Ever After Read online

  Much too soon, he held her away from him and looked at her as though trying to read her mind. “Come on,” he said softly. “Edith brought us tea, so sit down and tell me what you’ve been doing.” She didn’t move and for a moment she thought he was going to kiss her.

  But he didn’t kiss her. “You look exhausted.”

  “Thanks,” she said in sarcasm. “Looks like my hour with a curling iron was wasted.”

  Laughing, Jamie held out a chair for her. “Are you kidding? The cousins are raving about you. They think you’re beautiful and smart and that you have magic hands.”

  Hallie poured the tea. “Your brother hates me.” When Jamie said nothing, she glared at him. “You’re supposed to say that he doesn’t hate me, that he’s…I don’t know, cautious or something.”

  “It’s more like he’s protecting you from me.”

  “Would you please reassure him that I’m not really planning to kidnap you or seduce you or whatever just to get the family jet?”

  Jamie nearly choked on one of the anise seed cookies he liked so much. “Is that what you told him you were going to do?”

  Hallie shrugged, then looked at Jamie. “More or less. Too much?”

  “For him, yeah.” Jamie was still laughing.

  “Think he’ll put me in handcuffs?”

  “What an enticing vision,” he said softly and gave her a look of such heat that the hair on her neck seemed to stand up straight.

  “Jamie…” she whispered and leaned toward him.

  Instantly, he moved away and his face changed. “So tell me who you’ve met.”

  It took Hallie a moment to calm herself. Okay, she’d missed him, but that was her problem, not his. He was her patient and maybe, possibly, they could become friends, but that’s all there ever would be. “Your uncle Kit.” She was pleased to see the surprise on Jamie’s face.

  “I didn’t even know he was here.”

  “That’s because you ran away somewhere. If you’d stayed here and let me treat you, you’d have seen all your male relatives. Tell me, how does your family reproduce without any women?”

  The smile came back to him. “The women are drowning in wedding activities: cakes and flowers and who sits where and—I don’t know. I told Aunt Jilly to come find you. I think it’s all too much for her.”

  “Yes, do send her to me.”

  Reaching out, he smoothed a strand of hair out of her eyes. “I still want to know why you were in bed with me.”

  She thought quickly. “I heard a noise and when I went to see about it, you pulled me into bed with you. You’d worked me so hard that day I was too tired to get up.” She stared at him, waiting for him to question her more.

  Jamie took his time before he spoke again, seeming to decide whether or not to pursue that. “When did you see Uncle Kit?”

  “Two A.M., in here. We had tea together. Seems he’s been dreaming about the Tea Ladies.”

  Jamie’s eyes widened. “Yeah? About what?”

  Hallie opened her mouth to tell him all, but didn’t. “I’m not telling you anything until I see you on the table. I want to look at your knee, and you’re slumping to one side again. And—” She narrowed her eyes at him. “And I want your clothes off.”

  Immediately, he stiffened in the chair. “You haven’t had your hands on enough men in the last few days?”

  “Yes, I have, and they’re all flawless specimens of mankind. I’ve never before seen such perfection. They don’t need anything from me.”

  “But I do?” Jamie had his head down and his voice was low.

  She put her hand over his. “Yes, you do. You carry a lot of tension in your body and I could help you.”

  Jamie stood up so abruptly that his chair fell backward and hit the floor hard. When the sound echoed in the room, he grabbed a crutch in a way that looked like he was about to defend the two of them from something.

  Hallie stared at him in astonishment. “Jamie! Are you all right?”

  It was a while before he seemed to know where he was. He picked up the other crutch and leaned on them. When he looked at Hallie, his expression was cold, distant. “I don’t need help. I don’t need pity. I don’t need—” Breaking off, he quickly went across the room and left, the double doors slamming behind him.

  Hallie was stunned. She had no idea what had just happened. What had made him so angry? Usually when she asked if he needed help he smiled and said yes. In fact, he pretended to need her help with his crutches, with walks around the garden, to go up and down the stairs. So why was he different now?

  Todd! she thought. He was what had changed everything. As soon as he’d arrived, he’d scooped up his brother and taken him away. Was he jealous? Did Todd resent that Hallie and Jamie were…what? Becoming friends? But didn’t Jamie say that his brother was the reason he was here?

  Hallie sat at the table, feeling stunned. She didn’t know what was going on. When she reached for the teapot, her hands were shaking, but then the tea was icy cold. “It’s the way I feel,” she whispered. She put her face in her hands and for a moment she let herself shed tears.

  She looked about the pretty room. “I don’t know if there are ghosts here, but I’d certainly like some help right now. Everything in my life is changing and I don’t know if it’s for good or bad. I like this man Jamie a lot. I tell myself he’s not for me, but then I see him and…I don’t know, I’m drawn to him.”

  She paused, feeling silly for talking to nonexistent people, but she couldn’t seem to stop. “Dr. Huntley said that only people who have not met their True Loves can see you. Since I can’t, I guess I have met him. He’s Braden, of course. The man at the top of the heap. Incomparable and perfect.”

  There was only silence. But saying her feelings out loud had made her feel better. She took a few deep breaths, then stood up. As she glanced at the cold teapot and the uneaten food, she knew she should clean up, but she didn’t. She just wanted to lie in a tub of very hot water and think about nothing at all.

  When she went through the door into the kitchen, Raine was there. His face lit up when he saw her, and she couldn’t help thinking how simple it would be if she turned her attention to him. Raine was pleasant company, gorgeous, etc.

  But all she did was give him a weak smile and wish he’d go away.

  He understood. “I’ll clear everyone out,” he said. “Rest. You’ve done a lot today.”

  “Thank you,” she said and by the time she got upstairs she could feel the emptiness of the house.

  She filled the tub with water as hot as she could stand and stayed in it until it was cold. While in there, she reached a decision. She would forget the personal aspect of her relationship with Jamie and concentrate entirely on the professional one. She’d been hired by his family to rehabilitate his injured knee and that’s what she was going to do.

  Kit had said, “My family isn’t for cowards,” but she was being a coward. She was letting a bunch of very charming men distract her from her purpose of making Jamie better. And the worst of these distracting offenders was Todd.

  As she dried off and put on her pajamas, she made a vow that tomorrow she was going to do whatever was necessary to get to work on Jamie. Neither his quick temper nor his brother’s grouchiness nor the delightful interference of all his cousins was going to keep her from her goal.

  By the time she got into bed, she felt much better—except for the loneliness of the empty house. Why did it seem so small when Jamie was there and so big when he wasn’t?

  Think professional! she thought as she snuggled down and went to sleep. But as always, she awoke at two A.M. and before she thought, she started to get out of bed. Then she seemed to see and hear the swish of a silk skirt, and as a great calm came over her, she lay back down.

  When she awoke again, she looked at the clock and saw that it was almost six A.M. Usually, she would have gone back to sleep, but she was wide awake. “Jamie!” she said and got out of bed.

  He worked out at this ti