Page 90 of Against The Tide

“I’m a cardiologist, Rowan. Hearts are my thing, and when Avery told me about her father’s death, it seemed odd that there was no history of heart problems. There are usually signs and symptoms, but the way she said it…it was like he dropped dead without warning.”

“So you think there was foul play?”

“You mean could it have been caused?” He shrugs as if to ask if it’s a possibility. “Sure, an altercation that causes enough distress could lead to it, but the underlying condition would have to be serious enough.” The cogs are visibly turning. “Do you think it’s relevant to any of this?”

“There has to be a reason they wanted Avery to know Carl was the last person to see Robert.”

“What if he knew something? The stress of knowing what was coming, of wanting to protect the girls…not to mention that if there was a bust-up it could have led to a sudden turn.”

The more I think about it, the more the foreboding feeling grows. I’m trying to search for a chink in my rationale, for something to be wrong, but it would all be a grand coincidence.

“Gut feelings are rarely wrong, Doc.”

“It would have to be a major altercation,” I tell him, hoping that he’ll say something to contradict my intuition, but all he replies with is, “Major enough that you looking into it has pissed someone off.”

Shit!

CHAPTER 25

AVERY

The first sign that something is seriously wrong is Rhett’s silence. His normally free smiles are tense, and the light that shines back at me in every look we share is muted. Everything I love about him is strained; the only exception is his affection for Iris. That only makes me love him more.

I’m beginning to understand why it’s called falling in love. It’s a continuous free fall. Every second of every day, my heart fills a little more with admiration, affection, and respect for him. If I’m honest, it’s not my heart anymore. For the first time in my life, it doesn’t feel stolen or taken from me, I’ve given it to him. It doesn’t matter what happens, I don’t ever want it back.

“Night, Doc,” I hear her whisper as he finishes reading one of her favorite Dr. Seuss books.

I’ve been standing out in the hall listening for the last few minutes, unable to move for fear of missing one of their sweet moments.

“Good night, champ.”

As his footsteps grow closer to where I’m standing, Iris tells him, “I love you.”

Trust her to be able to do the one thing I still haven’t had the courage to do.

“I love you more,” he replies without a second thought.

“More than the last bite of cake.”

“More than the last crumb of pie.”

I have no idea what they’re talking about, but it makes me tear up. Iris doesn’t dish out I-love-yous freely. For her to tell him so, it means she’s let him in too. My little girl has given someone her heart. Even after everything that’s happened, she’s found another person to trust.

All of a sudden, today’s silence becomes painful to bear. I’m asking myself if maybe he’s realized that being with me is too much of a burden. He hasn’t said much on the break-in at his house, and it makes me wonder whether he blames me. What if it is my fault? It can’t be coincidence that it’s all happening when Carl and the FBI show up.

Before he finds me, I head into my bedroom, leaving my door ajar so he knows that I’m not locking him out. I want him. Scrap that, I need him. I need Rhett to hold me and tell me that he still wants me. That I’m not more trouble than I’m worth.

I’m standing in front of the bathroom mirror, cleaning my face in between my uncontrollable sobs, when he walks in with the pillows from his room in tow. Throwing them on the bed, he comes straight for me. I’m nowhere near ready for the force of his hold or the ferocity of his kiss.

Gasping for breath when Rhett pulls back, all my anxiety pours from me. I’m expecting him to ask me what’s wrong or coax me to talk, but instead, he unbuttons the top of my dress before pulling it off me, leaving me in my underwear as he strips off his own clothes.

“Come here.” He nods me over to him as he backs up to the bath and swills the milky water around with his hand before reaching for me.

“You poured me a bath.” I was so lost in my head that I didn’t realize, and now my heart is in a catastrophic state of about to break, melt, and pound itself into a frenzy.

I’ve never felt so alive as I do with him. All the things he makes me feel are breathtaking, gut-wrenching, and awing. I love him so much, and I’m so desperate to tell him. As I open my mouth, he brushes my lips with his thumb. The tip skimming my tongue elicits a sharp inhale from me at the taste of his warm skin.

I’m in a trance while he turns me away from him, stroking his hands over my shoulders to my nape where he scoops my hair, twisting it in one fist before he rids me of my bra with his other hand. Afterward, Rhett pushes my panties down my thighs between kisses to my nape and soft, teasing nips to my shoulders.