Family to the Rescue

Her heart fluttered and she forgot, very briefly, the past and the tough lessons it had taught her. Forgot that she needed to keep up her shields.

But then sanity returned and she forced herself to pull her hand from his warm grasp and look away from him. She needed to get a grip. Now. “It was the least I could do,” she said. “You saved my life.”

“I’m glad,” he said, then closed his eyes, well on his way to a meeting with the sandman.

I’m glad, too.

Her legs shaking, Kim turned and followed Aunt Rose out of the room.

When they reached the living room, Aunt Rose turned around, gave Kim a quick once-over, then pulled her into a hug. “Are you all right, dear?”

Kim nodded, breathing in the comforting scent of the lavender perfume Aunt Rose had worn for as long as Kim could remember. “I’m doing well, thanks to Seth.”

Aunt Rose stepped back. “Why don’t you go change into something dry and cozy, and I’ll meet you in the kitchen so you can tell me what happened.”

“Okay.” Kim pulled at her damp, itchy clothes. “I feel like a piece of freeze-dried seaweed.”

She headed to her room and changed into a pair of black fleece sweatpants and matching top, then padded down the hall to the kitchen, taking care to walk quietly so she wouldn’t disturb the blue-eyed hero sleeping in her son’s bed.

Rose smiled at her when she walked in. “You look like you need to eat. Why don’t you sit down and I’ll make you some tea and my special sandwiches. You can tell me what happened while I work. From the looks of things, it’s quite a story.”

“It is quite a story,” Kim said. She could hardly believe the whole thing was real herself. “And sandwiches sound wonderful.” Her aunt’s mini peanut butter, honey and cinnamon sandwiches were a comfort food if there ever was one.

Limbs shaking, she sank down into a kitchen chair next to the table. Kim gazed at Rose while she worked, her chest constricting with affection and gratitude. With Kim’s mom living in Hong Kong with her third—no, fourth—husband, and Kim’s dad out of the picture since he’d taken off with his secretary when Kim was twelve, moving in with one of them hadn’t been possible.

And since Kim’s only other relative, her cousin, Grant, lived in a tiny studio apartment in Seattle, going there hadn’t been an option, either. The sad fact of the matter was, she’d had nowhere else to go when her ex had decided he didn’t want the responsibility of a family any more and had walked out and obtained a quickie divorce six months ago.

Kim had used her small bit of savings to live on while she’d looked for a job in Los Angeles, but it had become clear after a few months that without a college degree, she wasn’t going to make enough to pay both rent and child care any time soon.

Realistically, she needed a job, money and a degree. In teaching, if she had her wish.

So Aunt Rose had taken her and Dylan in, offering to take care of Dylan free of charge once Kim found a job in Moonlight Cove. College classes would follow when Kim could afford it.

Rose’s help was great, but Kim needed to be able to depend on herself, and no one else. Otherwise, she’d be vulnerable again, and that…well that just wasn’t an alternative.

“So, tell me what happened,” Aunt Rose said as she set the teakettle to boil.

Listening intently as Kim told her the whole story, her face somber, Rose fired the tea and set the steaming cup on the table, along with a plate of sandwiches.

“Gracious,” she said when Kim was done talking. “Sounds like Seth was quite the hero.”

“He was. His bravery…astounds me.” She swallowed and twisted her hands together, profoundly touched and deeply awed by what he’d done. “I never would have made it to shore without him. I’m sure of it.”

“We can thank God for sending Seth out to get you,” Rose said, sitting down next to Kim at the table. “This was His work, you know.” Aunt Rose had always been a believer and was on the Moonlight Cove Community Church’s council. It was no surprise she attributed Kim’s survival to divine intervention.

“Oh, trust me, I’ve already given my thanks to Him.” Her prayers had been answered several times today. Luckily, God was pretty dependable. Kim didn’t know how she would have survived the unexpected disintegration of her marriage without her faith.

God would never let her down. Unlike men.

Aunt Rose regarded her for a long moment, then took a sip of tea. Very deliberately, it seemed, she set the mug down. “I need to say something,” she said, her voice tinged with seriousness.

Kim froze, her tea halfway to her mouth. Ominous words. “Okay.” She put her mug on the table, wondering what was on her aunt’s mind.

Aunt Rose drew in a deep breath. “The thing is, I saw the way you looked at Seth.”

Kim’s cheeks heated. Ah.

She paused, thinking that she would have preferred to keep to herself how Seth’s charm discombobulated her. Absolutely nothing was going to come of her notion that he was the best-looking, bravest guy she’d come across in ages. Mooning over him was pointless. And foolish.

“Do you like him?” Rose asked pointedly.

“Um…I don’t know him well enough to like him,” Kim said, scrambling to downplay the situation to Rose. Anything was better than admitting Seth got to her.

“But you do think he’s handsome, right?” Rose picked up a sandwich and took a bite. “A woman would have to be dead not to.”

No kidding. “I suppose,” Kim said, hedging, although her aunt hadn’t said anything Kim hadn’t already thought. Seth was gorgeous. And unfortunately, Kim’s judgment had always been disgustingly poor around handsome guys. Scott had been too good-looking for her own well-being. And look where that relationship had gotten her. “You suppose?” her aunt said, her eyebrows high. She waved a hand in the air. “Oh, pshaw.”

“You don’t believe me?” Kim asked, trying to sound a bit offended to head off her aunt’s suspicions.

“Honey, I was in the room with the two of you. I saw the look you exchanged, and the way you almost fell over.”

Kim gazed down at the table. Guilty. There was no use denying she thought Seth was handsome. And she certainly wasn’t going to lie. “Okay, so he’s good-looking. That doesn’t mean I want to date him. I’m not interested in any kind of romantic relationship. With anyone.” Being left brokenhearted once was bad enough. Twice would be unbearable.

“Are you sure? Seth is very appealing…” Rose said, looking worried.

“Of course I’m sure. You know how devastated I was when Scott left.” While their marriage had been rocky from the start—at nineteen neither one of them had been mature enough to get married—and they’d grown apart since Dylan had been born two years to the day after their wedding, Kim really hadn’t seen Scott’s abandonment coming. Or hadn’t wanted to see it…

Another costly mistake, putting her head in the sand, hoping love would conquer all. Of course, it hadn’t. Instead love had backhanded her.

Kim went on. “I can’t put myself in a position to ever go through that again, and I certainly can’t put Dylan through the loss of a father figure a second time.” She frowned. “He cried every night for weeks after Scott left.” Talk about gut-wrenching.

Rose’s eyes softened, lit with sympathy. “I know Scott hurt you badly.” She looked off into space as if she was in the grip of a bad memory. Something that had wounded her. “A broken heart is terribly painful. It’s not something anyone wants to go through more than once.”

Kim peered at her aunt, suddenly curious. “It sounds like you speak from experience.”

Rose’s eyes got misty. “I had my heart broken a very long time ago,” she said, her voice coated in sorrow.

Kim’s chest tightened, and she could hardly breathe. Obviously there was a lot of sadness behind Rose’s revelation. “What happened?”

“Oh, back when I was young—a girl, really—there was a boy I loved. His name was Arthur.” Rose smiled sadly. “Arthur Bennett. We met at a dance in town.”

“Go on,” Kim said. She needed to hear the story. Making a connection with her aunt via the pain of shared heartbreak seemed important somehow.

“His family was very wealthy, and mine wasn’t. His parents didn’t think I was good enough for him. They had a family friend’s daughter in mind.” She drew in a deep, shaky breath. “He told me that he loved me, but then he married her instead.”

A knot of empathy filled Kim’s chest. She’d had no idea about any of Rose’s past romantic turmoil. “Oh, I’m so, so sorry.”

“Thank you, dear.” She patted Kim’s hand. “So, you see, I understand your wounds and I understand why you don’t want to put your heart on the line. After Arthur left me, I never want to take that risk again, either.”