by T. L. Haddix
“You okay?” he asked, his voice rough with sleep.
“Couldn’t sleep. I tried not to wake you.”
He rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hand and yawned. “I wasn’t sleeping all that well, anyhow. I thought you were afraid of heights.”
“I am. But I’m more afraid of other things tonight.”
He came to stand beside her at the railing. Clad only in his low-riding pajama bottoms, he was a breathtaking sight to behold in the moonlight. Sydney’d seen twenty-year-old men who pampered their bodies to perfection but didn’t have the muscles Sawyer did. And he wasn’t bulked up, either, but lanky and lean, all long, hard lines.
“What exactly do you do to keep in shape like that?” she heard herself ask.
He glanced down at himself. “Swim a few miles every day. How long have you been out here?”
“I don’t know. What time is it?”
“Five thirty.”
She was shocked. “My mind must have really wandered. I got up an hour ago.”
Now that he’d told her the time, she could feel fatigue setting into her body. Her muscles were stiff from the cool, damp air, and she realized her toes were numb.
Sawyer lightly touched her shoulder. “Think you can go back to sleep? Or even rest a little more?”
“Maybe. I’m a bit chilled, so at the very least, getting warm sounds like a good plan.”
“Let’s go in.”
She let him lead her inside, through his room and into hers. They took care to move quietly so as not to disturb Lee. Once in the bedroom, she had a hard time untying the belt of the robe.
“Um, my hands are numb,” she told Sawyer sheepishly. “I need a little help.”
He brushed her fingers aside and undid the bow deftly, then eased the robe down her arms. As the material swished to the floor, awareness settled between them heavily.
Sydney was afraid to move, afraid to breathe as the moment stretched into time.
When he took her glasses off and folded them, setting them on the nightstand, she ducked her head shyly. His hands came back up to cup her face, sliding into her hair. He pressed his cheek to hers, the warmth of the man startling after the cool early morning air.
“You and I need to have a long talk one of these days,” he whispered. “Preferably someplace private like this. But now isn’t the time.”
She had to swallow down her disappointment. “I know.”
“Let’s get you warm.” He took her hand and drew her to the bed, getting in and holding the covers up for her to climb under. She joined him without hesitation.
“I’m glad you’re here,” she told him as he settled the covers around them. “As much as I hate what’s happening, I’m glad you’re here to… I’m just glad it’s you.”
He tensed for a moment, then relaxed as his arms came around her, pulling her back into him. “So am I.”
After conferring with the family the next morning, they decided to stay and let Sawyer do his lecture. Lee stayed at Sydney’s side, acting as a buffer between her and Monique, who was still fuming over Sawyer’s being unavailable. As soon as the talk was finished and Sawyer had handled the post-lecture meet and greet, they were on the road.
To Sydney’s surprise, Lee hugged them both before they left. “You two be careful, and please call me, let me know how things go. Okay?”
Sawyer saluted him. “We will. Thanks, man.”
With Sawyer driving once again, as Sydney wasn’t in the best of shape to be behind the wheel, they headed toward Knoxville and the interstate that would take them home.
“We should be hearing something any time now, right?” she asked as they hit I-75.
“Maybe. Do you know if they’ve made it to Germany yet?”
“Any minute now.” She checked her phone for what felt like the thousandth time since they’d left Gatlinburg. “I’m scared.”
“I know.” Sawyer reached over the console, his fingers spread, and she gently placed her hand in his.
“Everything’s changed now. Everything. You know in the back of your mind something like this could happen. You just never expect it to. It’s always someone else’s son or daughter, brother, sister, husband, wife. And then it happens to you.”
“Same thought process applies in law enforcement. That’s a big reason LEOs have such a high divorce rate. The stress of never knowing if your spouse is going to walk back in the door at the end of the day gets too heavy. That, and… well, I guess your badge bunnies is the nicest way to put it.”
She gave him a half smile. “Not my badge bunnies, thank you very much.” She watched him for a minute. “Do you think she would have stuck it out, your ex? If you’d had kids?”
“I don’t know. Honestly? I doubt it. And after a while, knowing that took some of the sting out of it. Not a lot, but enough that it was measurable. Kind of an ‘at least there’s that,’ you know?”
“I can understand that. I felt the same way about Adam.” Her phone buzzed, and in her scramble to answer it, she dropped it on the floor. “Shit!”
When she finally got it in her hands, she saw that it was her mother calling, but she missed the call. While it was going to voice mail, Sydney called her back, putting the call on speaker. “Mom?”
“Hey, sweetie. I just heard from John. They’re in Germany, and so is Eli. He’s stable. He had to have surgery in the field, and he’ll be going back in for another round soon now that he’s in Germany. But he’s stable. He’s alive, Syd.”
“Oh, thank God,” she sobbed. For the second time in twelve hours, she had to give Sawyer her phone, too overcome with emotions to even hold on to the device.
“Emma, it’s Sawyer. She has you on speaker. That’s great news. Have they seen him yet?”
“No. They’re on their way to the hospital now. They’re hoping to get there before he goes in, but they might not.” She sighed. “How about you all? Where are you?”
“Coming out of Knoxville. We should be in Hazard in just under three hours. Where is everyone? At the farm?”
“Yeah. We’ve thrown together a potluck. Pip and Logan are here, Ben and Ainsley. You know how we are—we gather together when someone’s hurt.”
“I know. It’s part of what makes you all so unique. Here’s Sydney.” He handed the phone back to her.
Now that she was composed, Sydney could breathe again. “I’ll head up there when we get home. How are Grandma and Grandpa taking this?”
“They’re quiet, but they’re okay. Getting word that he’s stable has helped. How are you?”
“I’ll be fine when we know he’s going to make it. And Noah. What happened?”
Emma hesitated.
Sydney realized she probably didn’t know that Sawyer was aware of Noah’s abilities. “It’s okay, Mom. Sawyer knows about Noah.”
“You do?”
“Yes. I’ve known for a while now,” Sawyer confirmed quietly. “Can you tell us what happened? Or tell Sydney if you aren’t comfortable telling me.”
Emma let out a watery, unhappy laugh. “I don’t mind telling you both. It’s just sad and scary, that’s all. It’s turned us all a bit upside down, in addition to what’s going on with Eli. Noah was down at John’s working on the yard and apparently, he just froze. Zanny said she’d never seen that look on his face, not in thirty-two years. Said he turned white as a sheet and fell to his knees. It was several minutes before he could tell them what was wrong. They were afraid he was having a heart attack or a stroke or something.”
Sydney shook her head. “I don’t understand how he saw Eli if Eli’s still… not that I’m not glad he’s alive. But how, Mom? What does Grandpa say?”
“He doesn’t know what to think. From what Noah said while we were waiting for word from Eli’s CO, he�
��s never felt anything like it. He felt like he was there. Walked over to Eli, screamed at him and yelled that he’d better not be dead, told him to get his ass up and live and everything. But while he was out, Zanny said he didn’t make a sound.”
Sydney could tell her mother was almost as shaken by Noah’s episode as she was by Eli’s injury. “Poor guy. That had to be awful.”
“You, miss, are the master of the understatement. Mom needs me, so I’d better go. You two be careful.”
“We will. Love you, Mom. Give everyone a hug for me.”
“Love you, too. And I will.”
Sydney slid the phone into the console, then slumped back in her seat, drained.
Sawyer was visibly shaken as he took a long drink from his travel mug. “My God,” he said quietly. “How in the hell does he live with something like that?”
“I don’t know. But he manages, somehow. Hearing that, I can understand why he’s reluctant to date. And I know he’s long said he didn’t want kids. His ‘gift’ is genetic and he doesn’t want to pass it on.”
“I think, if I were like Noah, I’d feel the same way. It’s one thing to know you might hand down your eye color or the shape of your nose, but that? I’d be terrified of sentencing my children to that.”
Sydney wondered how he’d feel if he knew the truth about her family, that Noah’s ability wasn’t by far the most strange, even though it seemed the most difficult to endure. “It’s something that gives a person pause.”
Sawyer’s glance was speculative. “You said it was genetic, what he can do.”
“It is. It comes through Zanny’s line.”
“But that’s not the only ‘gift’ in your family, is it?” He tapped his fingers on the steering wheel.
As much as she trusted him, Sydney had to just about force herself to answer to the affirmative, the habit of protecting the truth was so deeply ingrained. “No, it isn’t. I told you Uncle John has a thing with numbers. I really meant he has a thing with numbers, not just that he’s super smart or something. Ben can read plants and flowers. Pip is a Cupid—literally. Do you have any idea how many couples she’s put together over the years?”
Sawyer laughed. “I did notice she seems to take an interest in pairing people up. What about you?”
“I can pick up health issues with some people, but not everyone. I can’t read you, for example, or Grandpa or Noah. And there are other things, but they’re not my secrets to reveal. Mom’s the only normal one of us. Well, and Grandma. Even though most of the abilities we have seem to come from the Campbells, Grandpa does try to put some of the odder talents on her.”
“I’ve read his books, your grandfather’s.”
Sydney was stunned. “I never would have guessed that.”
He nodded. “They’re good. Even for us big kids.” This time his look was more assessing than speculative. “Interesting premise, a young boy who can shape-shift into a deer and his friends who can do the same.”
Sydney looked out the window, trying not to react overtly. “Very interesting premise. He takes inspiration straight from Appalachian folklore.”
“Hmmm. I did wonder.”
He knew. She could tell he knew, or at the very least, he suspected. But like she’d told him, those weren’t her secrets to reveal.
They moved on to other topics, but in the back of her mind she kept circling around and around the idea that he knew, and he hadn’t demanded details or called her crazy. She didn’t quite know what to make of that.
She’d never told Adam about her family’s abilities. She’d held back that part of herself, not wanting him to think she was a lunatic at first. And then, there just didn’t seem to be any need to tell him since they didn’t plan to have kids straight away. In the end, keeping that secret had been the right decision.
But she couldn’t help wonder how it would feel to be completely open and honest about who and what her family was with a man. With a partner. She couldn’t imagine what that would be like, and she didn’t know if she’d ever experience it, but she didn’t try to pretend it wasn’t something she didn’t want, whether it was with Sawyer or someone else.
Chapter Thirty-One
Sydney had fallen asleep on him a few miles shy of the Kentucky border, and she hadn’t woken up until they’d reached the farm. Sawyer figured instead of disturbing her, he’d just borrow her car and take it back to her house to get his truck, or bum a ride with someone back to town.
Instead, he ended up staying at the farm for a while, having food and helping pass the time.
John had called shortly after they’d arrived at the farm to let the family know more about Eli’s condition. “He was doing a test drive on a vehicle they were having problems with, and they wrecked. It flipped over on top of him. His left lower leg is crushed, and they don’t know if they can save it. He’s got several broken bones on top of that, a concussion… He’s lucky to be alive.”
“I guess they’ll be gone a while,” Sawyer said as they ate, “given the extent of Eli’s injuries.”
“Probably,” Archer said from across the table. “That leg sounds like the worst of it.”
Logan nodded. “They should know soon whether they can preserve it or not. Even if they can, though, I doubt he’ll regain full use. Not with a crushing injury.”
Logan’s own career in the Army had ended after he’d been hurt during an explosion. From what Sawyer knew, he still had problems from time to time related to the wounds.
“What’s being done about Fig?” Sydney asked. “If Noah’s going to be gone for weeks, she’s going to need someone to take her. Or move in his house for a while.”
“I’d vote for the former versus the latter,” Owen said. “As much as Noah would appreciate someone caring for her, I don’t think he’d like the invasion of privacy.”
Emma laughed. “Babysitting it is, then. I’d love to have her but with Carter’s allergies…”
“I can take her,” Sydney said. “I miss having cats.”
Sawyer glanced at her. “You did have cats growing up, didn’t you?”
“Mm-hmmm. Huff and Puff. Caleb gave them to us when I was five.”
“We didn’t even realize Carter was allergic, since he’d grown up around them,” Emma said. “But after we lost them, while we were thinking about getting a couple of kittens, his allergies cleared up like you wouldn’t believe. After seeing that, it was hard to justify bringing cats back in the house.”
“As soon as he leaves for college, though, it’s game on,” Archer teased, causing her to roll her eyes at him as everyone laughed.
“I’ll stop by his house and get her on the way home. He should have everything she needs down there,” Sydney said.
“He does,” Owen told her. “He said to let whoever ended up getting her know that he put her a bag together.”
“Of course he did. That cat’s like a child to him,” Sarah said. “Sweet boy.”
Sydney stood. “No offense to anyone, but I’m beat. I know Sawyer’s probably itching to get back to his place. I think we’ll head out, if that’s okay with you,” she told him.
“That’s fine.”
Sarah insisted on putting plates together for them. “Everyone’s been stopping by. Once they heard about Eli, they wanted to help. We have more than enough food here, and you two are taking some of it.”
By the time they left, they had a box of food to share between them. The drive to Noah’s took all of a minute, and when they went in, Fig met them at the door, meowing.
“She sounds worried,” Sawyer said as Sydney picked her up and cuddled her.
“She probably is. He’s never gone this long. Hey, sweetie. Your daddy’s okay. He just had to take a trip. He’ll be back, but in the meantime, how about you and I spend some time together?”
/> To his amazement, the cat was snuggling up to her much the same way he’d seen babies do to their mothers. “Wow. Look at that.”
Sydney’s smile was tense. “She’s shaking under this purr. Oh, Fig, it’ll be okay.”
Finding the cat’s bag was easy—it was a large backpack stuffed full, set up on the counter under the cabinet that held the marinara. Her carrier was beside it. A hastily scrawled note was attached, and Sawyer read it as Sydney comforted Fig. He chuckled.
“Looks like he had you all pegged. ‘Syd, I figure you’re the one who’ll get her. I packed her enough food for two weeks. She gets a full can every day split into thirds. Yes, you have to refrigerate it. Warm it up just a bit and add water before you give it to her. No table scraps, but you can give her a little dry food in the evenings as a treat. Make sure she has fresh water and litter every day, please. I’ve listed the brand she likes, along with her vet’s phone number for the office and for emergencies. Oh, and help yourself to the marinara and pesto. I’ll owe you for this. N.’”
“No, he won’t.”
Sawyer shook his head. “Stubborn, the lot of you. Do you want some marinara?”
“I’ll come back for it if I do. I’d feel awful taking it now.” She sat Fig down and headed toward a door across the room. “I’ll get her box ready to go. Can you see if there are any trash bags under the sink? We’ll just put it in one of those, part and parcel.”
They got Fig and her belongings in the car. Halfway back to Hazard, Sydney’s phone rang.
“It’s Danny. Hey. Did you get my texts?” She listened to his response, nodding. “Yeah, we’re on our way back to my house now. I have Fig with me. Okay. See you then.”
“I’m surprised he wasn’t at the farm,” Sawyer said once she’d hung up.
“He was out there last night, and he would have been this morning, but he was tied up with a planning committee. He’s going to swing by my house here in a bit.” She let out a rough sigh. “I worry about him.”