Family to the Rescue

So that explained why her aunt had never married. “Being alone is better than hurt and broken in two,” Kim said, her chin raising. Rose’s revelation had confirmed that belief quite well. Staying uninvolved romantically was the right path.

“So true, so true,” Rose agreed, her eyes reflecting a lifetime of sadness. “And I don’t want to see you get hurt again.” She stood and started cleaning up the kitchen.

Kim sat back, gripping her mug of tea. Who would have guessed they had so much in common? Her aunt was more like her than she’d realized.

“Oh, I forgot,” Rose said, picking up a large manila envelope from the counter. “This came in the mail for you today.”

Kim took the envelope, scoping out the return address, her heart skipping a beat. “It’s from the community college in Seattle.”

“Are you still planning on taking early education classes there?” Rose asked, gathering up the empty tea mugs.

“Yes, in time.” Kim had put her dreams of becoming a teacher on hold when Dylan had been born, choosing instead to stay at home with him. She didn’t regret that decision at all, but it was time to follow her dream.

“But not right away, correct?” Rose asked. “I’m not ready to lose you and Dylan just yet.”

Kim smiled. “No, not right away.” But eventually, she was moving to Seattle to be near Grant and to take advantage of the early education program at Seattle City College, which wasn’t available anywhere near Moonlight Cove. For sure.

Rose picked up her glasses and put them on. “Oh, good. I’ve been lonely. It’s wonderful to have you two around.”

“It’s nice to be here, Aunt Rose,” Kim said, meaning it. She stood and started helping Rose clean the kitchen.

Rose shooed her away. “No, let me do this. You go ahead and relax. You need to rest.”

With exhaustion pulling at her as if she had a rock around her neck, Kim agreed and headed to her room. She walked by Dylan’s door, shivering when she thought of the courageous, handsome man who lay in there, asleep.

Unbidden, a vision of Seth’s eyes gazing at her danced through her head, and her heart stuttered. She’d wanted to lose herself in those eyes, let down her guard.

But she couldn’t.

She needed to be smart. She needed to take her aunt’s poignant story of her broken heart, blend it together with her own botched romantic history, and never forget the picture they painted.

If she did, pain was sure to follow.

Seth woke up a couple times during the night, kind of wishing he’d taken the doctor’s offer of pain meds. His head hurt, period. But he was determined not to go down that road. He’d gut it out as best he could.

He’d dreamed that Kim was in his room at one point during the night, with the moonlight shining through the window on her face as she gazed down on him. He even dreamed that she touched his forehead, her soft fingers a gentle, soothing caress…

Finally he awoke and it was light out. His head had calmed down quite a bit. He had no idea what time Kim and her aunt got up, but he needed to be out of bed. Laying around just wasn’t his thing. Besides, it was Monday, and he needed to get to the store and open up.

He’d gone to sleep in his board shorts and the T-shirt Drew had loaned him, so he threw the covers back, got up and blinked the spots away. When he was steady, he folded the quilt he’d slept under and straightened the bed as best he could. Then he padded over to the wooden door and opened it.

A boy with sleep-messed blond hair, dressed in bright red pajamas, stood in the hall, looking up at Seth. The kid appeared to be around the age of six or so, but Seth didn’t have much up-close experience with children, so he could be wrong.

“I’ve been waiting for you to wake up. My mom told me not to bother you, so I’ve been very quiet,” the boy whispered.

Okay, this was Kim’s son. “Well, you did a very good job.” Seth held out his hand. “I’m Seth.”

The boy put his small hand in Seth’s and pumped it. “Oh, I know who you are.” His eyes went wide. “You’re the hero who rescued my mommy.”

“Uh…well, yeah, I helped her out of the water.” Seth had a feeling that, unfortunately, the dubious title of “hero” wasn’t going to go anywhere anytime soon. Great.

“I’m Dylan,” the boy said. “Dylan Hampton.”

“Nice to meet you, Dylan,” Seth replied.

Just then, Kim came down the hall. She was wrapped in a long, fuzzy pink robe over pajamas and had on fluffy white slippers. Her hair flowed in a dark river of waves over her shoulders, and her amber-colored eyes dominated her heart-shaped face.

His breathing snagged. He’d realized yesterday she was pretty, but here, like this, looking bright and relaxed, and not like a drowned cat, she was downright stunning. Pink was definitely her color, although he guessed she’d look good in ugly mud brown, too.

“Hey, now, Dyl,” she said, her voice warm with a mother’s love. “I told you not to bother Mr. Graham.”

She moved closer and Seth could smell her scent, which reminded him of a clean ocean breeze, light and fresh. He finally managed to find his voice. “He didn’t wake me up. He was as quiet as a little mouse.”

Kim rubbed Dylan’s narrow shoulders. “Good. He’s been dying to meet you, so I wasn’t sure he wouldn’t just barge in and wake you up.”

“How did you like my bed?” Dylan asked. “Comfortable, huh?”

In the haze of his pounding head and exhaustion last night, Seth hadn’t realized he’d been put in Dylan’s bed. It made sense now, but his mind hadn’t been firing on all cylinders.

“Very comfy,” he agreed. “Thank you for letting me borrow it.” A thought occurred to him. “Where did you sleep?”

“With my mom.”

“Don’t worry,” Kim said. “He loves sleeping in my bed, which I suspect has something to do with the fact that he can watch TV in there.”

Seth chuckled. “Not surprising at all. I always wanted a TV in my room, too.”

“Auntie Rose made waffles—with chocolate chips,” Dylan said, his voice full of excitement. “Because we have a guest.”

Seth sniffed the air. He widened his grin. “I can smell them, buddy. Why don’t you lead the way?” Actually, he was really hungry. Food would do him good right now. He needed fuel to get moving.

Dylan scampered off. Seth moved to follow, but Kim stopped him with a gentle touch to his arm that felt much warmer than he expected.

“How’s the head?” she asked, gesturing to his bandage. “I checked on you a couple times in the night, and you seemed to be sleeping well.”

Oh. So she’d actually been there, bathed in moonlight, touching his head. It hadn’t been a dream.

He made himself focus on her thoughtfulness. “Thank you for that,” he said softly. “But it wasn’t necessary.”

“Yes, it was. I had to make sure you were okay.” She gazed at him quizzically. “Are you okay?”

“I feel more human this morning than I did last night.”

“Great. Are you hungry?”

He stared into her eyes, losing himself for a moment in their topaz depths. “I’m sorry. What did you say?”

Kim blushed. “I asked if you were hungry. There are waffles in the kitchen,” she gestured for him to follow her. “Aunt Rose loves to have people to cook for.”