A slow, easy smile crept across his sensual lips. “You’re welcome.”
“I’ll pay you back.” Of course, I would. That was a lot of money to give, and it was a lot of money to part with.
The smile widened on his face. “No, you won’t.”
“Yes, of course I will. I have every intention of doing so.”
He chuckled. “I don’t mean I think you won’t pay it. I mean I won’t accept any repayment.”
I gazed at him long and hard. “I wouldn’t feel comfortable taking so much from you.”
“Don’t take this the wrong way, but this isn’t about you, sweetheart.”
Sweetheart. Wow, that was an endearment I never thought I’d hear from him.
Not when I was being called Big Bertha when I’d gained a bit of weight in my early teens, Metal Mouth when I had to wear retainers for a few years, Dot-to-dot when I had so many zits on my forehead it did look like a game of connect the dots, and then there was The Ugly Duckling.
That one had hurt me the most. I wasn’t ugly, not by a long shot, but he’d taken to calling me that after Mom cut my hair way too short after a relaxer went wrong. My hair had looked like duck feathers. It took forever to grow back.
“It’s a lot of money, and they only gave us the minimum, could be more.”
“Can’t put a price on life, and you can’t put a value on a woman like Halle. She’s priceless. She was like a mother and father to me, so I’ll provide whatever she needs. And you won’t pay me back, Anya.”
My name sounded foreign on his lips, probably because he’d rarely ever called me by it.
“Thank you. I thank you for her.” I looked over to the window, at Aunt Halle on the hospital bed.
She still looked so frail and weak. I hated seeing her that way.
“So… long time. Fifteen years,” Caine spoke.
“Very long time,” I answered, but I didn’t look at him. I kept my gaze trained on Halle.
“You were still in training bras.”
I frowned and turned to face him. “And you were a big-headed jock.”
“I thought you’d write me.”
Now I squinted at him and wrinkled my nose. “What?”
“When I went to join the Navy, I thought you’d write.”
“Why in the world would you think that?” No way was he being serious.
He smirked at my reaction.
“Oh, we were such good friends, I just thought you’d keep in touch. You know, seeing as how I went to Afghanistan and Iraq. It was dangerous. A letter here and there, or even a Post-it note just to say hey would have been nice.” He nodded.
I blinked several times. “Caine Donoghue, I’m pretty certain your host of admiring fans would have written to you.”
“Not you though.”
“I’m not the letter-writing type. It wouldn’t have worked.” Better to say that. “So, how come you went to see her? You were at the motel?”
“I visit her every time I’m home. Sometimes I stay over and help out if things need doing. I got back Monday, and I was visiting today when it happened.”
I was surprised to hear that he went to visit her, but admittedly in awe to hear it. Halle hadn’t worked for the Donoghue’s in nearly the same time that I hadn’t seen Caine. When he left, she continued to work for them for an additional five years, then left to start her business.
She’d worked her fingers to the bone for twenty years and saved up, so she could start her own business. The motel she called The Hideaway Motel. Located on the coast of Wrightsville Beach, the place was perfect and attracted quite a lot of tourists. Aunt Halle took great pride of the place. She was even more proud because she was one of the first African Americans to set up a motel in that area.
It was her accomplishment, and I was proud of her.
“What happened? I didn’t even know she had a heart condition.”
“She didn’t tell you?” He lowered his brows.
“You knew?”
He nodded. “For a while now. I was the one who encouraged her to get treatment, and that was years ago.”
I winced. “Why wouldn’t she tell me that? Something so important.”
He sighed. “Well, she was always very protective of you. Maybe it was that. She just didn’t want you to know because she knew how worried you’d be.”
“I would have moved back here sooner.” That was for sure. I would have come back and taken care of her. It wouldn’t have gotten to this stage where she was in hospital with talk of surgery.
“That’s probably why you didn’t know.”
“How did it happen? What happened today?”
“When I got to the motel, there were some shady-looking guys talking to her in reception. She looked terrified. I got rid of them, but I think they’ll be back. Looked like they were loan sharks, and not the understanding type either. We went to the back office to talk, and she grabbed her chest and collapsed.”
I released a strained breath. This was getting from bad to worse. “Loan sharks?”
“Yes. I would say so. Anya, I think things may be a lot worse than Halle led anyone to believe. She looked sick, and the motel doesn’t look like it used to, plus she seems to be working overtime and doing the job of four or five people. The usual crew were there, but she has less staff than last year.”
God, what did it mean?
Clearly, she was struggling financially. I couldn’t believe it was that bad.
Loan sharks. Halle hated loans of any kind. She never even allowed me to get a student loan. After Mom died, she paid for everything for me. She’d paid for everything well before, right from when Dad walked out. But when I had no one left in the world, she made it so I could still have all that I ever needed and wanted.
Caine was right. Halle was mother and father to him. She was that for me too.
“I didn’t know things were so bad. I feel just awful,” I said breathlessly.
“I feel bad too. She didn’t tell me anything either. I had to guess she was sick.”
“At least you can help her now.” I couldn’t.
“Anya, I would have preferred to stop things from getting this bad. Dr. Fernandes said she used to be on the full insurance and switched things over to the lower package after the price increased. A simple thing like that, and it could have meant she didn’t get the proper treatment.”
“She looks so frail.”
“She’s strong. A fighter. She has to make it.”
“I don’t know what to do.”
“We just sit here and wait.”
“We?” Was he going to stay with me?
“We.”
As I pressed back into the chair, my shoulders tensed. Tears streamed down my cheeks, but the warmth of his large hands over mine soothed me. I had to look down at where his hand rested on top of mine on the crisscross pattern of the metal bench.
He was the last person I thought would be here to offer me comfort right now.
A lump formed in my throat, and my chest tightened. I had the feeling that bad luck of mine was about to really show its true colors.
What I’d experienced before was nothing.
Chapter 3
Caine
* * *
I must have gotten twenty messages from Lopez. Just since this morning.
And here he was, standing on the front porch smoking. He’d said he’d given up last year. He looked frustrated. I didn’t have to ask why.
The messages had started at ten because we were supposed to meet for breakfast. He came here, but he wasn’t the only person here waiting for me.
Dad came by too.
It was now verging on one. I’d spent all night and morning at the hospital, a place I hated. Not that anything had happened to me in a hospital. I just hated the fact that within the walls there were some people whose lives hung in the balance.
I didn’t like that feeling. It was like that with Halle yesterday.
Lopez frowned when he saw me and put
out the cigarette.
He rushed up to me just as I got off my motorcycle.
“Your old man’s still here, and I was this close to hitting him. I’m sorry, Caine, but damn it, man. That guy is a prick.”
Didn’t I know it.
“What happened?”
“Ugh, you know what he’s like. Just rude. He was asking me about ethnic minorities in the police force. Then he launched into this discussion about how far Hispanic people have come in America, and then he wanted to know how long I’d been in the country.” Lopez’s eyes widened. “Bro, we were practically born together. Here.”
I frowned. Fuck. I didn’t know how it was that Dad forgot that I’d known Lopez, Mario Lopez, since we were in diapers. We met at the park. Either Mom or Halle used to take me there. His parents were friends with them both. Lopez was my oldest friend.
His father was a cop, and now he was too.
“I know it’s been awhile, but fuck, come on.” Lopez cringed. “Then a maid came from the cleanup agency, and the man was checking her out. She was, like, twenty years old.”
That wasn’t exactly surprising. That was Dad all over.
“Sorry, man, he’s… I don’t know. I didn’t even know he was going to come today.” I wish he weren’t here.
I hadn’t spoken to my father properly in fifteen years, and hearing he was the shallow prick he used to be didn’t help much either.
I knew I had plans with Lopez, but I was anxious to get back to Halle. I wasn’t exaggerating when I’d told Anya that Halle was like a mother and father to me.
The woman was perhaps the reason I stood here today, strong and proud of my accomplishments. Growing up, I’d seen her more than my own parents, which said a lot since my mother didn’t work. She was a socialite, going here and there, from one event or party to the next. Everything and everyone was more important than me.
I’d loved her though, and no matter how much time passed, I would never be quite over her death. Her death of which shh only my father and I knew the real cause of. Myself, my father, and the coroner he’d paid a handsome buy-off to.
The coroner who’d mysteriously disappeared within a week of my mother’s passing.
It made me physically sick when I thought about it, but I hadn’t quite gotten over what happened yet to find the strength to do anything more than I had. Which was nothing.
With the type of wealth my father had, he was a very powerful man, and it didn’t escape me that he wasn’t what he appeared to be.
My mother had killed herself when she found out Dad cheated on her. The thing was, I thought she’d known about his deceitful ways.
It was always obvious to me, and I figured it could have been for her, but she hadn’t wanted to believe it.
She killed herself, and Dad hid the real cause of her death from everyone because it would have made him look bad. Like the bad husband and father he was. Particularly since Mom had had a very big influence in the whole of North Carolina with all her charity work. A number of investors joined our family company because of her. Hearing her beloved husband cheated on her, and she was so distraught she took her own life would not have boded well for him.
That was what he cared about. All he cared about.
Himself.
I was the one who found her lying on her bed with a host of pills and a note she’d written just for him. It looked like she’d thought he’d be home first.
I still remembered what the note said:
Thank you, Bradford, for the horrible life you gave me.
My mother was right, I shouldn’t have married you.
Couldn’t keep your pants on, could you? I wish you could have chosen someone outside our home. I saw you with her last night, but you didn’t see me.
Why her? Why her? Why her?
Doesn’t matter.
Tell Caine I love him.
Goodbye.
That was what it said, and the day she died was the last day I spoke to my father.
We hadn’t had the best relationship anyway because he wanted me to follow in his footsteps and work with him at the family’s investment company, but I wanted to join the Navy.
Now he was here. Here and being a prick to my best friend.
“How’s Halle?” Lopez asked, seeming to calm down a little.
I shook my head because things weren’t looking good for Halle at all.
Now Lopez looked concerned. “I can stick around until he leaves, then we can grab a bite.”
“No, I’m sorry. I should have called you and let you know what was up.” I’d managed to text just to let him know Halle was in the hospital, but I should have cancelled our meetup. “Can we reschedule?”
“Of course. How about we play things by ear? You need me, I’ll be there, and I’ll keep checking up on you. Come by the garage too. I got a new Kawasaki in that would suit you.”
That made me smile. I loved motorcycles. “Thanks, man.”
“You sure you don’t want me to stay? How long’s it been since you last saw him?” He cocked his head toward the house.
“Just over five years. He came to the naval base when I got my first medal.” That was for saving my men from an ambush. That earned me my stripes as Lieutenant Commander.
It was that day that I kind of decided to let Dad back in. He called, and I talked to him. He messaged, and I got back to him whenever. When I came home, I mostly saw my friends and always Halle. I never saw Dad though, and I hadn’t set foot in the family home since the day I left for the Navy. That day, I’d vowed never to return.
I tried to cut down my vacation time to a week at home, and then I spent the rest of time travelling, doing my own thing like the adventurous spirit I was.
“That’s a long time.”
“I know, but hey.” Lopez knew how I felt about Dad, though he didn’t know the specifics. To the world my mother died of a heart attack, but I knew otherwise, and it was painful knowing and not being able to share it. I didn’t even know why I kept the secret. I think I took the coward’s way out, thinking it was better to believe the lie my father wanted to tell the world than believe in the truth. It was easier because I wondered if she couldn’t love me enough to stay and not take her life for him. A man who’d never loved her.
Damn, I certainly had issues. I could have done with seeing Lopez and indulging in whatever distraction he had up his sleeve because I was worried about Halle.
I didn’t want to lose her.
“You call me. Don’t let him upset you.”
“Sure.” I nodded.
Lopez gave me a one-shouldered hug and left.
I watched his car drive all the way down the road and turn the corner before I moved from where I stood and headed up the steps to the front porch.
Maybe I should have left the hospital last night, or even earlier this morning. Then I would be better prepared for seeing him.
I just couldn’t bring myself to leave Anya. It was almost laughable.
I was supposed to have a different night to what I had last night. I’d had a date with Eva, a leggy blonde I’d met on my first day back who asked me out for a drink. That was three days ago. I would have been shocked if that drink didn’t end with wild, hot sex here. I always knew which way hooking up would go, and since I was all about that, I picked my women wisely. Knowing which ones would match the rebel in me.
However, last night, I’d spent the whole damn time practically holding hands with a woman who’d fascinated me for years. Off limits and far too sweet.
I knew I was a complete ass to her when we were growing up, but shit, I was the proverbial guy who teased and taunted the girl I liked the most and went overboard because I knew I couldn’t have her.
She looked good, better than good.
In my head I still thought of her as the skinny fourteen-year-old with her hair in braids or some style Halle would put it in. Now, Anya was all woman with her luscious silky locks, a body that could get a man in trouble, and that golden-brown s
kin that looked like it was made for loving.
Truth be told, she looked like a goddess, and she had me drooling over her at a serious time like this.
Pulling in a deep breath, I opened the door to the house and stepped inside. I walked into the sitting room, where Dad stood looking over a picture on the mantle of Halle and me. I was twenty years old. I’d come back to see her that year, and she made me catch our meal that night. The picture was of us and a feast of shrimp.
Dad turned and looked at me.
He looked old. Not bad but older.
“Son.” He smiled. He came up to me and gave me a hug. I tried to move and hug him back, but I could just about give him a tap on his back.
He wasn’t like this when I was younger. He seldom, if ever, showed any affection, so there was no way I would be used to it now.
“Hi, Dad. Sorry you were waiting. Didn’t know you were coming.”
Dad stepped back and smiled. “I just came on the off chance that you’d see me.” He looked uneasy. “Your friend let me in. Does he live here?”
“No, he has keys to the place. Takes care of it when I’m away.”
“Oh. That’s nice. You come back a lot?”
“As often as I can.” I wouldn’t lie. I knew he would wonder, though, why I never tried to see him. But he knew the reason for that.
This… him knowing I was here was me trying to bridge the gap. I’d messaged the other day to tell him I was coming home.
I wanted to take the first steps in my possible attempt to rebuild my relationship with him. I still didn’t know if I wanted to, or if I should. Seeing him was painful, a reminder of what happened with Mom. I wanted to avoid an awkward meeting between us, like the one we were having now, because I wasn’t prepared to see him.
“And you see Halle?”
“I do.”
“Lopez told me she’s in the hospital. How is she?”
“Not that great.” I pressed my lips together and stiffened as unwanted memories of the way Dad had treated Halle popped up in my head.
He’d been awful to her. I’d had a nanny, who didn’t do shit when I was growing up. It was Halle who took care of me, and Dad treated her like it was her job to be housekeeper and nanny to me.
Kiss From a Rose Page 2