While I Was Away(48)

“Maybe I'm not the only one who thinks he's attractive,” Zoey teased. “Adele does have excellent taste.”

He didn't find it very funny. Ocean had nothing against Lund. In fact, he'd had always liked the other man's professionalism and no-bullshit attitude. What he didn't like, though, was the idea of Lund and Adele having some sort of relationship outside of the hospital. Could a nurse and a former patient date? Didn't that violate some kind of ethics code?

“I don't know,” Zoey shrugged after Ocean asked her. “I mean, a therapist probably shouldn't date a patient they're treating, but it's not illegal. Besides, this guy and Adele never even met until after she woke up, right? Like way after. You should be happy, he's a great guy. Even I can't find anything wrong with him.”

“Yeah, I know. But still, doesn't it seem kinda fast, she just -”

“Ocean.”

She said his name so sharply, he stopped talking and blinked at her in surprise.

“Yeah?”

“We all get it. Adele is your favorite. She's practically your child. No one or nothing will ever be good enough for her. But if Adele wants to see this nurse dude, or any dude, or several dudes, it's ultimately none of your business,” Zoey said.

“None of my business? She's my sister, Blanke, I'm not gonna -”

“You're not gonna lose her again.”

Zoey's voice was actually soft. It shocked him. Zoey Blanke was anything but soft. She was all hard edges and sharp angles and biting tongue. It made him stop and think about what he was saying.

“You're right,” he sighed, combing a hand through his hair. “I just ... I feel like I just got her back.”

“Yeah, and she's still here. She's just living her life. You should try it sometime,” Zoey suggested.

“You're very annoying, you know that, right?”

“It's a talent. So what about you, Ocean? All the Reins kids have lives except for you,” she pointed out.

“I know, I'm trying to figure that out,” he said.

“Gonna go home?” she asked. Her voice and attitude were nonchalant, but he thought maybe, just maybe, he detected something else. Curiosity? Regret? Sadness?

“Would you miss me if I left?” he asked back. She snorted and grabbed her loose cigarette from the table.

“I'd be devastated. Would cry myself to sleep every night,” she chuckled as she climbed to her feet and began putting on her jacket and gathering all her things.

“Oh, please. You already do that,” he said, and she laughed for real while she patted down her pockets.

“You know what, Ocean?” she started, and he realized she was looking for a lighter. He pulled a book of matches out of his jacket pocket. “Yeah, I would miss you.”

Once again, he was shocked. She had that affect on him. She made him forget who he was and how to act like himself. So when she put the cigarette between her lips and leaned towards him, he didn't even think about it. He just struck a match and held it up for her.

“I'd miss you, too, Zoey,” he said softly, and they stared at each other while she inhaled the flame. When the cigarette caught light, she finally backed away.

“Then you probably shouldn't go,” she replied, blowing a stream of smoke away from him.

Just as a barista started yelling across the room, Zoey winked and turned around. A couple click-clacks from her boot heels and she was out the door, a thin line of blue smoke trailing behind her.

Stay in Los Angeles? For her? A woman you barely know, who's also ten years younger than you? You must crazy.

But as his gaze focused on the fading line of smoke, he realized he was smiling. It was raining in L.A. and he was probably having an almost-midlife-crisis and he was ...

Happy.





25




Adele squinted at her phone on its dash mount, then picked up a physical map from the seat next to her, glancing between it and the road.

“Have faith,” she grumbled under her breath, mocking herself. “Just believe in yourself.”

Charlie had been a little surprised when she'd asked to borrow his new car, and he'd asked a lot of questions in return. She'd done her best to answer him without outright lying ... but also without telling the whole truth. I'm going to track down the man I fell in love with in my dreams, at a location that may or may not exist in real life, just didn't sound good.

He'd eventually loaned her one of his company cars – a Honda Civic with his club logo splashed across the back doors. As long as it got her from point A to point B, though, she didn't care what was painted on it.

The real issue was figuring out exactly where point B was; she honestly had no clue. When River had said “lake up north”, she'd assumed Tahoe. But after she'd looked it up and seen pictures and maps of the area, she'd decided it wasn't right. It was too big, too ... public. Jones' cabin had been old, and rustic, and small. A vacation spot not often used.

And nothing about Tahoe resonates with me – it doesn't sound or look familiar. It doesn't stir anything in my soul.

So she'd searched for other lakes in the same area, and had found Donner Lake. Fairly large, but not on the same level as Tahoe. Lots of cabins around it, and something else. Something she couldn't put her finger on, like a stirring sensation in her heart. It just felt like a good location for a small, old, rustic cabin – a place where a father could teach his son to fish in relative peace and quiet.