Page 94 of One Kind Soul

“I wish I had known all this stuff about Lynda when I’d first met Nicole,” Tessa said, burying her fingers in Remi’s poofy fur. “I feel like such an awful friend. I could have been helping her all this time through the damage her sister did to her. I mean, I’ve seen Nicole wrap herself up in beach cover-ups, bulky sweatshirts, and long cardigans more times than I can count. Why did I never equate that with abuse? What kind of friend am I that I didn’t know how much she was probably hurting?”

Christian slid closer to Tessa and rested his hand on her knee, earning him a lick from Remi. “Don’t feel guilty, Tessa. Nicole didn’t tell you everything about her sister. You couldn’t have known the details.”

“Buy why didn’t she tell me? Didn’t she trust me?” Tessa swiped at a tear rolling down her cheek. “I thought we were best friends.”

“You are best friends.” He squeezed her knee. “It’s the type of thing Nicole preferred to deal with herself. Like right now, for example.” He puffed out another breath. “I want to be helping her with whatever she’s doing, but she didn’t allow me too. In fact, she knew I couldn’t help her after the bee sting.”

“I never imagined I’d be worried about her like this,” Tessa said. “What if she . . . what if . . .” She broke down, more tears streaming along her face.

Nudging Remi aside, Christian gathered Tessa into a hug and offered words of comfort. Though he didn’t want Tessa to suffer, something about not being alone in his worry helped him. Maybe if they both prayed for Nicole, she’d be all right. Perhaps she’d come back to them.

He held Tessa until her tears stopped falling, having to wipe his own eyes a few times as well.

“You want some coffee?” Tessa asked. “If we’re not going to sleep, there might as well be coffee.”

“Sure. You want some help?” He made a move to get up from the couch, but Tessa patted his knee.

“No. You should still take it easy. I’ve got it.” She rose to her feet, Remi following her. “Be right back.”

Nodding, he settled into the cushions. Fuck, he was tired, but at the same time, his body was tensed in ready mode. Ready for what? He wasn’t sure.

Maybe he should sneak out of Donovan’s house, hop on a plane, and get his ass to Kauai. He could ask Tessa right now where Nicole’s beach house and The Nalu Resort were on the island. Wouldn’t his love for Nicole take him right to her location?

Wishful thinking. He hated to admit it—because it made him feel so fucking helpless—but waiting was all he could realistically do. It’d take him hours and hours to fly to Kauai. There could be news in that time. He had to put his faith in Donovan, the Maplehaven Police Department, and the police working with them in Hawaii. This situation wasn’t as easy as using his body as a human shield to keep Nicole from being crushed by a runaway van. Too bad because he’d do that again in a heartbeat to protect her.

His gaze landed on the TV, but he couldn’t focus enough to watch it so he flicked it off and closed his eyes. Drawing in a deep breath, he pictured Nicole’s beautiful brown eyes, her long, silky black hair, her gorgeous curves, her full, kissable lips. He concentrated on that image of her, overpowering the vision of her in the hospital waiting room when she’d done what she’d thought she’d had to.

Break his heart.

Only it wasn’t broken because of that speech. He knew why she’d done it, why she’d said those things, why she’d driven this wedge between them. She’d been brave enough to sever ties with him in order to protect him and the other friends she’d made here in Maplehaven, and that made him love her even more.

So, yeah, his heart bled, but it wasn’t broken because Christian knew Nicole loved him. Loved him enough to let him go.

Only he wasn’t going to allow that.

Now that he’d found his soul mate, he wasn’t going to let her go. Not without a fight because the idea of not having Nicole in his life was utterly unbearable.

His thoughts turned to what he’d do once Lynda was caught, but Tessa’s phone buzzing on the armrest of the couch interrupted him. Picking it up, he walked into the kitchen to find his sister-in-law standing by the coffee pot, waiting for it to fill.

“You’re getting a call.” He held the phone out to her.

“Donovan?” She took the phone, her brows arched hopefully.

“No. It’s an unknown number.”

She glanced down at the screen. “No name, so it’s not a contact.” Tessa swiped to answer anyway, putting it on speakerphone. “Hello?”

“Hi, is this Tessa?” a male voice asked.

“Who is this?” Just like a detective’s wife to not identify herself before knowing the caller. Donovan would be so proud.

“This is Aidan Travers,” the man said. “Nicole’s father.”

Tessa’s gaze shot up to meet Christian’s, panic swirling in her blue eyes. “Oh . . . hi, Mr. Travers.”

“Listen, I’ll cut to the chase here. I know Nicole is in some trouble, Tessa,” he said, his terse tone probably all that kept him from losing it over the danger his daughter was in. “But I think I can help.”

“Help? How?”