Kiss From a Rose Read online

  Then the way he spoke to her was awful too. He was a complete asshole.

  I didn’t even know why he was asking about her.

  “I haven’t seen her in so many years. I’m truly sorry to hear she’s in hospital.”

  Had to be lies and a show for my sake because I knew for a fact that he didn’t care about Halle.

  “Are you?” My question threw him off. The words slipped out before I had time to process them.

  “Of course. She’s done really well for herself with the motel and everything. It’s the buzz in all the circles I travel in. It’s a shame she’s on the verge of death.”

  On the verge of death. “I never said that.”

  “Forgive me. You know I have a poor choice of words. Caine, I just want things to be right with us. That’s why I’m here, and now that you’re back, maybe you’ll consider working with the company.”

  “No.” I shook my head at him.

  “But I thought you were done with the Navy.” He looked confused.

  “I’m not. I’m going to take this year off and then work in intelligence, as a senior analyst. Probably in South Carolina.”

  “Oh.”

  I’d decided that long ago. I made a promise with myself that if I made it to thirty, I’d leave the Navy and work in intelligence. I was thirty-two now and looking forward to it. There was a naval base in Charlotte, but the one that suited my caliber was in South Carolina.

  It would mean selling the house and moving, but I thought I’d cross that bridge when I got there. I had money under my belt. Plenty of it that I got from my grandfather on Mom’s side when he died a few years back, and I had money from my savings.

  It bought me time and allowed me to help a friend in need. Halle.

  “So, what do you plan to do with yourself for the year? Maybe we can go on vacation or do whatever to reacquaint?”

  I didn’t know how to answer him. I didn’t want to do any of those things, but I didn’t think I could tell him that. It would hurt him.

  “Dad, how about I let you know when I want to see you. I appreciate that you’re trying, but this… I can’t. Not like this. It feels like you’re pushing your way into my life.”

  “I just want to be a part of your life again. It’s been years, Caine. Fifteen years. Your mother was—”

  “Don’t.” I had to cut in. “Don’t talk about her to me, ever.” My eyes blazed, and I balled my fists. I could have hit him, and if I did, it would have most likely knocked him out.

  He looked taken aback by my outburst

  “Sorry. Maybe I should go… like you said, you’ll let me know when you want to see me.” His eyes looked dark. The usual vibrant green looked like something else.

  I looked a lot like him. People said I was the splitting image. Same dark brown hair, same eyes, same height, face structure, built. I could have been a clone. But I didn’t want to be him.

  The kind of man who destroyed everything he touched.

  “I think that would be best.”

  “Please, don’t leave it too long.” He looked me over with pleading eyes.

  “Sure.” Best to say that. Honestly, when I’d contacted him last week to let him know I was coming home, I didn’t have any plans on when I would see him.

  It was something I wanted to build myself up to. At least that was off my chest now that it had happened. I just wished I didn’t have this burning feeling in my gut from the anxiety it caused.

  With one last look, he walked out, leaving me feeling hollow inside.

  I made my way into the kitchen and grabbed a beer from the fridge. The way I felt right now, I could have had the whole case, but I’d hold off because I wanted to go see Halle later.

  I was certain I’d see Anya too.

  It was such a shame we couldn’t have been reunited under different circumstances.

  She didn’t feel as forbidden to me as she did years ago when I knew her.

  She wasn’t fourteen anymore, and I wasn’t the eighteen-year-old big-headed jock she’d called me.

  Well, maybe.

  Chapter 4

  Caine

  * * *

  I rushed from the hospital parking lot.

  The doctor had called an hour ago to let me know Halle had woken up out of her coma.

  I had been at the motel. I got there early and was told Anya had already left for the hospital. I went to check out the water pipes in the basement because Halle had told me there was a leak down there.

  That had been on my to-do list when I stopped by to see her yesterday. I managed to control the leak for the moment, but it looked like it would get worse.

  I’d planned to spend the day fixing it, but this was more important. Yesterday, Halle had been the same as that first day, and I was eager to see some life in her again. Just to see her okay.

  I made a quick stop in the gift shop for flowers and the coffee shop for a hot chocolate for Anya. I figured she would have been at Halle’s side the whole time, not wanting to leave.

  When I got up to the room, my heart sunk when I saw Halle sleeping.

  Anya sat in the chair beside the bed gazing out the window with a solemn expression on her beautiful face. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and while the hair away from her face showed off her high cheekbones and intricate bone structure, I couldn’t help but think she looked like a doll. I’d had the same thought when I first met her when I was eight.

  She looked at me as I came in.

  “Hi.” She offered a kind smile, but it was still wary. Wary of me. I guess that was out of habit.

  “Hey, they said she was awake.” I looked at Halle. Although the color had returned to her cheeks, she still looked quite frail.

  “She’s in and out of sleep. I think it’s the medication. They gave her the last dose an hour ago, so hopefully when she wakes next time, she’ll be awake a little longer.”

  I looked at the two of them. Anya almost looked as frail as Halle.

  “Those for her?” She smiled looking at the flowers. I got dahlias. Halle’s favorite.

  “Yeah.”

  “Thank you, that’s sweet. She’ll love them.”

  I set them on the side near Halle. Anya got up, and I went over to her. I held out the hot chocolate to her, and to my surprise, she jumped back and got this freaked look on her face.

  “What is it now?” She winced

  “It’s a hot chocolate.” I chuckled looking her over. I couldn’t hide my amusement.

  “Right. I’m not stupid enough to fall for that old trick. I wouldn’t put it past you to pull something like that here.”

  “What trick are we talking about?” I narrowed my eyes.

  “You don’t even remember?”

  I didn’t know what she was talking about. “Can you give me a hint?”

  “Frog, although I think it was a toad.”

  I remembered when she said frog, and I felt bad. “This is hot chocolate, I swear.” I opened the lid and showed it to her.

  She inspected it and tapped the cup. Before she took it, she gave me a weird assessing look.

  “You really thought I’d put a frog in the cup and bring it to you here?” I was trying to keep my voice down, but I spoke a little louder than I hoped.

  “Yes.”

  “Why would I do that?”

  “I don’t know, Caine. Why did you do it back then? If I didn’t like hot chocolate so much, I probably would drink it anymore.”

  “I was young and dumb.” I laughed, still keeping my voice down.

  “No, you were just evil.” She frowned, doing this cute thing with her nose as she wrinkled it at me.

  My eyes dropped from hers, and I couldn’t help it; my gaze went from her full lips as she pouted, then dropped to the hint of cleavage she showed off in that camisole top that really enunciated her voluminous breasts.

  That skinny, lanky girl I remembered now looked like a version of Jessica Rabbit but with smaller hips. Anya had more breast, and I didn’t
know a man alive who would complain about that.

  “Why are you looking at me like that?” She frowned.

  “Nothing,” I answered quickly.

  As she leaned her head to the side, her ponytail swished over her shoulders.

  “You know, all that stuff from the past, it’s bygones, right?” I smiled at her.

  “Caine… if yesterday hadn’t happened and I saw you on the road after all this time, I would keep walking.”

  My mouth dropped, and I made a show of looking offended. “Woman, I just got you frog-less hot chocolate.”

  “Thank you, I’m so glad that this time, there were no frogs in it. I’ll bear that in mind.” She took a sip and swallowed.

  “Also, I adore your aunt. She’s like my aunt.”

  “Except she’s mine.”

  “Yes, but she feels more like mine. Pretty certain I’ve spent more time than you with her, so she’s mine.”

  “What? That is ridiculous. I lived in Chicago.”

  “Exactly. There you go. I lived with her and saw her every day. She’s mine.” This was ridiculous, but it was distracting.

  “No, she’s mine. She worked for you.”

  “Correction. She worked for my father. She didn’t have to talk to me, but she did. Every day.”

  “Caine Donoghue, this argument is ridiculous.”

  “Just stating fact, sweetheart.”

  “Oh my God in his high heavens, are you kids arguing over me?” came Halle’s very weak voice.

  We both rushed to her side.

  “Halle, are you okay?” I asked, my seriousness returned.

  She turned her head and looked at me, giving me a weak smile.

  “I’m here too,” Anya offered

  Halle looked at her. “What a nice sight. The two people I love most in the world are both with me.”

  God, I was a big ex-Navy man, built like a tank and lived in a war zone for too many years. I should have been stronger, but those words right there made my eyes tear up. Her words and just seeing her stung the backs of my eyes because I was so glad she was awake, and alive.

  I couldn’t go all soft because tears started streaming down Anya’s face.

  “We love you too,” she told Halle.

  “We definitely do,” I added.

  “Caine, I was going to tell you off.” Halle frowned. “You got another tattoo.”

  I chuckled. It was just like her to say something like that. “Curse of a sailor. We like them.”

  “No more. Who knows where those needles have been.”

  “I went to a good place.”

  “Was it heaven? I doubt it.”

  It was good to hear her laugh. I reached for her hand, and she squeezed mine.

  “Halle, we need you to focus on getting better, okay?”

  “I have to work. I have to…” She glanced at Anya.

  “No, I’m here, and I’ll look after the motel,” Anya offered.

  “Me too. You got me too,” I offered, suddenly knowing what I was going to be doing with my time. For the moment anyway.

  Anya glanced at me out the corner of her eyes.

  “It’s too much to ask.”

  “No, nothing is too much for you. I’ll take care of everything. Don’t worry about anything.”

  “The hospital bill. It’s cheaper if I go home.”

  I felt so bad. I should have checked in more to see how she was. “You can’t go home yet, Halle. You need to stay here just a little longer, and I got you covered.”

  She shook her head slowly. “No, Caine, my sweet little boy. You can’t do that.”

  I was a six foot four, a hard-muscled ex-Navy man, yet no matter how old I got, she still called me her sweet little boy. I liked it. It felt like I actually belonged to her.

  “I did. Time for me to take care of you.”

  I looked at Anya again. She looked so drained. I knew she’d barely left Halle’s side since she’d been in here. The dutiful niece.

  “Thank you, Caine. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.” She brought her hand to her heart, and her eyes teared up. When she glanced at Anya and saw how weak she looked, she gave her a little smile. “My boy, please, can you do me one last favor?”

  “Anything.”

  “Can you take Anya home and make sure she gets a good meal and some sleep?”

  I was tempted to say that wasn’t a favor, but I thought better of it.

  “No, I’m not going anywhere. I’m staying here.”

  “Anya, I have a lot to tell you, but I don’t have the strength today. And most of all, I’m worried about you because I know you would have been here for days. Please go home and take care of yourself. Just for today.”

  Anya thought for a moment, then nodded.

  When she looked at me, our gazes locked just for a few seconds, but I swear I saw something flicker in her eyes.

  It got my attention.

  * * *

  Anya

  * * *

  “I’m going back later,” I said to Shawna on the phone.

  I pressed the phone to my ear, nestling it between my neck and shoulder as I took off my sandals.

  My feet were still killing me from the heels I’d worn to the interview days ago.

  Bare feet was what I needed. My bare feet on the cold floorboards that graced Halle’s house. I liked the coolness on my skin.

  “Don’t you think you should let her rest?” Shawna asked, concern filling her voice.

  Sure, I thought Halle should rest, but I was paranoid something would happen to her. I couldn’t bear the thought of getting another phone call.

  So far in my life, I’d gotten two calls that were filled with bad news. News a person dreaded hearing.

  The call to tell me Mom had died in a car accident and the call the other day about Aunt Halle. That was what it reminded me of. That horrible day when my world was ripped from me. I couldn’t stand the anticipation of another call like that.

  “I’ll just check in on her.”

  “I’ll check in on you too. Granny thinks the person who put the hex on you really went to town.”

  Ugh, not this again. “Tell Granny she needs a break from the spirit world.”

  “Hey, I don’t see any harm in being careful, so don’t throw shade our way. Granny knows her stuff.”

  Granny didn’t know anything, and I really didn’t want to start getting all superstitious at a time like this.

  I had too much going on, and on top of things, I had Caine here in the house with me still. He was downstairs cooking dinner. He’d insisted, saying it was part of the promise.

  “I think I’ll call you later. I have to sort some stuff out when Caine leaves.”

  “Who?”

  Oh, I hadn’t told her about Caine. She knew him though. Just not by his first name. “You remember the horrible Donoghue boy? Halle worked for his family back in the day.”

  Of course, Caine chose that moment to pop his head into my room.

  “Horrible Donoghue boy calling. Lunch is served.” He chuckled.

  I frowned as I looked at him. He shook his head and moved away.

  “Caine Donoghue, Caine Donoghue?” Shawna asked dreamingly. “God, didn’t he go to the Marines or the Navy, som’in like that.” Shawna’s giggled.

  “Yes, him. Anyway, he just heard me call him horrible Donoghue boy.”

  “So, he’s in your house, and… you two are on your own?”

  I could already see my friend’s brain working overtime. Shawna had been guy crazy from day one. Right from that first day when I’d met her on that fateful summer many moons ago.

  We were eight, and right from that young age, she was trying to get the attention of a Japanese boy who didn’t speak English. He was here on vacation with his family. We met him in the park near the Donoghue’s home. Shawna’s family lived near there when her dad worked at a law firm.

  “We are alone, yes.”

  “Does he have that hard military body with all the mu
scles and the tattoos?”

  “Shawna, I’m going now.” I rolled my eyes even though I knew she couldn’t see me.

  “You are so boring, you know that?”

  “Talk later.” I hung up before she could say another word.

  The last thing I needed to be thinking about was whether or not Caine had a hard military body with muscles and tattoos.

  As my bad luck would have it, I didn’t need to wonder at all about any of those things. When I went downstairs, I saw for myself that he did indeed have the hard military body, and I could see a host of tattoos running down his arm and snaking up his neck. He’d had on a long-sleeved button-down shirt earlier that hid it all.

  He’d taken off the shirt and now sported a fitted black T-shirt that clung to his abs.

  He smiled when he saw me and waved his hands over the feast he’d prepared, all laid out on the mahogany dinner table.

  The food looked like it had floated out of one of Aunt Halle’s food magazines.

  On the table was a chicken casserole, with spring vegetables and slices of beef glazed with honey. There was a pie and an assortment of little pastries that looked yummy, and a little sponge cake.

  “You can cook?” I gasped.

  “Why do you look so surprised?” He smirked.

  “Because people like you don’t tend to be able to cook.” I didn’t mean to sound rude, but it came out that way.

  “People like me?” He raised a brow.

  “You had servants and cooks, maids.” I tucked a wayward strand of hair behind my ear.

  “Halle taught me to cook.” He smiled with pride, revealing the dimple in his left cheek. “She said if I wanted to impress the girls, I’d better learn, so I did.”

  Now that didn’t surprise me. “Figures.”

  “You impressed?”

  “With my aunt’s wisdom, yes. With you, that would take a lifetime. Maybe more.”

  “So, we’re back to that again?” He pretended to pout.

  I stared at him, not knowing exactly how to answer. “Caine, you were awful to me when we were kids. Every summer, without fail, you’d do something unforgettable. Right from as far back as I can remember.”