The Summer Deal (Wildstone #5)(7)

But damn. He’d seen her standing there and his heart had actually lightened in his chest. Fate, he thought. It had to be fate that Brynn Turner had shown up now, today of all days, and for a minute he’d felt such relief he’d nearly hugged her.

But she hadn’t remembered him.

The story of his life.

Shaking his head at himself, he pulled out his phone and googled black market kidneys for what had to be the millionth time in the past decade. There was actually a horrifying array of opportunities to buy an illegal kidney. Yeah, he’d have to mortgage himself to his eyeballs, not to mention break the law, but he’d do it in a heartbeat.

Except that Kinsey flat out refused to let him—or anyone—buy her a kidney. No one was allowed to get tested for a match either. And he got it, she’d already taken a kidney from someone, and to say that hadn’t gone well was the understatement of the year.

So he kept googling.

The last false alarm had been eighteen months ago, and it had nearly broken her. This time, she’d seemed . . . resigned.

That scared the shit out of him. He didn’t have many fears. Growing up the way he had, he’d conquered just about everything bad that could happen to a person and was still alive. As a result, he had only a precious few people in his life who mattered to him, and Kinsey was one of them.

He refused to lose her.

Slowly, he became aware of sounds outside his own thoughts. A quiet murmur, and someone crying nearby. He lifted his head. There were two women, mid-fifties, one dressed as if she were about to attend a board meeting, the other looking like the original flower-power girl. She was sobbing into the other’s arms.

“Raina, honey, this isn’t helping.”

“Our baby could’ve had a heart attack, Olive!”

“But she didn’t. You heard the doctor. He said it was a panic attack, that she’d be out shortly and we can take her home.”

Raina let out a long, purposeful breath, bracelets jingling as she straightened. “Clearly something terrible happened to her in Long Beach,” she said tearfully. “If he hurt her—”

“Then we’ll kill him together.”

Raina sat back in her own chair. “I’m sorry. I just had to let that all out. I can’t hold it inside or it eats me up.”

“I know.”

“You should let it out too.”

“I have,” Olive said.

“No, you haven’t. You’re sucking it all in and holding on to it, and next time it could be you in there.”

Olive shook her head. “I’m too stubborn.”

This got her a snort from Raina, who wiped her eyes and looked around, her gaze landing on Eli.

“Raina,” Olive said softly. “Stop staring at him.”

“I can’t,” Raina whispered. “I can feel his sad energy.”

“I can hear, you know,” Eli said. And what the hell? He didn’t have a damn “sad energy,” but Raina was already scooting over several chairs until she was only two away from Eli.

“Hi,” she said.

Terrific. “Hi.”

She gave him a small smile. “Do you want to talk about it?”

He didn’t answer, although his stomach grumbled again, speaking for him. The woman nodded, like this made perfect sense to her. “I always need to eat before I talk about things too. I’m an emotional eater.” She pulled something from a purse that was the size of the state of California. “You’re not allergic to walnuts, are you?”

He was about to back away from the crazy lady, but then the scent of something delicious teased him.

“Carrot cake muffins,” she said.

He’d have preferred brownies, but he folded like a cheap suitcase and took one.

In each hand.

“They’re gluten-, dairy-, and sugar-free.”

And . . . he froze. Well, shit.

With a smile, Raina brought one of his hands up to his mouth, and he forced himself to take a bite. But then, suddenly, he had his mouth full of the most amazing carrot cake muffin he’d ever eaten, and was in fact fighting back a moan when she pulled something else from her bag.

“Dab this at the pulse points on your wrists and rub it in,” she said. “It’s a mix of essential oils meant for calming. Bergamot, ylang ylang, lemon, and a few others.” And because he hadn’t moved, she leaned in and did it for him.

“Oh, for God’s sake,” Olive muttered, and came close as well. “Feel free to ignore her. I find a good shot of something in the Jim Beam family usually works just as well as the oils.” She pulled a small flask from her bag.

Eli felt like he’d walked onto a Mary-Poppins-meets-Twilight-Zone set.

Raina smiled. “My wife doesn’t like to admit it, thinks it makes her a softie, but she’s a worrier too. It’s why we’re a good fit.” She held out the flask.

He was just about to give in and take a quick swig when the double doors opened. He stood, thinking it would be Kinsey.

It wasn’t.

Brynn came out, looking wan and tired, and he realized she was the one these two women had been waiting for. She’d had the panic attack, the one that had presented like a heart attack.

Raina and Olive were also on their feet, moving toward her, engulfing her in hugs and kisses, along with relieved laughter and tears.