LITMIR.BIZ

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a rush, she launched into more conversation. “So are your kids just incredibly healthy or do you not have any?”

      “No kids.” He steered onto the highway and headed home.

      “Married?”

      “Nope.” He glanced her way, but didn’t see a ring on her finger. “You?”

      “God, no.”

      Such a heartfelt denial made him frown. Seven years ago, after she broke things off with her boyfriend, Gus Donahue, Gus had left in a rage.

      Then crashed his car and died, leaving his parents with two children instead of three, robbing them of their firstborn.

      For too many people, she’d been the undeserving girl, while Gus had been the all-star golden boy. He’d been viewed as perfect.

      She was not.

      The blame and accusations had rolled in, spurred on by the Donahues, unrelentingly cruel until, finally, she’d moved away to escape it.

      Never had Garrett blamed her, but even long after Zoey had left, Gus’s sister, Carrie, had done what she could to keep fueling the fire. And Cody, forever feeding the stories, had grown into a very angry sixteen-year-old, always acting out, probably doing what he could to overcome the distance of his parents’ grief.

      Garrett didn’t want to get into all that old history with her. What kind of welcome would that be? Instead he asked, “Any serious relationships?”

      She shook her head. “I take it you and Carrie didn’t make it?”

      Gently, assuming it had to still be a touchy topic for her, he said, “That was...what? Six years ago? Seven?”

      Her expression turned quizzical. “Since I left, yes. That’s when you and Carrie broke up?”

      “Shortly thereafter.” He couldn’t abide the way Carrie and her family reviled Zoey. They’d taken every opportunity to run her into the ground. He’d understood their grief, and he’d also understood what a hothead Gus had been.

      Most of all he’d understood that the Donahues had two children left who needed their attention.

      “And here everyone thought you two were the ‘it’ couple.”

      “Not me.” Carrie was as popular as her older brother, and that, more than anything else, had prompted him to date her.

      Yeah, he’d been young and foolish, ruled more by testosterone than discretion.

      Looking out the window, Zoey changed the topic. “I need to shower and change before I see anyone.”

      He was supposed to drop her off at the bookstore, but he could afford the time for a quick detour. “Where to then?”

      “I don’t know.” She looked back at him. “My mom’s in the hospital.”

      “I heard.” Everyone knew everyone’s business in Buckhorn, at least to some degree. “How is she?”

      “She fell off her horse, broke her hip and a few ribs.”

      “Ouch.” He winced in sympathy.

      “The breaks are bad enough, but now she has pneumonia on top of it.”

      “The immobility probably helped that along.” Garrett knew her mother had had Zoey later in life. Knowing Zoey to be around twenty-four or—five, her mom would be in her mid-sixties. “She’ll be okay?”

      “Yes,” she said with absolute conviction, as if she could will it so. “But I’m not sure yet when she’ll get to come home. They already did the surgery on her hip, but she’ll go to a different floor for rehab before they release her.” She repeatedly pleated and smoothed the hem of her shirt.

      “Is that where you want me to take you?”

      She shook her head hard. “No, not looking like this. I don’t want to embarrass her.” Her fingers curled into a fist. “She’s been living with my uncle the last few years, but there’s no way I can go there, either.”

      Her uncle had been the football coach when Gus died. Shit.

      “I don’t suppose you’d loan me your shower?”

      Garrett shot her a look, but she didn’t seem to think a thing of her request. Typical of Zoey. Trying not to be too obvious, he checked the clock on the console. “If we make it quick, I have enough time.”

      Relief took the tension out of her shoulders. “Thank you. I promise to be as fast as I can.”

      “No problem.” But damn it, when he saw Amber, he’d let her know that her debt to him had just doubled.

      * * *

      Never had she met a man so hard to read.

      Garrett Hudson, with his dark hair and incendiary blue eyes, didn’t seem to react to anything. He’d seen her standing there in her vomit-covered clothes, smelling of it, and he hadn’t blinked an eye.

      He had to put her in his truck, and he just rolled with it. No fuss, no big deal. No censure or disdain.

      Zoey should have remembered his even temper and iron control, but she hadn’t been expecting him.

      No, she’d been looking for Amber—and when she’d spied Garrett instead, she’d whispered a quick prayer that he would look past her so she could slink away.

      She never had been the lucky sort.

      Even though he hadn’t let the appearance or smell get to him, he was her fantasy guy, her biggest regret, and he’d just found her looking as bad as any woman could.

      Worse, she had to impose on him to use his shower. But good God, it was bad enough that he had to see her like this. She didn’t want to face the rest of the town looking like she’d been regurgitated from an ailing giant.

      Zoey was pretty sure things couldn’t get any worse...until Garrett pulled up to an older Cape Cod and she saw two of his cousins in his driveway. It was all she could do to keep from groaning in agony.

      Shohn Hudson was a year older, Adam Sommerville four years older, and they were both amazing specimens.

      She tried to sink lower in the seat while Garrett quickly put the truck in Park and got out. “What’s going on?”

      Shohn said, “Not much. Just had a few quick questions for you. Since Adam and I were heading out to dinner, we just stopped by.”

      Hiding inside the truck, Zoey looked over the men. Amber had caught her up on all the family dynamics, so she knew Shohn, now engaged, was a park ranger. Seeing him in his uniform, his hair dark, his eyes darker, she’d be willing to bet a lot of women chose to get lost in the woods.

      As a gym teacher, Adam stayed in amazing shape. A growing breeze teased his messy blond hair, and when he took off his sunglasses to see into the truck, she got stuck staring into sincere, chocolate-brown eyes.

      Smile going crooked, Zoey waved.

      “Who do you have in there?” Adam asked with a confused frown.

      Only then did Shohn even notice her. He peered into the truck, too, and Zoey knew she had to quit being a coward.

      Straightening the ugly gray T-shirt, she opened the door and got out.

      Hands on his hips, head dropped forward, she knew Garrett resigned himself to explaining her unwelcome presence.

      Nervousness always made her babble. “Hi. I’m Zoey Hodge.” Gray clouds rolled in, which she appreciated. The bright sunlight only ramped up the smell and showed all the mess more clearly. “Hey, Shohn. We weren’t in the same grade, but I knew you from school.” She watched for signs of recognition, but he only stared at her. “No? Well, that’s okay. I didn’t really expect you to remember.”

      Shohn looked her over with doubt, and stayed

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