A Place with Briar (Harlequin Superromance) (11 page)

The light at his bedside came on and he blinked at the beam of it. A figure hovered over him. “Briar?”

“Shh,” she murmured. There was a rag in her hand and when she pressed it to his brow, it was cool.

His heart still pounded. He looked down at the twisted sheets, saw they were as wet with perspiration as his T-shirt. Embarrassment broke through the dregs of panic. “I’m sorry....”

“Hush,” she said in a gentle voice. Moving the cloth to his neck, she pressed the cool, soothing rag to his skin. “You’re all right now. Everything’s all right.”

He was calming, leveling off enough to know that she was right. “I’m sorry,” he said again. “I’m sorry I woke you.”

“You didn’t,” she assured him. “I was going up to bed and I heard you as I passed by your door.”

He dropped his head and braced his hands on his knees. “Just a bad dream.”

She said nothing, just continued to press the cold cloth against the heat of his skin until the chill of it finally broke through. Then she asked, “Feeling a little better?”

He raised his gaze briefly to hers. The humiliation still clawed at him. She’d found him twisting and turning in his sheets like a child. But there was nothing in her eyes to suggest that she thought of him that way. There was only concern and the warm light of reassurance. “Yes,” he replied. “Much.”

She nodded. “Here, hold this.” Her hand touched his, guiding it up to the cold compress. “I’ll get you a glass of water.”

“You really don’t have to...” He trailed off when the words didn’t stop her from going into the adjacent bathroom. Closing his eyes, he pulled in a careful breath as he heard the tap gush to life. He still felt a bit shaky. It would take some time for that helpless feeling to go away. It
would
go away, though. It had to. As she came back, he lowered the rag and took the glass she handed him. “Thank you.”

After a moment’s hesitation, she lowered to the edge of the bed and watched him gulp half the water down. “More?” she asked when he set it on the bedside table.

“No,” he replied and cleared his throat—his words were still coming out like his throat was coated in shards of splintered glass. “You’ve done enough. More than enough.”

Her hand latched on to his. The warmth of her fingers bled into his skin, into the bones beneath. The sick, shaky feeling he desperately wanted to dismiss fell to a mere near-forgotten backdrop as he watched their hands join.

Despite the humiliation, he was glad she was here. He didn’t know how he would face her in the morning...but he was glad for her presence nonetheless. She’d calmed him much more effectively than he could have calmed himself. She’d pulled him from the dream before it had become something worse and he woke the whole house.

When he finally lifted his face back to hers, she was smiling. “You’re fine.”

He nodded, drinking her in. The goodness in her compelled him. It pushed away the black of his dreams and everything else that was dark in his life. She was a good person, so unlike the other woman in his life. And his deception would ruin her. The light of goodness in her might never recover. What the hell was he doing?

His gaze lowered to the curved line of her mouth. What he wouldn’t give to taste her right now—to graze his lips over that sweet, bowed line and lose himself completely.

Wrenching his thoughts out of that dangerous track, he trained his eyes on their hands and watched his pull away from hers. “Thanks again.”

She lingered for a moment, gauging him as if to make sure he was all right. Then she took the compress and folded it neatly on his bedside table beside the glass. “Please...let me know if you need anything else.”

Unable to summon any further speech, he gave a short nod and watched her depart. The door clicked closed behind her and he lowered himself against the pillows piled at the head of the bed, releasing an uneven breath and scrubbing his hands through his hair.

It had been months since the recurring nightmare had crept up on him. At first it had been a nightly torment, then it had begun to fade. Now it came when he least expected it, when he was on the verge of forgetting....

He saw that face, those eyes, and forced his thoughts elsewhere. Briar. Briar’s face. Briar’s eyes.

Just Briar.
He closed his eyes. He could see her, as she’d been sitting on the edge of his bed. He could all but feel her there.

He would have thought it impossible, but it wasn’t long before he drifted off to sleep again, Briar’s face leading him back into dreams that wouldn’t wake him in cold sweats and panic. Dreams that would heal, nurture.

Dreams that, in sleep, he wasn’t afraid to wish were real.

CHAPTER NINE

T
HE
MORNING
WAS
cloudless, the sun overbright and baking hot. The wind blew out of the south, and Cole wondered if the hair-raising breeze was the breath of Tropical Storm Brett itself, spinning steadily into the middle of the Gulf, hundreds of miles south of Alabama’s coastline but traveling at a sure northeasterly pace.

Yellow flags flew on the beaches. Waves crashed ashore, rolling in on blue-green crests not yet violent enough for local officials to change the yellow advisories to red, banning people from the water.

Surfers took advantage of the light action, riding the swells for a short distance before sinking into the water and paddling back out to wait for another. The beach itself was packed with adolescents playing a game of volleyball, couples and small bunches of women lazing on beach towels or lounge chairs, men tossing footballs or Frisbees back and forth, and children dancing in the lapping surf. Some had brought floats and foam noodles to bob between crests. Others zipped by on Jet Skis. In the distance, two people parasailed far above the water, pulled by a long recreational boat.

The sand was white, fine and warm under Cole’s bare feet as he walked toward the shore, combing the inhabitants’ faces.

He saw Gavin first and the ache inside him seared. He wore a white T-shirt to protect his pale skin from sunburn and a pair of dark blue swim trunks.

God, he’d grown taller. Three inches, at least. For all the time that had passed, it could’ve been a foot. Someone, probably Tiffany, had cropped his hair short, almost to the scalp. The militant cut didn’t look quite right on him.

Gavin wore a smile as he took his boogie board for a spin, washing to shore on its back before rolling off and getting up to wade out and try it again. Boundless energy. Cole had forgotten how active Gavin was—a force of nature all his own.

A barb dug into Cole’s chest.
He’d already begun to forget.
It’d been months since he’d sat across from Gavin in a courtroom. Eight long months since he was barred from him altogether. It’d felt like forever...but what kind of a father forgets?

“Well, you showed.”

He glanced up, jolting to attention. Tiffany wore a bright blue sundress and aviator shades. Her long, white-blond hair was held back with some kind of Jackie O bandana. The sand hadn’t stopped her from wearing a pair of wedge heels so her long legs looked even leggier.

Disgust coated him from the inside out when he saw that she’d been watching him, smiling, from a beach chair close by. “You knew I would,” he muttered bitterly.

“Like I said last night, I was beginning to wonder....” She followed his gaze to where Gavin played in the surf. “He does miss you.”

“I won’t mistake that for an olive branch,” he told her, looking back at her with a scowl. “It’s sickening the way you have no problem using our child to blackmail me.”

“What’s sickening, Cole, is how fast you take the bait,” she said, taking several steps toward him. “Makes me wonder if the man I fell in love with all those years ago exists at all anymore.”

“I doubt you were ever capable of love, Tiffany,” he battered back. “All I was to you was another mark, even then. Just like Briar Browning.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Cole,” she said flippantly. “I rushed into what we had, but I did love you. Blame the fact that it all went to hell on my youth and naïveté. Despite what you may think, I’m not that great an actress. I fell in love with your strength, your refusal to take crap from anyone. Somewhere along the way, that alpha male in you turned into something weak and malleable. The man I loved no longer exists.”

She raised a hand to shield her eyes and tilted her head, studying his face. “I’ve been thinking about it. There has to be more to your reluctance to dig into sweet Briar’s records. Though you
have
always been a softie for a victimized female.”

He took a threatening step toward her. “You don’t know a damn thing about Briar. If you did, and you had a scrap of decency left in you, you would back off for mercy’s sake. She doesn’t deserve this.”

Tiffany’s thin brows lifted over the rim of her glasses. “You do have feelings for her. You want my advice, Cole, here it is. Choose wisely. Either the innkeeper—” she nodded toward Gavin “—or your child.”

Cole glanced out over the white sand. A lashing wave sent Gavin skidding off the board. His dark hair bobbed over the surface after a moment and he waded his way back to shore, rubbing the stinging salt water from his eyes and dragging the board behind him. He lowered his hands and finally spotted Cole.

Though rushing water still pulled at his calves and ankles, the kid stopped short, arms limp at his sides, expression unreadable.

Cole took off his sunglasses and offered what little smile he could conjure. “Hey there, chief.”

Another moment of wary hesitation passed as Gavin dripped and stared. Then he lugged the board into the wet sand, dropped it and broke into a run.

Cole’s heart squeezed as he caught Gavin on a running leap. He spun him in a quick circle before he crouched and hugged him tight to his chest, not giving a thought to the dampness that soaked clean through his shirt. Everything inside him swelled and, for what felt like the first time in months, Cole could breathe right again.

It took him a while to let go. He leaned back, kneeling in the sand to take a good, long look at what he’d missed more than anything from his old life. Thick black eyelashes framed hazel eyes, an embodiment of the clash between his parents. They winked with tears, but a huge grin highlighted several new missing teeth. Working furiously at the knot in his throat, Cole ran a hand over his close-shorn head. “It’s been way too long.”

“I missed you,” Gavin said, rubbing the back of his hand over his mouth to hide the quiver of his chin. “Even when they told me I shouldn’t, I missed you, Dad.”

Cole pulled him close again, placed his chin on top of his son’s head as he always had when comforting him. “I know. I’ve missed you, too, Gav.”

“Mom says I can spend the day with you?”

Because it came out a wavering question, Cole let a real smile soften his face. “Of course. The whole day’s ours. Wherever you want to go, whatever you want to do.”

“Tomorrow, too?” Gavin asked hopefully.

Cole’s smile faltered. He felt Tiffany’s shadow fall over the both of them. “We’ll see,” he offered. “Come on, let’s get you dried off.”

As Gavin ran for a beach towel, Cole stood slowly but couldn’t quite face Tiffany again. Sliding his hands into his pockets, he released an unsteady breath. “Thank you,” he said, barely able to keep his voice from cracking with emotion.

“You get one day,” she said. “It shouldn’t take you that long to make your decision. Have him back here by sunset. I’ll be waiting.”

* * *

C
OLE
HAD
STOPPED
by the local Harley shop to buy Gavin a kid-sized helmet, but he’d been worried he wouldn’t want to ride the motorcycle.

To his surprise, Gavin took to it with his characteristic eagerness and peered around Cole’s shoulder as they cruised Gulf Shores. When they both decided lunch was in order, they grabbed some takeout and drove to the nearest park. Only a mile from the beaches, it was surprisingly quiet, the playground shaded by thin, towering pines that idly swayed in the southerly breeze, scattering green needles and their woodsy scent around them.

As it turned out, Cole didn’t have to worry about communication. Gavin readily launched into conversation as if the year’s ordeal had never taken place, laughing, kidding, teasing and answering questions about home.

“How’s school?” Cole ventured after wolfing down a cheeseburger.

For the first time, Gavin’s smile fled. “Sucks. Mom took me out of public school and put me in that prissy academy. I have to wear dorky uniforms and I don’t have any friends there.”

Cole frowned at that but knew anger would be useless. Any say he had in Gavin’s life had been mercilessly uprooted. “How’re your grades?”

“Okay, all except for math. I made a C the last quarter. Mom was upset. She wants me to get a tutor next year.”

Guilt pricked under the surface. “It’ll get better, buddy.” Gavin had inherited Cole’s numerical dyslexia to Tiffany’s heavy disapproval. He hesitated for a long moment before adding, “You mentioned that your mom’s seeing someone. What’s he like?”

Gavin grimaced, eyes falling. “Chad. He’s a jerk.”

“Is he treating you okay?”

He lifted a shoulder. “He doesn’t hurt me or anything. But Mom wants me to call him Dad and gets mad when I don’t. He’s moved all his clothes in, and he sleeps in her room.”

“It’s nice that your mom’s seeing someone, but there’s no reason to call him Dad if you’re not comfortable with it.”

“You’re my dad,” Gavin said in answer to that. “Chad doesn’t even come close to you.”

Despite himself, Cole felt his lips twitch. He picked up a napkin and handed it over the table. “Wipe that ketchup off your lip.”

Gavin grinned as he scrubbed his mouth. “Where’re we going next? Waterville? I’ve always wanted to go there.”

Cole tossed the paper wrappers into the garbage can. “If that’s where you want to go...”

“And then we could go goofy-golfing at that cool pirate place. And then to The Track—the go-karts look fun.”

He scooped the kid over his shoulder and hauled him back to the parking lot. “Whatever floats your boat.”

“Hey, Dad, can we go parasailing?”

Cole chuckled heartily. “Okay, I lied. I draw the line at parasailing.”

“Ah, man.” As Cole set his feet on the asphalt, Gavin grabbed his helmet. “I really like the bike. Maybe after The Track we could go for a really long ride?”

Bending down to latch the strap under Gavin’s chin, he considered. “We could do that. Someone told me about this abandoned Civil War fort a couple miles from here.”

Gavin’s eyes rounded in awe. “With ghosts?”

“What’s a creepy old fort without ghosts? We’ll ride down that way and check it out.”

Gavin whooped, hopping onto the passenger seat. “This is the best day ever!”

The best day ever.
Cole wanted to echo the sentiment. Having Gavin with him after so long apart... it was a gift. Before the day was over, he knew what he had to do. And dreaded returning to the inn to face the last person he wanted to hurt.

* * *

B
RIAR
STEPPED
OUT
the kitchen door with a basket in hand. The garden vegetables were so heavy they were practically falling off the stalks. She savored the sight of the new tomatoes. She and her mother had nurtured them from seedlings. There was nothing so rewarding as watching them grow and remembering those last few months that her mother had been able and active.

By the time she finished plucking and weeding, a nice bunch of fresh produce filled her basket. She began to walk back into the inn. And stopped.

The colors drew her. Hot, electrifying waves of light splashed across the sky like paint on a canvas. She set the basket by the door and slowly walked down to the dock.

It was breathtaking. She never took the time to watch the summer sunsets anymore.

But tonight’s was one of those that drew everyone out to ogle. She leaned against the rail on the boat dock and watched the hot ball of red flame descend from the sky. Bands of hot pink, bright orange and untamed yellow jetted in its wake in a series of colorful tufts that faded into the east.

As the sun lowered just over the far west bank of Mobile, its light hit the water at exactly the right angle. With a catch of her breath, she watched the light dance on the still waters around her. It was magic, those sparkling lights.

Fairies. Fairies dancing.

The memory came back to her, blazing her with warmth and her mother’s love. Closing her eyes, she felt like a little girl wrapped in a parent’s loving embrace, heart bursting with wonder and magic.
“Fairies. Fairies dancing,” her mother said. “You only see them when the sun comes out full and bright like that. They hide in the rocks until the rays hit the water. Then they dance.”

Briar smiled up at her. Their eyes locked. Glee bounded in her young heart as her mother squeezed her shoulder. In that moment, she knew fairies existed and it was their secret to share.

Tears filled Briar’s eyes as she felt her mother’s presence envelop her again, a protective shell nothing could penetrate. She let it fill her up, a glowing pool. And she yearned for what had been—simple, carefree days.

The boards of the dock creaked behind her. She turned and saw Cole. Her heartbeat didn’t settle, only stumbled and cantered. She let out a laughing breath. “You’re always sneaking up on me.”

“Sorry,” he said, voice tuned low, as if he didn’t want to intrude upon nature’s exhibition or her enjoyment of it.

When she saw his hesitation, she gauged the grim light in his eyes. No, not a grim light, but sadness. Deep, unequivocal sadness. Reaching out to him, she touched his arm. “What’s wrong?”

He let out a breath and shook his head. “Have you ever been so sure of what you wanted...but you lose sight of yourself trying to get there?”

Her eyes softened and she nodded. “It’s like you’ve read my mind.”

He reached up to the hand she’d touched him with and gently took her fingers in his. “Briar, whatever happens...I need you to know that I care about you. I’ve only known you a short time, but it doesn’t matter. Sometimes all I see is you.”

Her heart lifted, fluttered at the words. “Cole...”

“If I had my way, I’d never hurt you. I’d never let
anything
hurt you.”

His eyes were damp. With her other hand, she touched his face. With her heart, she reached out to him, enfolded him, refused to let go. “Where’s this coming from?” When his eyes dodged hers, she lifted her other hand to frame his face. “Cole, it’s okay. I know you’d never hurt me.”

Before he could say a word, her mouth covered his fully. Her world tipped off its axis and went into free fall. Stunned, she swayed back against the rail. After a moment, Cole cupped her face and spread his fingers over her cheeks. Warm, so warm...