Page 4 of No Love Lost

Heath moved around the back of his fancy car to approach her. “It’s such a small world.”

Which meant he hadn’t had much trouble finding her. As if he’d had to. She’d sent her address and contact information to him in every yearly parcel she mailed.

The fury shoved past the fear. “You’re not taking her from me.” His eyebrows shot up. With his money, no one probably ever told him no. “After all these years, after your complete and total lack of interest, why now?”

His mouth opened, but nothing came out.

Addison couldn’t move her feet. They were frozen in place. “You can’t take her from me. You’ve had chance after chance to meet her, but you’ve never answered a single text. Or call. Or email. You’ve never responded to a single one of the packages I’ve sent to you. You’ve never acknowledged her. Not once.”

Heath’s hands came up to the side as if in confusion. Addison’s heart pounded, and sweat covered her body. “You’ve had exactly zero interest in her until now. You can’t have her. We’ve made a good life for ourselves. She’s the best person I know, and I’m not giving her up.”

Panic rippled through her, and she couldn’t control the shudders. “You had your chance. You’ve had so many chances to love her, but you didn’t want her. I won’t give her up.”

The world started to spin and her voice sounded like it was coming from far away. “You can’t have her.”

Then everything went black.

CHAPTER 2

At A Loss For Words

Heath’s brain swirled in a mass of confusion, but his body reacted to all the training he’d had in the military.

He caught Addy before she hit the ground. Her face was ashen. Even the snow had more color. When he’d first spotted her, the part of her face he could see above the scarf had glowed with its normal gorgeous, coppery tone. Then she’d flushed a deep red as she’d yelled nonsense at him.

Then, a terrifying shade of pale.

Her body had simply wilted, but he’d caught her before she’d thumped to the ground. At seventeen, she’d been a tiny thing, waif-like in body but with the determination of a superhero. All these years later, he figured she didn’t weigh a single ounce more.

Addy was breathing, but it was shaky, and her heart beat furiously under his hands.

He needed to get to a doctor, but he’d only arrived in Phail, and he didn’t know if any doctors were even in this town.

He moved to the street and shouted. “Help. I need a doctor. Help.”

The street was almost empty, but a woman walking a dog along the sidewalk a few doors down pointed past him. “Doc’s is that way.”

He whirled and, sure enough, spotted a sign that read Doc’s right next to a Saloon. If he’d had anything but worry consuming him, he might have laughed at the old-time names.

Instead, he ran for the building and followed the sign that pointed out back. He rounded the building and shoved through the door. “Help. I need a doctor.”

A woman ran out of a room and toward them, concern evident. She looked from Heath to Addy, and that concern deepened. “Addison. Bring her in here.” She led him to an exam room and had Heath lay Addy on the bed. He was loath to let her go but managed.

The woman slipped on gloves and a stethoscope. She unsnapped Addy’s jacket and listened quickly to her chest with a grimace. She turned, opened a drawer, and pulled out a type of oxygen mask. In a moment, she’d pushed away the scarf, strapped the mask around Addy’s head, and then hooked her up to a machine.

“This is a nebulizer. It’ll ease her breathing.” But the worry didn’t leave the doctor’s face.

She checked Addy’s heart again and then spoke to her in a soft voice as she loosened the scarf and opened her jacket. “Hi Addison. It’s Lia. You’re here in my clinic. You’ve had a severe asthma attack, and your heart is racing, but you got here in time. Well, your superhero got you here. Relax now and just breathe.”

After a few minutes of monitoring and checking, the doctor, Lia, smiled up at him. “Thank you. I’m glad you got her here. She’s going to need some rest, but she’ll be fine soon. Can you stay with her while I make a call?”

He nodded dumbly.

Even with her puffy jacket, Addy looked tiny on the examination bed. He wanted to pull off the bright polka-dotted hat and stroke his fingers through her hair. He wanted to hold her again and make sure she was okay.

His own heart rate hadn’t settled, so he paced, studying her from all angles. She’d been a pretty girl at seventeen. Now, she was stunning. He’d seen her face before the doctor had covered it with the mask. She’d matured to show that inner strength. Her eyes still flared with passion.

While he studied her, the panic receded, leaving room for his brain to click back in. Which caused another thump of panic.

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