AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She shot an alarmed look at Ethan, then at Rhodes because she hadn’t meant to say that out loud. What was happening to her?
“It’s all right,” Rhodes soothed. “You’re okay. Four things you can hear.”
The panic attack wasn’t gone. It was still there, making the edges of her vision blur, threatening to drag her back under, into its ugly grasp.
“I can hear you both breathing. I really hope that neither of you are coming down with a cold.”
“We’re both fine, baby,” Ethan reassured her. “Tell me something else you can hear.”
“The clock on the wall ticking. It’s really annoying.”
“I’ll get rid of it,” Rhodes promised her.
“A bird outside. The door just shut. Is that Seth?”
“Yep, it’s me,” Seth said. “I’ll give you all some privacy. Butch will be back soon.”
She wasn’t sure why he said that last part. To warn them? Oh, maybe he thought she wouldn’t want him to see her like this.
That was actually very kind.
Seth was a kind man.
“He is,” Ethan agreed. “But that’s not what you need to concentrate on. Three things you can smell.”
“My breathing is fine now,” she told him. There was no point to continuing the exercise.
She should probably get off the sofa. She should definitely apologize to Rhodes. Maybe she could fix this . . .
Somehow.
God. She was a mess lately. She kept falling apart. This wasn’t like her.
“Three things,” Ethan said sternly.
Cate sighed. “You are very bossy.”
“Isn’t he?” Rhodes said with a frown down at Ethan. “If she says she’s doing better, then she is. Cate doesn’t lie.”
Uh-oh. She didn’t mean to create any trouble.
All you do is create trouble, you brat!
Cate winced as she heard her aunt’s voice in her head, berating her.
Sometimes, it felt like she was losing her mind. Reaching up, she rubbed at her head.
“Headache, baby?” Ethan asked.
“Just a small one.”
“These past few days have been stressful,” Ethan said.
He was right. They had.
“All I can smell is Kevin’s cologne, even though he’s no longer here. He always puts too much on. I can’t smell anything else. It’s overpowering everything else.”
“That’s all right,” Ethan told her. His gaze was warm. “That’s all any of us can smell, I think.”
