After one step, he froze. His heart was pounding, and the chill on his skin shot right through to his bones.
“What’s wrong?” She tightened her grip on his neck and looked around.
Garrett couldn’t breathe. On the floor between them and the door to the house was a snake—a snake with black, red and yellow bands.
A coral snake.
His stomach churned and his muscles felt both electrified and paralyzed. He had to move. He had to get her to safety.
“Oh, look at that,” Rachel said. She sounded delighted. “It must have come in when the garage door was open to get out of the rain. Poor little guy.”
“Get on the car.”
“On the car or in the car?”
“Do it!”
She pushed away from him and he set her down. The car doors were unlocked. Maybe once she was safe, he’d be able to move again and could deal with this intruder. But instead of heading for the car, she took a step forward, between him and the snake.
“Rachel!”
“Stop shouting at me!”
The sharpness of her tone was enough to make him glance at her. The look she gave him then made him wonder what was the deadliest force in the garage.
She took a deep breath and let it out. “That is a scarlet snake. They’re completely harmless.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I do. I recognize the band pattern.”
“Since when are you an expert?”
“I grew up here too. Knowing there’s dangerous wildlife, I researched them. I can tell the difference between a scarlet snake and a coral.”
His skin started to buzz when she said the word. His ears were ringing.
Shit—he had let it out of his sight. He looked back at it, infinitesimally relieved that it was in the same spot.
If she knew about coral snakes, she knew how deadly they were. She knew you did not fuck around with snakes in Florida. Any snakes—even if you thought you knew for sure they were harmless.
“We can throw one of the towels over it and help it outside.”
“No! We are not going near that thing.”
He kept watching the snake, making sure it wasn’t moving. It was coiled and seemed placid. But that could change in an instant. Especially with some asshole ghost prodding it.
Her voice was gentle when she spoke again. “Okay. You are obviously phobic about snakes. I didn’t know. But don’t worry. I’ve got this.”
The blood rushed from his head and the room spun a little.
“That’s the same thing…”
“What ‘same thing’?”
“The same thing Dylan said. Right before he got bit.”
“Dylan?”
“My brother.”
“Your… Oh God, Garrett. I’m so sorry. I didn’t—”
“He was sure it was a scarlet too.” Garrett could barely force out the words. “He was wrong.”
She gently touched his arm. “Listen to me. We need to get the snake out of the house. One way or the other. We can try to call a service, but the snake might move and find a hiding spot in the house before someone gets here.”
What a nightmare. A snake hiding somewhere in his house?
If it made it inside… He’d have to burn the place down. They could stay at a hotel. They should move to Alaska before they had kids.
No, Alaska had bears.
Dammit!
“Can you trust me?” Rachel asked. “Trust me that I know what I’m doing here and can keep myself safe.”
She didn’t know what she was asking. Or maybe she did. He risked a glance at her and the earnest look on her face—the caring, the love—it melted some of the icy fear.
“I won’t go near it,” she said. “I’ll treat it as if it’s…dangerous. I promise. Please, Garrett. This is my chance to help you.”
She had said she wanted to be his partner. He wanted to be hers too. That meant taking care of each other.
God help him. He nodded.
She took him by the arm and pushed him back a few feet closer to the car. He was tall enough that he could still see the thing, but if it went for his car, it could easily slither out of sight. Then again, if it went for his car, he could run the damn thing over.
Instead of going for a towel, Rachel walked toward the side door that led to the yard. As she opened it she said, “We don’t have the means to capture it and relocate it. Is it okay if I get it out into the yard?”
“I just want it out of the house.”
“Okay.”
The rain had stopped, thankfully. The patchy grass beyond glistened in the dim light. More rain might be on the way, but the snake didn’t have to know that. Maybe it would go out on its own.
Rachel wasn’t waiting around. She picked up the broom that was tucked behind the washing machine, then walked slowly toward the snake, giving it as wide a berth as she could.
It angled its head toward her. Garrett felt that tiny motion in his heart, a lurching tug of fear.
She was totally focused on the snake. Sliding the broom between the snake and the door to the house, she moved closer, but kept herself at least six feet back, her arms outstretched and her body arched away from it. What was the strike radius on that thing?
He would surely have a heart attack any moment. His chest was too tight to breathe.
The snake uncoiled and started toward him, but Rachel was right there, placing the broom sideways between them and herding it so it made a bee-line for the door.
Or the space underneath the washer and dryer.
Please please please… He willed the thing to keep going straight, to head outside.
It did.
He let out a huge breath as he watched it disappear into the grass. Finally, he could move. He jumped forward and slammed the door shut. He knew it was ridiculous, but he locked it, too, for good measure.
His whole body was shaking, only partly because he was freezing and still dripping wet. Rachel dropped the broom, then set her hands on his shoulders and turned him around. He leaned down, wrapping his arms around her and holding her tight. She stroked his hair and whispered in his ear—soothing words that only half-registered, he was so wired with adrenaline.
It could have bitten her. Scarlet snake or…not.
He wanted to keep her safe. But he hadn’t been any help. When he had finally been able to do something, the threat was over. Again.
He couldn’t live with himself if anything happened to her. Especially if it was because of him. Because of a lack of action. Because he was too late.
He thought about Finn’s voicemail—the warning that might have come sooner if Garrett had kept pushing the investigation instead of telling Finn to back off at Elsa’s request. The hours that Rachel might have spent free of Michael if only Garrett had listened right when the message arrived.
“Come inside.” She took his hands in hers and walked backwards, leading him into the house.
Chapter Twenty-Four
As soon as they crossed the threshold, Garrett latched on to her again. Rachel needed to get him dry and warm.
His skin was freezing—still coated with rainwater. The blast from the AC couldn’t be doing him any good.
“It’s okay,” she said. “We’re okay.”
Except Garrett wasn’t. He was shaking, but she wasn’t sure if it was from the cold. His reaction had seemed extreme at first, but the more she thought about it, the more sense it made. She kept her arms wrapped around his neck, giving him the time he needed to sort himself out as her mind filled in all the details for him.
His brother had been killed by a coral snake. And Garrett had been there when it happened.
Garrett had grown up in the country. He mentioned playing in the swamp a few times, but never gave many details. Coral snake bit
es were pretty rare and didn’t manifest as many would suspect. They didn’t hurt like a rattlesnake’s. The neurotoxin caused respiratory failure.
Antivenom wasn’t always on hand.
She couldn’t imagine how terrified Garrett must have been to see that snake in his home, not knowing what it was or how dangerous. Scarlets were mistaken for coral snakes all the time. But she was sure the one in the garage had been a scarlet.
Still, she hadn’t taken any chances. It was only about a foot long. Even if it had been a coral snake, she never came close to entering its strike radius. Better safe than sorry, and Garrett was right—she wasn’t a herpetologist.
“I’m sorry,” he said. She was so deep in her thoughts it took her a minute to realize he had spoken.
“For what?”
“Not helping.”
“I’m glad I had the chance to help you for once.”
“You help me all the time,” he whispered. “Just by being with me.”
“Garrett—”
She was going to try to laugh it off, to lighten the mood, but when she leaned back to look into his eyes, the tears streaming down his face made her stop. Her own eyes filled immediately, her heart lurching toward him, trying to give him comfort.
“You’re the only one,” he said. “The only one I’ve ever really felt I can be myself with. It’s always been on me to take care of people. To be the responsible one. Even before it happened. But you… You’re the only one who ever took care of me.”
She couldn’t take it. Seeing him bared down to his soul right in front of her, the wounds he kept hidden, the pain. It was almost like seeing a ghost—seeing his soul through the shield of his body.
She lightly gripped his face and pulled him into a kiss. A slow kiss. Deep and long and healing. She let him sink into her through that simple connection, imagined her own soul wrapping around his and soothing him.
When she pulled back, he had a stunned expression. His eyes were wide as he stared at her. She wasn’t sure what had happened, but she felt different. Strong. Empowered. She felt like…a healer.
“Tell me,” she said.
He started to lean away, but she took his hands in hers again and looked into his eyes.
“Please.”
Garrett cleared his throat before he began.
“He said it was a scarlet snake. That the bite didn’t even hurt once he got the thing off him. We were out in the country. Too far to get help.”
His eyes were unfocused as he watched his memories play out in his mind. The more he spoke, the thicker his accent became.
“Dylan was older than me. He was in his teens and I wasn’t even ten.” Garrett let out a short breath, not a laugh, but a release of energy. “I hadn’t had my first real growth spurt yet, but he had. He always seemed so grown-up to me. Reckless, though.”
Another wave of emotion hit him. Rachel felt it even as she saw him wince, his jaw tightening and his eyes narrowed in pain.
“He saw I was upset. Wanted to reassure me that he was fine. So he said…” Garrett’s voice broke over his words. “He said, ‘Race you back home.’ Then he took off. Just flew over the sand. God, he could run. It only made the poison circulate faster through his system.”
He cleared his throat, then said, “I lost sight of him right away, but tore ass for home as fast as I could.” He sniffed once and shook his head. “I found him in a fennel grove. Laying on the ground—so still. I turned him over and…”
Garrett pulled his hands from hers. He covered his face and tilted his head back. She gave him space to do it, but moved her hands to his chest. Her instincts told her she had to keep touching him. When Garrett looked at her again, he didn’t bother trying to hide his tears or his pain.
“I had to get him home. He was so much bigger than me, but I got him over my shoulder somehow and carried him as far as I could. I had to drag him the last couple hundred yards.”
Wave after wave of grief and guilt rolled through her. She tried to take the emotions in—to let them pass through her, channeling them away from Garrett and letting them sink harmlessly down through the floor. He had been carrying this for too long.
“My mom came out and saw that. Saw me dragging his body. But it was the best I could do. I was screaming so loud. But the noise my mom made… I never knew what keening meant till I heard that sound. She fell to her knees, grabbed him up from me and held him and just rocked making that terrible sound.”
He shuddered and another wave of energy flooded her. She opened herself to it, letting her heart feel his anguish, pulling it away from him.
“My dad came running out and grabbed Dylan—he had to fight my mom off to get to him. Dad was shaking all over, barely holding it together. He told me to call 911, but he already knew. He took one look at Dylan, and he knew it was too late.”
Garrett looked back down at Rachel, dazed. His gaze slowly came back into focus. He covered his eyes for a moment, then wiped his face.
“Since then, I’ve always felt it was on me to protect everyone. I became a doctor so I would know what to do, how to help. But I don’t always know. I can’t always protect the people I care about, and that terrifies me.”
She kept her voice as gentle as possible. “It’s not your job to protect us, Garrett. We help each other out when we can, but we’re all stumbling through this life together. All we can do is our best.”
“It doesn’t feel like enough. Not when people are still getting hurt. Elsa and Dante. You…”
“Don’t. Dante was right. The only person responsible for what happened to us is Michael. And I took care of him.”
Garrett shook his head. “I guess you did. And that snake too. And the scorpion. I knew everybody else was underestimating you. Didn’t know I was too.”
“I think I’ve been underestimating myself. Or not estimating myself at all.”
She was beginning to feel like she’d been sleepwalking through her whole life. But the jolt of what had happened to her, the trauma, had awakened parts of her she didn’t even know were there.
Hearing ghosts? Yeah, she was used to that. Full-on empathic bonding? That was new.
The tether she felt leading from her to Garrett vibrated like the strings of a harp and she knew he was going to say something before he even took in the breath to speak.
“I’ve never told anyone else. We never talk about him. I’ve tried, but my folks just won’t.”
Rachel felt a hollowness inside of her. The loss of a sibling, so complete and utter that it was like he never even existed… It resonated within her somehow. Deep and echoing.
His parents should have talked to him about Dylan. They should be keeping Dylan alive by remembering the joy and love they all shared.
She thought about Misha again and tamped down the worry that bubbled up within her—just in case the connection with Garrett went both ways. Now was not the time to bring that up. Garrett was too vulnerable, too wounded.
But soon. She would have to tell him her suspicions soon.
She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and held him as tight as she could. He buried his face in the nape of her neck, his arms around her waist, holding her close.
“Thank you,” she whispered. “Thank you for telling me.”
When she leaned back enough that she could look into his face, he looked lighter. The lines around his eyes had softened and his brow wasn’t as furrowed. She needed to build on that, to help them both get distance from the pain she hoped he was starting to leave behind.
“You can talk to me,” she said. “About this—about anything. Always.”
“I know. That’s part of why I love you.”
She smiled up at him. “It’s nice to hear you say that when we aren’t in bed. And when you’re not mad at me.”
“I’m sorry about that. I was really confused and hurti
ng.”
“And now?”
“Now…” He considered her words for a few moments, as if he was assessing himself. “I feel good. Lighter, I guess.”
“Let me see if I can make you feel even better. Starting by warming you up.”
She led him to the master bath just off his bedroom. She started up a hot shower, then turned back to him and pulled her shirt over her head and threw it in the hamper. He smiled and slipped from his pajama pants, tossing them after her shirt. They held hands as they stepped into the water.
When she designed the open shower, she never thought she would have a chance to share it with Garrett. It took up a third of the room, filling one corner, with windows that let in the fading sunlight set high in the wall.
She nudged him under the water first, wanting him to get warmed up as quickly as possible. Jets sprayed their bodies from three sides. He put his hands on her hips, shifting them so she was enveloped in water and steam as well.
The hot spray first hit her shoulders, coursing down her spine and giving her goose bumps. She leaned into the water to wet her hair, then slicked it back. When she looked at him, he was staring at her.
“You are so beautiful,” he said.
Those words had never meant so much to her. When she’d heard them before, it was always a sign that whoever was talking thought they’d already figured her out. The politician’s pretty daughter. Nothing else to see but the surface.
Garrett looked deeper.
She ran her fingertips over his face, lingering on his lips. “So are you.”
He grasped her hand and pressed a kiss into her palm, then pulled her closer, bending to kiss her. His hands followed the water’s path down her back. He cupped her backside, as his tongue slid between her lips. Warm and wet everywhere.
She slid her hands over his chest, exploring the muscles, relishing his strength. The water coursed over their bodies, washing away their tension and all the residual negative energy.
Breaking off the kiss, he said, “Turn around.”
As she did, he shifted so that she was facing the main jets. He moved behind her, pressing his chest against her back and pinning his shaft between them. Her hips squirmed and she rose on her toes without really thinking about it. All she knew was that she wanted him inside her again.
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