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“Do. Not. Call. Quinn.” Lori ground out.
“He’ll be furious if I don’t.”
Lori played her best card. “You’re making my head hurt with this shit!” She didn’t have to call tears to her eyes; they were already there, waiting.
“Oh, God,” Molly gasped. “Don’t cry. I’m sorry. I won’t call him.” She closed the phone and put it away.
Good.
Lori wanted him here. Wanted to lean on him and let him take care of her. But after that conversation this morning, leaning on Quinn wasn’t an option. That kind of thing led to crying and cuddling and quiet moments and deep talks. That kind of thing led to love. And if she’d thought her life was screwed up this morning…Well, this afternoon it was completely in the ditch, engulfed in flames. There was no room for company.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
THE FLIGHT ATTENDANT’Smouth was moving. “Have a nice day,” she might be saying. Or “Thank you for flying with us.” Whatever it was, Quinn couldn’t hear it past the rush of hot blood pounding against his ears. He could only respond to her by politely aiming his glare in another direction.
After Vancouver, the Colorado air felt thin against his skin as he descended the narrow steps to the tarmac. Too thin to cool him down. When he’d called Ben and accidentally stumbled onto the news of Lori’s accident, his only emotion had been fear. Once Ben had assured him that Lori was out of danger and everything was fine, his stark fear had been replaced with worry for Lori and hurt that she hadn’t called him.
But throughout the afternoon as he’d tried in vain to arrange an earlier flight home, as he’d left message after message for Lori, as he’d slowly worked his way across the continent from Vancouver to Denver and Denver to Aspen, anger had built inside him. It seemed that getting closer to Tumble Creek was like drawing closer to a red-hot grill. From a distance it looked like nothing…no flames, little smoke. But a closer view revealed waves of shimmering air over the glowing coals. Closer still and you stumbled onto the sudden danger of a blast of superheated air singeing all the hair off your body. Quinn wouldn’t have been surprised to look into a mirror and find that his eyebrows had vanished in the heat of his own fury.
Thanks to the small proportions of the Aspen airport, Quinn was in his car and headed closer to the source of his anger within a few minutes. Twenty more minutes—most of which he couldn’t recall later—and Quinn’s tires were throwing up gravel in the lot of Love’s Garage. The sun glinted like flames off of the wind-shields of the parked vehicles as he slammed out of his car and headed for Lori’s house.
He wasn’t the only one angry with her, apparently. As he approached, he could hear the sound of shouting from within.
“But what the hell were you thinking, trying to walk through that mess?” a man’s voice boomed, the words carrying easily through an open window in the living room.
Lori’s reply was too soft to hear.
“You could have killed yourself.”
Whatever she said, it was dismissive.
“Damn it, just sell that land and get out already. I don’t even care if it’s me anymore, just get the best price you can and get out of here.”
Frowning even harder now, Quinn banged on the door. The voices froze. When the door opened, it was Lori’s mechanic, Joe, holding the knob. “Hey,” he said. After a glance back at the couch, Joe shook his head and brushed past Quinn. “I’ll see ya tomorrow.”
Quinn just stood there in the open door, staring over the back of the couch at the top of Lori’s head. She must know it was him. He’d left enough messages letting her know he was on the way.
More than twenty-four hours had passed since her accident. More than twenty-four hours and she hadn’t called. Hell, he’d still been in town when she’d been hurt.
Quinn closed the door softly, his hand shaking. “Are you all right?” he asked first.
Her head nodded.
“They kept you overnight at the hospital?”
“Just for observation,” Lori muttered.
Circling the couch, he finally got a look at her. Eyes swollen and skin pale, she cradled her hand, encased in a bright white cast, against her chest. Some of his anger wanted to crumble like sand. Quinn tried to shore it up.
“What the hell is going on, Lori?” When she shrugged, his anger stopped crumbling and solidified to concrete. “I missed you today,” he growled. “I missed you and you wouldn’t answer my calls, and I wanted to feel some connection, so I called Ben just to fish for news about you. I wasn’t expecting to hear that you were in the hospital.”
She stared at her lap.
“I wanted to feel aconnection.How fucking stupid was that?”
“I’m sorry,” she whispered, “but it’s not your business.”
Despite her brutal words, he was overwhelmed with the sudden urge to touch her. Still furious, he laid a gentle hand against the side of her face to assure himself that she was fine. “Lori. I can’t believe someone hurt you.”
