The Path to Sunshine Cove (Cape Sanctuary #2) - RaeAnne Thayne Page 0,94
been fighting ever since they first appeared seemed to wash over him, stronger than ever. No question about it. He was falling in love with Jess. She was a calm haven to rest from the storm.
For now, anyway. Until she left town.
This was a really lousy time to realize how far gone he was over her, especially when he knew she was planning to load up her Airstream and drive away from Cape Sanctuary in a few days.
“Are they keeping Eleanor?”
“Yes. At least a day or two for tests. Luz, my friend who is the ER doc, said there is a possibility she might need a temporary pacemaker if her heart rate doesn’t self-regulate.”
“Temporary is good.”
It all seemed overwhelming to him. “I guess. But bottom line, the tests will take time and then they’re admitting her. You don’t have to hang around that whole time.”
“I don’t mind. But if you want, I can pick up Sophie from her friend’s house after school and she and I can go back to Whitaker House and grab some of Eleanor’s things that might make her more comfortable during her stay. Her favorite robe, slippers, that kind of thing.”
“Great idea.”
“What about you?” she asked. “Can I bring you something to eat from the cafeteria before I leave? You might not have a chance to take a break again until they get her settled into a room.”
“I don’t think I could eat right now. But thanks.”
She nodded. “All right. You had better go be with your mom. I’ll be back with Sophie in an hour or so.”
“Thank you.”
Words were inadequate to express his gratitude. Though he knew it wasn’t the smartest idea, he grabbed her in another embrace, needing the strength he found there.
“I don’t know what I would have done without you. I hate to think about Mom being alone for hours on the floor. Or, worse, Sophie finding her there after school.”
“I’m so glad I was there.”
Her arms tightened around him. He didn’t want to let her go but knew he needed to return to his mother’s treatment room.
He lowered his mouth to steal a quick, intense kiss.
She pulled away, looking flustered, her eyes bright and her color high. “I’ll see you later tonight,” she said.
He nodded and turned away to go back to his mother, wishing with all his heart he could have her by his side...and that he could ask her to stay.
35
Jess
Jess pulled away from the hospital, still reeling from all the unspoken emotions of that last kiss.
That look in Nate’s eyes. She had never seen that before, from him or anyone else. As if she was his everything. His sea and his stars and his sky.
She had wanted to stand right there in the emergency department waiting room and savor the feelings.
No. It was impossible.
First, she must have imagined that look. Second, even if it was real—even if it was somehow possible Nate might be developing feelings for her—so what?
She was leaving in only a few days, three at the most. She had another job scheduled soon and more lined up all summer long.
Anyway, she didn’t do relationships. She was happy with her wandering life, never staying in one place long enough to put down roots or build lasting connections. She had left no space in the world she had created for a long-term relationship.
But, oh, if only she had. An ache of longing hit her as she drove, so fierce and hot that she had to grip the steering wheel. Nate was everything she could ever want in a man. Kind, caring, passionate. Each time he kissed her, she only wanted more.
She remembered his sweetness the night before, how he had sat beside her, silently offering steady comfort and strength while she relived that horrible night when her parents had died.
He was the kind of man a woman could count on. Not her, though. She wasn’t cut out for happy-ever-after.
By the time she drove to the address Nate had given her for Sophie’s friend McKenna, she had almost convinced herself that that moment in the waiting room when he had looked at her with heartbreaking tenderness had never even happened.
Almost.
As soon as she pulled up to the house on a quiet street a few blocks from the ocean, Sophie raced out the door, hair flying out behind her, and jumped into the passenger seat.
“How’s Gram?” she demanded. “Dad won’t tell me anything, other than they’re running tests. I want to see her.”