“You keeping up with your pain meds, Bri?”
Her eyes veered even farther away. Yet the stubbornness befell her that Caleb had warned him about. “As much as possible. I don’t want to risk falling asleep with Tia here.”
“Aw, Bri. I considered that. You need—”
Her head shook. “No. I’m tough. I can take a little pain.”
She might have convinced him had the hollowness not haunted her eyes. She rose swiftly and went to work at the stove.
Ian followed, grabbing salad ingredients. “You okay?”
She shrugged. “I’m worried about Caleb. He hasn’t called.”
Ian froze, knife midslice in a cucumber. Come to think of it, he hadn’t heard from Caleb, either. Not since the day of Bri’s surgery. “I’ll call him. Find out what’s going on.”
Bri added carrots to the lettuce Ian tossed. “No, let me. I’m afraid if you call him, you’ll tell him about my injury.”
* * *
Bri grew alarmed when Ian tensed. “He doesn’t know, right?”
Tia must’ve woke because she shuffled in the next room. “Yes! I’m sure of it, Boom. They got hillbilly fairies in this here forest. And it’s not only haunted with fairy-eating trolls, it’s naked. All the PJs blew to the ground, Boom.”
Ian and Bri turned. Tia walked circles, play phone to her bed-head ear. Naked? The fairies or the forest? Bri wondered.
“How odd,” Ian said, watching Tia wear tracks on the wood parquet floor Bri had installed last week. At least she’d gotten her cabin renovated before falling, thus had a decent place to live.
“What’s odd? Boom? He’s Tia’s imaginary friend.”
He scowled. “She’s my daughter. I am well acquainted with Boom, the infamous scapegoat for Tia’s messy room. I meant odd in the sense that I pace like that when I’m on my cell phone.”
Bri felt like laughing at the fact that Ian didn’t seem the least bit alarmed by Tia’s talk of ill-attired fairies, fallen PJs or cannibalistic trolls. Yet at the same time, Bri’s ire rose at being scolded over explaining who Boom was.
She drew a deep breath to calm down. “I noticed her pacing. And you never answered my question about Caleb.”
His eyes flicked to her with annoyance before returning to rest on Tia. The look of wounded nostalgia entering his eyes caused Bri to stop pressing the Caleb issue. For now.
Ian might be standing here now but his mind was a world away. He watched Tia with a mix of regret and awe as she paced like he did. “I wonder what else she acquired from me,” he said, confirming Bri’s hunch.
“She definitely acquired your beastly moods and appetite.”
Before Ian could utter a retort, Bri stepped out of his line of fire. “Tia, wash your hands. Dinner’s ready.” Bri went to pull garlic bread from the oven.
Ian blocked her. “Let me.” He eyed her casted arm. “You could get burned.” His gaze bore down on her, squelching any protest. Burned? Felt as if she already was.
He neared to help set the table. “You need to trust me.”
She whirled. “About my arm? Or Caleb?”
A muscle clicked in his jaw. “Both.”
“I’m sorry, Ian. I hate not knowing if he’ll be okay and I hate being in the humbling position of needing help.” Bri clenched her teeth against urges to confront more about Caleb.
Both men being tight-lipped could mean Caleb was about to embark on a mission of danger she’d be better off oblivious to. “FYI, Tia also acquired your rude penchant toward ignoring, hedging and projecting in order to protect your secrets.”
Tia “hung up” her play phone and skipped into the kitchen, unaware of her dad’s gaping mouth. Well, what did he expect? He’d been harsh with his words and truth, too.
They sat at the big, rustic wood table that had been Mom’s. Despite the tension, dinner started out light and fun and lively but ended subdued with Ian growing more withdrawn and sullen. So much so, Bri jumped when her wall screeched like a pterodactyl.
Humor hit Ian’s eyes as he studied her, then the bird clock above the fireplace mantel that held copious pictures of Caleb.
“Stupid clock. It’s too loud. Caleb got it for me for Christmas last year as a source of torment. I can’t get rid of the obnoxious thing, because despite its screeching bird sounds, it’s sentimental.”
Ian almost smiled. “Hard to believe Christmas is three days away. What are your plans?”
She shrugged. “Probably eat a frozen turkey dinner and watch Hallmark movies.”
“I’ve had no time for TV lately.”
His eyes veered toward Tia, their color deepening to a dark blue, like a stormy sky. “A teen girl almost perished last night. She looked like I’d imagine Tia will in ten years. Identical hair, down to the natural ringlet curls.”
“I bet that was hard,” Bri said.
The vulnerable look entering his eyes next caught her completely off guard. He rose and brushed aside Bri’s ruffled maroon curtains. Thoughtfully eyed the main lodge through Bri’s big side window. “Do you have plans for the big lodge?”
She joined him at the window. “Yeah. Mom’s dreams.”
He faced her, his expression softening to a point that she had to look away. She felt too vulnerable otherwise. “Mom would hold sewing, cooking and quilting classes for her church ladies. She wanted to open it up to the community. She died before her dreams came true.” Bri shrugged the chill away.
Ian eyed her shoulders, then moved toward her but stopped.
Had he been about to come behind her and rub her arms?
“I have an idea, if you want to hear it,” he said.
Bri laughed. “Since when do you ever ask permission to share your opinion or waylay anyone daring to disagree with it?”
He smirked. “Point taken. The accident was fatal for two other teens. Alcohol was a factor. That lodge would be a very cool hangout for teens. You should consider letting me and Mitch fix it up as such once he gets some time.”
“It would give them something safe to do. There’s a big area downstairs that would be perfect for pool tables, a digital arcade, even laser tag. I could use the upstairs rooms for corporate events and meetings.”
“And those classes your mom started.” Ian smiled kindly.
“It’s a great idea, Ian. But I’d be remiss to let you and Mitch do it. You’re already renovating my cabins. I saw where you’d cleared the ivy away and replaced the gutters. Thanks.”
He nodded. “You’re helping me in a big way, too. With Tia.”
Bri peered once more at the lodge. Longing took root. “I’d hate to infringe on your time like that.”
“There’s nothing more important to me than saving lives, Bri.” He cast a glance over at Tia. “She’ll be a teen someday.”
Bri caught the fear in his words. “Trust God, Ian.”
He faced her. “I did. Once. My marriage crumbled, anyway. I lost my wife long before the divorce, Bri. She bailed when I gave my life to God and she didn’t want to.”
“I’m