by Connie Mann
He blew out a breath. He’d figure something out.
He spotted Eve’s car parked by the ranch house, and the familiar mix of emotions whenever she crossed his mind rolled through him, which happened all too often lately. First came the kick of pleasure at the thought of seeing her, the fire in her eyes, and the way she challenged life head-on, followed by a fair amount of dread, wondering what trouble she’d brought along with her this time.
In the end, though, pleasure won out. He pulled in beside her and bounded up the steps and into the house.
“Eve?” He walked into the kitchen, surprised to find it empty. His mother’s car wasn’t there, either, but he remembered something about a quilting meeting in town.
He retraced his steps, poking his head into all the rooms, but she wasn’t there. He went back out onto the porch and looked around. So where was she?
He headed for the barn and went straight to the office in the back. When he walked in, his uncle Duane was seated at the desk, going through drawers.
“What are you doing, Duane?”
His uncle slammed the drawer shut and sprang to his feet, clearly insulted. “Don’t take that tone with me, boy. Buzz asked me to find the receipt for the last set of tires we put on that old tractor. See how long it’s been.”
Cole ignored that for now. He might have been doing exactly that, but his uncle’s guilty expression said he’d also been snooping. For what, Cole wasn’t sure. Yet. “Where’s Eve?”
“How would I know?” Duane shot back.
“Her car is in front of the house. Have you seen her?”
“Saw her earlier, looking for you. I thought she’d gone to the house. Isn’t she there?”
“She’s not.” Cole waited for his uncle to leave the office before he followed him out. He headed outside to where Leon and Buzz were working on the old John Deere tractor. “How’s it going, boys?”
Leon looked up and grimaced, their earlier encounter apparently forgotten. “I’m doing what I can to keep this old gal running, Cole, but you’re going to have to invest some serious money not far down the road, preferably in a new one.”
Cole clapped him on the back. “Appreciate your keeping her going, Leon.” He looked from one man to the other. “Where’s Hector?”
Both men shrugged, and he noticed Buzz wouldn’t meet his eyes. He’d have to find out what was up with that later, but right now he had other priorities. “Have you seen Eve? Her car’s at the house, but I haven’t seen her.”
Buzz frowned. “She came by here a while ago, looking for you. Thought she’d found you.”
“I just got back.” Cole turned, and worry started churning in his gut. Where had she gone? He decided to start searching, in case she’d fallen somewhere and was hurt. But then he dismissed that last part. Knowing Eve, she’d more likely gone snooping and lost track of time.
He looked around. So where would she have gone?
A quick scan of the fields didn’t turn up the shape of anyone walking—or lying—there. His eyes landed on the group of storage sheds, and he started in that direction.
“Eve? Where are you?” He picked up his pace when he didn’t get an answer. Something wasn’t right.
“Eve! Let me know where you are.”
Still nothing. He reached the first shed and flung the door open. There was nothing there but the usual assortment of tools and equipment.
The second shed was kept padlocked because of the chemicals they stored in there, so he dismissed it. “Eve?”
He paused. Waited. There. Was that a whimper?
“Eve? If you can hear me, answer me, or make noise. Something.”
He heard a dull thud and realized it was coming from inside the padlocked shed. He raced over and saw that the lock hung open, but the hasp was in place. How was that possible? He ripped the door open and ducked just before a swarm of bees flew out.
Bees. Eve was deathly allergic to bees.
Hector shouted his name, and Cole looked back to see the man running toward him, Buzz and Leon on his heels, Duane not far behind. Cole ducked into the shed, and his heart skidded to a stop for one panicked second.
Eve was lying on the floor, eyes closed, hands wrapped around her throat. Her face was swollen and turning a deadly shade of blue. Bee stings. Anaphylactic shock. Oh, dear God. He felt for a pulse and found it, weak but thready, then realized checking was a waste of time since she was gasping for every breath.
Every second mattered, and it terrified him to think how long she’d been like this. “I’ve got you, Eve. Hang on.”
He leaned back out of the shed. “Call nine-one-one, now!” Then he reached in and scooped her into his arms. He knew she carried an EpiPen, and he was betting her life she had it in her purse, which she’d probably left in her car.
He tightened his grip on her and ran for the ranch, running like he’d never run in his life, knowing her life depended on it.
When he reached her car, he set her down in a little patch of grass next to the driveway and dove for the car. He yanked open the door and snatched her purse out, pawing through the contents. Come on, come on. There! Thank you, Jesus!
He grabbed her EpiPen and took a second to read the instructions on the canister. It’d been a while since his last CPR/first aid class, and he didn’t want to make a mistake. He placed the canister against her thigh and plunged the needle into her leg. She barely responded to the jab, and that sent another stab of terror through him.
He brushed the hair from her face. “I’ve got the meds in you, Eve. Try to relax. It’s going to be OK.”
Several seconds passed before he heard her take something even close to a regular breath. Oh, thank you, God. That was a good sign. It meant she was coming around. He took her hand and rubbed it, murmuring something or other as the gasps gradually lessened and her breathing became less and less labored. He couldn’t have said what he told her; he just wanted her to know she wasn’t alone.
Buzz and the rest of the guys arrived, huffing and puffing. “EMS is on the way,” Buzz gasped.
“Is she going to be OK?” Hector asked. “What happened? She get the heatstroke?”
Cole looked at all of them, these men he’d known all his life, before he spoke. “She got stung by bees, more than one from the looks of it.”
Leon leaned closer to Eve’s face, then looked back at Cole. “Didn’t you say she was real allergic to bee stings?”
“Yes.” He motioned to the EpiPen lying on the ground. “She carries one of these, thank God, or she might have—” Cole stopped, unable, suddenly, to say the words aloud. She might have died. Just that fast, before anyone got to her.
“Well, why’d she go in that shed to begin with? All them outbuildings have bees in them.”
“Probably snooping again,” Buzz muttered.
Cole shot him a look, and Buzz raised his hands, palms up. “Just saying. She wouldn’t have had a good reason to be in there, ʼless she was poking her nose where it didn’t belong.”
“The door was shut when I got there.”
“That doesn’t make sense, boss,” Hector said. “It’s very hot today. Why would anyone close the door?”
“Unless she didn’t want anyone to see that she went in there,” Duane answered.
Cole wanted to tell them all they were way off base, but he held back. Because he couldn’t discount that the scenario they proposed was entirely plausible. It was exactly the kind of thing Eve would do.
But what if she hadn’t? What if she had wandered in and someone closed the door?
In the distance, he finally heard sirens. He huffed out a relieved breath when Eve’s eyes finally fluttered open and she blinked at him.
Sweet Jesus, she’d almost died.
Chapter 21
Eve fought the panic threatening to overtake her. You can breathe. Stay calm. Not much, not yet, but it was getting just a bit better. She no longer felt the vice grip around her throat or the pressure building up in her chest until she tho
ught she’d explode. The EpiPen was doing its job. Cole had said so.
Cole. Where was he? It was a struggle, but she forced her eyes open. Everything looked blurry for a moment, but then his face came into view, worry in every line and crease.
“You’re awake.” He let out a breath as though he’d been holding his right along with her. “Good, that’s good.” Eve didn’t hear his words, so much as see them on his lips. Everything around her still felt like it was wrapped in a fog, murky and unclear.
Suddenly Cole was nudged out of the way as a pair of uniformed paramedics moved into her line of vision. She watched their mouths move and guessed they were asking questions, but she couldn’t make out the words, couldn’t hear them, and couldn’t seem to respond.
A wave of weakness rolled over her, and she felt her eyes slide closed. Something pricked her arm and she tried to jerk away, but strong hands held her still.
Soon her heart started pounding like crazy, and she felt like she’d had too much caffeine. They must have given her more epinephrine. But they must have given her something else, too, because she felt really tired and totally wired, all at the same time.
She figured she’d dozed for a while, because when she woke, she looked around and realized she was lying on a hospital bed. Cole sat in a chair next to the bed, a curtain separating them from the noisy room beyond. This must be the emergency room.
The minute he noticed she was awake, he leaned closer. “Welcome back, sleepyhead.”
“How long was I out?”
“You slept for about three hours.” He paused. “Do you remember what happened before that?”
Eve searched her mind, and slowly it all came back. She shuddered. “Bees. Everywhere. Tried not to move.”
“What were you doing in the shed, Eve?”
Eve tried to remember. “Chemicals. Wanted to see if would match Celia’s house.”
Cole’s jaw tightened. “The door was closed when I got there. Did you close it behind you?”
Eve thought a moment, then shook her head. “No. I wouldn’t have. Too hot. Left it open. Bees there after it closed.”
“How did it close?”
Eve struggled to figure out what he was getting at. She shrugged. “It just did.”
“Did you hear anyone outside?”
At this, some of the brain fog cleared, and she focused on his face. “You think someone closed me in on purpose.”
“It’s the only thing that makes sense, though I can’t for the life of me figure out who would do that.”
Eve forced herself to a sitting position. When Cole started to protest, she held up a hand to stop him. “The meds wear me out, but I’ll be fine. I’m feeling better by the minute.”
“You just don’t quit,” he muttered.
Her eyes met Cole’s, and everything stopped as they stared at each other. In his expression, she saw the last vestiges of panic mixed with worry, but there was something else, too, some unnamed emotion that looked a lot like caring, that felt like caring. But that was ridiculous.
He moved closer, sat on the side of the bed. His hand, when he brushed it over her cheek, trembled slightly. “You could have died today, Eve.”
She wanted to brush it off, make light of it, but found she couldn’t. “I know. Thank you for saving me.”
Before she knew what happened, she found herself wrapped in his strong arms, his lips on hers in a kiss like nothing she’d ever experienced. There was caring and worry and underneath it all, a wanting that called to her and brought out the loneliness in her own heart.
Eve wrapped her arms around his neck, loving the feel of his hair as she ran her fingers through it. His tongue met hers, at first in shy invitation, but then he took control, letting her know all the things she didn’t think he’d ever say. In that kiss, she felt the kind of soul-deep connection she’d never felt before in her life. For those few moments, she couldn’t have said where she ended and he began. There was only the two of them, fused together, hearts and bodies, struggling to get ever closer, until they reached the other’s very soul.
The kiss went on and on until Cole slowly pulled away and rested his forehead against hers, both of them breathing heavily. “What am I going to do with you, Evie? You are making me crazy,” he muttered.
He tucked her head against his shoulder, and Eve swallowed whatever protest she might have made and simply enjoyed being held in his strong arms. She heard his heart pounding in her ear, and she’d be dead not to notice that rock-hard chest, but it was the gentle way he stroked her hair that made her throat choke with unexpected tears. Had anyone ever held her like this in her life? Like she was made of spun glass and needed to be handled with exquisite care? Of course, Pop and Mama had hugged her, even her mother so long ago, but this . . . this was completely different.
Which scared her so badly she pulled back with a jerk, smacking her head against his jaw.
Cole pulled back and met her eyes, and in his, she saw the same surprise, same level of confusion, which somehow made everything better. He opened his mouth to speak, but Eve couldn’t bear it if he apologized, so she laid back down and pulled the blanket to her chin. “I think I’ll sleep a bit.”
He opened his mouth again, then, apparently, thought better of it. Finally he asked, “Are you going to call the police?”
Eve wasn’t sure if he wanted her to, or was afraid she might. “And tell them what? That I locked myself in a shed and got stung by bees? Chief Monroe will love that.”
“Nick would take you seriously.”
“He probably would, but there’s no way to tell if that door closed accidentally, or if someone else closed it.” That last raised goose bumps along her skin, so she rubbed her arms.
“You should still call him.”
She needed time to think, to go over everything that happened now that her mind was becoming clear again. She leaned up and kissed his cheek. “Thanks again for coming to my rescue. My knight in shining armor.”
He chuckled at that, and a flush climbed his cheeks. “I’ll check back with you later.”
Eve watched him walk away and felt suddenly bereft.
In the silence that followed, a chill passed over her skin. Had someone just tried to kill her?
Chapter 22
Eve tried to sneak into the house like nothing had happened, but she should have known better. The minute she walked in, Blaze skidded to a stop, eyes wide. “What happened to your face?”
Eve felt around and realized she must still look a sight, what with the lingering swelling from the bites. It would go down, but it would take time. She tried for a casual approach. “I got stung by a bee.” She went to the freezer and grabbed a bag of peas and sat down.
Blaze came over and studied her face, then squinted at her arms. “That’s more than one bee sting.” She looked up. “And aren’t you, like, deathly allergic to bee stings?”
Eve smiled and felt the pull of her tight cheeks. “I am. That’s why I carry an EpiPen.”
Just then Sasha marched through the door. “I just got a call from—” She broke off when she saw Eve sitting there with the peas. “What are you doing here? You should be in the hospital.”
“I was, but they let me go.” After Cole left, she’d felt an overwhelming need to get to the marina, to her family. She hadn’t felt safe in the hospital alone. The doctor had wanted to keep her overnight, but Eve told him she was leaving, with or without his permission. He’d signed the release papers, albeit reluctantly.
“I heard you were out at Cole’s, and the bees were in a shed and you almost died,” Sasha said.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the color drain from Blaze’s face and shot Sasha a look. “Without my EpiPen, it would have been much worse. I’m fine.”
“I still think you should—”
The old-fashioned wall phone rang, and Eve grabbed it like a lifeline. “Martinellis’. Who’s calling, please? Yes, just a moment.”
Her eyes met Sasha’s. “It
’s your aunt again. She wants to talk to you.”
Sasha paled, and her hand shook slightly as she reached for the phone. “Hello.” Eve sat back down with her bag of peas, and she and Blaze exchanged glances as they listened. “Today? I, ah, I don’t know about today.” Sasha rubbed her forehead as she paced. She looked down at Eve, who nodded encouragement. “Um, how about on ah, Thursday, two days from now.” Sasha scribbled on a piece of paper and hung up. She plopped into a chair at the table and dropped her head into her hands. “What have I done?” When she looked up, Eve was shocked by the uncertainty there. Sasha was always the strong one, who forged ahead without looking back.
Eve reached over and took her hand. “This is a good thing, Sash. A connection to your family. You want to reconnect, don’t you?”
“But what if I’m not—” She paused as though searching for the right words. “I don’t know, enough. Good enough or whatever.”
The comment struck all the way to Eve’s heart. Amazing that her confident sister struggled, as she did, with feeling she wasn’t quite enough. Maybe everyone felt that way, that they were always just shy of the mark, didn’t quite measure up.
So she said what she hoped she’d be able to believe herself one day. “You are enough, Sasha, more than enough. You are awesome, and your aunt sounds like she’s thrilled to have found you. Give her a chance to prove it.”
Sasha nodded and then headed for the door. “I need to tell Jesse.”
Blaze studied Eve. “Why did you stay where the bees were? Why didn’t you leave the minute you realized they were there?”
Leave it to Blaze to see right through the smokescreen. Eve kept forgetting how quick the girl’s brain worked. “Because the door to the shed swung shut behind me, and once the bees were on me, I couldn’t move to get away.”