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“What is,” Daniel murmured.
“Everything.”
Fifteen minutes later, just as they bottomed out at the trailhead’s parking area, Daniel announced, “You know, I really am feeling better.”
“Good.” Crossing the vacant gravel square, she hit the brakes and looked both ways at the county road. “But maybe we check in with Gus anyway?”
“It’s after midnight.”
“He told us to call anytime.”
“Let’s wait a little?” He put his hand on her arm. “I swear, if I feel weird at all again, I’ll tell you. No bullshit.”
“Okay.” She forced a smile. “It’s a deal.”
As she hit the gas and got them on the rural route, he said, “What did you talk to her about? Xhex, that is. You guys were gone for a while.”
“Ah, nothing much?” She slowed down as they came into a turn, her eyes searching the shoulders for deer. “I mean, she was kind enough. I liked her. She told me to go to the mountain and I know part of my heart is always going to be there. I’m just not sure why she’s so significant.”
He cursed. “I don’t think it helped as much as I hoped.”
“You never know what comes of anything, though.” She covered his hand with her own. “I mean, I thought I was hiring a handyman and look where it led me.”
For a split second, there was a pause, but then, like he’d resolved to focus on what positives there were, Daniel smiled—and in the glow from the dashboard lights, he looked more as he had before.
“I love you,” she said.
He stretched over the console. “I love you, too.”
They kissed briefly and resettled in their separate seats, and as she refocused on the road ahead, she wrapped the normalcy of the quick contact around her like a shield.
Hold it close. Keep it close.
Beat the demons away with it.
By the time she piloted them through the gates of the Phalen estate, she was a little less worried about Daniel—although it was still a relief to pull up to the mansion’s porte cochere, walk him directly back to their bedroom, and lay him out on their bed. The way his eyes closed so quickly caused a ripple of worry, but it was nothing compared to how she’d felt as she’d come around the back of the SUV to find him slumped and holding his head.
“I’m going to go park the SUV in the garage.”
“Okay,” he murmured as he curled on his side and tucked his arm under his head. “Take your time.”
As he repositioned his cap, she leaned down and tugged it a little more into place. “I won’t be long.”
Lydia left their bedroom and had her phone in her hand even before she closed their door behindherself. But she waited to make the call until she was out in the grand foyer—
A soft chiming sound stopped her, and as it came again, in a precise rhythm to what was being piped into her ear, she pivoted around and looked up the stairs.
“Speak of the doctor,” she said as she lowered her iPhone.
Gus didn’t seem to hear her, but just as she was going to say his name, he paused in his descent and glanced down. “Oh. Hey.”
He seemed to have no clue his phone was ringing, so she held up her own. “I was just calling you.”
“You were?” He took out his cell and frowned at the screen. “Oh, so you are. Sorry.”
What was he doing upstairs, she wondered.
“Everything okay?” he asked as he continued down and stepped off the last step. “How are we doing?”
