Chapter 21
Sitting down to a video call with his bosses, Gamble and Swann, Trent struggled to focus. He wasn’t happy about leaving Natalie at the hospital. He could apologize forever and it wouldn’t change a thing. She’d been kidnapped, drugged, and injured on his watch.
But he’d been needed elsewhere. Part of the job, of course.
Statements, reports, and interviews demanded his attention as authorities made arrests and pressed charges.
Throughout the wrap up of the case, he stayed in contact with Natalie’s sisters, getting regular updates on her condition.
She was improving every day and asking about him regularly.
He wanted nothing more than to be there, if only to reassure himself that she was healing and would make a full recovery. He counted it a miracle that her sisters even spoke to him at all. By some miracle, they didn’t blame him. He kind of wished they would.
He’d sent flowers to Natalie’s hospital room, and also to Roni’s house for her and Celeste.
“Trent, you’ve done a great job here.” Gamble drew his attention back to the meeting. “Your report is thorough, and all of the law enforcement agencies involved will appreciate this.”
“Yes, sir.” One thought had been bugging him as he wrote those reports they were so happy with.
“I feel like we’re missing a piece of the puzzle,” he began.
“Have any of the men in custody explained how they chose their targets? I understand the mechanic down in Georgia was copying keys. But that doesn’t explain some of the stuff up here.
” Sure, these questions were technically above his pay grade, but he figured he’d earned the extra information.
Swann shook his head. “Not so far. Either they don’t know, or they’re protecting another asset. My money is on asset protection.”
“So we missed somebody in the roundup,” Trent muttered. Not good.
“That is our theory, yes,” Gamble said. “We have a couple people under surveillance. And we’re definitely looking at every boat mechanic up and down the Eastern seaboard. But you broke this whole mess wide open. Job well done.”
“To that end,” Swann said, “We’d like to give you a month off.”
“Pardon me?” He had done good work for the agency in the past and never once been offered a break like this. “Is there a problem you’re seeing? Some reason to keep me out of the field?”
His stomach swooped and dived. As much as he wanted to stay on the job, a lengthy break might be enough time to convince Natalie they were good together. In a permanent way.
He didn’t have anything against short-term relationships, but she was it for him. He had known it long before Royer kidnapped her, even if he hadn’t been ready to admit it to himself.
“There’s no trouble that we can see. You got your man, a few of them actually,” Gamble said.
“Take the win,” Swann added. “A month of paid leave without looking over your shoulder sounds like a sweet deal to me.”
“Me too! Absolutely,” Trent said. “You just caught me off guard.”
“That was the point,” Gamble admitted with a wry smile.
“Great, thanks.” Visions of luxurious getaways with Natalie played through his head and he immediately dug into the research. He made a list of places he thought would fuel her creativity and give him a chance to pamper her while she finished recovering.
He knew better than to simply book the tickets and the reservation. She should have the final say. With his top three choices in mind, he only had to track her down and hope she’d be willing to talk to him again.
* * *
After two more nights in the hospital, the doctors finally discharged Natalie. Celeste and Roni both came to pick her up, but there was no sign of Trent. He hadn’t come by since that first night after Royer’s capture.
Though she tried to pretend she was feeling better and strong enough to be on her own, she was tremendously thankful for all that they were doing to make her comfortable.
Crawling into her own bed felt wonderful, especially surrounded by family and the scents of home.
Still, the night was rough, peppered by both bad dreams and pain. And heartache.
When Natalie finally dragged herself out of bed the next morning, the deep, aching soreness was back with a vengeance.
Hearing her sisters moving about in the front of the house, she took her time with the gentle movement instructions Roni had left for her.
The list would’ve struck her as boring on a normal day.
Everything in her body confirmed this wasn’t normal and she needed to be nice to herself, so she took her time with each move.
As limber as she could be for the moment, she slipped into a casual sundress and aimed herself toward the kitchen for coffee.
Celeste and Veronica were on the screened porch out back and she joined them, each step rattling through her body. “Morning,” she said, joining them.
“Oh, sweetie.” Celeste jumped up. “Over here.” She motioned to the chaise. “Roni has the heating pad ready for you.”
“Thanks.” She settled in, grateful beyond measure for her sisters. “All the thanks.” She sipped her coffee and just tried to push the aches out of her mind. “What did I interrupt?”
“We were taking one final look at the offer for the Hideaway,” Roni said.
“Why?” Her heart kicked on a surge of temper. “I thought you already told them no.”
“That’s my plan,” Celeste assured her. “But I’m not going to make a decision until we’re all on board. We’ve been losing reservations since the news broke about the body washing into the cove. We need to be prepared to pivot.”
“Okay. We pivot. We’ve definitely got a cushion, based on how you handle our money.”
“That’s true,” Celeste agreed. “I just want us to have a clear picture of the situation.”
“Got it. Still don’t want to sell. I’m fully aware of recent events.
That dead body rolled into me, remember?
” Natalie knew she was snapping at the wrong people, but she couldn’t reel in her emotions.
“I don’t want to sell the Hideaway no matter what.
Don’t look at me like I’m being childish,” she warned Veronica.
“That’s our place. Dad bought it for our family.
We made memories here summer after summer.
Mom—” She had to pause and clear her throat.
“Yes, Mom died there, but she loved that house. She knew what it meant to us, that’s why she left it to us. ”
“Hey. Take a breath,” Roni said. “You’re not being childish. For once.” She only grinned when Nat glared again. “We just said we aren’t selling.”
“But we said that last week,” Nat protested. “Why are we talking about it again?”
Celeste cleared her throat. “Because we’ve had more cancellations. The news story is getting more traction after the arrests of Royer, Corey, and the others involved with the boat thefts. We should expect the story will circulate for a while,” Celeste pointed out.
Roni groaned. “And all over again once the trials start.”
“I don’t care,” Natalie dug in her heels. “We are not selling. All of us are doing well enough these days that we don’t need the Hideaway income.”
“The Hideaway is Celeste’s main source of income,” Roni reminded her.
Crap. She should just keep her mouth shut during talks like this. “You’re right. I’m sorry. Is it in your best interest to sell, Celeste?”
“No. As far as I’m concerned that house will always be ours, whether it’s earning money for us or we’re just enjoying it ourselves.”
“Good.” Right now, the idea of moving back into the Hideaway with her sisters and hunkering down, reclaiming the family property, almost seemed like a good idea. But between Trent and the construction, she’d probably just feel haunted.
“Just for the record, it’s not my only source of income,” Celeste said in the most understated mic drop manner. “I should’ve said so earlier. I don’t want you two to ever make a decision thinking you’ve got to back my career plans.”
“What career plans?” Roni challenged.
“I’m actually looking into real estate investments,” Celeste confessed. “I really enjoy what we do at the Hideaway and I’ve been looking for ways to expand our brand.”
“We have a brand?” Roni teased with mock horror.
“Of course you want to expand,” Natalie said with admiration. “Just as long as we’re not selling the Hideaway?”
“No. I mean it. It’s ours. And our flagship location,” Celeste added with a wink. “The Hideaway will be in our portfolio and family forever through good PR and bad.”
“We should host an event for the community out there,” Roni said. “Give people a good look at just how fabulous it is out there.” She drummed her fingers on the countertop. “Maybe tie the event with a regional charity to boost the good press.”
“That’s an excellent idea,” Celeste said.
Natalie agreed, but she was too tired to do much more than listen as they discussed it.
“Make sure you bring in the community,” she murmured over the rim of her coffee cup. “You might consider a couple of dinner packages. And ask if the gallery wants to coordinate with an artist for a silent auction or something.”
“That would be a great way to up the proceeds,” Celeste beamed. “Between you and Sharon Trumble there’s so much talent in this town.”
“Sure.” Natalie was too sore to think about working right now. She had more pressing—or depressing—thoughts to deal with right now.
She’d expected Trent to be there when she woke up in the hospital. Expected him to be close, eager to see her. Grateful as she was for her sisters, it wasn’t the same thing as being left behind by the man before she had a chance to tell him she loved him.
Natalie’s phone hummed with a text, but she flipped it over.
With her sisters right here, odds were good it was Trent reaching out.
She wasn’t ready. Not with so much uncertainty swirling through her system.
Every breath felt sharp and her heart ached with a goodbye that was barreling down on her like a freight train.
At Veronica’s pointed look at her cell phone, she shrugged. “I’ll get it later.”