“You don’t have to do that, Helena,” Matteo said, smiling. “They’re giving me some crutches. If the water’s clear, I can just sail the boat away from your place today.”
“You be careful,” the nurse told him flirtatiously.
Matteo laughed. “I’ll be more careful than I’ve ever been.”
“I don’t think that’s saying much,” the nurse said.
With her hands around the wheelchair handles, pushing Matteo out into the gorgeous June morning, Helena felt a sense of belonging that frightened her. For more than a year, she’d been her parents’ caregiver; she’d been behind wheelchairs; she’d smelled all the smells of hospitals and worked hard never to be panicked by anything body-related. But now that Matteo looked at her like his savior, she felt better than she had in ages. Maybe she’d been the perfect person to be around for Matteo’s accident.
Maybe this was how they were meant to meet?
Oh, but that was ridiculous. She reminded herself that she was sick and dying. That she’d come to Nantucket to be invisible on the beach. She’d come to Nantucket so that the rest of the world could stop dealing with her.
Helena helped Matteo into the passenger seat of her Chevy, upon which she’d spread a plastic bag so that Matteo didn’t have to sit on his own dried blood stains.
“I’ll pay for the cleanup,” he told her.
Helena smiled. “It doesn’t matter. I’ll just keep the bag on it.” It wasn’t like anyone would ride around with her for the foreseeable future.
“I’d really like to be the one to pay for it,” Matteo pushed it. “Will you let me?”
“We’ll see,” Helena said. She hated how much she was beginning to like him. She hated how he wanted to help her with things. She knew she couldn’t get used to anything like that.
She reminded herself of Elliott—the man who’d promised both legally and emotionally to love and support her forever. You couldn’t trust anyone.
Helena drove through the blue-skied morning, back to the house she’d rented on the beach. Once there, she opened the garage door, then hurried to grab Matteo’s cane and help him back into the house. Once inside, she assessed the state of the wet carpet and the mounds of glass. They shone like jewels. “I have to get this cleaned up,” she said under her breath. “Help yourself to whatever you can find. There’s wine and cheesecake.”
Matteo laughed. “Breakfast of champions.”
Helena went to the spare bedroom, then to the hall closet to see if a vacuum cleaner was included at the property. But there was nothing. When she returned to the living room, she found Matteo on the sofa, assessing the damage. “I could have stepped on a much bigger piece,” he said.
“Thank goodness you didn’t!” Exhausted, she sat down beside him. “I need to buy a vacuum cleaner.”
“Let me buy that for you,” he said.
“Stop trying to buy me everything,” Helena teased.
Matteo turned to the left. “The sailboat’s all tied up, still. Thank goodness I tied the right knots! Or at least, I tied knots that stayed during the storm.” He sighed and collapsed back on the cushions. “I’m starting to feel like I didn’t sleep enough, which is crazy. Wasn’t I asleep all night?” He turned to look at Helena. “You probably need to rest, too.”
Helena felt crushed with exhaustion.
Matteo touched his chest. “I can’t believe you stayed.”
Helena couldn’t look at him. “You don’t have to sail back immediately,” she said. “You can take the day to rest. Take the bed, if you want to.”
“You need the bed,” Matteo told her sternly.
“I can sleep almost anywhere,” Helena said.
“So can I.” Matteo set the cane aside. “I’ll take a power nap on the couch.”
Helena felt called to the bed with a sudden urgency. But she was worried that, once she was unconscious, she wouldn’t be able to wake up again. She was worried that Matteo would let himself out and sail away without saying goodbye.
“I have an idea,” Matteo said, pulling out his cell, which the hospital staff had charged for him. “I’m going to have a vacuum cleaner delivered this afternoon. We’ll take a few hours to rest, and when the vacuum arrives, we’ll clean up and discuss next steps. Maybe it’s dinner. Maybe it’s goodbye. No pressure, either way.”
Helena’s heart pumped. She searched his face for some sign that he was lying to her. But what good would that bring him?
“Rest up,” he ordered, pointing down the hallway, toward her bedroom.
