Hummingbird Lake Part 25

"I told you, I didn't see her," Rose responded. She sat in an office chair opposite his desk and her gaze kept straying to his window. "She was in New York, said she was busy interviewing and that she'd get home as soon as she could manage. We talked on the phone and she seemed fine."

She hadn't been fine, Colt knew. She'd needed her family. They should have been there for her. "Why didn't you and your father go see her? She'd been out of the country for some time, hadn't she?"

"We didn't know she'd come home," Rose explained, obviously annoyed. "I still don't know how long she'd been back before she finally called. Then, when she did come home, she didn't tell us ahead of time. I was away with Brandon that weekend, so she only saw Dad."

"How was she then?"

"Okay, as far as I know. He didn't tell me otherwise. Three days later, he had the stroke." Rose sucked in a breath, then let it out shakily. "When I called to tell her, she promised to come, to meet me at the hospital, but she never did. After Dad pa.s.sed, I found out she'd come home, but she never came up to the hospital."

"Why?"

"I don't know. I wasn't exactly in the healthiest frame of mind myself at the time." She glanced from the window to Colt. "Why are there Beanie Babies sitting on the windowsill?"

She's changing the subject. She and her sister are more alike than either of them would admit to. "I leave gifts for your sister," he explained, deciding he'd pried enough for a moment. "She laughed at my reaction to seeing the science cla.s.sroom at school for the first time. It's the home of our local mountain man's taxidermy collection. Have you seen it?"

Rose nodded. "Celeste showed me. She thought I might be able to use it in my book."

"How's that coming?"

"I'm enjoying the process. It's good therapy."

Which brought him back to the question at hand. Colt released a frustrated sigh. Two weeks had pa.s.sed since his conversation with Sage on the pier, and so far he'd been unable to coax her into revisiting the subject of Africa. Even worse, she'd begun to pull away from him, attempting to push him back beyond the outer ring of castle walls he'd labored for months to breach.

He wasn't about to allow that. She'd given him the ultimate weapon for this particular war. She'd told him she loved him, and he'd be d.a.m.ned if he'd let her try to s.n.a.t.c.h it away now.

"What do you know about post-traumatic stress disorder, Dr. Anderson?"

Rose blew out a sigh and rubbed the back of her neck. "I used to work for the Department of Veterans Affairs. I've seen my fair share."

"I've seen it in my work, too. From what I can tell, your sister is a cla.s.sic case. If you don't know what happened, I guess you don't know if she ever sought treatment?"

"No. Like I said, the timing stank. Our relations.h.i.+p didn't survive our father's death."

He gave her a narrow-eyed stare. "But you came to Eternity Springs to fix the problem, didn't you?"

She shrugged. "It was a thought. It didn't get a lot of traction. You know all this, Rafferty. Why are you asking these questions again?"

"Because Sage is stubborn and scared and she needs professional help. I need help convincing her to get it."

"Well, don't ask me." Rose's words held a distinctly bitter tone. "Ask Nic Callahan and Sarah Reese and Celeste. Give Ali Timberlake a call in Denver. They all are much closer to my sister than I am."

"Maybe that's true, for the time being, anyway." He'd talked to all of them already, in fact. "But you are her sister, Rose. She needs you in her life, and you need her, too. You should settle your differences with her for your own sake."

"Have I walked into the middle of an Oprah show?"

Colt shoved out of his chair and paced the office until he ended up in front of the window. He gazed across the narrow s.p.a.ce between the buildings and stared into the studio where one of those frivolous fairy paintings stood half finished on her easel. "I think she's trying to do this all on her own. What's that old saying? Physician, heal thyself? Maybe she saw someone before she came to Eternity Springs, but she's not seeing anyone now. Until recently I thought she might be able to pull this off herself if I was around to help. Not anymore. This is bigger than I'd realized. Definitely beyond my pay grade. What am I going to do?"

"You really love her, don't you?"

He turned and met her gaze. "I do. I want to marry her, raise a family with her. I want to make a life with her."

Rose winced, sighed heavily, then pulled her phone from her jeans pocket and asked, "What's your email address?"

He told her and she continued, "I know a psychologist who works at the Atlanta VA Medical Center. I'm sending you her contact information, and I'll send her an email telling her to expect your call. She might be able to give you an idea about where to go from here."

"Great. Thanks, Rose."

She stood and walked toward the door, then hesitated. "Does she ever talk about me?"

"She asks about you all the time. It's killing her to know that you're here writing a book but not to know the details. Plus, she wants to know if you've heard any more from Connor the Cartoon."

"Cartoonist," Rose corrected, a smile playing at her lips. "Actually, I have. Good-bye, Colt. Have a nice afternoon."

She was out of the door and headed down the stairs before he could pry any more information out of her. As he walked back to his desk, he fished his phone from his pocket and checked his email. Finding the message Rose had promised, he sat and picked up the land line, then noted the number and made the call. As it connected, his gaze drifted toward the empty doorway. The Anderson girls were two special women. Frustrating, but extraordinary.

The call proved to be a quick one, as the doctor he asked for was away from the office. He left a message and hung up as he heard the sound of paws on the staircase. Lori Reese was delivering Shadow back to the office following their daily run.

When the girl and his dog walked into his office, he said, "You're back early."

"I cut our run short," Lori replied. "Chase is only working half a day today, and we're going to go up to Heartache Falls for a picnic with some friends."

Now that Chase Timberlake was back for a second season as a trail rider at the Double R, he and Lori had begun seeing each other again. "That sounds fun. Thanks for exercising my dog today."

"He exercises me. This puppy has more energy than any other dog I've known." She unsnapped the leash and Shadow came running to Colt to say h.e.l.lo.

"Tell me about it." Colt scratched the dog behind his ears and wrestled with him for a moment. "Nic says he'll calm down in a few months. I hope she's right."

"When it comes to animals, she's always right," Lori replied. "I hope I'll be as great a veterinarian as she is."

"There's not a doubt in my mind."

They spoke about college for a few minutes, then when his office phone rang, Lori said good-bye and left. Lifting the receiver, he said, "Colt Rafferty."

"h.e.l.lo, Mr. Rafferty. My name is Cynthia Watkins. I'm returning your call."

He leaned back in his chair. "Dr. Watkins, I'm so glad you did. Let me explain my problem."

EIGHTEEN.

A little after four, Sage returned to Eternity Springs with her long list of errands for the most part accomplished. Snowdrop sported a new haircut and a darling red, white, and blue bow on her head. It would look so cute with the outfit Sage had planned for her to wear on the Fourth of July. Colt would be so disgusted. Sage couldn't wait.

Their bickering over the dogs was one of the few areas of their relations.h.i.+p she felt confident about. Being in love with the likes of Colt Rafferty was not easy. The man was always pus.h.i.+ng. He did it subtly, she'd give him that, but he never stopped. He believed that he could chase away her shadows. Sage had her doubts, and that uncertainty was holding her back.

She stopped by Vistas to check with her summer intern, Dorian, who was an art student at UCLA. "What did I miss?"

"We had a lot of lookers, but only one buyer. A couple from Southern California were very interested in the Bret Austin watercolors, and I suspect they'll be back. The wife really wanted them."

"Excellent. What did we sell?"

"Another one of Mr. Burnes' photographs. The mountain lion."

Sage nodded. "He's done phenomenally well with that series. Good job, Dorian."

"Thanks." The pretty brunette beamed. "You know, I was thrilled to get this interns.h.i.+p because I thought working with you would help my art. I never expected to enjoy the selling part of the job this much."

"I know. The most fun is the first time you sell a new artist. I get almost as excited as they do. So, anything else interesting happen while I was gone?"

"Dr. Rafferty came in. He left a note for you in your office. Sarah Reese called to let you know that the Patchwork Angels meeting for tonight has been cancelled."

"Oh? Did she say why?"

The girl checked her notes. "Too many member conflicts. Someone has suggested suspending meetings for the rest of the summer since everyone is so busy."

Sage wouldn't mind that herself. This time of year they all barely had time to breathe-not that anyone was complaining. On the contrary. The citizens of Eternity Springs were delighted. This summer was shaping up to be an economic home run. Thank you, Celeste Blessing.

She stepped into her office and found a note taped to the jar of dog treats on her desk. It read, Better check the studio. To Snowdrop, she said, "What in the world has he done now?"

Sage couldn't deny the little spark of excitement. She and Colt were presently involved in a tug-of-war. She was trying to slow things down, while he was applying a full-court press. Unfortunately, he was winning.

She took the stairs two at a time. A white box tied with a fat pink bow sat in the middle of her studio floor. "The man and his gifts," she murmured.

She tugged off the ribbon and bow, tore apart the paper, opened the box, and ... frowned. Exercise clothes? New sneakers? "What's the deal? Does he think I'm getting fat?"

She picked up the box and carried it over to her window. He sat at his desk, his back to her. He was talking on the phone.

Sage had never availed herself of the window route he took between his office and her studio-knowing her luck, she'd slip and fall. Tucking the box beneath her arm, she made her way downstairs, asked Dorian to keep an eye on Snowdrop, and made her way to the office building next door. By the time she'd climbed the stairs and entered Colt's office, he'd ended his phone call and he was making notes on a yellow legal pad. Looking up, he saw her and smiled. "You're back. Good."

Rising, he came around from his desk and kissed her h.e.l.lo. "How was Gunnison?"

"Fine. Thanks for the gift. I think. Are the exercise clothes a hint?"

"Nah, they're a convenience. I didn't know how late you'd be getting back and didn't want you to have to dash out to the lake to get your things before our cla.s.s."

"Our cla.s.s? What cla.s.s."

"Our yoga cla.s.s."

"Yoga."

He smiled that particular grin that made his dimples wink at her. "I signed us both up for yoga cla.s.s at Angel's Rest. It starts tonight."

While she stood there in muted shock, he added, "I have your yoga mat over here. It didn't fit in the box."

She frowned in confusion. "Why in the world would you do that?"

"You're working too hard. Yoga is a wonderful way to relax."

"I don't need to relax. I can't afford to relax. This is the summer season. Of course I'm working hard." She scowled at Colt and added, "You've taken yoga cla.s.ses?"

"No, but I'm always up for something new."

Speed skiing or skydiving or parasailing, yeah. But yoga? "What's up with you, Rafferty? What is this about?"

"I thought it would be nice if we did this together. I'm working hard, too. Exercise is a good way to unwind."

Sage didn't believe him for a minute. "Then take your dog for a run. Shadow is always ready for that."

"Shadow can't do yoga. I want to do yoga."

"Why?"

He hesitated a long moment then said, "You're not buying any of this, are you?"

"I believe you signed us up for yoga cla.s.ses, but beyond that, no."

Colt drummed his fingers on the desk, then blew out a breath. "Okay," he murmured. "I'm going to do this."

Standing, he came around from behind his desk, took her hands in his, and stared solemnly into her eyes. "I love you and I'm worried about you. Sage, I've been doing some reading and I've talked to a few people. I think you are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder."

She opened her mouth in an exaggerated O and slapped her face theatrically. "Really? Wow. I guess you're a better doctor than I am, Dr. Rafferty. I never thought of that."

"Do I really deserve the sarcasm?" he asked, an annoyed frown on his face. "You've never shared your diagnosis with me. You don't appear to be taking any steps to treat it."

"That's not true. I'm working on it."

"Are you in therapy? Are you on medication to help the symptoms?"

"I'm using different methods."

He folded his arms and nodded. "Painting. That's pretty obvious. Are you still painting your nightmares, Sage? On the nights we're not together? Or, for that matter, on the nights we are together? I admit I sleep like a log; you could be getting up to paint and I'd never know it. Is painting the only way you're attempting to treat your PTSD?"

Now she folded her arms. He'd hit a nerve and her defenses were rising. "You're awfully nosy, Rafferty."

"I love you. I want to help you."

Then stop pressing me, she wanted to say. Instead, she snapped, "By signing me up for yoga?"

"I did some reading about how to help loved ones with PTSD. It suggested practicing relaxation techniques. I thought yoga would be a place to start, although Angel's Rest offers a number of cla.s.ses you could take that might help."

Oh, Colt. He really was so sweet. If only he would understand that the shadows were too dark, too ugly. She couldn't go there by herself yet, and she'd be hanged if she'd drag anyone along with her. "I appreciate the effort, and maybe during the winter I'll give the cla.s.ses a try. I'm too busy now. Besides, a walk along the lakesh.o.r.e with Snowdrop relaxes me just fine."

"All right, then." He lifted his chin and forged ahead. "What about therapy? I have the name of a doctor who-"