out of the question. I’m not staying with you.”
Surprise flitted in his blue eyes, as if he had never expected her to refuse. “If it makes you feel any better, a very nice couple has been overseeing the renovations on the property for me the last few months. They’re staying on the property, as well.”
That made the whole thing sound more like a genuine offer to help her out of a tough situation and help her get released from the hospital and less like he planned to drag her to his evil lair for his own nefarious purposes. But still.
“This is stupid. I’m fine to drive back to Boise. I’m used to driving in snow. I’ve got a four-wheel-drive SUV and I have good tires on my car. Unlike someone else I could mention,” she said pointedly.
Where was all this snarkiness coming from? She was never caustic or sharp. She considered herself a nice person, darn it. Apparently, leaving one job and apartment, losing another of each in a terrible fire and then being mowed down on the street, all in the same day, tended to bring out the worst in her.
Unfortunately, reminding him of his contribution to her situation only seemed to strengthen his resolve.
“That is exactly the reason you should stay at Snow Angel Cove for the night. I feel responsible that you were hurt.”
“You are responsible,” Devin Shaw murmured.
He nodded. “There. What the good doctor said. I am responsible for you being hurt. I would offer to put you up in a hotel for the night but as Dr. Shaw pointed out, I doubt there’s one room to be found in town. This is the next best thing. Please, Ms. Hayward. Better than some cramped couch at a friend’s house.”
“Do you have a Christmas tree?” Maddie asked eagerly.
He looked down, apparently disconcerted by the question. “Um, I don’t think so. Not yet, anyway.”
“That’s okay,” Maddie said.
She seemed to accept this failing—and the whole situation—with far more equanimity than Eliza. She also seemed to have developed an immediate liking for Aidan.
Eliza wanted to pull her daughter close and whisper to her a bit of maternal advice about being careful about the men you decide to trust, but this probably wasn’t quite the time.
“It’s not a bad solution,” Dr. Shaw said with a pensive nod. “As a last resort, I was going to offer my own house for you to stay. It’s not far from here and I have an extra bedroom. The only problem is, I’m on shift all night tonight and you and your daughter would be alone there. I’ll tell you quite frankly, I feel much better about you staying somewhere with people around than I would even if we could find you a hotel room here or up in Shelter Springs.”
Eliza studied all three of the people in the room, looking at her with varying degrees of expectation. She was too tired and battered to make this kind of decision right now! This whole thing was so ridiculous.
If she only had herself to consider, she would jump up from this bed, grab her coat, tell them all to go to hell and drive to Boise, against medical advice or not.
But she would be a poor mother not to be concerned about her daughter’s well-being. Maddie had already had a long, hard day. She was a trouper but she had to be exhausted. Subjecting her to at least a two-hour car ride in poor conditions—and with a driver who, like it or not, probably wasn’t in any shape to drive—would be foolhardy.
He had an abundance of bedrooms and a caretaker couple in residence. She likely wouldn’t even see the man before she and Maddie left in the morning.
The thought of having a safe, comfortable bed suddenly held enormous appeal. One night. What would be the harm in that?
And anyway, what choice did she really have in the matter? She had a feeling it was either stay with him or be stuck here in the hospital overnight.
“I suppose we could stay for one night, if you’re certain you have the room.”
Relief blazed across his features and she realized with some surprise that his concern was genuine.
“Absolutely,” he answered. “We have more than enough room.”
“The place is huge,” Dr. Shaw said.
“Yay. Now we can help you get a Christmas tree!” Maddie exclaimed.
“Great,” he answered another quick flash of that devastating smile.
“I do have one caveat,” Dr. Shaw said. “Someone will have to check on Eliza during the night. I would prefer every two hours but at least once or twice will suffice.”
“That can be arranged,” he said.
“Great. Then I’ll start work on your discharge papers.”
She hurried out of the room, leaving Eliza alone with the man who had put her in the hospital bed in the first place.
BY THE TIME the nurse brought the final paperwork to release Eliza from the emergency department an hour later, Maddie’s patience with hospitals had trickled away, leaving her tired, hungry and cranky.
“I want to go home,” she said several times. Each time, panic trickled through Eliza at the reminder that she didn’t have a home for her daughter.
“We’re going to stay overnight at Mr. Caine’s house,” she finally explained just as she was shrugging back into her coat.
At least she assumed that was still the plan. She hadn’t seen the man in an hour, not since he left with her car keys to call his employee to retrieve her vehicle from downtown Haven Point and take it out to his property so she would have all her things waiting for her when they arrived.
“Are we having a slumber party?” Maddie asked with excitement. She had been hounding her mother to let her stay overnight at a friend’s house but Eliza had always been too nervous, given all the medication her daughter required. Apparently this was the next best thing.
“Something like that,” Eliza murmured.
The more thought she gave to it, the more ridiculous the whole concept seemed. What in the world was she thinking? She didn’t even want to speak with the man, forget about staying in his home.
She was a smart, capable woman. She never should have let herself be railroaded into this whole thing, storm or not.
When they walked out to the reception area, they found Aidan leafing through a magazine in one of the uncomfortable-looking chairs.
He rose when she and Maddie came through the door. “Are you free to go?”
“So they tell me,” she said glumly.
She had no choice, she reminded herself. She had her daughter’s welfare to worry about first and foremost. A safe, warm place for the night, even with Aidan Caine, was the best option for Maddie.
“Excellent.
