What I've Done (Morgan Dane #4)(99)

Sharp reached for his water. He really wanted to do it himself, but he gave up when he could barely lift his hand an inch off the bed. Any movement sent waves of pain rolling over him like tsunamis.

“Let me.” Eliza held it to his lips.

God, he wanted to brush his teeth. He had a beautiful woman tending to him, and his mouth tasted like ass.

He drank more water. As his head cleared, he blurted out an apology that had been building for decades. “I’m sorry.”

Eliza stopped, her expression bewildered. “Sorry? For what? You and your friends saved Haley. Without them, she would be going to prison, and the men who killed Noah Carter would have walked away from their crime free and clear. I have no doubt of that.”

“For kissing you.” Even through the drugs, he knew he was bungling this. “Way back when.”

“You don’t owe me any apology.” Eliza cupped the side of his face, her touch soothing. “It was too soon. I didn’t know what I wanted. Any relationship I would have started back then would have been a mistake. You were one of my best friends. I couldn’t bear for something to happen between us and then end badly.”

“You had enough grief. You didn’t need the pressure I put on you.” Sharp hadn’t planned on kissing Ted’s widow. It had just happened. “You left right after that.”

“It’s not your fault that I left,” she said. “You didn’t drive me away. Ted’s memories did. I couldn’t get over him there, in his place, with all his things.” She leaned back, her hand falling from his face. “We were both hurting. We shared that pain. No one else really understood what we were going through. Did I ever thank you for all you did that first year? I wouldn’t have gotten through it alone.”

Sharp felt the warmth rise into his cheeks. “Still shouldn’t have kissed you.”

Eliza touched his hand. “You know I love you, but not that way.”

“I know.” Sharp nodded. The wound in his side throbbed with its own heartbeat of pain.

“It was hard to leave you. You were my rock that first year. But it was equally important that I was forced to make it on my own. In the city, there was no one else to handle Haley while I crawled back into bed. I had to get up every morning and get on with the day. With my life.”

What they’d shared hadn’t been romantic love, at least not on her part. It had been shared trauma. Sharp wasn’t sure if he’d loved her or not back then. But then, he supposed it didn’t really matter, did it? They hadn’t been good for each other.

Eliza straightened. “Haley and I are going to Seattle. There’s nothing left for us here. The house is gone. The memories in this place are, once again, horrible enough to bury us both.”

“Start fresh,” he said. Then he realized his kiss really hadn’t driven her out of town. Eliza walked away from painful situations. It was what she did.

She nodded. “Haley needs to heal. She can’t do that here.”

Sharp thought maybe Haley needed to face what had happened to her instead of running away from it, but who was he to say?

“She’s outside. She’d like to say goodbye.” Eliza released his hand.

She wasn’t wasting any time.

He nodded. “Sure.”

She leaned over and kissed his face. “I can never thank you enough for what you did. You saved her.”

“No,” Sharp corrected. “Haley saved me.”

She hadn’t given up on him. If she had, he’d be buried under a burned house.

Eliza walked to the doorway and waved. Haley hesitated at the threshold, then came inside, her eyes filled with tears.

“I’ll give you two a few minutes.” Eliza left the room.

Haley crossed the floor and took Sharp’s hand. “Thank you so much. I don’t know what would have happened if you and Morgan and Lance hadn’t stepped in.” Her gaze dropped to their joined hands. “I don’t remember my dad, but I think he’d be grateful.”

“If your dad were still alive, he’d have handled this himself.” All Sharp could muster was a tiny squeeze of her fingers. “And don’t forget. You saved me too.”

“I guess we saved each other.” Haley nodded, leaned over, and kissed him on the cheek.

She was definitely Ted’s daughter.

Emotions clogged Sharp’s throat. He cleared it. “Your dad would be proud of you.”

“I wish I remembered him.” Haley smiled, her eyes shining with tears.

With his throat tight with emotion, Sharp could only squeeze her hand again.

“I have to go and talk to the police again. I already gave them a statement, but they want more.”

Sharp frowned. “Take Morgan with you.”

“I am.” Haley released his hand and left the room without a backward glance. She was Eliza’s daughter too. That was for sure.

Eliza came back in and sat in a bedside chair.

“You’re not leaving?” Sharp shifted his legs, trying to get comfortable. But the pain was building at a steady pace. Each breath was harder to draw than the last. He should call the nurse, but he didn’t want the interruption.

“I promised Lance I’d stay until he returned,” Eliza said.

“I don’t need a babysitter,” Sharp grumbled.