sat on the bench and leaned his sore back against the building, ignoring the rough wood that chaffed his skin. Half-smoked cigarettes and cigars littered the dirt courtyard stretching around the area. The shambles of a leaning barn sat fifty yards to the right, its occupants and usefulness long since departed. A towering oak tree threw shade over the golden grass farther out, with what looked to be a flower garden sprouting at its roots. Even farther, low hills rolled and dotted with snaking vineyards, their fruit picked weeks ago for the harvest.
He leaned his head back and took a deep breath. Too long since he’d relaxed in the open air, unclogged with city dirt and Nazis.
The slight cut angling from his shoulder to his hip had scabbed over, and his ribs ached from the pummeling they’d received. He turned his wrists over. Rope burns snaked around them. But he was alive. Thanks to her, he was alive. He closed his eyes.
Footsteps sounded on the dirt. “I know my shirt was a wee bit torn, but I hope you’ve at least found a bedsheet for me to wrap up in. Don’t need those women getting any ideas before the regular customers come in. Besides, I’ve got my own nurse that I’m quite pleased with.”
“She’s worn herself out making sure you pulled through.”
Barrett’s eyes popped open to see Ellie standing in front of him. Wrong sister. He leaned forward to cover his chest with his arms. When the swath of bandages proved too difficult a barrier, he gave up. Not like she hadn’t seen a half-dressed man before. “Just a few scratches. Nothing to worry about.”
“But worry she does. Lifelong habit.” Her toe scratched in the dirt.
Silence stretched between them. Barrett cleared his throat. “Out for a walk?”
She nodded. “Wanted some quiet. A change for me when I usually prefer the hustle and bustle.”
More silence and toe scratching. Barrett looked to the closed door leading inside. Where was Kat?
Ellie shifted her weight and tugged the patched shawl closer over her shoulders. She, too, wore a dress several seasons past its prime. “She, uh . . . She didn’t tell me exactly what happened when she went back to get you.” She glanced up from her feet, biting at her lip. Without all the war paint covering her face, she looked like an innocent young girl. “By the looks of you, well, I managed to piece together the gist of it.”
He shrugged a shoulder. “Nothing I couldn’t handle.” He could’ve handled the torture all on his own for however long it took, knowing it was to keep Kat safe, but in the end it was she who had saved him. He owed her everything, but didn’t have two bits in his pocket to offer her. Nothing except himself. What a pitiful offering.
“I know you went back to save us, for Kat.”
He shifted uncomfortably on the bench. “It’s the least—”
“But it wasn’t, was it? So many times over the past month you’ve swooped in to take care of things, keeping Kat out of trouble when her mouth got the better of her temper, and then getting us out of Paris when Eric’s true colors came to light.”
Had they not been flying high before? The girl was more delusional than he’d given her credit for. “Look, it’s all been a part of my job.”
“Maybe at first, but if you hadn’t come along, I’d probably be carrying Eric’s child while he locked my sister away in one of those work camps. We wouldn’t be standing here today if not for you.” Her pale hands wrung the corner of the shawl. Tears swam in her eyes. “Thank you.”
If he hadn’t been sitting down, he would’ve fallen down from shock. “Em, you’re welcome.”
“And if I were you, I’d stop lying by saying it’s only a job. A job doesn’t require what you do for her, and duty has little to do with what she’s done for you.” She blinked back the tears and offered a wobbly smile. “I used to think I knew all about love. What a joke. But with you two . . . I see it for what it truly is now.”
Barrett’s jaw slacked open. Love? Who was using that four-letter word? He shifted again as heat flushed up his chest, blood pounding to his head. Kat had never incited a four-letter word from him. Well, except the times she refused to listen, which was almost all the time. Irritating, maddening, utterly charming woman