He looked at her in surprise. "Where did that come from?"
"She's wondering why Jax Ridley, our mysterious stranger, is keeping his distance," Emmalyn put in.
"He wasn't keeping his distance earlier," Ben commented.
"Forget I asked," she said quickly.
"I didn't really have a choice," Hunter said, answering her question. "Not after Olivia got dropped off at my door. She forced me to deal with the present instead of the past, and Em did the rest," he added, giving his fiancée a loving look. "When I finally took part, I realized that hiding out in my pain wasn't really accomplishing anything. But my situation was probably vastly different than whatever is going on with the guy living in my old apartment."
"How would we know?" Emmalyn asked. "Unless you finally want to tell us how you and Jax happened to get gelato today, Kaia."
She'd been trying to avoid answering that question all evening. "Jax needed to get out of his apartment because Javier had to work on some plumbing. I was heading downtown, so we took a ride together."
"And he told you nothing?" Emmalyn asked. "How is that possible?"
"Trust me, I tried to get him to open up. But to be honest, one of his rules for agreeing to go with me was no personal questions."
"Maybe you should have thought twice about getting in his car," Ben said sharply. "I should look into this guy."
"No, don't do that. Josie vouches for him, and she has asked us to respect his privacy. That's what we should do."
"I still can't believe you followed any rules," Ben added. "That would be a first."
She made a face at her brother. "I follow rules every day."
"Not ones you don't agree with."
"Sometimes, even then. Not that it's always easy. Anyway, it wasn't just about taking a drive and getting gelato. I told you all before that Jax and I ran into each other when one of my patients walked in front of his car. His name is Walter Cobb. He was looking for a red door, and Josie told Jax that she thought there was a nightclub a long time ago that had such a door. One thing led to another, and we figured out the bookstore is in the same location. Unfortunately, the owner wasn't there to confirm that it used to be the club with the red door, so we'll have to see what we can find out tomorrow."
"So, you're going to see him tomorrow," Emmalyn said.
"If we're both available, then, yes."
"I still don't get why you're doing this, Kaia," Ben said, a frown on his lips. "It sounds like you're meddling in the life of one of your patients. Haven't you been warned before about getting too involved in calls?"
"That's not relevant," she muttered.
"Isn't it?" he challenged.
"What are you trying to do?" Emmalyn asked. "Even if you find this former nightclub, what will that mean for this man?"
"It will give Walter an answer to a question that is making him wander around the streets at night. Maybe the resolution will give him some calm."
"It could be a good thing then," Emmalyn said.
"It's a bad idea," Ben put in. "It's not your business, Kaia. And because you've treated him, you're putting yourself in a risky position."
"I'm doing this off duty."
Ben didn't look convinced. "You should be careful, not that you ever are, so I'm probably wasting my breath."
"You get involved, too," she said pointedly.
"When I do, it's usually a mistake."
"I know what I'm doing."
He made his typical exasperated brother face and got to his feet. "I don't know why I waste my breath. You're going to do what you want to do."
