Is It Any Wonder (Nantucket Love Story #2) - Courtney Walsh Page 0,19

her eyes clouded over. She would not cry in front of him. Not today. Not ever again.

She sat down and closed her eyes, willing away the tears, and when she opened them, he was standing beside the couch, holding the old quilt.

She felt the skin of her forehead crease in confusion as he gently laid the blanket over her lap, then sat across from her. His kindness stunned her. Shamed her. She didn’t deserve it. Yet it sent a tingle through her body like a shock wave.

“What are you doing here?” The words came out as an accusation, which was not her intent. “I mean, I didn’t expect to see you here.”

He cleared his throat. Probably biting back an angry retort. “I didn’t expect to see you here either.”

She took his meaning. The cottage. His cottage. North Road. He’d been so proud of this place that first summer when his family moved in. She’d overheard bits and pieces of their parents’ conversations, enough to know that Daniel Boggs had learned to play the stock market thanks to her father, and he’d had a knack for it. He had, as her dad said, “a brilliant financial mind.”

The best part, Louisa thought, was that Daniel had a kind heart. Cody’s dad hadn’t been raised with money, and having it never seemed to change him. He didn’t hold on to it too tightly.

By contrast, Louisa’s dad’s life seemed to revolve around the stock market. His world was all numbers all the time. And though nobody said so, she had a feeling Warren wasn’t “a brilliant financial mind.”

He’d simply continued in the family business. Done what he was trained to do. But what if her father should’ve been an art teacher or a plumber? What if he’d gotten it wrong all those years ago, and that was why he always seemed to be hurried and neurotic in those days?

“Louisa?”

She glanced up and found Cody watching her, a look of concern lacing his brow.

“You zoned out for a minute.”

“Sorry,” she said. “That’s not because of the accident. That’s just how I am.”

He sat so straight in the chair, she thought he might have a board attached to his back. Stick straight and stock-still, the man seemed unable, or unwilling, to move.

“Did you answer my question?” she asked because she genuinely couldn’t remember.

He shook his head.

“Are you going to?”

“I don’t have a lot of choice where they send me, Louisa.”

Her name on his lips sounded wrong. Cody almost always called her Lou. Hearing him use her full name was like being scolded by a teacher in elementary school.

“So you’re stationed here?”

“That’s usually how it works.”

She glared at him. “You don’t have to be rude. I did almost die today.”

“Whose fault was that?” She didn’t think it was possible, but he turned even more rigid.

She looked away. “I’m sorry. I wanted to try paddleboarding before recommending it to my clients.”

“Did you check the weather before you went? You know better, Louisa.” A pause. “You should, anyway.”

She stilled. She did know better. She knew because of what she’d seen. She knew because of what she’d lived through. Even so, there she was, pushing envelopes and chasing death. Was there something wrong with her? Did she think she deserved a watery grave just like Daniel Boggs’s?

“I’m sorry you had to save me,” she said.

He sighed—a heavy one to let her know he was genuinely annoyed with her.

Why was he here?

“That’s my job,” he said. “Don’t apologize for that. But you have to use your head. You can’t be out there alone in that weather. You know the ocean—it’s not your friend.”

“I know.” It felt like he was on a personal crusade, what with the serious tone and all. She softened. She understood. The ocean had stolen everything from Cody. After a moment, she found his eyes. “So why are you here?”

“I just told—”

“No, here, in my living room.”

He turned the cap around in his hands and stared at the ground.

“Someone made you come?”

“It was suggested, yes.”

“Do you always do what you’re told?” she asked.

“It’s my job to follow orders.” He didn’t look at her.

“So you’re checking in with the woman you saved because some superior officer made you.”

He gave a soft shrug.

Of course. She’d been stupid to hope that he’d come on his own, that he was genuinely interested in her well-being, that he cared. He didn’t care about her—he’d put her out of his mind (and his life) ages ago.

Because she’d been foolish. She’d run him out. That