“Are we still doing dinner tonight at Paulie’s?”
Flynn put on his indicator before turning onto his mom’s street. Victoria was on speaker, having just finished her shift at the hospital.
“I’m not sure, Vic. Depends on how my mom’s doing. I might just stay with her.”
He almost thought he heard a small huff, but when she spoke, her voice was smooth and sympathetic. “That’s okay. I’ll call and cancel again. I’m sure they’ll understand. Want me to come over and keep you and your mom company?”
Flynn cringed at the thought. Not because he didn’t like Victoria’s company, but because he knew his incredibly honest mother didn’t. And how’d he figure that out? Because she’d told him, of course. She may be old with quickly advancing Alzheimer’s, but she still knew what she liked and what she didn’t. And Victoria was definitely one of the latter.
“You’ve probably had a long day at the hospital. You go home and rest. I’ll text you tonight when I get home.”
“If you’re sure, babe?”
He pulled into the driveway of his mother’s old home, glancing up at the small cottage. It was the home he’d grown up in. The home that held so many memories. Of his mother baking and gardening. His father using his tools to construct whatever piece of furniture he had in his head that week…before his stroke, that was.
“I’m sure. Chat later, Vic.”
He hung up the phone. He hadn’t been dating Victoria for long, and if he was honest with himself, he didn’t see it going anywhere long-term. But he also didn’t have the same dislike for her that others did. He knew she could be somewhat standoffish, but that’s just who she was. She wasn’t intentionally cruel.
Climbing out of the car, he grabbed the casserole from the passenger seat before making his way up the three steps to the front door.
When he’d gotten to town, the house had been falling apart. Guilt had suffocated him at the sight of what his parents’ home had become. Because he should have been here, helping his mother keep the place together. Not locked away in a goddamn compound. Not living in Lockhart for a year after his rescue.
Bit by bit, and with the help of his team, he’d been returning it to the home of his youth. So far, with a fresh coat of paint and a heck of a lot of gardening, the cottage was only just starting to resemble the place Flynn remembered. The garden had been his mother’s pride and joy, and seeing it so neglected…it had torn at Flynn’s chest.
It had been a week since the car crash with Willow and Mila. A week since he’d seen his mother. She had a good nurse who lived just down the street, so he knew she was well cared for.
After a short stay in the hospital himself, physically, Flynn was healed and feeling fine. Mentally, he was pissed. Pissed that Blake’s wife and child had been taken while under his protection. Pissed that he hadn’t seen that car coming.
He was just grateful that he’d been able to turn the car in time to avoid a collision on Willow’s side, and both Willow and Mila had come out of everything alive and unscathed.
Using his key, he unlocked the door and stepped inside. Quietly, he moved through the living area and into the kitchen. He was just placing the casserole in the fridge when he heard voices from the other room.
His muscles immediately tensed, body stilling.
That wasn’t the voice of the usual nurse, Mrs. Anderson, talking to his mother. It was someone else. Someone he’d never heard before.
“You get some rest, Mrs. Talbot. Call me if you need anything before I go.”
“Thank you, dear. I’ll be okay. You go home, settle in.”
Flynn listened to the gentle closing of a door, then the quiet footsteps of this mystery woman.
He waited by the kitchen counter, anger brimming in his chest. He was his mother’s primary caregiver, her only son and only living relative. If there was a need for a new nurse, he should have been notified, and he should have been the one to choose the replacement.
He didn’t make a noise as the woman stepped into the adjacent dining room and up to the table. She didn’t notice him right away, instead grabbing her handbag on the table and rummaging inside.
Her brows drew together as she muttered curse words under her breath. There was something familiar about the woman. Something that tugged at the back of his mind, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on what it was.
Slowly, he moved across the kitchen, surprised when the woman didn’t so much as look up. He wasn’t trying to be quiet. But he wasn’t loud, either.
“Who are you?”
The woman shrieked, spinning around, hand pressing to her chest.
For a moment, Flynn stilled. The woman’s pale blue eyes were huge, seemingly taking up half her face. Her lips were full and her hair was golden. Her ample chest rose and fell rapidly under her hand.
“Oh my God! You scared me to death.” Her chin dipped to the chest he’d just been trying hard not to stare at, before she quickly looked up again. “Where…Were you hiding in the kitchen?” The woman didn’t seem scared that a man had just snuck up on her. More inquisitive than anything.
“I wasn’t hiding. This is my mother’s house. I have a key.”
Her lips transformed into a smile. And fuck, but his gut gave a sharp kick. “You’re Flynn? Okay, yes, that makes sense. Your mother hasn’t stopped talking about you since I got here.”
He lifted a brow. The woman was one up on him then. “And how long have you been here, exactly?”
“Since Saturday. Mrs. Anderson had a family emergency. No one could get through to you. I just moved to town, so the agency sent me in.”
“Your car isn’t out front.”
Her smile remained, despite his frosty attitude. “Yeah, I live really close. Closer than Mrs. Anderson, actually. I guess the job was kind of fate.”
He tilted his head slightly. “And you’re a nurse?”
The laugh that followed had her eyes crinkling at the corners. The sound was light and lyrical and every damn thing about it had his body tightening. “Did I not say that? Good grief, I’m a bit of a mess, aren’t I? Yes, I’m with the nursing agency. I had a small break between my last job and this one…”
She trailed off, and something flickered over her face. Anxiety, maybe? It came and went so quickly, he could almost convince himself he’d made it up in his head. Almost.
And that’s when he realized. The woman was hiding something. He was good at reading people, but even if he hadn’t been, the lady’s quick expression made that fact abundantly clear.
Even though her smile made him feel something confusing, he couldn’t let his mother be around a nurse with secrets. He needed a background check on her, and he needed it now.
Her brows drew together, the smile never leaving her face. “You’re kind of intense, aren’t you, Mr. Tall, Dark, and Handsome?”
His brow lifted again. “You call every man you just met that?”
“Nope. Only the ones who are.” She nibbled her plump bottom lip before letting her gaze roam around the room. “Anyway. My shift is over, so I’ll be back tomorrow.”
Not until he’d looked into her, she wouldn’t.
She lifted her purse and took a step toward the door.
“Can you tell me your name before you leave?”
She paused, and that same laugh sounded again. God, why did it have his gut clenching? Why did the sound bubble up in his chest and hit some part of him he didn’t even know existed?
“Sorry, I’m Carina Murphy.”
She reached a hand out, and he took it in his larger one—and suddenly he knew why she looked familiar.
Despite living in a different town, she’d applied for this job a few months ago when Mrs. Anderson had requested some leave. And in his more extensive background check, the one that went beyond the information given to him by the home-care company, he’d found that she’d been suspended from a previous job after an accusation of stealing drugs.
No. Hell no.
