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Chapter Twenty-Three
Edie
“MaybeIshouldstay,”I said for the third time.
“You should go,” Melinda said.She was sitting on the couch with a blanket over her lap, and she wasn’t happy about it.“These backcountry trips really are wonderful.There’s nothing quite like sleeping under the stars.Not that you’ll actually be sleeping under the stars, unless you want to.I’m sure Jasper will set up you nicely.”
Just the mention of Jasper’s name was enough to send a flush of heat over my body, but I ignored it.The way he was ignoring me.“I’m sure it’s great, but I’m worried about you.”
“Yes, yes, everyone is so worried about me.”Melinda plaited the blanket between her fingers.“You and Dominic and Jasper and Flint and Micah and Dylan and Mona and Dr.Barnes, and now the whole clan.Honestly, I’m looking forward to getting a break from all this worry.”
“It’s a big help to me,” Ethan said, laying a hand on my back.“And an easy gig.You won’t have to deal with anything more serious than a sunburn, and that way I don’t have to worry about rushing back if there’s an emergency here in town.”
His smile was encouraging, with just a hint of something more.We’d been working together closely for the last few days.He was an attractive, interesting, intelligent man, and we had a lot in common.I wasn’t oblivious to his appealing features, but I was indifferent.
It was Jasper who haunted my dreams.
“You haven’t experienced Montana unless you’ve been in the backcountry,” Melinda said with a sigh.
I chuckled.“You do realize that to me, Twisted Pines feels like the backcountry.There were deer in front of my cabin this morning.Real deer.”
“Scavengers,” she scoffed.“There’s so much more you’re missing.Dominic, tell her,” She said as Dominic came in, carrying drinks for all of us.“The backcountry trip is a real treat.He’ll be your chef this weekend.”
“Actually, I won’t,” he said, not reacting when Melinda’s gaze whipped to him.“Dylan said he wanted to fill in for me.You know he’ll take any excuse to go up into the high country.”
“Doesn’t he usually prefer to go alone?He hates these trips with all the guests mucking up his peace and quiet,” Melinda asked.
Dominic shrugged.“I didn’t ask.”
Melinda glared at him suspiciously.“Dominic, this is a scheduled trip.You always run the camp kitchen.You love showing off what you can make over a fire.You’ve told me many times that these trips remind you what you love about Montana.”
“If you’re not going, I’m not going.”
“I do not need you to stay here and watch me like a hawk every second of every day.”
“Yes, you do,” he said.“And you can’t be trusted to ask for help when you need it.I’m your Beta, and it’s my job to take care of you even when you’re too damned stubborn to understand how much it matters to me.How much you mean to me.”
They stared at each other as if they were dueling with their eyes.Dominic was the first to look away, but he wasn’t backing down.“I’m gonna go make sure the kitchen crew has everything they need.”
He stalked out of the trailer, letting the door slam behind him.“So, I guess he’s staying,” Dr.Barnes said, his tone falsely bright.
“I guess so,” Melinda said, shaking her head.
“You could order him to go,” Dr.Barnes said.“You are the Alpha, after all.”
I flicked a glance at him.I could tell Melinda was frustrated with our hovering, but I thought it would be a good thing for Dominic to stay.He was more attentive and thoughtful than any nurse could be, and he had an encyclopedic understanding of the progress of her disease.And he was quite obviously in love with her.I wasn’t sure if that was a feature of the Alpha-Beta relationship, or something that had developed over the years.Either way, he was an asset in the fight to save her life.
Especially since it seemed like we might lose the battle and never know why.
Dr.Barnes had been running labs every day that turned up nothing unusual in her system.I’d been entering her symptoms into databases and discarding theory after theory.I couldn’t pinpoint any physical reason she should be so exhausted that she could barely stand, yet show no other acute symptoms.Her mind was as sharp as ever, but she needed both hands to hold her teacup.
I sighed.Maybe I did need a break.Doctors worry about their patients.We’re up close to their pain and suffering, and we want to relieve it.But something about Melinda had made the worry deeper, more personal.I’d only been in Twisted Pines a week, but it was clear she was the heart of the place.She insisted her sons keep working, taking on even more responsibilities since she couldn’t muster up the energy to work.But each of them came by at least once a day to check on her, fill her in, and make her laugh.
Especially Jasper.Micah, Flint, and Dylan all had tasks that took them away from the Lodge, but Jasper worked in a cramped little office that was no more than five minutes from his mother’s trailer out back.He’d stop in often to ask his mother questions, even though he didn’t actually seem to need her input.When I was there, he’d greet me with a polite smile, chat for a few minutes, then turn his attention to his mother.
He wasn’t doing anything that should feed the fire of need inside me.Yet every time I saw him, the fire roared.
“It’s not good for you to be stressed,” Dr.Barnes continued, bringing my attention back to the conversation.“If being around Dominic is causing you anxiety, maybe you should take a break from each other.”
