by Leanne Davis
“Great. I have to tell you, it’s the last thing I would ever choose to share with anyone. And I so wish I didn’t own the café now.”
“I guess I missed hearing that it was sold.”
“I bought it last spring and trained with the previous owner. She helped me transition into it. You didn’t notice the under new management signs or the new décor and menu changes?”
“Actually, I did notice the new décor. But as I told you before, I haven’t been in there much lately, not in quite a while.”
She frowned. “What made you go there that night?”
He shook his head. “I’d been out at my mom’s. She lives at the ranch directly across from the café. You know it, right? The Rydells?”
“Yes, I know them. Jack and Ian are regulars.”
“I didn’t feel like going home. My stepdad and I sometimes lock horns. We had an argument earlier, so I didn’t stay for dinner. But I was hungry, so I decided to stop in.”
It was fascinating as well as horrifying to grasp that one decision could so drastically change the course of his life and those of others. Jacob’s visit at that moment saved people’s lives, and he’d be free of all of this if he hadn’t gone to the café in the first place.
They grew quiet and drove down the main street of River’s End. Luna held her breath. It was altered. The thought that she was visiting a war zone in some remote, neglected part of the world came to her mind when yesterday, this was all so lovely, and she was proud to call it her home.
“This is going to be hard.”
She slowly released her breath at the sound of Jacob’s soft words.
She nodded. “It is. I live directly across from the café.”
“Oh.” She recognized the tone. They both were speechless, deathly silent as if they were asked to identify a body at the morgue. There was nothing either of them could think to say because they’d never experienced anything like this in their lives. The morbidity was new to her, never having played into her life until then.
It was dark inside the café. The lights were turned off. The neon sign that shone in elaborate cursive font designating it as the River’s End Café was unlit. Police tape flapped haphazardly in the wind.
There were several cars parked outside and a couple of vans. She groaned. “Are people here just to take pictures?”
“I doubt it. I think it’s more media. Yeah, that’s a national syndicate reporter. The event seems to be gaining broader attention.”
She shuddered. “I really wish it wouldn’t.”
“So do I.”
“It’s really hard to look at the café objectively now.”
“It should be changed somehow, you know? It should not look exactly the same way it has. Do you know what I mean?”
“I know what you mean; I get it perfectly. How do I reconcile my ownership of it?”
“Yeah, that’s not an easy thing to accept right now, is it?”
“No.” She sucked in a breath to calm her fluttering nerves. No, it wasn’t. She pointed. “The white house over there.”
Luna had rented the sweetest little cottage. A single story, one-bedroom, it was originally built in the fifties but was recently updated. Surprisingly modern and sleek on the inside, it was adorably quaint on the outside. She hoped the café would do well enough that she could propose a lease to own contract in the next few years. The yard was small to some, but she found it just the right size. She had plans in the spring to plant flower beds and a small vegetable garden. She really couldn’t wait to get into all of that small-town stuff.
He pulled around the backside and parked in the graveled lot. Luna glanced over her shoulder. There was a car seat in the SUV. He noticed her gaze. “It’s my mom’s car. Thought it would be more comfortable for you than my rickety, rough-riding, old SUV.”
“Oh, she has grandkids?”
“One,” he said, “she and my stepdad are raising a son too. He’s five.”
“Oh.”
Jacob nodded and seemed to tune out for a moment. Eventually, he shook his head and got out. She opened her door, and he quickly came around to help her. “Brace yourself on me. The walkway is pretty icy. You can’t afford a fall now.”
“No. I don’t need any more injuries than this.” She smiled up at him gratefully, surprised when her insides fluttered at the little bit of warmth from him when he touched her skin. Well, damn. So, sue her. So, what if she did still have a flirtatious smile? Jacob’s perfect face was framed by his blond hair, which was much richer in color than average blonds. He had some dark strands that highlighted the whiteness elsewhere. It fell over his forehead and when he smiled, she noticed little dimples in his cheeks. She found it hard not to respond to that smile.
He offered her the crutches and she took them, turning in the seat, and being ever so careful to maneuver her cast without losing her balance. She slid forward until her butt was perched on the edge of the seat. “Want me to carry you?” Jacob asked, and her heart pounded when she saw his sexy grin. She had some difficulty not falling off the seat.
“No, thanks. I don’t honestly know how you did before.”
“Adrenaline rush since I wasn’t thinking. I was pissed off so I just… reacted.”
She met his gaze for a moment, and his hand shifted to her arm, touching her just below her elbow. She felt the strength of his grip through the thin material of her shirt. He was merely trying to assist her, of course. “Seems like your reactions are pretty appropriate. Remember what you did. You saved us. All of us. And you rescued me twice already.”
His smile slowly faded as he stared deeply into her eyes. They were so close now and the innocent gesture of trying to help her became life-changing. Her breath was held in her chest. It tingled her heart intensely. His surprise at her reply was reflected in the whiskey-colored depths of his eyes. “I just reacted. I never intended to be a hero that night. Believe me. I’m the last one to be courageous in times of stress.”
She shook her head. Their gazes remained close and they were clinging to each other through their locked eyes. “No. Really. You must know that you saved the lives of the survivors. When I called you my hero—”
“You rescued people, too. You came forward to stop him.”
“Only after you reacted. If you hadn’t, I never would have.”
“It was brave of you because you did not respond by instinct. You had to think about it for a minute. Weigh the risks. And you still crawled over to do it. I still can’t believe you fucking crawled out there just to help me. Us. All of us. In reality, you’re more of a hero than I am.” He lifted his hand and touched her cheek to convey his sincerity. She stared at him and felt confused when the contact felt so natural and right. She wanted to just close her eyes and lean into his big, warm hand that covered the entire side of her face. Maybe it was human body heat that she craved so much. Everything inside her felt numb and cold, like the winter air on her skin.
“I can’t. I just can’t get it out of my head. I think about it all the time. It hurts too. Inside my chest. My guts. My head. I don’t know how to—”
“Ignore it? Especially when people are saying you’re such a hero and all you feel is how much it hurts?”
“Yes,” she whispered, nodding. His hand cupped hers and she breathed audibly through her open lips. Their eye contact didn’t waver. She rarely, if ever, looked so long or deeply into anyone’s eyes.
His smile returned, but it was small and sympathetic. He removed his hand and took her wrist again. “I think it’s going to fuck us up, at least for a little while.”
Her gaze dropped to his hand on hers. “I agree.”
“But it’s freezing out here. Ready to go inside?”
She jerked up. Duh. Her momentary orbit as a space cadet was debilitating. She scooched forward and let him take her weight, leaning on her injured side as she balanced on her good foot. He tucked the crutch under her arm and she quickly took the other one and got her bearings. Taking one gimpy
step and then another, she kept preparing for a fall.
“Be very careful of this ice. It’ll be a problem for the next six weeks at least. Is that how long you’ll be wearing the cast?”
“Yes. Not supposed to put any weight on it for at least that long. If I’m stupid careful and follow the doctor’s advice, it should heal okay.”
She made the long, thumping way to the back door and let Jacob go in first. She scanned her brain, trying to recall how she left her little cottage? She felt like she’d traveled around the world and back since the last time she was there.
It was all tidied up. Jacob helped her until she got into her chair with the ottoman. She flopped onto it as if she’d traveled many miles. But it was only the walk from the outside to the inside. She expected it to be a lengthy few weeks.
He glanced around and stepped forward, walking to her front bay window. “Wow, you have a bird’s eye view of the café.”
“Great location, huh? Will you shut the blinds? I don’t want to see it.”
He complied without further comment as he turned and took in the place. “It’s nice here.”
It looked much smaller with Jacob’s large body inside. She felt like he took all the oxygen from the room, sucking it toward himself like a vacuum. As well as her attention.
She shook off the thought and blamed it on the rawness of the event. She was hurting. Confused. And Jacob understood.
But damn, he was so attractive.
She stared around. “Jacob?”
He turned his attention to her and replied, “Yeah?”
“What… what do we do now? Just… try to go on as usual?”
He put his hands to his waist. “I don’t know. I feel the same way. So much at odds. Confused. I don’t know how to go back to the guy I was before this happened.”
She nodded. “Glad to know my co-hero isn’t an asshole.”
He let out a small snort. “Co-hero? That’s something. And you’re wrong, I can be and in the recent past, I was often called an asshole. This made me rethink every mistake I ever made in my life. But I’m glad it was with you.”
“Where do you live? At the ranch?”
“No. I have a small apartment in Pattinson.”
“Where do you work?” she next asked.
“I’m currently working at one of the local dams. I hope to move out pretty soon.”
“Oh. Weird how much I don’t know about you and yet, I feel like I really do know you.”
“Do you have any neighbors to help you with errands and things?”
“The ladies at church. I’ve gotten a ton of calls and texts with offers of their time and cooking. I just don’t have the energy to respond yet, even though I should.”
“I hear you. How about dealing with me? Am I too much for you?”
“No. Because you don’t ask for details and explanations. You don’t keep asking me what I saw and how it felt. How scared I was. Why did I think it happened…? You know the routine.”
“I can help you out, Luna. I’ll stop by after work every day and bring you some food. Make a list if you need anything special. I really would like the distraction and sense of purpose it could provide.”
“Are you sure?”
“Do you prefer someone else?”
“No.”
“Well, this gives me something important to do. The confusion we share doesn’t seem so weird or awful.”
“Thank you.”
“Is there anything you want now?”
She shook her head. “No. I’ll just relax this afternoon and go to bed early. Take some pain killers.”
“This could explode if the media gets wind of it. I just got a call from two local news anchors, and some radio stations, even a freaking talk show. An online fundraiser is being set up to help the victims’ families. It’s already received a lot of donations. They want to use me as a spokesperson to promote it. I expect they’ll want to include you, too.”
She shut her eyes, feeling wearier by the moment. She had nothing left to give them. She felt empty as she opened her eyes. “Just wait until that photo gets circulated.”
“When I was carrying you? Yeah, serious miscalculation.”
“But most appreciated still.” She smiled coyly, and Jacob smiled back.
“Rest now, this is going to get bigger. I don’t know how to navigate it, but I think we’d be better off if we joined forces.”
“Okay.” She nodded and leaned her head, feeling the hefty burden of responsibility, one she wasn’t ready to bear. “Okay. Thank you for the warning.” And thank you, Jacob, for changing everything in how we deal with the consequences of our actions. But she kept that desperate thought to herself. She was in a hard place, right out of her comfort zone. Being touted a heroine when she was only a mass shooting survivor. The public had it all tied up with one big bow and Luna hated it.
Chapter Nine
JACOB LEFT LUNA’S HOUSE, locking the door behind him. She looked exhausted, getting paler the longer he remained there. She was also emotionally strung out and maybe even more than from her actual injury. He felt the emotional upheaval, but he had more strength and stamina since his physical health was never impaired.
He checked in with his mom and sister, giving himself kudos for the tolerance and forbearance he showed when he let them gush over and question him. Giving them complete access to him, he wanted to soothe their fears over how he coped not only with the trauma but also the unsolicited attention. Good or not, attention brought stress, and stress was no friend of the addict. He tried to be kind and considerate, repeating he was okay and grateful for their concern. And he was too. He remembered what Luna tried to articulate, since he had no words to describe it. He was changed, exhausted, and… grumpy.
Oddly enough, her description was exactly how he felt too. It made him irritable. Now that the initial shock was over, and reality was rapidly setting in, everything was overwhelming and uncomfortable.
He was irritable. Annoyed. Exhausted.
Grumpy.
The adjective echoed in his head, and for the first time since the shooting, a small smile curled his lips. Luna captured it exactly.
He flopped down and flipped the local TV station on. A half hour later, the coverage of the shooting came on as the top story. Naturally, the shot of him carrying Luna was featured more than once. He stared at it dispassionately. It was strange to see himself on television. He had no frame of reference for it. He’d never been on air before. Never been famous. He felt like he was watching someone else.
The sight of him carrying Luna away provided a poignant moment and wow! The media flocked to capture all the melodrama and sappiness. They were on camera clinging to each other and his squared jaw conveyed his disgust as she buried her face in his shoulder to avoid the attention. He shifted forward to look more closely at it. Did Luna really wrap her arms so easily around his neck as she appeared to? Did he remember how snugly she clung to him, fitting so easily in his arms? Maybe it was just a sexy-ass shot. And taken out of context. They played it over and over with plenty of commentary. Everyone had to add more padding to the story by surmising why she was being carried away and by whom.
Holy shit. All the speculation started from there. He flicked off the TV and shook his head, then went to bed to forget about it.
He lay there most of the night, tossing and turning while reviewing the day. He was grateful to rise and go to work. Not something he normally experienced. Everyone was silent when he stepped into the offices at the dam.
First came a rousing cheer and then loud applause. From the entire staff. He fought the urge to throw himself over the side of the spillway. No. Not here too!? The usually dull, depressed place to work was fine with Jacob. Most of the workers had no aspirations of growing up to manage and maintain a river dam, so the environment was fine. It was tolerable. That’s about all he had to say for it. He was eternally grateful to Jack for the chance to earn an honest living, so he didn’t disrespect it. He put i
n a full day’s work every day, always grateful and relieved for having a job. But it wasn’t his passion and not even that interesting. However, the stability it provided was something he valued more than any of his pipe dreams. He was the first to admit he didn’t deserve it. The unexpected outpouring from his co-workers that day? Yeah, it had to be something pretty powerful to get any rises out of them.
His supervisor summoned him for a full account of the ordeal, one that left him fidgeting, even more annoyed and unsure of himself. He buried his thoughts in his work and forced himself to respond pleasantly to others, despite his indifference to all of them.
At the end of the day, he couldn’t wait to get back into his truck as he barreled away from the dam, flying down the highway and skipping through Pattinson briefly to grab some food to take back to River’s End. He pulled into Luna’s driveway and found a crowd still gathering across the street. He wondered when they’d realize the co-hero they sought lived right there. He kept his face down and averted his eyes as he made the left turn to the back entrance of Luna’s house. He knocked and tried the door, which easily opened.
“Luna?” he called before entering.
“Come in. And lock it behind you.”
He obeyed her command and followed her voice into the small living room. She kept the granite counters and stainless steel appliances neat and clean. They were a surprise to Jacob, given the retro fifties appeal on the outside. He set the bags of food down. “How did your day go?”
Luna rose and hobbled on her crutches toward him. “Long. Boring. I tried not to look outside. And I avoided my phone as well as the news. I mostly just watched movies and tried to pretend none of this happened. What about you?”
“I got a standing ovation at work when I arrived, and the thought of hibernating in Siberia for the rest of the winter became a plausible alternative.”
She laughed at his humor. “Yes, that’s it. I’ll join you. Think we could burrow into the snow somewhere and not emerge until the spring thaw? Hmmmm… what did you bring me?”