“Making sure that guy didn’t come after you.”
“The homeless guy?”
“No, the guy in the hoodie I spotted skulking outside the ambulance base as you came out to get coffees.”
Her heart hopscotched over a few beats, but she managed to keep her expression neutral. “That’s why you shouted and pulled the kamikaze routine through traffic?”
His hands fisted again and he looked ready to blow a gasket. “He was seconds away from ambushing you. If that call hadn’t come in when it did—” he glanced around again, scraping his hand across his forehead “—who knows what he might have tried. He must’ve run off when he heard me shout. I searched the area, but couldn’t track him, so I followed you here to make sure he didn’t show up.”
“Cole, you shouldn’t be out racing around after me.” Oh, boy, not something she’d ever thought she’d hear herself say to Cole. But she couldn’t him let him get any closer for both their sakes. His brother needed him. And she needed not to need him. His mile-wide, protective streak was entirely too attractive, and if she wasn’t careful, she’d start admitting things he didn’t need to know. She opened the side door of the ambulance and pressed him to sit on the step. Then flicked her penlight over his eyes, trying not to notice the intriguing shades of blue radiating from his shrinking pupils.
“I’m fine. I need to be out there finding that punk before he shows up on your doorstep.”
She checked his blood pressure, her own spiking at the notion that some creep might show up at her apartment. “The deputies are following all our calls, and Dan is with me. I will be perfectly safe. You need to rest.”
“I’ve rested enough,” he said in a growl.
She lost her patience. “Then spend time with your brother. Considering where he turned up Friday night, he clearly needs help sooner rather than later.”
* * *
The next afternoon Cole shifted in his truck seat, trying to get comfortable. He was still on sick leave, so he’d been parked in the coffee shop’s back lot with a bird’s eye view of the ambulance base since Sherri arrived for her shift this morning. She’d been right about him needing to spend time with his brother, and as much as her scolding had stung, Cole appreciated her concern. He’d kind of enjoyed her playing paramedic on him again, too— looking so intently at his eyes that he’d started to feel as if she could see into his very soul. He hadn’t been able to get her deep blue eyes off his mind since. He just wished she exhibited half as much concern for herself.
Thankfully, the punk hadn’t come back, and so far not even an ambulance call had come in to break up the monotony. He couldn’t help but admire how easily she’d sloughed off the homeless guy’s threat yesterday and joked about a prisoner’s marriage proposal.
Yeah, it was how most frontline workers dealt with the junk, but she’d seemed genuinely unaffected.
Cole glanced at his watch. Eddie would be getting out of school in another forty-five minutes, and he didn’t want to miss him again. Unfortunately, if the kid he’d spotted skulking around the ambulance base yesterday was also in school, he might show up just when Cole needed to leave.
Cole unscrewed his thermos cap and eyeballed the last few ounces of day-old coffee. Forget it. Time to grab a fresh cup. As he pushed open the door, movement along the fence behind the ambulance base caught his eye.
He soundlessly pushed his truck door closed and hunched down behind the hood.
A kid clambered over the chain-link fence. Same black hoodie hiding his face.
The instant he moved toward the ambulance base’s side door, Cole dashed forward and face-planted him into the dirt. Wrestling the guy’s arm behind his back, he hissed, “What are you doing here?”
The punk stopped fighting. “Cole?”
Cole’s stomach tanked. “Eddie?” He grabbed a fistful of his brother’s hoodie and hauled him to his feet, scarcely restraining the urge to connect his fist with Eddie’s nose. He clearly didn’t know him anymore. “How could you?”
Eddie’s eyes ballooned. “How could I what? I came to apologize to Sherri.”
“Right.” Cole felt sick. “That’s why you’re skulking over the fence, instead of walking up from the street.”
“I didn’t want the other guys to see me. I wanted to catch her alone.”
Cole swallowed a rush of bile at how that sounded. He shoved his brother through the hedge flanking the parking lot toward the coffee shop next door. “We need to talk.”
“I’m telling the truth!”
Cole opened the coffee shop door and motioned Eddie to a window seat.
“I always liked Sherri. She was nice to us.”
A waitress sashayed over, clunked two empty mugs on the table, and flashed Cole a welcoming whatcha-doing-later smile. “You must be new here. I never forget a face.” She had pouty lips and an over-the-top makeup job that he supposed some guys would find attractive.
“That’s right.” He pushed his cup toward the pot in her hand.
“What can I get you boys?” she asked as she filled both mugs.
“A couple of the specials,” Cole ordered to expedite her exit.
“Two specials coming up.” She winked and flounced away, leaving a trail of fragrance lingering behind her.
Eddie snagged the sugar dispenser and dosed his coffee with a steady stream. “Still a chick magnet, I see.”
Cole popped a couple of ibuprofen to take the edge off the headache that had returned with a vengeance thanks to their scuffle, and tried to decide if he heard derision or jealousy in Eddie’s tone. Probably a little of both. If Eddie spent half his time tripping out, Cole couldn’t imagine too many girls being interested in hanging with him. At least no one who wasn’t stoned herself.
Eddie stirred his coffee so hard it swirled over the brim. “C’mon, why don’t you just get the lecture over so we can both go home?”
“You expect me to believe you came here to apologize to Sherri?”
“Yes.”
“The guy who lured you to the drug house didn’t send you here?”
“What? No!”
Cole exhaled, unfortunately believing him, which meant he was back to square one. “Okay, I’m sorry I doubted you. I’m afraid we didn’t get off to a good start, but believe it or not, I came back to Stalwart because I want to spend time with you, not lecture you.”
“Don’t do me any favors. I got over my case of big brother worship a long time ago.”
Yeah, Eddie hadn’t appreciated Cole’s opinion on his choice of who to live with after the divorce. Almost a year had passed before they’d even talked to each other again. “I’m sorry. I was wrong to stay away so long. I’m hoping we can make up for lost time.”
Eddie snorted. “Face-planting me into the sidewalk is a great way to start.” He lifted his mug in a toast. “Thanks.”
The waitress slipped their soup bowls onto the table, allowing him to let the remark pass without comment. Clearly it would take a lot more than a few shared dinners to chisel that boulder-sized chip from Eddie’s shoulder.
Sirens cut through the silence. An ambulance whipped out the bay next door, but with hedges blocking a good part of the view, Cole couldn’t tell if Sherri was inside. He breathed a