Ever After Read online

  “What the hell are you doing?” Jamie bellowed, then immediately regretted it. It was the voice he used on a battlefield and at home it had sent many a child running away in tears.

  But Hallie seemed unperturbed. “I almost…” She stretched even farther. “Got it!” she said just before doing what looked like a one-footed dance on the stepstool. When she went to put her other foot down, she met vacant air.

  As Jamie lifted his arms, his crutches clattered to the floor, and he made a leap, catching her about the waist as they fell. When the dust settled, Hallie was lying fully on top of him, her nose almost touching his. “If you needed a hug, you could have just said so.”

  Jamie laughed. “What were you doing up there? If I hadn’t been here—” His eyes widened.

  “What’s wrong?”

  In an instant, Jamie rolled over so Hallie was on the floor, then he scooped her up into his arms as though he was going to carry her out. It was a struggle with his leg in the long brace, but he made it.

  When he started to walk, she called out, “Wait!” and he halted. “You can’t carry me with your leg like that.”

  “I have to get you out of here!”

  At his tone, she realized there was panic in his eyes. Just as she did at night, she put her hands on the sides of his head, her face close to his. “Jamie,” she said quietly and with great sincerity, “tell me what’s wrong.”

  Her words seemed to pull him out of his trance and he stared at her forehead.

  Reaching up, she touched her hairline and her fingers came away bloody. “I think that box hit me in the head.” He still looked worried. “Put me down and I’ll get a bandage.”

  The light was coming back into his eyes. “There’s so much dirt in your hair, it wouldn’t stick. Come on, I have first aid supplies in the gym, and I’ll fix that cut for you.”

  She could tell that he was embarrassed at the way he’d reacted, but she wasn’t going to mention it. Was it her being hurt or the sight of blood that had bothered him?

  They walked through the garden to the gym and Jamie had her sit on the end of a workout bench. Gently, he pulled back her hair and examined her scalp.

  “Will I live?” she asked, trying to lighten his mood. He seemed very serious about what was an everyday accident.

  “There’s so much dirt on your scalp that it might get infected. I need to clean the entire area. Come with me.”

  She followed him outside to the end of the gym, where he opened a door she’d not noticed before and pulled out a folding chair.

  “What is that?”

  “An outdoor shower,” he said. “For when you come in sandy from the beach. Sit here while I get what I need.”

  As soon as she sat down she closed her eyes. They’d been doing heavy-duty cleaning for a day and a half now. Plus there were Jamie’s treatments morning and night. Add that to his two A.M. night terrors and she was being worn down.

  She was half-asleep when he said, “Lean your head back and keep your eyes closed.” To her absolute delight, he poured warm water over her hair. It felt heavenly!

  “This is antiseptic shampoo. It doesn’t smell great, but it works.”

  As the shampoo—which she didn’t think smelled bad at all—turned to lather, he gently began to massage her head. When he got near the cut, which she knew wasn’t very big, he blew on it, as though the shampoo might burn her. It didn’t, but she didn’t want him to stop.

  He massaged around her ears, at the back of her neck, then over her scalp. His hands were strong—and accurate, she thought. As someone who’d had a lot of training in massage, she was aware that Jamie knew what he was doing. She started to ask him where he’d studied, but she knew he wouldn’t answer. Besides, she was so totally enjoying his touch that she didn’t want to interrupt it.

  His hands went down around her neck, then to her shoulders. As his thumbs went into her trapezius muscles, she could feel tension leaving them.

  It took several buckets of warm water poured over her head to rinse it. Then slowly, he began to comb out the tangles.

  When he stopped, she sighed, sorry that it was over. She looked up at him.

  “Would you do me the honor of going out to dinner with me tonight?” he asked.

  Without hesitation, she said, “I’d love to.”

  “Then go put on something pretty and I’ll meet you in an hour.”

  Hallie practically ran back to the house and up the stairs. Of course she shouldn’t go, she thought. He was a client and it wouldn’t be long before he left and she’d never see him again. But still, dinner out would be nice.

  When Hallie had packed for Nantucket, she hadn’t thought about what she was putting in the suitcase. At the time, between an inheritance and Shelly’s latest trick, she hadn’t been thinking clearly.

  But Shelly’d had time to plan leaving with Jared. She had taken Hallie’s suitcase and carefully filled it with her own clothes and a lot of Hallie’s. When the plans had changed, Hallie had emptied her suitcase of what Shelly had packed and pulled her own garments from the pile. One item was a plain black sheath dress, silk, with little straps. It had been in the very back of Hallie’s closet, saved for a special occasion that had never come. Right now Hallie was very glad she had the dress. Should she thank Shelly for pulling it out, she wondered, and almost laughed at the idea.

  It took her a while to blow-dry her hair and she was almost sad to take away the reminder of Jamie’s washing it. As she worked, she hummed every tune from South Pacific.

  When she put the dress on, she was surprised that it was a bit loose. When she’d bought it, it had fit like it was painted on her.

  She opened the little jewelry roll that Shelly had filled and found things she hadn’t worn in years. She chose a plain gold chain and matching earrings.

  When Jamie politely knocked on her bedroom door, she was ready.

  “Wow!” he said. “You look great. Let’s stay in and make out.”

  Hallie laughed. “I want dinner with wine, and you don’t look bad yourself.”

  “Thanks,” he said and let her go down the stairs before him.

  When they were at the front door, she handed him the car keys, her eyes daring him to say no. He’d driven before and he could do it again.

  As they pulled out, Hallie said, “Tell me about the wedding. How many of your family are coming?”

  “A lot of them. Everyone loves Aunt Jilly. You’ll be introduced to all of them, then you’ll be quizzed on the names. But if you forget every Montgomery, that’s understandable.”

  “Poor Montgomerys. But I was more interested in them individually, such as…I know, who’s the smartest?”

  “My dad and his brother. But that’s just my opinion and don’t tell either of them I said that.”

  “Nicest?”

  “Without a doubt, Aunt Jilly.”

  “Best looking?”

  “My brother Todd,” Jamie said with a little smile.

  “Okay,” Hallie said. “Who is the most interesting?”

  “That would be Uncle Kit. No question about it. In spite of the fact that he’s a Montgomery, he’s interesting because no one knows much about him, not his job, his personal life, nothing. All very mysterious.”

  Kind of like you, Hallie thought but didn’t say. “What do you think he does?”

  “He’s a spy. All of us in the family believe that. One time he showed up at Christmas with two teenagers—a boy and a girl—and introduced them as his children. The kids were very sophisticated and accomplished. They could do anything, from sports to brain games. They were quite intimidating.”

  “Surely not in a gym. They couldn’t possibly outlift you.”

  Jamie smiled. “You have raised my ego to the sky! But alas, it’s my cousin Raine who’s the winner on that score. We never saw the kids after that one Christmas. I think they thought we were barbarians.”

  “Even the Montgomerys?”

  “Yes. Shocking, isn’t it? You should