Page 30 of The Pilot

Looking at the rotting wood, hearing the wind in the trees, seeing the rodents . . . it all reminded him of the week he’d spent on the run for his very life. How he’d hidden under sticks and branches like the ones in front of him as he’d attempted to get a few minutes of sleep before he started walking once more.

His shoulder throbbed with remembered pain as he stood there, staring blankly at the fort. The cold seeped into his very bones, chilling him the same way it had back then. He hadn’t been able to start a fire because that would have given away his position as clearly as a giant arrow pointing down from the sky, saying Here I am, Come Get Me!

“Linc?”

He didn’t hear the soft, feminine voice saying his name. He was too far gone into his memories of that awful time in his life. He stood there shivering, one hand clutching his shoulder, as it had so often back then. The bottle of beer he’d been drinking had dropped to the ground, forgotten, as he struggled to cope with the memories.

Slowly, ever so slowly, Linc heard someone speaking to him in a low, steady tone.

“You’re okay, Linc. I’m here. You just stand there as long as you need to get your bearings. I won’t leave you. You’re safe. You’re here at Lobster Cove. It’s Thanksgiving. Dinner’s ready, but I’m sure no one will mind waiting a little longer. Your mom sent me out here to find you. You’re all right, Linc. I promise.”

Blinking, he turned his head and saw Harper standing next to him. She wasn’t touching him, but he swore he could still feel the heat of her body.

“Linc? Are you back?”

He supposed he was. Although the memories still danced at the edges of his mind, teasing, tormenting him.

Linc moved without thought, reaching for Harper. She came willingly, burrowing into him as he wrapped his arms around her. She buried her head in the crook of his neck and held on as he continued to shake.

He was grateful she didn’t speak, didn’t ask him what was wrong or what he was doing. She was aware of his past, just as he was aware of hers. Neither knew the details, but she obviously knew whatever he’d been through, it was bad.

She’d been smart enough not to touch him, thank goodness. He shuddered to think what he might’ve done if she’d dared to touch him while he was lost in his memories. He probably would’ve thought she was the enemy. That they’d found him.

If he’d hurt her . . .

Closing his eyes, Linc mentally swore. Used all the bad words he’d learned over the years but knew better than to voice out loud anywhere within a mile of his mother. Evelyn Young would somehow know he’d uttered the words, using that mom intuition she had, and would make him regret saying such vile things.

“I knew about Fort Bad Assery, you know,” Harper said after a long minute in his arms. She didn’t raise her head, simply spoke into his neck. The warmth of her breath wafted over his chilled skin, warming him from the inside out. “Britt let it slip one day, and I came over here to check it out myself when Kash was at school. Unlike my dad, I had no problem with him being out here, on Lobster Cove property. He needed the alone time as much as I did, but I didn’t have a cool fort to escape to.”

She continued to babble on about her son and the fort and how much he loved looking up at the stars, and how she could picture him out here in the summer, reading and simply enjoying nature and doing what he loved.

Linc appreciated this woman more than he could express. He’d just had a monster of a flashback, and she was giving him the time he needed to regain control. He supposed he should explain what happened. Give her some sort of reason why he was standing in the trees, shaking like a leaf and staring off into space. But somehow he knew that she’d never demand any explanation. She’d simply be his anchor until he could stand on his own.

“Thank you,” he whispered when she took a breath. It was his turn to voice his gratitude.

“You’re welcome. Are you hungry? Do you want to go eat? Or leave? I can come up with a reason why I have to go, and why you need to take me home. Kash can stay here. Spend the night at my dad’s house.”

Respect for this woman grew within Linc. She was offering to use herself as an excuse, so he wouldn’t have to come up with a reason why he wanted to leave.

Linc shook his head. “No. I’m okay.”

“Are you sure?” she asked, lifting her head and looking into his eyes. “Because I have no problem using menstrual problems as an excuse. Your brothers will all hear menstrual and immediately nope out. Won’t ask any questions. Britt, Marit, and your mom might know better, but they’re all too polite to say anything.”

For normal men, she wasn’t wrong. But his brothers were a different breed. If she went inside and claimed she was having any kind of womanly issue, they’d immediately want more details, want to know if she needed a doctor. They’d probably even offer to get her pads or tampons and whatever else she might want. It was what he’d do. But Linc appreciated her desire to shield him from his own family.

“I want to go back. Zach’s been slaving all day, and I’ve been smelling the delicious things he’s been making. I’m okay now. I just needed a moment.”

“You don’t sleep enough,” she said, her gaze still boring into his.

“I know.” It was as close as he’d ever come to admitting his insomnia.

“What can I do to help?”

Her unselfishness was the balm he needed to banish the lingering aftereffects of his flashback. It had been a bad idea to come out here on his own, but in his defense, it hadn’t been an issue before. He supposed it was his lack of sleep that had let his mental shields slip down enough for the nightmares to sneak back in.

“You’re doing it,” he told her.

Harper rolled her eyes. “I’m not doing anything,” she protested.