Page 31 of The Seascape Between Us

“Here,” Carter said. “I brought everything you asked for, Mr. Mackenzie.” He passed me the pile of bedsheets and blankets.

“I don’t see towels,” I said.

“In the car. I just couldn’t carry everything at once,” Carter explained. “I’ll be right back.”

While Carter hurried out to his car, I dumped the blankets onto the bed in the primary bedroom. My father’s bedroom, but I tried not to think about it.

“Are those linens from the hotel?” Daniel asked, as I walked past him on my way back to the door.

“They are,” I said. “There won’t be any here now that my tenants are gone, and I don’t think I’m going to have time to buy anything new. Besides, they’re not getting any use back at the hotel with no guests. They’ll do for now until I get something else.”

At the door, Carter had returned, this time with an armful of towels and a bag from the local drugstore. I took all of it from Carter’s arms, awkwardly clutching the pile to my chest. From the corner of my eye, I noticed Daniel starting to rise.

I turned and faced him. “No!” I pointed to the couch after juggling towels in my arms. “Resting, remember?”

“I think I can handle helping you carry towels from the door without injuring myself.” Frustration edged his voice.

“You probablycould, but you’re not going to. You’re going to stay right there and rest. I knew I couldn’t trust you at the hotel.”

“Is Daniel okay?” Carter asked, a little anxiously.

“He is, but he has twenty stitches in his arm and is under doctor’s orders to rest for a few days. In the meantime, if there’s anything that needs attention, you can call me directly. Pass the word around.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Daniel was shaking his head and looking up at the ceiling.

I thanked Carter and closed the door before dumping the towels off in the nearest bathroom. Then I went to the kitchen and poured a glass of water. The dishes, which had been here before the students moved in, were different from the ones my father had when I visited. He must have replaced them over time. I took a glass of water and two of the ibuprofen out to Daniel.

“Are you hurting?” I asked him.

“I’m fine,” he ground out.

“I didn’t askhowyou were. I asked if you werehurting.”

He sighed and flopped back against the couch. “My arm hurts a little,” he admitted. “But nothing unbearable.”

“Your head?” I asked.

“Just feels bruised, like I said.”

I handed him the pills, then passed him the glass of water. I was mildly surprised when he swallowed them both without further complaint.

He set the glass on the table and looked over at me. “So now what?”

“Well, I’m going to make up the bed, then you’re going to lie down and get some rest. I’ll order something for dinner a little later.”

He looked down at his dirty t-shirt. “All my things are back at the hotel.”

“Carter picked us up some toothbrushes and toothpaste, shampoo and everything we need to shower when he was getting the ibuprofen,” I explained. “I’ll pick up your things when I check on the hotel tomorrow.”

“I think Carter might have a crush on you,” Daniel said, eyeing me speculatively.

“Nah, I don’t think so,” I told him. “I’m pretty sure the kid’s hot for you. He talks about you as if you’re the second coming.”

“But helooksat you as though youarethe second coming.”

I batted my eyes at Daniel. “Who could blame him?”

Daniel laughed for the first time in entirely too long, the sound warming me from the inside out. While we’d been sitting together, his hair had fallen across his forehead, and it took almost everything I had to fight the urge to use my fingers and brush it back from his face.

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