“This is all your fault, you know,” Gavin told Hayley.
“My fault?” she asked. “If you’d asked my opinion about this plan of yours I would have locked you a cell until the whole thing was over.”
“If you’d told me they were getting married before the other day I could have come home and talked to Allie long before it got to this point,” Gavin said.
“I called you about it two weeks ago,” she argued. “It’s not my fault you don’t check your messages when you’re out playing with your bears.”
Gavin rolled his eyes. The work he did with the endangered wildlife program was hardly “playing”, and his involvement with the polar bear capture and release program was something he was very proud of. Which Hayley knew well. “You knew about the engagement for more than two weeks,” he said.
There was a long silence on her end before she said, “You told me to stop telling you about Allie.”
He took a deep breath. He had said that. And meant it. It tore him up every time Hayley called him. The first time had been when Allie’s mom, Lily, had been diagnosed with cancer. It had been hell knowing what Allie was going through and not being there. The idea that she was hurting, sad, stressed out had eaten at him. His role had always been protector, savior.
But she hadn’t called him. She hadn’t reached out or needed him.
Because she had Josh.
Gavin felt the acid churn in his stomach. Other than the fact that she’d been standing next to Josh at the end of the aisle in a church, Gavin hadn’t really let himself think about it. But Allie had been standing next to
Josh.
Josh Brewster. Mr. Fucking Perfect.
Of course she had been. Who else would have been there?
Gavin blew out a breath.
Every time he’d talked to Hayley after Lily’s diagnosis it seemed that she had bad news. Lily wasn’t doing well, the disease was progressing, Allie was holding it all together. And he’d known that meant that Allie was taking care of everyone and not thinking about herself for even a second.
The old bitterness had reared its head, and he’d had to remind himself that even when they were a couple, talking about a future together, she had thought of her family first, put their needs ahead of what she wanted and needed. He hadn’t been able to convince her she was worth consideration even when she was madly in love with him. After he’d broken her heart, he knew she wouldn’t listen to him tell her that it was okay not to do it all herself.
Even now it was painful to think about it. He knew he’d failed Allie when her mom was sick and then passed away, but he hadn’t known what to do then and didn’t know how it could have been different now.
The solution had always been for her to be with him in Alaska. That seemed simple enough. She was a teacher. They needed teachers in Alaska.
But her family was in Promise Harbor.
“I know,” he finally said to Hayley. He paced to the window and looked out over his property. He owned twenty acres and his veterinary practice. He loved Alaska, the people he’d met, the outdoors, the animals, the space, the freedom. He sighed. “I didn’t want to hear about Allie. It hurt too much.”
“Ugh,” Hayley groaned. “I knew about it for five months, Gav. It was killing me not to tell you, but I knew you’d freak. And then I finally couldn’t take it anymore. But you weren’t calling me back and I didn’t know if you’d gotten the message or what. I
knew
you were going to freak,” she said again.
“Well, I think it’s safe to say you were right on that one,” Gavin said.
“So, she’s in Bend with you?”
“Yep.”
“Does she like it? Is she staying? Is this for good? Are you going to get married?”
He chuckled, even as he wanted to sigh heavily. He didn’t know the answer to any of those questions. They hadn’t had a conversation beyond him waking her up, making her eat and drink and then asking
Are you ready to get up?
and her saying
Not yet
.
“She’s been in bed since we got here.”
“Good for you,” Hayley said.
He laughed out loud at that. “Thanks for the vote of confidence, but not like that.” Then he did sigh. “She’s exhausted. And sick.” He felt pretty exhausted himself.
“But she wants to be there. I think that’s a good thing,” Hayley said, sounding more like the friend who was always on his side.
Even when he acted like an idiot, Hayley had his back. Not that she wouldn’t arrest him if he deserved it. Plenty of times she’d told him to pull his head out of his ass when he needed it.
But even she hadn’t been able to advise him on the impasse he and Allie had reached sixteen months ago. Allie was determined to stay in Promise Harbor and he was just as determined to be anywhere else.
“I think she needs to be here,” he told Hayley. “She needs someone to take care of her for a change. She needs to be far away so that they can’t need her.”
“I hope it works out this time, Gav,” Hayley said sincerely.
“Thanks. I need you to be sure everyone knows she’s okay. She’s here with me and she’s staying. Just make sure no one’s freaking out. Like Owen,” Gavin said of Allie’s dad. “Or Sophie.”
Sophie Brewster was Josh’s mom, but the families had always been so close that Gavin knew Sophie thought of Allie as another daughter. Allie’s mom had been Sophie’s best friend, and Gavin was sure Lily’s death had hit Sophie as hard as anyone.
“Or Josh?” Hayley asked dryly.
“Yeah, you can tell Josh that he’s lucky I don’t come back there and kick his ass for letting Allie get this stressed and sick.”
Hayley chuckled. “Couldn’t tell him even if I wanted to. He took off.”
Gavin scowled. “What do you mean?”
“He left.”
Gavin could tell that Hayley was grinning widely.
“Left?”
“Went to Greenbush Island.”
There was something in Hayley’s tone that caught Gavin’s interest. What wasn’t she saying? “Why there?”
“All I know is that he’d booked the honeymoon suite at the Oceanside Inn there.”
Yeah, that was all she knew. Sure it was. Hayley was a great cop and loved knowing stuff other people didn’t. She had contacts all over. If Josh Brewster left town and she wanted to know where he went and why, she’d know.
“So he went on the honeymoon?” Gavin asked. Hey, the guy had paid for the tickets. Maybe he wanted to get drunk on a beach instead of drinking in Promise Harbor, where everyone knew he’d been left at the altar. Gavin couldn’t say he blamed him.
“Technically he went to look for Allie.”
“Allie’s not on Greenbush Island.”
“I know.”
“You lied to him?” Gavin knew Hayley was a good friend.
“Didn’t have to. He didn’t ask me.”
“Convenient.”
“Everyone knows we’re close, but maybe Allie didn’t tell him we still keep in touch. Whatever he didn’t know before the wedding, I’m sure his mother filled him in on.”
Gavin grinned. He and Hayley had definitely had some fun. It had been minor things—parties at the river, underage drinking, sneaking into the swimming pool after midnight, taking the principal’s car for a joyride—stuff that hadn’t hurt anyone but had made them a bit notorious.
“Well, maybe looking for her is just his excuse to go off by himself and lick his wounds,” Gavin said. He paused for a moment, wondering if he’d feel a stab of guilt over Josh Brewster’s wounds. Hmm. Not a one.
“Oh, he didn’t go alone,” Hayley said brightly. “He took Devon Grant.”
“He took another woman?” Gavin asked, amazed. Sure, Allie had left him at the altar for another guy. Sure, Gavin had broken up the wedding—in front of the entire town, including his own family. But Gavin was possibly even more amazed that perfect Josh Brewster, everyone’s favorite golden boy, had done something so spontaneous and gossip-worthy.
“You remember Devon?” Hayley asked.
“Sure. She and Allie were tight in high school.”
“Right.”
The realization dawned slowly. “Josh took off on his honeymoon with Allie’s best friend?”
“Ex-best friend,” Hayley said, clearly enjoying sharing the news. “Josh and Devon were really serious for a while after college.”
“No way.” Gavin thought about the information. Then slowly he felt his grin spread. “That’s awesome. Good for him.”
“You don’t care about Josh,” Hayley said with a laugh. “You’re just glad that this means he and Allie won’t be getting back together.”
Gavin’s scowl returned. “He and Allie
won’t
be getting back together.”
Hayley said, “I’m not the one you have to convince.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“Keep me informed, okay?”
“Definitely.”
“And Gav?”
“Yeah?”
There was a long pause, and for some reason Gavin braced himself. He knew Hayley. Well. There was something in that pause that made him frown.
But in the end she just said, “Take care of yourself. And maybe stick around long enough to at least have a drink with me next time, okay?”
He wanted to push, to ask her if everything was all right. But this was Hayley. She was tough as nails and she knew he’d be there for her. If she needed something, she knew all she had to do was ask. He finally said simply, “Promise.”
As he hung up, Gavin looked at the ceiling. Allie was still up there,
still
sleeping.
When he’d wished to have her in his bed, this wasn’t exactly what he had in mind.
Chapter Three
“It’s been
two days
.”
“I know. How long can a person sleep?”
“She’s fine. When her system is ready, she’ll wake up.”
“This is ridiculous.”
“You don’t even know her
name
?”
“Allie.”
“No last name?”
“Nope.”
“He’s not saying a word to me either.”
“I found a
wedding dress
on the floor. He hasn’t told you
anything
?”
“Look, he said something about his and hers towels. I don’t know what that means.”
“It means he eloped with her!”
“He would have told us that. Wouldn’t he?”
Allie groaned and pulled a pillow over her head. Couldn’t these people have their gossip session somewhere else? They had to be outside her bedroom door—well, Gavin’s bedroom door—to talk about her?
She recognized the male voice as that of Gavin’s friend, Carter, who was apparently the local physician. He’d been the one here checking her vitals and taking blood out of her arm anyway. The other voices were female and she had no idea who they were. She also figured it was Gavin’s problem what they thought was going on with the wedding dress and everything.
“I know she’s from Massachusetts. Or at least that’s where he was when they got together. He’s not giving up any other information.”
“Isn’t he from the East Coast somewhere?”
“I thought he was from Kansas.”
“That’s where he went to vet school.”
“Well, thank god he finally got called out. He’s been driving me crazy.”
“Me, too.”
“Me, too.”
“He’s stomping around here, irritable, biting my head off. I’m about to tell him to fuck off.”
Allie threw back the covers with a little growl. The pillow wasn’t shutting out enough noise. She stomped across the room to the half-open bedroom door and yanked it the rest of the way open.
“Could you go tell him to fuck off now? It would get you away from this door.”
They all jumped and turned as one to stare at her.
“We, um…didn’t mean…” Carter stammered.
Carter stood between the two women. He was short, with dark hair and glasses and looked embarrassed at having been caught gossiping about her.
The woman closest to the bedroom door was thin and tall, nearly six feet, and had straight, blonde hair and intelligent blue eyes. She looked to be about the same age as Carter, Gavin and Allie. Her mouth was actually open as she stared.
Allie knew she looked like a mess. She was wearing another of Gavin’s T-shirts that hit her midthigh, panties and nothing else. She was sure her hair was wild because she’d gone back to bed with it wet after her shower yesterday, and she had no makeup on. And she didn’t care.
It was actually a freeing feeling. Typically she took great care with her appearance, making sure that her hair and makeup were done even to go to the grocery store in the harbor.
The other woman was only about five one, had streaks of red in her chin-length dark hair, wore a nose ring and was clearly much younger than the other two. She was the only one who let her gaze obviously travel over Allie from her hair to her toes and back again.
“Okay, let me help you out here,” Allie said, putting a hand on her hip, her other hand still on the doorknob. “Her name is Allie Ralston. Gavin knows her from high school and from
dating
her after college. In fact, they just broke up a little over a year ago. Yes, she’s from Massachusetts, as is Gavin. She’s feeling a lot better, thank you. And she had a wedding dress on because she was getting married when Gavin showed up and stopped it.” Allie tipped her head. “Anything else?”