It took about two seconds for mayhem to ensue and ten minutes for an ambulance to arrive. He was quickly attended by the paramedics and transported to the local hospital.

  An hour and half later he was diagnosed with a broken left arm, which wasn’t surprising because it had twisted to a weird angle and hurt like hell. All he wanted to do was to get the damned thing set in a cast and get out of the ER’s triage area. But no such luck. For one, he couldn’t drive. And the cyclist was in the next bed, dealing with a multitude of scratches and abrasions, but thankfully nothing worse. Out of options, Sean grabbed his cell and looked through his stored numbers, finding the one he wanted.

  It was answered on the third ring.

  “I need your help,” he said and briefly explained what had happened. “And don’t tell anyone else, okay?”

  Twenty minutes later his half brother walked into triage.

  “Thanks for coming,” Sean said flatly.

  Jonah was frowning, an expression he was familiar with, since he wore it well himself. “No problem. Happy to help.”

  Sean had called him because he worked in Rapid City at an architectural firm and was close at hand.

  “How did it happen?” Jonah asked.

  He explained about the accident and jerked a thumb in the direction of the cyclist, shrugging. “Just one of those things.”

  The teenager in the neighboring hospital bed glanced over. “I’m sorry, man, this has never happened to me before. My grandma is gonna kill me when she finds out I wrecked my bike.”

  Sean managed to nod, despite the fact he was now aching all over. “I’ll replace your bike. Don’t stress.”

  The teen looked relieved. “Thanks, man. I need my wheels to get to school. I kept ringing my bell and yelling, and I couldn’t stop because there was a car behind me.”

  He looked at the distraught teenager, and seconds later a harried looking older woman in a waitress uniform came bursting into triage and quickly headed for the teenager. “Mikey, are you okay? Are you badly hurt?”

  It took only a moment to work out the dynamic between them—a parentless teen, a loving and clearly overworked grandparent. And Sean’s guilt quickly trebled. He was a stubborn fool.

  “I’m sorry, kid,” he said and then looked at his brother. “I want to tell you something.”

  Jonah sat on the chair next to the bed and listened as Sean quickly explained about his hearing loss. Unlike Kieran, Jonah didn’t shoot out a bunch of questions—just one.

  “How come you haven’t told Dad and Gwen?”

  Sean sucked in a breath. “Because you know what they’re like. They’ll...”

  “Smother you with love and concern?” his brother suggested.

  “Yeah,” he replied, his stomach sinking when he realized how idiotic that actually sounded.

  “I get it,” Jonah replied. “But if you don’t want it, don’t accept it. Just tell them and then move on as though nothing has changed.”

  “Except things have changed,” Sean reminded him. “I sold my business, left my life behind, came back to a town I’ve never felt like I truly belonged to.”

  “Then why did you?” Jonah asked the obvious question and didn’t wait for a reply. “Because you wanted connection? Family? I get that, too. Have you ever thought that maybe this is where you were meant to be all along? Granted, this isn’t how anyone imagined your homecoming.”

  He knew what his brother meant. “Are you saying it’s fate?”

  Jonah nodded. “Well, if Liam and Kayla hadn’t eloped and you guys had never found out about me, then I’d probably still be stuck in Portland, still hating J.D. and resenting the family I had never known. I’d never have met Connie, wouldn’t have a baby on the way, wouldn’t be right here, talking to you. So, I think that sometimes fate gives us exactly what we need, right when we need it. Maybe just not the way we would expect.” He smiled. “Maybe you’re thinking too hard. It’s what we do.”

  The more Sean considered it, the more alike they seemed. “What if you couldn’t be an architect anymore? What would you do?”

  “I’d find something else I was good at,” Jonah replied. “Like, maybe running a hotel.”

  “Liam told you about that?”

  Jonah nodded. “It’s not a bad idea. Although I bet you could stay in the music industry, too, if you really wanted, too. If that art exhibition is anything to go by, you seem pretty good at handling people and managing and promoting events. You know, saying the right things, working a room, so to speak. You seem to have a knack for being charming,” Jonah added and grinned. “Well, to most people.”

  Sean sighed heavily. “I’ve spent the last couple of years really wanting to hate you.”

  “I know,” Jonah said.

  “I guess I blamed you for my folks breaking up.”

  “I know that, too,” his brother remarked. “Don’t feel alone. I’ve done my share of blaming in the past.”

  “How’d you get through it?”

  “Connie,” Jonah replied simply, and his expression softened. “She made me see the world differently. She got me to see past the anger and resentment. I guess she helped me become a better man.”

  Sean’s chest tightened. He didn’t want to think about it. Didn’t want to imagine that he’d been close to finding that same sense of peace. “How did she do that?”

  Jonah shrugged. “She loved me. Although I never quite understood why. Sometimes I still don’t. But she makes me want to be the best version of myself. She also made me realize I had to embrace forgiveness. I had to forgive Dad,” he said and sighed heavily. “For lying and deceiving everyone. But mostly, I had to forgive myself for being the cause of all the chaos.”

  His brother’s words struck a chord deep down. Forgiveness? Had he ever truly experienced that? Had he ever opened himself up to something so raw?

  “I hate the lies Dad told.”

  “Me too,” Jonah said.

  “It’s like he made a mockery of the happy family I thought we had. And I think I blamed Liz for dying,” he admitted out loud for the first time in his life, his throat burning.

  “Understandable,” Jonah remarked. “You guys were close.”

  “When we were kids, Liam and Kieran were always this tight unit, you know, like they were best friends as well as brothers. I think Liz knew I always felt left out and tried to make me a part of things. My mom was great, always there, always available...but Dad was... I don’t know, emotionally absent.”

  Jonah nodded slowly. “For me he was physically absent. I guess we both got the thing he could easily give.”

  For the first time, Sean understood. While J.D. had been living in Cedar River and raising his family, his heart had been in Portland, with the woman he loved and the son he couldn’t really claim. It made him think about Leah, too. About how she’d opened herself up to him and he’d shut her down with his silence.

  “I need a favor,” Sean said.

  “Name it.”

  “I can’t drive with a broken arm. Once I’m out of here, I need you to drive me back to the audiologist,” he said and met his brother’s gaze. “And then I’d appreciate it if you could take me to see our father.”

  “What are you going to do?” Jonah asked, looking a little wary.

  Sean sucked in a breath. “I’m going to face the enemy.”

  “You mean J.D.?”

  “No,” he replied. “I mean me. I mean my ego, and my pride.”

  * * *

  Decorating the Christmas tree within an inch of its life at the Triple C ranch with the other women in the family was a family tradition, and Leah always enjoyed the occasion and the event had become quite the bonding session. There was also wine. Not too much, because Tess was still nursing Charlie and Abby had announced she was pregnant.

  There was, she thought, a whole lot of hormones in the room. And happiness. She longed to feel a connection, to be a part of things, to forge her own sense of belonging with the women she cared about most. But in that moment, she simply felt alone and excluded.

  Christmas was just over a week away, and she should have been jumping out of her skin with happiness because life was so amazing. She had money in the bank. Several pieces of her art had already been shipped off, and she had enough work ordered to be busy for the next six months. She had even bought a new truck, since her old one was on the way out and she needed a reliable vehicle to haul materials for her work. Yes, she should have been ecstatic.

  But she wasn’t happy. She was miserable. And she’d been hibernating like a bear, hanging out in her studio until late at night, not talking, avoiding her father, and particularly avoiding Gwen when she stopped by. The last thing she wanted to do was have a heart-to-heart with Sean’s mother.

  “So, Winona and I were thinking you should have a big birthday bash,” Ellie announced and looked at Leah as she climbed down the ladder after placing the star on top of the huge tree. “It’s not every day that a girl turns twenty-eight.”

  The other woman all chuckled. But Leah wasn’t smiling. Because her birthday coincided with Valentine’s Day, which would quickly loom once the holidays were over, and she had no real interest in celebrating either event in her current state of mind.

  “I’ll think about it,” she replied in her usual friendly way, and then decided that she wasn’t going to be swayed and suddenly stood her ground. “Actually, no, I’d prefer to keep it on the down low. You all know I hate being the center of attention.”

  Ellie grinned. “You managed to handle the pressure at the gallery show last week.”

  “That was different,” she remarked. “That was work.”

  And because she had someone at her side the entire evening. Someone who had her back and protected her from the hard questions, from ridicule, from failure. Something she was certain the other women all knew, but were too polite to say anything because she’d made a point of not mentioning Sean for days. To anyone.

  “How is Sean, by the way?” Abby asked. “Recovering well?”

  Leah’s gaze narrowed. “What do you mean?”

  “After the accident yesterday,” she replied.

  Leah’s breath stilled in her lungs. Abby was the head chef at the O’Sullivan Hotel and was privy to the goings-on with the family.

  Not like me.

  “I don’t know anything about...” Her words trailed off, and she could see the sympathy in the other woman’s eyes. In everyone’s eyes.

  “He’s out of the hospital,” Abby said quickly. “It was just an ER visit. All I know is that he was hit by a car or a bike or something and is—”

  White noise screeched so loud in her brain, Leah thought she might pass out. She jumped to her feet, her hands shaking. “I have to go.”

  Leah grabbed her tote and raced out of the ranch house, ignoring Mitch and Jake as she passed them in the hallway. She tried Sean’s cell the moment she got into her truck, and it went directly to voice mail. Frantic, she considered calling Gwen, but her pride got firmly stuck in her throat. He hadn’t called her. No one had called her. It was as though she wasn’t on his radar, or the radar of anyone associated with him.

  She drove to his house in record time, but he wasn’t home. She tried calling his cell again, but no luck, and then headed into town, gravitating to the hotel. Liam would know, she thought. Liam wouldn’t care that she was asking after his brother. Unlike Gwen, who would see the pathetic love in her eyes. She raced to the concierge and asked to speak to Liam. Of course the girl behind the desk knew who she was. Her art piece was conspicuous in the foyer, and she had been to the hotel many times.

  Minutes later Liam appeared, in his corporate jacket and tie.

  “Leah, are you okay?” he asked, clearly taking in her harried expression and looking worried. “My mom and dad are here if you need—”

  “Where is he?” she asked quickly.

  One dark brow rose. “Ah... I guess you mean Sean? He’s upstairs.”

  My God, was he so badly injured he needed a room at the hotel instead of his own house? Did he need looking after? Was he bedridden? Why hadn’t someone called her? She was so overwrought she wanted to scream. “Can I see him?”

  Liam’s mouth hitched at one side for a second, and then he nodded. “Sure,” he said and ushered her toward the elevator. He used his pass card to open the door and pressed a couple of buttons once she was inside. “Third floor, second door on the right.”

  He stepped out and the doors closed, and within seconds she was headed upward. When the doors swooshed open, she hurried out and realized she was in the corporate suite, not a level with guest rooms.

  Leah walked down the hall, passing one door, then stopping outside the second door on the right. It was open and led to a moderate size office. There was a desk a little way from the doorway, a couple of narrow couches and then another doorway, also open. She walked inside, noticing the flowers on the desk, the subtle scent of a woman’s fragrance in the air. She had the illogical thought that he was with someone and then decided she shouldn’t care. They’d made no promise to one another. He’d made it clear he didn’t want her to care about him.

  Then why am I here?

  Because she did care. She loved him. And the very idea that he was hurt and she didn’t know made her ache down deep in her bones. Leah took a breath and walked toward the open door, halting on the threshold. Sean was by the window, wearing jeans and a T-shirt, his leather jacket slung over the big desk that was in the center of the room.

  And his left arm was in a cast.

  He turned, as though sensing her presence, and Leah almost crumpled to the ground. He had a graze on his forehead and another on his chin. She fought the urge to rush over and hold him in her arms. He didn’t want her arms. He didn’t want her anything.

  “Leah,” he said her name on a sigh. “Hey there.”

  She remained where she was. “So it’s true about the accident? You’re hurt?”

  He glanced at his arm and shrugged with the other shoulder. “I’m okay. Nothing life-threatening.”

  “I called you earlier,” she said. “It went to voice mail.”

  He nodded. “I accidently left my cell at the hospital in Rapid City yesterday. I need to go and get it at some point, but driving is out right now. I broke my arm,” he said, stating the obvious.

  Leah took a step forward, sucking in some air, so mad she could barely speak. But she did.

  “And you didn’t have the decency to let me know?”

  “I was going to—”

  “Are you that insensitive that you couldn’t spare two minutes to let me know you’d been hit by a car?” she said, cutting him off, her hands waving angrily.

  He actually had the audacity to look shocked by her tone. “Ah...bike,” he corrected and then dared to half smile. “I stepped off the sidewalk and was hit by a kid on a bicycle.”

  “I don’t care if it was a Mack truck,” she said heatedly. “You should have told me.”

  She sucked in a sharp breath and took a couple steps closer, really looking at him. And then she noticed the difference in his demeanor and quickly understood.

  “You’re...you’re...”

  He nodded. “Yes, I am wearing hearing aids,” he said and motioned to the small devices behind his ears.

  Leah was surprised. “You kept saying you weren’t ready.”

  He looked a little sheepish, and her heart tightened. “I thought I wasn’t. But being knocked on my ass yesterday because I didn’t hear the bicycle coming changed things. The truth is, I’ve changed.”

  “I guess you have,” she said.

  He stepped forward. “Leah, I’ve been trying to—”

  “Forget me?” she challenged, angry and hurt and disregarded, and feeling all the things she felt at the hands of Gary Billings and Xavier. Only this was much worse. Because this was Sean, and she loved him to the very depths of her soul and he didn’t return those feelings. “Trying to erase me from your memory as though it never happened because I’m so not in your league and am so easily forgettable.”

  More shock, this time countered by a spark of annoyance in his eyes. “Of course not. If you’ll let me explain, we can—”

  “Explain what, Sean?” she demanded. “I’ve been this foolish girl before, remember?”

  “What does that mean?”

  She gave a brittle laugh. “Oh, you know, in over my head? Falling for the wrong man? Well, guess what,” she said, strength returning to her limbs, her blood, her very soul. “I’m actually not that girl anymore, the one who didn’t have enough value on herself and let people walk all over her. I guess I should thank you for helping me overcome my polarizing insecurity. Because, guess what, I’m strong and confident and way too smart to waste any more time pining over a guy like you!”

  She turned on her heel and left the room, almost bumping directly into Liam, J.D. and Gwen on her way out, feeling exhilarated, feeling strength seep into her bones with every step.

  And feeling like herself for the first time in her life.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Sean slumped back into the chair and held the cast on his arm close to his chest. He’d never seen Leah so angry. So compelling. And utterly lovely, despite the rage clearly coursing through her veins.

  He looked up and spotted Liam and their parents standing in the doorway.

  “I guess you heard that?” Sean asked.

  Liam shrugged. “Enough. She must be crazy in love with you to yell at you like that.”