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Taking her hand, he led her away from the Bennetts. “I appreciate them taking care of you and all, but for fuck’s sake, Janie, they’re not the only ones worried about you.” He shoved his hand through his hair, and she noticed how dishevelled the usually immaculately groomed Dr Richard Melville looked. “How are you feeling? Do you need anything?”
Not giving herself time to ponder his concern, she shook her head. “Abby and Wolf are taking me home now.”
“Oh. Okay.” He took his jacket off and gave it to her. “Put this on. There’s a storm coming in over the mountains. It’ll be cold outside.”
Sliding her arms into the sleeves of Richard’s jacket made her feel so small, like she was a kid again playing dress-up in their parents’ clothes. She wrapped the jacket around her, absorbed his body heat. “Thank you,” she said, her voice flat, lifeless.
“Have you spoken to Scott Turner yet?”
Jane nodded. “The good sergeant popped by a little while ago. Wants me to see him tomorrow morning to file a report.”
“Good.” Suddenly her brother pulled her into his arms and hugged her tightly. “I know I’m pretty crap at being a big brother, Jane, but I do love you, and you don’t deserve what Sam did to you today. You know that, right?”
“I know,” she said, the sting of tears making their presence known. “And I love you too.” When she pulled back, she added, “Can you stay and help Mum and Dad clean up the hall? And someone needs to check on the rental car and—”
“Consider it done,” Richard said, and then he smiled. “Now, I want you to go home, take a long, hot bath, have a good cry, and eat a shitload of junk food. Doctor’s orders, okay?”
A tiny smile managed to lift her lips for just a moment, and she threw her arms around him again. “Whatever you say, Doc.”
The house was dark when Jane entered, the overcast sky blocking the afternoon sun and casting everything into shadow.
It suited her mood. But three seconds later, Abby followed her inside and down the hall, flicking on every light switch as she went.
Mood killer.
And what was up with Richard being so…nice?
Usually he was a selfish, entitled pain in her arse. But today…. Jane snorted, thinking she mustreallylook like shit if Richard was taking pity on her.
Abby called out from down the hall. “Jane? Do you want me to run you a bath?”
Slipping her brother’s jacket off and tossing it over the back of a chair, Jane followed her friend’s voice and joined her in the bathroom.
“No thanks. I just need help getting out of this damn dress.” She kicked off her shoes.
“Do you want me to stay with you tonight?”
Shaking her head, she said, “No, I’ll be fine.” Then she looked over her shoulder to where Abby was painstakingly unbuttoning the wedding dress and forced herself to grin. “Besides, you’re only offering so you can get out of clean-up duty at the hall.”
“The thought did cross my mind,” Abby said before twisting her mouth into a grimace. “Especially since Richard will be there.”
“Yeah, he was weird earlier, being all nice to me and shit.”
“He’s your brother, Jane. He’s supposed to be nice to you.”
“Yeah, but… I don’t know. He seemed… different. Off, ya know? Not his usual cocky self.”
A quiet sigh sounded behind her as Abby continued popping buttons. “Laura left him.”
Spinning to face her friend, mouth open and eyes wide, Jane grabbed Abby’s forearms. “What? How do you know? And more importantly, why didn’t anyone tellme?”
“He said he didn’t want to take the spotlight away from you on your wedding day.”
“Maybe he should have,” she grumbled, then turned around so Abby could resume button duty. “Tell me everything.”
“Not much to tell, really. He came to see us last night, me and Wolf. He didn’t say why Laura left, just that she’d packed up the kids and gone, and then he apologised for the stunt he pulled at your engagement party.”
Jane smirked. “Did you apologise for breaking his nose?”
