“Mom?” Crystal couldn’t figure out if her mother was the Rock of Gibraltar, or simply in denial.

Her mother looked at her, face composed, no hint of emotion. The same way she’d looked through every crisis Crystal could remember. Maybe it was for the best. Maybe worrying wouldn’t help any.

“I think I’ll take the kids to Larry’s.” Crystal was certain Larry would say yes. “It sounds like Zane’s out of control.”

There was a flicker of something deep in her mother’s eyes. But she didn’t say anything, simply gave a sharp nod of acquiescence.

Crystal stood up and pulled out her phone.

She dialed Larry’s home number. But when there was no answer there, she dialed his cell.

“Larry Grosso,” was his quick response.

“Larry, it’s Crystal.”

The announcement was met with silence.

She heard music in the background.

“I’m sorry to bother you,” she began, hoping he wasn’t on a date or something equally embarrassing.

“No problem,” he said. “Nash and I are having a beer.”

He was at Myrtle Pond. Her heart sank.

“Crystal?”

“There’s…uh…”

A page came over the speaker, and she walked a little ways down the hall, hoping for more quiet.

“Where are you?” Larry asked.

“At the hospital.”

“What-”

“It’s Amber. There was a car accident. Zane.”

Larry swore. Then he mumbled something.

“What did you say?”

“I just told Nash.”

Crystal took a deep breath. “Listen. I thought you’d be in town. Amber’s going into surgery, and the police want me to take the kids someplace Zane doesn’t know.”

Larry’s tone went dark. “Why?”

“He ran from the accident, and he’s made some threats.”

More mumbling, then his tone went crisp. “Are the kids with you?”

“They’re here. They’re scared and bruised, but the policeman thinks they’re okay. They’re being looked at right now by doctors.”

“Hang on a second. Nash wants to talk to you.”

Confused, Crystal waited.

“Crystal?”

“Nash?”

“Here’s what we’re going to do.”

We?

“Take the kids, and drive straight to the airport,” said Nash. “Don’t go anywhere but the passenger drop-off zone. There’ll be a security guard waiting there to meet you.”

“A what?”

“A security guard.”

“But-”

“Go with him. He’ll take you to meet Larry.” There was a clattering sound.

“The police don’t think there’s any real danger.”

“And I’m sure they’re right. Larry and I are on our way to the airstrip right now to get the Cessna.”

“Crystal?” It was Larry’s voice again.

“I don’t understand.” They weren’t running for their lives, simply taking an extra precaution.

“Do what Nash told you,” Larry said. “I’ll be on the ground in Charlotte in half an hour.”

Jennifer and David appeared at the far end of the hall. A nurse was between them, holding their hands. They looked tiny, pale and vulnerable. And she suddenly wanted to get them as far away from their bastard father as humanly possible.

“I’ve got the kids,” she said into the phone.

“Good. Straight to the car. Straight to the airport, and go with the security guy.”

“Right.”

“See you soon.”

Crystal dropped to one knee and opened her arms.

Jennifer and David rushed in, and she held them tight.

“You were so brave,” she told Jennifer. “You did everything exactly right.”

“They chopped my shirt off with scissors,” said David, holding his arm to show off a hospital smock.

“They wanted to make sure you weren’t hurt,” said Crystal, struggling to keep the emotion out of her voice. She didn’t want to scare them any more than they already were.

“Mommy?” asked Jennifer in a quiet voice, slipping an arm around her brother’s shoulders.

Crystal drew back to look them both in the eyes. “Mommy needs to have an operation.”

They nodded gravely, then they glanced up to see their grandparents.

Crystal’s father engulfed each of the kids in a warm hug, while her mother efficiently checked them over for anything the medical staff might have missed.

“How would you guys like to go see Uncle Larry at Myrtle Pond?” Crystal asked.

David’s face lit up. “In the airplane?”

Crystal nodded.

“Yeah,” said David.

“Are we sleeping over?” asked Jennifer.

Crystal nodded. “Grandma and Grandpa are going to stay here with Mommy, and I’m going to take care of you two for a few days. That okay?”

“Did Mommy wake up?” asked Jennifer.

“I talked to her for a couple of minutes before she went in to see the doctor. She said to tell you she loves you.” Crystal was forced to turn away before Jennifer could see her tears.

Her father was quick to distract the children, gathering them against his broad chest. “Give me a hug goodbye.”

Then he met her gaze above the kids’ heads. He was worried. She was worried, too. She tried to be like her mother, but a sick feeling of dread wormed its way through her system. She indulged herself in ten seconds of complete despair, then she forced herself to rally.

“Rufus is waiting in the car,” she told the kids, taking their hands. “We might have to run through the rain.”

As they headed down the hall, she turned back to mouth the words “call me” to her parents. She didn’t doubt they would. But it made her feel better to clarify the request.

When they got to the main doors of the emergency department, a young police officer fell into step with them.

“Are you heading for the parking lot, ma’am?”

Crystal nodded.

“I’ll walk along with you.”

Maybe it was the officer’s presence, but an eerie feeling crept along Crystal’s spine as she hustled the kids through the dark rain. She was glad when they were in the car-doors locked, engine running and Rufus taking a post next to David.

When she drove up to the drop-off zone at the airport, three men in black vests, with SECURITY emblazoned in yellow across their backs, all but swarmed her vehicle. One took the keys and whisked the car away. The other two guided them, Rufus and all, to a private lounge. There, one of the men stayed outside the door while the other introduced himself to the kids, chatting cheerfully while he showed them a small side counter with muffins, fruit and soft drinks.

A few minutes later, the security guard who’d taken the car showed up. He gave Crystal the keys and produced a new T-shirt for David. It was a bright blue tourist special, with North Carolina embroidered across the chest. But David was thrilled.

When Larry walked through the door, Crystal felt a rush of relief. He hugged both the kids.

“You guys okay?” he asked them.

“We wore our seat belts,” said David. “Just like jet fighter pilots.”

She met Larry’s gaze, and her gratitude nearly staggered her. Amber hadn’t been wearing her seat belt. Who knew if she would have insisted the kids wear theirs?

A split second later, Crystal was wrapped in Larry’s arms. She all but melted against his strength, feeling like she could finally share the load of emotion.

Too soon, he was easing back from her. “Anybody been in an airplane at night?” he asked the kids.

“Not me,” said David.

Jennifer shook her head.

“Then you’re in for a treat.” He ushered them toward the door.

LARRY’S ADRENALINE WAS STILL at a steady hum when they got the kids to sleep around two o’clock. Closing the door of Nash’s upstairs bedroom, he had to stop himself from taking Crystal in his arms. It was bad enough when she wasn’t around, but with her here-and beautiful, and vulnerable and hurt-it was almost more than he could do to keep his emotions in check.

“Your bedroom’s next door,” he pointed to another doorway. “Bathroom’s at the end.”

“What about you?” she asked, those wide green eyes gazing at him in the soft light.

“I’ll be downstairs.”

Nash’s bedroom was on the main floor, and Larry was going to take the pullout couch. He could have gone to his own house next door. The odds of Zane showing up in Myrtle Pond were astronomically low, but Larry couldn’t shake the instinct to put himself between Crystal and the kids, and any potential danger, no matter how remote.

“You want a drink or something?” he asked.

“I think I’ll go straight to bed.”

He nodded, but his mind was straying to thoughts of crawling into bed beside her and drawing her sweet body up against his own, wrapping her in his strength and working like hell to make her feel better, if only for a little while.

“Anything more from your parents?”

She shook her head. “They expected the surgery to take hours. She has some broken ribs, but they’re most worried about…” She raised trembling fingers to her mouth. “Internal bleeding, and the head wound.”

He took her hand, almost desperate to hold her, but terrified he wouldn’t be able to let her go. “You call me if you hear?”

“I will.”

“And let me know if you need anything. Anything at all.”

The depths of her eyes told him what she needed, but it was the one thing he couldn’t give her. Now wasn’t the time to flaunt logic. Decisions made under emotional duress were inherently dangerous. A powerful hormonal cocktail was at work in his body, dilating his blood vessels, heightening everything he was thinking or feeling, making even insignificant issues seem of paramount importance.

If ever there was a time to let cooler heads prevail, this was it. And he’d had a cooler head on Sunday. He had to trust that he’d made a good decision then.

He let go of her hands. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

She nodded, and he turned to head down the stairs.

Nash was typing on his computer, a headset on one ear, his voice low into the microphone.

He spotted Larry, then turned to search the room, obviously checking for Crystal.

“Roger that,” he said into the microphone. “Call me when you know.”

Then he leaned back in his wheeled desk chair. “Got a few friends lending a hand with the police in Charlotte.”

“I like your friends,” said Larry, taking a seat nearby.

“They’d like you, too. They’re following up on a couple of leads, checking out the local bars and hospitals. It looks like Zane left enough blood at the scene to test for blood alcohol. The jerk was plastered.”

“Yet he tosses his own kids in the backseat for a joyride. The man ought to be shot.”

“You serious?”

No, Larry wasn’t serious. “We can hardly hunt him down and shoot him.”

Nash slid his mouse pointer across the screen and clicked on an icon. “Apprehension mishaps happen all the time, my friend.”

“I’d settle for a long stint in a detestable prison.”

“Odds are with you, then.”

LATE AFTERNOON, Crystal stood at the rail of Nash’s deck watching Larry tow the kids on an inflatable raft behind Nash’s speedboat. Amber had come through the surgery well, but she would be in intensive care for the foreseeable future. She’d also have months of therapy ahead of her for a shattered ankle and a broken pelvis.

She hadn’t regained consciousness yet, which was probably a blessing. It was going to be a long, painful haul, and the best they could hope for was one day at a time.

They’d glossed over the details to the kids, and Larry had spent the past two days valiantly distracting them with games, water sports and renovation projects on the Victorian house. They’d even taken a shopping trip into Asheboro to pick up a few clothes.

Nash appeared next to her, handing her a glass of iced tea. She hadn’t even heard him approach.

“Thanks,” she told him, taking the cool, slippery glass.

He gave her a nod in response.

“And thanks for the security guards at the airport. I didn’t realize how rattled I was that night.”

“Not unusual,” he said.

It wasn’t the first time Nash had piqued her curiosity. “How would you know that?”

“You’re human.”

She supposed that was true enough.

“You did everything right,” he assured her.

“Thanks.”

The outboard motor whined as Larry made a turn, David squealed as he came flying off the inflatable raft, skimming the surface before bobbing under for a split second then being righted by his bright orange lifejacket.

He waved his arms, giving a thumbs-up.

Hanging on tightly to the inflatable herself, Jennifer shouted, “We’re coming around for you!”

“He sure knows how to show them a good time,” said Crystal, wishing for the thousandth time she was ten years older or Larry was ten years younger.

“You going to be okay?” asked Nash in a gruff voice.

She looked up at him for clarification.

“Spending time with him. Like this. While he stomps all over your heart?”