CHAPTER TEN #2
Today, she had some of her pale-blond hair pulled back in a boho braid with the rest hanging in loose waves.
She wore wide-legged jeans with a turquoise belt, and her artfully faded blouse was covered in tiny flowers.
Cowboy boots I knew got some real use on her grandfather’s ranch peeked out from under the hem of her jeans.
But the real showstopper was her eyes. The blue of her irises was so pale they almost looked translucent.
Aster held my gaze, not looking away like most did. “You look great, Nova.”
I was sure I looked a hell of a lot better than when she’d first seen me, a week or two out of rehab and still jumping at every little sound and movement, not much more than skin and bones.
Gaining the weight I so desperately needed had been a difficult task.
When I was in the hospital and the rehab center, everything had been carefully monitored.
If I’d eaten too much, too quickly, there could have been potentially deadly repercussions.
“Thanks. I’m feeling good,” I told her honestly. I could feel myself getting stronger with my bike rides and swims. But I craved more. Things that reminded me I was alive. Maybe a self-defense course.
“Hey, Aster,” Brae said as she walked up. “It’s so good to see you.” She pulled her friend into a quick hug. As she released her, Brae’s gaze moved between the two of us. “You guys should talk. Aster might have some therapist recs you would like, Nova.”
Everything in me hardened to stone. It felt like a slap—no, worse. Like the slice of a blade, cutting into all the progress I thought I’d made.
Aster sent Brae a gentle smile. “Nova knows I’m an open door, anytime she needs anything. But she needs to be the one who decides that.”
Brae’s cheeks flushed. “I just—”
“Nova, why don’t you come with me?” Cora cut in. “I’ll introduce you around.”
“Thanks,” I said quickly, heading toward the group of strangers, even though it was the last place I wanted to go. But I’d take gawking strangers over my best friend thinking I needed to head back to a shrink any day.
“She doesn’t mean it in a bad way,” Cora said softly.
“I know, it just …”
“Feels like someone cutting you down when you’ve just gotten your sea legs.”
One corner of my mouth kicked up. “Exactly. You get it.”
She let out a low whistle. “Brae and Holly are mama bears to the core. They want to fix and coddle and protect. But sometimes, what I need is space.”
“God, do I feel that. I worry all the time that I’m going to bite Brae’s head off in a way that does serious damage because I just need to … breathe.”
“You’re alive. You’re breathing.”
I heard Kol’s voice in my head, my grounding stone.
“Get that space. Honestly, I lie if I have to.” Cora let out a little laugh. “The other night, I told Holly I had to do an emergency deep-conditioning treatment on my hair and couldn’t go to dinner.” Her mouth curved wide. “Hair emergencies for the win.”
“Your locks do look extra luscious today,” I said with a laugh.
Cora flicked them over one shoulder. “Why, thank you.”
I felt those eyes on me again. The kind that held a different sort of energy. I sought out the feeling and found the same dark-haired man staring at me. He was almost glaring but not quite.
“Who is that?” I asked, my voice dropping to a whisper.
Cora followed my line of sight. When she finally spoke, her voice went quiet. “Jack Hooper. His wife, Cynthia, was—”
“One of the victims,” I finished for her so she wouldn’t have to say the words.
Cora nodded. “He’s mad. But not at you.”
“At the universe.”
“The universe and Trav. At first, I thought he would hate me, but he’s been nothing but kind. Even brings me fresh-caught fish every few weeks because he knows Trav used to do that for me.”
An ache settled in my chest. It felt like everyone in this small community had been marked by this thing. By Travis. If Dex hadn’t already killed him, I’d be gunning for the job.
Cora’s gaze flicked up to my face. “Can I ask you something? If it’s too much, you can tell me to take a flying leap.”
Tension curled around my muscles, but I managed to speak. Because I knew it would likely cost her to bring up whatever this was. “Sure. If it’s something I don’t want to answer, I’ll tell you.”
“Good.” Cora said the word as if the syllable was an exhale.
“Do you still not remember anything? I’m just …
I’m trying to make sense of it.” Tears swirled in her green eyes.
“To me, he was wonderful. Always caring, never doing anything even close to violent. I’m just trying to understand who the other half of him was. Why he did it.”
My heart broke for her. I couldn’t imagine having someone I loved turn out to be the kind of monster Travis was. Kol’s face flashed in my mind. The truth he’d bared to me. What he’d carried. It was so similar to Cora’s yet so different.
“Nothing concrete,” I whispered. “Just flashes now and then. But I’m honestly not sure if they’re memories or something my mind conjured up because of the different things the doctors and law enforcement officers have told me. It’s still mostly just blank.”
Cora worried the corner of her lip. “I guess … that might be for the best.”
I heard her unspoken words. Even though I won’t get answers.
“If I do remember anything, I’ll tell you.” But that was a lie. Because not knowing might be better for Cora, too. Knowing the details of what her ex-fiancé had done would only give her nightmares.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
A glint of something caught in the afternoon light. Sun on metal? Glass?
And then I saw him.
That same stupid mustard beanie. The blond beard. And a long-lens camera.
Reese, the reporter, was taking photos of me, and I could do nothing to stop it. I was in a public place. But something niggled at me.
How the hell did he know I would be here?