Page 40

CHAPTER 40

O live let the warm water wash over her. Her body hurt, but hopefully the pain meds would kick in soon.

As the water pounded her, her mind continued to race. However, she still couldn’t make sense of anything—not Rebecca, not the attack in her old house, not Jason.

Maybe she just needed to give her thoughts a rest. Maybe get some sleep.

But now Jason was here, and his presence only added to the emotion buzzing around inside her.

She couldn’t believe he was in Oasis. That he’d found her at her old house just as she’d cried out to God.

Had God actually answered her?

Part of her wanted to believe He had. The other part remained skeptical. She’d already been let down by the most important man in her life. She didn’t want to believe in God only to be disappointed in Him also.

Just as she turned the water off, nearby voices drifted to her ears.

She froze.

Jason was talking to someone in the room.

Urgency rushed through her.

She quickly threw a towel around herself and rushed to the door.

She threw it open . . . only to see Nova standing inside the room with Jason.

Her colleague’s eyes widened when she saw her. “Olive?”

“I . . .” Olive glanced down at her towel, suddenly self-conscious. “I heard talking and was worried something was wrong.”

“You didn’t answer your phone, so I came to check on you.” Nova glanced at Jason. “Then I saw a strange man in your room, and I became even more concerned.”

Jason shrugged. “I knew you were working with a woman named Nova, and I figured this was her. So I introduced myself.”

Nova shrugged also. “I recognized his name, so . . .”

“How did you recognize his name? I’ve never talked about him.” Olive squinted when she realized how harsh her words sounded. She threw him an apologetic glance. “Sorry.”

He shrugged. “No offense taken.”

“His name did come up when Rex spelled out this assignment for us,” Nova said.

Olive’s face flushed. She wasn’t thinking clearly. “Of course.”

“You look . . .” Nova looked Olive up and down and frowned as if holding back her true thoughts. “What happened?”

With one hand still holding her towel in place, Olive reached for her neck, then her face. “It’s a long story.”

“I’d say. Catch me up later?” Nova waited for her response.

“Of course. I just need to dry off and get dressed. Then Jason and I need to talk.”

“Fine. Call me when you’re done.” She took a step back, a glimmer of humor in her gaze. “And behave yourself, in the meantime.”

Olive shot her a look and watched as her colleague shut the door. Then she glanced at Jason, and her cheeks heated. “I’m sorry about that.”

His hands were stuffed casually in the front pockets of his jeans. “It’s okay.”

She pointed her thumb behind her, hating how self-conscious she felt right now. “Just give me a few more minutes.”

“Of course.”

Olive closed the door, her heart racing out of control.

So much for calming herself down.

Olive finally left the bathroom wearing unflattering gray sweatpants and a black sweatshirt. Her hair hung in wet ringlets around her face, and her ribs ached—as well as the rest of her body.

Those things, however, weren’t her biggest concerns.

All she could think about was Jason. The fact he was here. The fact he’d ridden into town like Prince Charming and saved her. The fact he was in her hotel room right now.

She almost felt shy as she sent him a tentative smile. She hadn’t ever been called shy. Sometimes quiet. Sometimes introverted. But never shy.

He sat on the couch. He didn’t have his phone in his hand or a computer on his lap.

His expression seemed to show he’d simply been waiting for her to emerge, like nothing else mattered.

Olive lowered herself a respectable distance away. “Hey.”

“Hey.” He reached for her, gently pushing away some strands of hair as he examined the cut on her neck. “We should probably put something on that.”

“It looks like you just so happen to have a first aid kit.”

His cheek twitched as if he wanted to smile but couldn’t. “Never leave home without one.”

“Funny, in the years I’ve known you, I never saw you as a Boy Scout.”

“I wasn’t. But, of course, my father was a doctor.” He offered a half shrug.

“He’s not anymore?” Olive hadn’t thought to ask the question earlier. Mostly because she figured his father would want nothing to do with Olive after her own father had scammed the family out of twenty thousand dollars.

“I thought I told you. After my mom passed, since all the kids were out of the house, Dad decided to take a job doing home health down in Florida. Said he needed a change.”

“I see.”

“He seems to like it. He’s even been seeing someone—a woman named Trish—and he acts really happy.”

“I’m glad.”

Jason began to dab some ointment on her wound. Olive ignored the sting.

“I know Chelsea still lives here. How about your other siblings?” Jason had two sisters and two brothers, all adopted.

“Dominic still lives here also. He owns a storage facility on the outskirts of town. When he’s not managing that, he runs a lawncare business as well.”

“Good for him.” Olive turned her gaze away from him when she realized how close he was. Close enough that she could see golden flecks in his eyes. That she could smell his woodsy cologne. That she could easily reach forward and touch the day’s growth on his cheeks.

All. Bad. Ideas. Bad, bad ideas.

“My other siblings moved away,” Jason continued. “I guess you could say there are limited job opportunities around here.”

“I guess.” Her voice sounded strained as she said the words.

Though it was good to hear updates on his family, Olive also knew she was just wasting time . . . delaying the inevitable conversation.

Jason dabbed the last bit of ointment on her throat. “Let’s let it air out before we put a bandage on it.”

“Sounds good.”

He picked up a clear bag filled with ice. “In the meantime, I grabbed this from the machine down the hall. You might want to put it on your cheek. I also grabbed a towel from the housekeeping cart to wrap around it.”

“Thank you.” Olive lifted the ice and put it to her cheek.

She’d envisioned the possibility that she and Jason would see each other again sometime. But never in a million years had she imagined their meeting would be like this.

As she glanced at him, she knew they had a more serious conversation that needed to take place.

And there was no need to delay it any longer.