Chapter 4
Chapter Four
“Mom.” Chloe shook her head and rolled her eyes. “You are something else. Please tell me neither of you are staying the night.”
“Unfortunately not.” Her mom blew out a heavy breath. “Nathan doesn’t think I’m up to staying, and he worries about me being alone all night if he stayed.” She rolled her eyes. “Don’t you fret, lovey. We are both flying back with Smith.”
“Where is the hot cowboy?” Chloe asked, looking to Jaxon and using the name they’d teased Smith with since high school.
“The hot cowboy?” Davin murmured, his gaze registering irritation at the title.
“Everybody our age teases Smith with that title,” Jaxon explained. “Ever since the football game when an opposing cheerleader yelled that she wanted to go out with our quarterback ‘the hot cowboy’.”
Davin acted as if Chloe calling Smith by his title bothered him. She wouldn’t mind Davin feeling a twinge of the jealousy that she felt for him and Robinette. He wasn’t interested in Chloe, though, so he probably felt no jealousy.
If Emmaline Parkinson, the eighty-year-old who knew everybody and everything, was to be believed, Jaxon was having lunch and dinner with Robinette on a regular basis.
Jaxon had confirmed that they were ‘dating’ when he had to verify the alibi, and Davin hadn’t disagreed.
He’d never asked Chloe to so much as get an ice cream cone at Honey’s Sweet Shop.
Why did the thought of Robinette make Chloe more uncomfortable than ever?
Robinette had pretended they were friends throughout the years but had stolen her, her sister Cassie’s, and other friends’ boyfriends any chance she got.
Seven was the running number for her and Cassie, if she didn’t count Davin, which she couldn’t as he’d never been hers.
“I can bet he hates that title.” Her dad smirked. “Smith is out in the waiting room. Too many people in here. And you be nice to your mother. She’ll be in a wheelchair soon and you’ll feel guilty for not enjoying her spark.”
“Like she’s going to lose her out-of-control hilariousness when she’s in a wheelchair.” Chloe laughed at the thought. Her mom would probably get sassier if she wasn’t mobile and couldn’t run around town giving everybody a hard time and gossiping with Josephine and Obachan.
Her dad and Jaxon laughed with Chloe. Davin did not. His eyes widened as if not certain how to respond to teasing about her mom’s ‘condition’.
“Esther has rheumatoid arthritis,” Dad explained to Davin. “She shouldn’t end up in a wheelchair, but we like to give her a hard time about it.”
Davin rubbed at his jaw. “I don’t think my mother would appreciate anyone teasing her if she was going to end up in a wheelchair.”
“Well.” Her dad smiled proudly. “Our Esther is unique, and we Vances tease about everything. If you’re going to date my daughter, you’ll have to loosen up and get on board with loads of joking.”
“Dad,” Chloe hissed, humiliation making her skin prickle and her cheeks burn. “We are not dating. Please stop.”
Her dad shrugged and smiled.
Davin looked … hopeful. That was intriguing.
But no. He was dating Robinette. Chloe couldn’t riddle out why he was staying or why she felt a twinge of unease that she realized was related to him.
Probably because of him and Robinette. No way had Davin hurt her, but maybe the people who had hurt her were associated him? She had no idea.
“Oh, you lighten up, little missy. Your daddy’s never going to stop teasing you or your sissy or me.” Her mom gave her husband a fond look, but then her eyes narrowed on Davin. “And why are you not dating? Is my gorgeous daughter not your type, or are you dating someone else?”
“Mom,” Chloe hissed. She was out of control. Of course Josephine would’ve shared her inside scoop about Davin and Robinette with mom, Obachan, and anyone on the island who’d listen.
“If you’ll excuse me,” Jaxon thankfully interrupted. “I’ll go talk to the doctor and meet you in the waiting room, Nathan and Esther. Chloe will be just fine here at the hospital.” He met Chloe’s gaze, and she nodded to him. She knew what to do if she felt uncomfortable.
“I suppose so.” Her mom sighed. “But who will stay with our darling angel?” She fluttered her eyelashes at Davin. She was too much.
“I’m planning on staying,” Davin reassured her. “Sheriff Bradley, Jaxon, and I already worked it out.”
“Oh, thank you. With my condition, it is advisable that I sleep in my own bed.” She winked.
“Young strapping buck like this, he won’t mind sleeping in the waiting room or in that chair and watching out for our gorgeous girl.” Her dad tilted his head to a stiff-looking leather chair.
“Dad.” Chloe shook her head. “He can go get a hotel room. I’ll pay for it. There’s no need for him to not get some rest. I’m not an invalid or in danger.”
“If he doesn’t stay in the room with you, I’m staying or we’re getting an officer here.” Jaxon had a determined look in his blue eyes. “Sorry, Chloe, but we won’t know that there wasn’t foul play until all the tests are back and I’ve examined the scene.”
“Foul play?” her mom cried out, leaning into her dad. “Somebody did hurt my baby girl?”
“Jaxon,” Chloe hissed. At least he hadn’t shared her misgivings about Davin. “Mom. Relax, please. I am fine. I most likely stood on a rolling chair or stack of books, fell, and hit my head.”
Even as she said the words, a darkness rolled over her and a premonition of danger. She shivered and hugged herself, pulling the thin blanket tighter to her chest. It did little to warm her.
She glanced at Davin. The set of his jaw and the tightness of his arm and shoulder muscles said he would protect her, but what did an author know about protection? He had told her himself that he didn’t own a gun. Most men she knew owned guns for hunting, protection, or simply collecting.
“You let our beloved sheriff figure that out.” Her mom patted Jaxon’s cheek as if he were a little boy.
To his credit, he only grinned. No sign of a grimace.
Her mom then turned to her and gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek.
“You try and rest, lovey. I’ll call you in the morning and hopefully you’ll be home when the ferry comes over at noon tomorrow. ”
“I hope so too. Love you.”
“Love you.” Her mom gave her one more hug, then stepped back.
“Take care, darlin’.” Her dad hugged her and then stepped back and eyed Davin. “You watch out for my girl. Protect her with your life.”
Oh my, it was getting far too dramatic.
“Yes, sir.” Davin said the words seriously and shook her dad’s hand as if to confirm his promise.
A warmth swelled in Chloe’s chest. Davin would protect her? She loved the sentiment, even if he was dating Robinette and didn’t know how to fight any better than Chloe did.
Her dad turned to Jaxon. “You go and investigate. If there’s foul play, you find whoever did this and lock them up.”
“Dad.” Chloe pushed out an exasperated breath. “Nobody did anything.”
Jaxon shrugged, looking unconvinced. “We’ll figure that out.” He looked to Davin. “Are you all right sleeping in that chair? It lays down flat and they’ll get you a pillow and blankets.”
“You’re speaking from experience.”
Jaxon nodded but didn’t elaborate.
“I don’t mind doing that.”
“Davin,” Chloe exclaimed. “That’s too much to ask of you. I’ll be fine.”
His bluish-gray eyes landed on her, intense. “I’m staying,” he said in a soft voice that was somehow commanding and alluring.
Her heart rate predictably soared and the dang machine beeped. She wished she could hide under the washed-too-many-times blanket.
“That’s a good boy.” Her mom patted his cheek. How humiliating. Then she swung on Chloe. “I swear you need to get your nose out of those books and watch some of these new television series. The bad guys always come and hurt the innocent angel in the hospital.”
“It happens in novels too,” Davin concurred.
“You two stop,” Chloe groaned.
Davin and her mom shared a smile. She didn’t like them conspiring together. Yet somehow she did.
Jaxon grinned as well. “Questionably researched television and movies aside, I’m sure you research your novels and they’re accurate.”
“Deep-dive research,” Davin agreed.
Now Davin and Jaxon were sharing grins.
“Either Davin stays or we have a Eureka officer stationed in the hall,” Jaxon finished.
Chloe shifted uncomfortably and looked to Davin.
“I’m staying,” he reaffirmed, confidence and determination in his tone and his eyes.
“Thank you,” she squeaked.
The look that passed between them filled her longing—longing to be cared for and loved by Davin.
No, not him. A man like him.
They’d lost the chance to date because of one Robinette Valentine, the recurring wrecking ball of any relationship for Chloe.
The events of today were a complete blank, but the day their chances of dating had crashed and burned was still vivid in Chloe’s mind.
The first month that Davin hung out at her shop, the short month of February, she’d thought a slice of heaven had dropped into her quiet afternoons.
He tapped away on his computer, but often their eyes would catch as she was dusting shelves, arranging displays, or restocking books.
He took a break every half an hour like clockwork to stretch and give his mind a rest. Often, they’d chat and laugh together or she’d make him a cup of coffee, tea, or lemonade, or get him a homemade cookie or brownie purchased daily from her friend Sue who ran a bakery out of her industrial-sized home kitchen.
The bookstore didn’t get much traffic in February on their chilly island of Shadow Cove, so often it was just the two of them and cozy afternoons in her comfy store.
She’d imagined they were falling into… of course not love, but intense like, perhaps.
That wasn’t an unreasonable relationship status.