He laughed, genuine laughter, something he couldn’t remember doing in a long time. “I thought it came out exactly right.”
“You would. To answer your question, yes, I believe in his great narcissistic, godlike way, Whitney decided we were a perfect match.”
“You must be very good at healing, then, because I am,” Rubin confessed. “Not just because I’m a doctor.” He waited several heartbeats. “I didn’t have the necessary skills to heal when I was a kid. I was in survival mode, trying to put food on the table. Trying to keep the family alive.” He gestured in the general direction of the family graveyard. “You can see, I wasn’t good at it.”
“Rubin.” His name came out a gentle reprimand. “Why do you come back if it hurts so much?”
“To check in with my family even though they’re gone,” he answered without hesitation. “To make sure those living in the mountains have some medical attention when they otherwise wouldn’t. And because this place calls to me. A part of me will always call it home, no matter where I settle.”
She gave him a smile that made his heart contract. “You’re a good man, Rubin. If Whitney had to pick a man for me, I’m grateful it was you.”
Rubin studied her face. She was actually quite good at keeping that little pixie face from giving too much away.
“He likes flowers. Whitney. He really likes flowers. He grows them. He would know that Jonquille spelled without the extra ‘L’ and ‘E’ added is ‘daffodil’ or ‘Easter lily’ here in the Appalachian Mountains, where you were born. Of course, he had no way of knowing that when he named me … I don’t think. Who knows what his talent is like?”
“Let’s go back inside, Jonquille. It turns cold fast. You managed to grab your boots but you’re not really dressed very warm.”
She slid off the boulder and gave a last look at the stream. “This is a magical place. I know the winters are harsh and it can be a hard life, but I would have tried to stay here if I didn’t have those men following me.”
He didn’t like that she would have tried to winter in the cabin alone. Even with the two of them, Diego and him, if one had fallen ill or broken a bone, it would have been dangerous.
“You know that wouldn’t have been the best of ideas.” He got to his feet, towering over her, conscious of the difference in their heights.
“I would have hunted for food and stored as much as I could have. Then collected edible roots and plants and stored those as well. I could have made it work.”
“Too dangerous and you know it,” he repeated.
“What do you think I’ve been doing all this time?”
“What would happen if a group of males caught you alone out here and they weren’t in the mood to be nice?” The image of his sister’s dead body floating in the stream rose up to haunt him. He shut it down immediately.
“I suppose I’d have to kill them.” She shrugged. “I wouldn’t like doing it, Rubin, but I would if I had to, if things got nasty.” Again, she exhibited supreme confidence.
He let her lead the way, if for no other reason than to give his brother a break. “You seem to think you wouldn’t have any problem taking on a group of men and coming out the victor.”
“As a rule, I get a sense when I’m in over my head very fast. I did right away with you. Then I became aware of your brother and knew it was game over until I could figure out an advantage. You two don’t make it easy.”
“That’s good to know. I’m curious as to how you think you can gain the advantage when there are several men, Jonquille.”
She threw him a quick, secretive smile over her shoulder. “If I told you, that would take away my advantage, wouldn’t it? What if I have to escape and do both you and your brother in? You knew I was going to take off and you came after me anyway.”
“I had no choice.” He thought he had a good argument for defense.
“There’s always a choice.”
He laughed. “I believe I said those exact words to you. That isn’t very fair to throw my own platitudes back in my face.”
“Why didn’t you have a choice?”
“Because you’re my woman and I couldn’t very well let my one shot at happiness go running off into the woods never to be seen again. I’d already realized you were good, maybe even as good as Diego, at not leaving a trace behind. If that was the case, I wasn’t taking chances on losing out.”
She shot him another look over her shoulder, this time rolling her eyes at him. “I think mountain men are a little insane.”
He laughed again. “So I’ve heard.”
Jonquille was smooth on the trail, navigating it as if she’d been doing so from the time she was a toddler. She didn’t seem to look at the ground, but navigated by memory or feel. He wasn’t certain which.
What are you doing, Rubin? She’s a big question mark. Your exact match suddenly appearing out of nowhere and camping out in our cabin. How convenient. You aren’t thinking with your brain, and as long as I’ve known you, that’s never happened before. It’s too dangerous to have her around. You just asked a cougar to come play house with you.
I believe she’s quite a bit younger than I am, Diego.
This isn’t a joke. I need to know what you’re doing.
I think she’s a psychic surgeon. If I’m right, that makes three of us in the entire world. And possibly a fourth if Paul’s match is one as well. If what she says is the truth, she has to be protected. If it isn’t, we have to get her free of Whitney.
What we have to do is protect you, Rubin. If this is a setup, then we have to get you out of here. We can decide what to do about her when you’re safe. Once I know you’re good, I can scout around and look for signs of a team. They can’t be too far away. They wouldn’t leave her, especially if she’s with Whitney. He never trusts the women, even if he puts a virus in them.
Rubin sighed. Ahead of him, Jonquille laughed softly and glanced back at him over her shoulder. “The two of you really do spend a lot of time arguing telepathically.”
“That just started recently.”
She turned back toward the cabin, picking up the pace. “You can’t blame him for being suspicious. You have to be just a little bit, Rubin. To tell you the truth, I’m a little uneasy with all these revelations.”
“Why? You came looking for me.”
She was silent again. They were out at the edge of the trees when she halted, as if it was automatic to do so. She studied the cabin and the expanse of ground between them and the structure. “I did come looking for you. I went to all those conventions and listened to the speakers. No one resonated with me. Not one person seemed as if they could help me. Looking back, why is that? Many of them are considered the top experts in the field, and yet not one of them made me think they could help me. Only you.”
She fell silent again, listening to the night, letting the insects and night creatures alert her to intruders. She inhaled, using all her senses in an effort to detect an enemy. Rubin did the same. It was automatic for him. For Diego. Evidently, it was for Jonquille as well.
“Doesn’t that make you just a little bit suspicious? I didn’t think about it at the time. I didn’t think about your voice getting under my skin. Or the fact that the one time I got close to you, I could actually pick your scent distinctly out of the group of the men you were with and yet I’d never smelled your scent before. Those are red flags, Rubin. Huge red flags.”