate, I’m sorry. I was worried.”
She glared at him, embarrassed and humiliated all over again. He’d told Mia. Mia would tell Danielle. She shook her head. “You needn’t have called. I’m fine. It wasn’t him.”
Collin looked at her agape. “Of course it wasn’t, because he’s...”
“Dead,” she finished for him. Tears burned her eyes. She bit her lip. Now he knew her only secret. She had hoped that he’d never find out. But now that it was out... “Mia told you about the other times, didn’t she?”
He looked down at the badly worn, ugly motel-room carpet for a moment. “She thought I should know.” There was accusation in his voice now. He thought she should have told him what he was getting into.
Kate felt her anger rise at both Mia and Collin before it dissipated as quickly as it had come over her. Of course they both thought he should know. Collin was going to be her husband. It was reasonable. If Collin was going to marry her, he should know about the other times she’d thought she’d seen Danny. She shouldn’t be upset, let alone angry with any of them. They loved her. But still she hated that Collin knew. Just as she hated the look in his eyes when she met his gaze. She was pathetic. An almost middle-aged woman who still fantasized about her dead husband being alive.
“I know he’s dead,” she said defensively. “But there is always this split second when I see someone who reminds me of him and I think...” Kate shook her head. “Then I get a good look at the man, and of course it’s not him. I’m not crazy.”
“No one thinks you are,” Collin said kindly as he reached for her. “We get it. We just worry, that’s all. For that split second, it has to be such a...shock and then such a disappointment.”
She nodded