Chapter 31
Cooper didn’t know what to do. Kendall was home, staying with her father, but she was not okay.
Her father was as worried about her as he was.
It had been four days since they’d brought her home from the hospital, and she spent most of her time in her childhood room.
At meals, she picked at her food, barely eating enough to survive.
Most disturbing, except for that one time at the hospital, she hadn’t asked about Livie. It was time to change things up.
“I want to take her to Myrtle Beach,” he told Frank.
Her father glanced down the hallway at the closed door Kendall was hiding behind. “Maybe she just needs a little more time.”
“Every day, she looks worse and eats less. If that keeps up, we’ll have to hospitalize her.
That’s the last thing I want to do.” Over the past four days, he’d gotten to know the man, and liked him a lot.
He was the kind of father Cooper wished he’d had.
“I talked to Dr. Croft this morning, and she agrees that a change might do Kendall good. She gave me a name of someone in Myrtle Beach Kendall can talk to.”
“What if she doesn’t want to go?”
“I’m not going to give her a choice, Frank.”
The man’s troubled eyes met his. “What gives you the right to make decisions for her? I’m her father. That right should be mine.”
“I’m not trying to take away any rights you have as her father, but I’ve had friends, soldiers I served with, who had PTSD.
I have some experience with the syndrome, and one thing I learned is that sometimes a little push in the right direction can make all the difference.
Closing herself up in that room every day isn’t helping her. ”
Frank sighed heavily. “I just want her to be okay again. I miss seeing her smile, hearing her laugh.”
He placed a hand on Frank’s shoulder. “She’ll smile again. She just needs a reason to.”
“Maybe I should come with you.”
“I think for a few days, she needs to…” How did he put this without hurting the man’s feelings? “For a few days, she just needs to focus on herself. Maybe sit on the beach, feel the sun on her face, watch Livie play. Why don’t you plan on coming up next week?”
Frank looked at him as if trying to see into his mind. “Maybe I will. You’ll take good care of my girl?”
“I will. I care for her very much, and I want to see her laugh again as much as you do.”
“Are you going to take Livie away from her?”
“Never. That’s a promise.” He did want to keep them with him in Myrtle Beach, but until Kendall agreed to that, he’d keep that to himself.
“Maybe she does need to get away. What if she refuses to go?”
“She won’t.” He wasn’t going to let her refuse. “I’ll go talk to her now.”
“I guess you mean to leave today?”
“Yes.” He walked down the hallway to her door. He knocked, and not receiving a response, he shrugged as he opened the door and went in. She was sitting by the window, staring blankly at the world outside.
He kneeled next to her. “Hey. I want to talk to you about something.”
“I don’t feel like talking,” she said, not looking at him.
“You don’t have to. I’ll do the talking. We’re driving back to Myrtle Beach today.” She didn’t respond. “Livie misses you.”
“She needs to come home.”
“No, she’s happy there, so we’re going to her.
” He thought she didn’t really care whether Livie came home or not, and that concerned him more than anything.
Livie meant everything to her, and this apathy was a clear sign of PTSD.
He stood and got her suitcase out of the closet.
She ignored him as he packed her things.
If he had to pick her up and carry her to his truck, he would.
After he loaded her suitcase in his truck, he returned to her room. “Time to go, Kendall.” When he’d talked to Dr. Croft, she’d told him not to treat Kendall like a wounded bird to be tiptoed around. The doctor had said that would only give her permission to hold on to her depression. He agreed.
She darted a glance at him. “I’m not going.” Her attention returned to the view outside the window.
Her father came into the room. “Go with him, Kendall. You have to be tired of staring out that window. A change of scenery will be good for you. I love you, honey.” He leaned down and kissed her cheek, then walked out.
Cooper understood how hard it had been for Frank to send her off, and he was grateful for the trust her father was giving him. “Let’s go,” he said. “Livie misses you, and she’s starting to think you’ve abandoned her.”
“I would never.”
“You know that. I know that. Livie doesn’t. You have two choices here. You can walk out on your own two feet, or I can toss you over my shoulder and carry you out.”
“I hate you.”
“No, you don’t.”
“Do, too.” She stood and strode out of the room.
Although small, there was a bit of fire there. Because she had her back to him and wouldn’t see, he smiled. He lost his smile when she froze as soon as she stepped outside.
“I can’t do this,” she said as her eyes darted around.
He put his arm around her shoulders. “There isn’t anyone out here. You’re safe, Kens.” Keeping her tucked next to him, he walked her to his truck.
The drive back to Myrtle Beach was quiet, with Kendall staring out the window lost in her thoughts.
They reached Myrtle Beach at dinnertime, and Cooper went through a fast-food drive-through, getting a bucket of chicken and some sides.
Once inside his apartment, she went straight to the bathroom, closing the door behind her.
He put her suitcase in the room she shared with Livie, then went to the kitchen and set out plates and silverware.
“Come eat,” he said when she appeared.
“Not hungry.”
“I am, and you can at least keep me company.” When she turned—likely to shut herself up in the guest bedroom—he caught her arm. “Please. Just sit with me.”
She sighed but went to the table.
He didn’t know what was going on in her mind because she refused to talk about it.
The man who’d taken her as a child had come back like the worst bogeyman ever.
He did know what it was like to be terrified and fearing for your life.
She was crumbling the biscuit he’d put on her plate. She wouldn’t talk, so he did.
“When I was kidnapped, I thought I was going to die. Grayson and Liam came from money, and when their ransom was paid, they’d get to go home.
Me?” He laughed, but it wasn’t a funny laugh.
“The joke was on the kidnappers. Money was something other people had. Even if they’d asked my father for only a hundred dollars and he had that much money in his pocket, he would have laughed in their face.
Then he would have gone down to the corner bar and stayed there until the money was gone and he got kicked out. ”
“Were you scared?”
“Terrified out of my mind.” Her attention was on him now and not whatever dark thoughts she’d been having, so he continued.
“There were two men, and they kept us in a room for two weeks, only giving us enough food to keep us alive.” He’d told her a bit about that time, but not any details.
He wasn’t even sure she remembered the little he had shared.
“How did you get away?”
“That’s where Liam and I got lucky to have been kidnapped with Grayson. His father had been a Navy SEAL, and he called in a favor. Sent a couple of former SEALs to rescue us.”
“You rescued me.”
“I’d give anything if I’d found you sooner, Kendall, before he hurt you.
” He took the half-destroyed biscuit away from her and dropped it on the plate.
“Come here.” Not giving her a chance to refuse, he pulled her to him so that she was sitting on his leg.
He wrapped his arms around her, and she leaned against him.
“I know about dark places in the mind because I spent a lot of time there, even after I was safe. Tell me about yours.” When she stayed silent, he rested his chin on her head. “Talk to me,” he softly said.
A long moment passed, then, “I thought I died. I wanted to die.”
He flinched at hearing she’d wanted to die. There was more, so he just held her and waited.
“I wanted to disappear, to fade into nothingness and escape the nightmare I was in. If I was dead, the monster couldn’t hurt me anymore.” Tears streamed down her cheeks as she lifted her face to his. “I was being selfish, not caring if Livie lost her mother. I’m so ashamed.”
“You listen to me, Kendall. You aren’t selfish. You were a victim trying to survive a nightmare no one should ever have to endure. You’re a survivor, and that takes strength beyond measure.” A tremble traveled through her, and he tightened his hold on her. “I thank God that you did survive.”
Tears flowed down her cheeks, and he held her as she cried.
Her tears seeped into his shirt, her body racked with sobs.
He hadn’t seen her cry since she was rescued, and she needed this.
He didn’t know how long he held her while she fell apart, but when her cries subsided, he put his finger under her chin and lifted her face so he could look into her eyes.
“You’re not alone in this. You have your father, Livie, me, my brothers and their ladies to lean on.
To listen to you when you need to talk. I’ll hold you when that’s all you need.
” He brushed his lips over hers. “I think that’s enough talk for tonight, though.
How about I run you a bath, bring you a cup of tea and then I’ll hold you through the night so you know you’re safe.
In the morning, we’ll go get Livie. All that sound good? ”
She swiped her hands over her cheeks, wiping away her tears. “Yes, it sounds nice.”
“Good.” Careful not to hurt her shoulder wound, he lifted her to her feet, then took her hand and led her to the bathroom.
He believed she’d had a breakthrough tonight, but there would be other dark days.
What happened to her wasn’t going to just disappear like a miracle, so he’d convince her to talk to the psychologist that Dr. Croft had recommended.
The next morning, Kendall chose not to go with him to get Livie, saying she wasn’t ready to talk to anyone. That was fine. He wasn’t going to push her into doing anything she wasn’t ready for. He thought—hoped—that Livie would be good medicine for her mother.
He arrived at Grayson’s to find his daughter, his dog, Tyler and Einstein the cat inside a blanket fort in the living room. He wanted to talk to Grayson and Harlow for a minute before Livie knew he was here, so he motioned them to follow him to the kitchen.
“How’s Kendall?” Harlow asked, keeping her voice low so the kids in the living room couldn’t hear.
“Not so good. She’s struggling, but she did talk a little for the first time about what she went through. I’m hoping that’s a good sign. The psychologist in Decatur she talked to recommended one here, and I’m going to encourage her to make an appointment.”
“If there’s anything we can do, you only have to ask,” Grayson said.
“Thank you. I think having Livie home will help her. I really appreciate you letting her stay here while we were gone.”
Harlow smiled. “Your daughter is a delight. Anytime you need us to keep her, we’ll be happy to.”
“Is Kendall going to stay here?” Grayson said.
He shrugged. “I wish I knew. That’s what I want, but I don’t know where Kendall’s mind on that is right now. For now, I’m going to take my daughter and dog home. Is there anything going on I need to know about?”
“No.” Grayson squeezed his shoulder. “Take a few days off to spend with your family.”
He went to the living room and peeked into the fort’s opening. A laugh escaped. Ruby had a lace handkerchief on her head and a silk rose under her paw. Einstein had a bow tie clipped to his collar.
“Daddy!” Livie squealed, jumping up and flying into his arms. “You’re home.”
“I sure am. What’s going on here?”
“Ruby and Einstein got married.”
“They did? That’s…uh, great.” He was sure the animals were thrilled to be wedded.
“Yes. Where’s Mommy?”
“At home waiting for you.”
“Oh, goody. Let’s go.”
He collected Livie and Ruby and took his family home.