Love, Tussles, and Takedowns (Cactus Creek #3)(42)

“Like the rum?”

Why her brain was fixated on that, she had no idea. She hardly ever drank. And when she did, it definitely wasn’t rum. But for some reason, all she could think about was the doctor in her lab coat dressed as a pirate, like on the rum bottle.

A half smile kicked up one corner of Hudson’s mouth. “That’s Captain Morgan. But yes, same last name.”

“Oh. Yeah. That name suits her better than Dr. Something.”

What the heck was she talking about?

Hudson grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and came over to sit beside her.

He twisted open the bottle for her before handing it over.

No one had ever opened a bottle of water for her before.

His slate gray eyes were scanning her face. She was sure he was going to see something in her face to indicate that she was going bonkers. The nonsense coming out of her mouth was already strong proof of that.

But he didn’t—look like she was bonkers, that is. Whatever he saw in her expression just had him rubbing a gentle hand on her back. “I’m really sorry the note wasn’t from Leo, sweetheart.”

She heard the honesty in that statement ring true and clear.

Even with all they’d gone through the past few weeks, he really had been rooting for Leo to be alive.

“Thank you for opening my water,” she said in reply, courtesy of her brain’s current ‘other-dimension’ logic.

His hand moved up to smooth over her hair as he pressed a gentle kiss to her cheek.

“Anytime, sweetie.”





CHAPTER ELEVEN


WHEN SHE WAS fully coherent and no longer talking in floating bubbles, Lia took a short walk and called Drew.

“Hey. How’d it go?” came Drew’s voice over the phone line.

Lia sat down on a low brick wall. “You mean you didn’t hack the feed to find out for yourself?”

His hesitant laughter told her he’d seriously considered it. “I figured it was private.”

“It was,” she agreed softly. “But not for me.”

The disappointment from Drew’s end of the phone line was palpable.

“I’m sorry, Drew.”

How could she express how she was feeling?

“Lia, it’s okay to be torn about this whole thing.”

“When did you get Gabe’s psychic abilities?” She smiled sadly. “Honestly, I don’t even think I can describe what I’m feeling. You know I want him to be alive just as badly as you do.”

“Lia, I can’t even imagine what you’ve gone through these past eight years. What I do know is that it’s okay for you to let go of Leo as your husband. Really, I stopped thinking of you as my sister-in-law a long time ago. You’re my foster sister who used to be married to my brother. Period. You’re not the same girl you were eight years ago, and just because I keep looking back doesn’t mean you need to. Not when you have someone with you now who you can look to the future with.”

She thought about how supportive Hudson had been about all this. How he’d made this all happen. Despite their being in a weird friends-with-benefits relationship, he was doing everything in his power to find and bring Leo home.

“I really did love Leo, you know. Still do.”

“I know. And you held on far longer than most would in this situation. But, really, the second Leo went missing, the love you two had got sealed up in a box, separate from the world. Life kept going on. You grew up.” His voice grew emotional. “Even if I were to be able to bring Leo home alive tomorrow, no one would expect you to just open up that box again and have everything go back to what it was. Because life doesn’t work that way. Leo’s your past. And whether it’s with Hudson or the next guy, your future doesn’t exist in that box. It never did.”

She brought the phone around to look at his grinning caller ID image, taken at his high school graduation last year. He’s growing up so fast. “So it looks like you and this college thing are a good fit. Either that or you’re just growing up and getting even smarter.”

At his noncommittal grunt, she smiled. “But I’m still your big sister so you have to listen to me when I tell you to take your own advice. If I’m going to live outside that box, you have to as well. Deal?”

A long pause, then, “Deal.”



*



HUDSON WAITED exactly three days to call Lia.

Three days. Even though he’d half-dialed her number dozens of times since the day of the video conference. He wanted to give her time and distance to process her thoughts and feelings about Leo. About…everything.

It had been the most god-awful three days of his life.

“Hello?”

And just like that, the world was right again.

“Hey sweetheart. Busy?”

Her voice smiled back at him. “Nope. I had bouncer duty earlier for a concert, but now I’m just watching a movie in my PJs. You?”

“I’m actually sitting here in horror staring at the playlist of this emotion-reading wristwatch satellite-radio contraption your brother Gabe sent me. Either he’s messing with me, or I have a repressed love affair with Wilson Phillips and The Backstreet Boys.”

Lia burst out laughing. And judging by the loud thump, she also fell off the couch.