Chapter 26
I awoke to Aiden brushing my hair back from my face.
His touch was slow and gentle, his calloused fingers tracing the edge of my temple.
I blinked, coming back from a dream. The bright light of morning filtered through half-closed blinds, washing the hospital room in pale gold.
The air smelled faintly of disinfectant and stale coffee.
I had fallen asleep with my head resting on his hospital bed, my body curled in the chair beside him.
When I sat up, my neck protested in sharp pain. “Ow.”
“Baby, you need to go home and get some sleep,” he said softly. His voice was rough, half asleep, but the hint of concern made something twist in my chest.
Outside the door, I could see Doc arriving with a paper cup of coffee in hand, talking quietly with one of the nurses. The world felt strangely still after everything that had happened. I’d stayed all night, too afraid to leave.
Aiden had dozed on and off, mostly lost to the fog of painkillers. Every time his breathing shifted, I woke, terrified he’d stop. I kept telling myself the sleep meant his body was healing. Still, my stomach hadn’t unclenched once.
“I’m fine,” I muttered, rubbing at the kink in my neck.
“You look worse than I do,” Aiden teased, his voice gravelly but lighter now.
I tried to smooth my hair, but judging from his half grin, it wasn’t much of an improvement. “I look fine.” I could probably use a shower and about twelve hours of real sleep.
We’d both been interviewed the night before by his team and Sheriff Franco…repeatedly. The nurse had brought dinner, though I barely remembered eating it. I hadn’t meant to stay the entire night, but the idea of walking away from Aiden, even for an hour, had felt wrong.
Aiden adjusted his pillow. “I would’ve hauled you up into this bed if I hadn’t passed out again,” he said. “Sorry about that.”
“How are you feeling?” I asked.
He shifted carefully, paling as he did so. “Fine. How about you?”
“I’m fine,” I said automatically, though my body ached from every muscle locking in one position all night. My phone buzzed on the side table. “Hi, Dad,” I answered, seeing his face on the screen.
“Hey, honey.” His deep voice rumbled through the speaker. “Just wanted to check on Aiden.”
I reached for Aiden’s hand. “He’s good. The doctor hasn’t been in this morning yet, but he’s got good color, and he said he’s not in pain.”
“Is he still seeing double?”
I glanced at Aiden, who gave a slow shake of his head. “No, not anymore.”
“Good,” Dad said. “Listen, I think you should probably take the silver nugget boxes and put them somewhere safe.”
I froze. “I should?”
“Well, yeah. You have them, don’t you?”
My chin hit my chest. “No, Dad, I don’t have them.”
Silence hummed on the other end.
“Dad?”
“Honey… they’re not in the trunk of the car. We were all pretty wiped last night. I went out to check before bed, and they were gone. Figured you’d already grabbed them.”
My stomach sank. “No.” My mind spun in several directions, landing on just one. “But I have a good idea who might have them.” I groaned. I shouldn’t have told Cormac where they were. What was I thinking?
Dad sighed heavily. “You sure it’s okay? I can call the sheriff.”
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure. I’ll handle it and call Sheriff Franco myself. I’ll talk to you later, okay?”
“All right. Tell Aiden to buck up for me.”
I grinned. “I will.” I ended the call and dropped the phone into my lap.
Aiden rubbed at the faint bruise on his chin, the blue hospital gown just looking wrong on him.
The IV line and sterile bedding didn’t fit him.
He was a man built for movement, for control.
Seeing him tethered to machines felt wrong, kind of like finding a wild animal trapped in too small a cage. “What was that about?” he asked.
“I found Nana’s missing nugget boxes,” I said quietly. “They were in the smaller tunnel beneath the depot.”
“I don’t remember any of it,” Aiden said, shaking his head slowly. “None of it.”
I rolled my neck, trying to get rid of the kink. “What’s your last memory?”
He frowned. “Getting ready for the parade. Your dad was sticking clovers on the float.” His voice was thoughtful, strained, as if searching through fog.
“You got a pretty good knock to the head. The doctor said the memories might not come back.” I tried to sound calm. “It’s okay. I filled you in.”
“You didn’t fill me in about the boxes,” he said dryly.
How could I forget? “Oh. Right.” I told him about finding them, tossing them into Dad’s trunk, and now discovering they’d vanished.
Aiden’s brow furrowed. “They’re gone?”
“Yeah,” I admitted. “But I’m not too worried. Cormac Coretti was here last night, and I told him exactly where to find them.”
Aiden’s jaw tightened. “Cormac, again?”
I leaned in, my eyes widening. “Yes, and guess what? He used to work with Rory.”
Aiden raised his bed with the control button until he was sitting more upright. “He works for the Agency?”
“Used to,” I said. “According to Rory. But I don’t know what he’s doing now. I’m not sure I trust him.”
“Good,” Aiden said. “I’m not trusting him either, but I haven’t had a chance to investigate him fully. Let the sheriff know about the boxes.”
That was the smartest move. “Of course,” I said quickly.
“I will.” Still, something about Cormac lingered in my mind.
I couldn’t shake the feeling that he wasn’t the enemy.
Maybe it was the way his eyes held humor, or how he’d looked at Donna like she was the only person in the storm. He didn’t strike me as a thief.
The door creaked open and Saber stepped in, his dark eyes cutting from Aiden to me. “We need to talk.”
I stood immediately. “That’s my cue.”
“There’s a line of people who want to visit you,” I told Aiden, forcing a smile. “Doc Springfield’s being strict and allowing only one or two at a time.”
Aiden winced. “I’m not up to a lot of people.”
“You’re never up to a lot of people,” Saber said dryly. “Suck it up, buddy.” He clapped Aiden’s shoulder gently.
Out in the hallway, the smell of coffee mixed with rain and the faint buzz of fluorescent lights. The night-shift nurse was handing off her chart to the next crew. Life went on, even when mine felt paused.
I wasn’t surprised to find most of Aiden’s team still in the waiting area, along with my sisters. They all looked exhausted but alert, as if they’d collectively decided not to breathe until someone said he was clear.
“What are you guys still doing here?” I asked.
“Just waiting,” Tessa said, yawning so wide her jaw cracked. “Come on. Let’s get you home.”
Donna stood, somehow looking lovely even after the long night.
We walked outside into the chill of early morning. The storm had passed, leaving the air sharp and clean, clouds drifting over the mountain ridge. The parking lot glistened with puddles, reflecting the glow of the hospital’s windows.
“I’ll take you home.” Tessa yawned again.
I hesitated. “Donna? Do you still have Cormac’s number?”
Donna blinked. “Yeah. Why?”
Because I couldn’t remember where I’d left his card. “Text it to me?”
She frowned. “Sure. Why?”
“I think he took the silver boxes out of Dad’s trunk.”
Donna stared. “You’re joking.”
“I wish,” I said. “I’ll call the sheriff, but I want to talk to Cormac first. He didn’t seem like a thief.”
Something about the memory of his steady gaze and calm voice in the rain tugged at me. He hadn’t looked guilty. Just… tired.
Donna crossed her arms. “Call the sheriff.”
“I will. I promise.”
She hugged me, holding on a beat longer than usual. “Call me if there’s any change with Aiden. Doc said he’s going to be fine.”
“He’s already fine,” I quipped.
Tessa snorted, looping an arm through mine and steering me toward her Honda Rogue. “Let’s get you home, comedian.”
We drove in silence most of the way. Morning sunlight began breaking through the thinning clouds, streaking across the wet asphalt. My eyelids grew heavy. For the first time since the explosion, the knot in my chest began to loosen. Just a little.
When Tessa parked in front of Aiden’s cabin, she turned to me. “You want me to stay?”
Thank goodness Knox had picked up Brickhouse the night before and taken him across the pass. The poor guy would be lonely. “No. I’m good. Go get some sleep, Tess. You guys didn’t have to stay all night.”
“Of course we did.” She smiled, soft and tired. “You’d have done the same.” She winked, and I couldn’t help but laugh as I climbed out, the cool air hitting my face.
The house was dark, quiet, safe, and for the first time in what felt like days, I let myself breathe. But the place felt wrong without him. Too still. The scent of him, coffee, pine soap, something warm and masculine, lingered faintly in the air, and it hit me harder than I expected.
The jacket he’d worn the other night was still tossed across the back of the couch. His boots sat by the door, caked in dried mud. Every detail reminded me of him, and that weight in my chest pressed tighter until I thought I might actually cry again.
I made it to the bathroom before I did and twisted the shower on, ditching my clothes.
The shower’s steam fogged the mirror as I stepped beneath the hot water. Heat soaked into my shoulders, loosening the ache there, but it couldn’t wash away the fear that had lived in me since the explosion. I leaned a hand against the tile and let the tears fall, silent and steady.
I’d been terrified. Truly terrified. I couldn’t imagine a world without him in it.
And in that clarity that only comes when the tears finally run out, I knew the truth. If Aiden asked me to move to Los Angeles, if it became necessary for his work or his safety, I would go. It would break my heart to leave my family and everything I’d ever known, but I would still go.
When the water began to cool, I shut it off and wrapped myself in one of his oversized towels. The scent of detergent and Aiden clung to the fabric. I stood there for a long minute before forcing myself into motion.
I dressed in jeans and a light green sweater, the color giving me a hint of life I didn’t feel. Drying my hair, I then twisted it into a ponytail, swiped on a touch of eyeshadow and gloss, and stared at myself in the mirror. I looked human again. Barely.
Outside, the morning had fully arrived. Mist hovered over the trees, and the sunlight fought to break through the clouds. I grabbed my jacket and stepped into the cool air, locking the door behind me.
Driving over the pass, the world looked washed clean from the storm.
Pines glistened with drops of water, and the river below rushed high and loud from the rainfall.
My mind wouldn’t stop circling back to Aiden—his voice, the way his hand had felt in mine, how his eyes had opened and found me first.
By the time I reached the town with its overabundance of green and gold decorations, the streets were quiet, with only a few early risers out sweeping porches or fetching coffee.
I drove along the river for a while, trying to calm the restless energy pushing through me. Finally, I pulled into the gravel drive of Brannigan’s Bed and Breakfast.
The place sat nestled beside the water, a white clapboard house framed by trees and wild rosebushes.
The rocks behind it were pale and glittering, like quartz or marble, catching the morning light.
The river rushed past them in a steady roar.
Somehow, the house didn’t look out of place here.
It looked like it belonged, fading naturally into the light rocks. What mineral kept the stones white?
I killed the engine, my pulse steadying.
It was time for Cormac Coretti to tell me everything.