Page 71 of Colton's Secret Weapon
Instead, he understood. Was glad that he’d been there for her.
And went to sleep.
Chapter 21
In a complete reversal of how she’d felt when she’d gone to bed the night before, Dove woke up Thursday morning with a sense of hope. She didn’t work at accessing it, it was just there as she slid into consciousness. A positive anticipation of what was to come. With opportunities for happiness on the horizon.
Surprised to hear the shower running, she turned her head to see that Mitchell was already up. And when she made it downstairs, saw that he’d been there, too. A fresh coffee pod was in the trash. Figuring he had an early appointment, she got herself ready in record time. Pulling on the last clean outfit she had. A long green flowing skirt, topped with a tie-dyed tank top in all the colors of the rainbow with lace along the collar, and rhinestone-studded pink flip-flops. She was either going to have to go home for more clothes or do some laundry. Not having any idea what she was getting into when she’d packed to leave her home, she’d thrown in a bunch of stuff and left the rest. At the time, she hadn’t been in a state of mind to plan.
She’d woken with a mind full of plans that morning, though. Brad Fletcher had been put on notice. Hopefully that bought law enforcement enough time to find their missing pieces. The man was sharp. But so was Peter Welding and his local team. With the experts at the ABI involved, the shady businessman had met his match.
And her father…she asked Mitchell to stop in town so she could grab a six-pack of warm and gooey cinnamon rolls on the way to the hospital. Her father’s favorites. The doctor had warned her to expect more anger than not over the next days, but Dove knew that feeling good was a winning adversary over rage, and those rolls always made Whaler smile.
She offered one to Mitchell, a thank-you for stopping, and he smiled, too. Meeting her gaze as he helped himself to a napkin from the box, he said, “You seem better today.”
In a knowing way. As though he had the secret behind her healed spirits.
Which, of course, he did. In part. The friend he’d been to her the night before…offering himself up as the source of good feeling, seemingly the only source in the world that would work for her right then, she was never going to forget.
“I am better,” she said. And then, once again, said, “Thank you.”
His response was a healthy bite into his roll, before heading back out into traffic. He’d dressed in jeans and a blue-checked flannel shirt that morning. “You’re not going into the office this morning?” she asked.
He shook his head. “They’re coming to work onWicked Winnings, and Wes and Kirk are going to be involved with customers.”
For a second, her spirits dimmed. On his behalf. “You don’t have to give up your life for us, Mitchell,” she told him. “Your work has to come first.”
He nodded. “As it has a few times this week. Things are slow for me right now,” he added, finishing off his roll and licking his fingers. “Might even be fate, huh?” he asked, smiling over at her.
She knew he was teasing her. Making light of the incredible amount of time he was investing in a new client who hadn’t even yet signed a contract.
Her heart open wide and with an intensity she couldn’t stop, she said, “I will always be here for you, Mitchell. No matter what or when.”
He glanced her way, nodded.
And pulled into the medical center parking lot.
That last look had been brief, but Dove felt it to her core.
It was like he’d just returned the vow. Silently.
But she’d heard loud and clear.
It was as she’d known.
They were soul mates.
“Damn, girl, are youevergoing to get it in your head that you aren’t the boss of me?”
Mitchell paused just outside the door of Whaler’s hospital room, just after nine on Thursday night, sharing a concerned glance with the officer outside his door—a young man he’d seen around town but never met.
“I’m just asking you to consider rehab, Dad. And to, maybe, talk to someone who’s been through what you have, you know, just talk to them.”
“You want me to go to one of those damned groups where everybody sits around and confesses and whines, and there ain’t no way…”
Silence fell, and Mitchell was about to go in when he heard “I’m telling you, young woman, if you don’t stop… you got no right, and I ain’t gonna put up with none of your fairy crap. I’ve had enough, you hear? Enough!”
Mitchell had to take a moment to calm his own anger, hearing Dove belittled that way. And by the one person in the world he was certain she loved. “Has it been like this all day?” he shared another glance with the uniformed officer, who nodded.
