Claiming Colleen

At times like this, Colleen found herself missing her mother’s anger. It was better than the quiet, sad resignation that seemed to have replaced the bitterness.

“I know, but still…Dr. Fielding delivered Brendan. He knew Darin,” Brigit added, referring to Colleen’s husband, who had died in a special operation in Afghanistan three years ago. Brigit gently tucked the blanket around Brendan’s waist. “We’ve known Dr. Fielding for so long now.”

They’d known Eric Reyes longer, Colleen thought. Her mother hardly needed reminding of that, though. One of the innocent victims of the crash had been Eric Reyes’s mother, Miriam. Another victim had been his sister, Natalie. Natalie had escaped the tragedy with her life, but she’d spent the better part of her eleventh year in the hospital, suffering from severe injuries and scarring sustained in the accident. Eric had been both father and mother to his little sister since he was eighteen years old.

It was no wonder Eric could be so cool and businesslike at times, Colleen admitted to herself. He’d hardly ever had the opportunity to be a carefree teenager. None of the kids in the Itani, Kavanaugh or Reyes families had really had much of an opportunity for that. At least, not since the crash.

She stood like she’d bounced off springs when the object of her thoughts walked into the room. She was surprised to see him so soon after he’d conferred with her so extensively postoperatively only around an hour ago. He was so tall that he seemed to fill up the small, curtained-off area of the hospital room completely. Or maybe it wasn’t just his physical stature that caused her reaction, but the strength of his formidable personality.

He nodded at Colleen in a friendly, professional way.

“Out like a light, huh?” he murmured as he studied his patient.

“He’s been asleep for about forty-five minutes. Should I wake him?” Colleen asked.

“No, he’s fine. The nurse took his vitals before he fell asleep, and he looks likes he’s resting easy. I’ll come back in a bit and check on him.”

Colleen nodded. She had a feeling that most surgeons didn’t offer this much bedside attention, and she was thankful.

She was also a little confused by his solicitation, but she thought she might understand it. Colleen had worked as a social worker in hospitals for most of her adult life. She was familiar with the professional courtesy employees in the medical field extended one another when it came to caring for family members. Besides, thanks to Liam and Natalie’s flourishing romance, Eric and Colleen were related now, in a sense. Colleen had managed to deny that connection in her mind for the past several months as she watched her brother and Eric’s sister growing closer and closer. It seemed impossible to ignore it under these new circumstances, however.

“Mrs. Kavanaugh,” Eric said politely to her mother, “are you comfortable? Would you like something to drink?”

Color stained her mother’s pale cheeks. She wondered if it was the first time Eric and her mother had met with anything less than animosity since the courtroom proceedings following the crash. She couldn’t help but feel thankful to him for his kindness.

“I’m fine,” Brigit said softly, her gaze averted. “Thank you for taking such good care of my grandson.”

“He’s a strong kid. Smart, too. I had nature on my side as his doctor.” He glanced at Colleen. “I’ll just come back in a short while.”

“Thanks,” Colleen said.

She hadn’t meant for the word to come out sounding so pressured…so earnest. Maybe it was his unexpected kindness toward her mother that had made her sound that way. His gaze flickered over her face, and his small smile faded. Their gazes locked. For a split second, she was unguarded. She felt it: that connection that took place whenever she looked—really looked—into his eyes. For the first time, she admitted that jolt of awareness was the reason she’d been so determined to avoid his presence for over a year.

She glanced away, feeling breathless.

“Of course,” she heard him say stiffly before he left the room.

Her mother picked up a magazine and began to leaf through the pages. Colleen suspected she was trying to be tactful by not discussing Eric. What did one say, precisely, in these unusual circumstances?

The silence stretched, interrupted only by the soft beeps of the IV machine and the distant sound of voices at the nurses’ station. She had nothing to distract her from recalling that charged glance she’d shared with Eric before he’d left the hospital room just now. She couldn’t seem to stop herself from remembering other things, as well…things she’d rather stayed buried, feelings she found highly disrespectful and unsettling, given her love for her husband.

She didn’t want to remember. Not when her son had just had a surgery.

Not ever.

Her undisciplined thoughts kept veering into forbidden territory, however. She couldn’t seem to stop herself from recalling every detail of what had happened on Sunset Beach nearly a year and a half ago. Surely her memory was playing tricks on her.

There was no way Eric’s body could have felt so hard or fit against her so perfectly. No man alive could possibly taste so good.

Ridiculous. Impossible, Colleen assured herself heatedly. It was some strange combination of their argument and their volatile history that had made the moment so electric.

The noise of her mother setting her magazine back on the bedside table started Colleen out of her memories and ruminations.

She sighed and brushed her son’s bangs off his forehead. Brendan still slept. He’d never let her pet him like this if he was awake, she thought, a familiar small pain going through her.

She hadn’t set a toe on Sunset Beach for over a year now, despite Eric’s invitation to continue with her swimming routine. She’d been all too happy to forget that bizarre, inexplicable incident. Kissing Eric just didn’t fit in to her safe, known world. When Eric appeared just as eager as she was to ignore what had happened, Colleen had assumed he was as regretful as she was.

So why had he made a point of reminding her of it yesterday in that examination room?

Even if they didn’t share a turbulent past, he was the exact type of man Colleen disliked: opinionated, arrogant, bull-headed. Movie-star-caliber good looks could only get a guy so far when they were accompanied by all those less-than-stellar qualities.

Besides, hadn’t her father used to say Colleen had cornered the market on stubbornness in the Kavanaugh family? It was no wonder she didn’t get along with Eric. They were like repelling magnets. Was that why her heart give a flutter when she heard someone enter the hospital room? She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the tall man who appeared next to the drawn curtain wasn’t the handsome surgeon.

“Hey,” she greeted quietly, smiling at her brother, Liam. He was in uniform, and his wavy, light brown hair streaked with gold looked windblown. “Did you walk over from the station?” The Municipal Building, where Liam worked as the chief of police, was only a few blocks from the hospital complex.

“Yeah, sorry I couldn’t get away sooner. How’s he doing?” Liam asked in a hushed tone as he bent down to give his mother a kiss on the cheek.

“He’s doing great,” Colleen replied. “Eric says the wound looks clean and that the bone tissue should heal with time. Brendan’s going to have to do some physical therapy, though.”

“That shouldn’t be too much of a problem. It’d be more of a challenge to keep Brendan still for any extended period,” Liam said, grinning. “Did Eric say what had lodged in his foot?”

“A rose thorn, of all things,” Brigit murmured, shaking her head.

It struck her as a little surreal to hear her little brother say Eric’s name so casually. A year ago, he would have said Reyes with a hard edge to his voice and a frosty look in his blue eyes. Now he spoke of him as he would a close friend or family member. Which Eric was, in a way, Colleen conceded. Liam had told her point-blank last month he’d fallen hard for Eric’s sister, Natalie.

Still, the change in the landscape of her life disoriented her a little. Things had seemed much more comprehensible when Eric Reyes was her enemy, pure and simple.

No matter. Brendan would be out of the hospital in a few days, and she and Eric could go back to keeping their wary distance from one another.

Liam sat down, and they talked for a few minutes in hushed tones until they were interrupted by the nurse coming in with a pitcher and some plastic cups.

“Dr. Reyes says he can have ice water when he wakes up if he wants it,” the nurse told Colleen.

Brendan’s eyelids flickered at the sound of the nurse’s voice.

“Mom?” he asked hoarsely, sounding a little anxious and disoriented. Colleen placed her hand on his forearm and squeezed gently.

“I’m right here, honey,” she soothed.

He focused on her sitting next to his bedside, and his anxiety immediately vanished. “I’m thirsty,” he said.

“Perfect timing, kid,” Liam said as Brigit stood to pour him some water. Brendan turned his head on the pillow and returned his uncle’s grin groggily.

“How are you feeling, Brendan?” Brigit asked.

“Okay.”

“Your foot doesn’t hurt?” she asked. As if her words had reminded him, Brendan lifted his head and stared down at his bandaged foot. He groaned, and his head fall back on the pillow.