The Home Is Where The Heart Is Collection

“Eliza Jane Hayward,” she answered promptly, though her voice wobbled on the words. “My name is Madeline Elizabeth Hayward.”

He tried to give her a reassuring smile, though it was completely fake since he wasn’t reassured by anything that had happened in the past few minutes. He did his best to push away the headache that had become his constant companion the last few months. “Hi, Madeline. My name is Aidan.”

“Why won’t she wake up?” the little girl asked with a worried frown. “Is it her heart?”

He blinked at what seemed an odd question. “Her heart? Oh, I don’t think so. Sometimes when people have an accident and hurt their heads, they can go to sleep for a minute. That’s probably what happened. Ma’am? Eliza?”

Her eyes fluttered a little but she didn’t awaken so he tried a little harder. “Eliza? Come on, ma’am. You have to wake up. Your daughter is here and she needs you.”

At that, long eyelashes brushed her skin again, once, then twice and finally she opened her eyes with what looked like supreme effort.

They were the same rich green as dewy new leaves on an aspen tree, he noted—a completely inconsequential observation but one that couldn’t be helped. Just now they looked dazed, unfocused. She mumbled something incomprehensible and then in the next instant, she blinked rapidly and he watched as full consciousness returned in a mad, frantic rush.

Her gaze shifted wildly. “Maddie? Maddie!”

The little girl moved closer. “Right here, Mama. I’m right here.”

Eliza gave a sob of relief and pulled the girl to her chest, holding her tight. “I thought you were... Oh, honey.”

“You didn’t wake up and I was so scared.”

“I’m here. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” Tears leaked out of those stunning eyes and dripped into her hair and her daughter’s. After a moment, the girl sat up and her mother tried to follow her but Aidan rested a hand on her arm.

“Easy. Don’t get up. The ambulance is on the way.”

“Don’t be silly,” she croaked. “I don’t need an...ambulance.”

“You were hit by a car. My car. You need an ambulance,” he said firmly.

“Where are you hurt? Can you tell us?” the storekeeper asked in a kind voice.

“Everywhere,” Eliza Hayward muttered. “But...I don’t think anything’s...broken.”

She again tried to scramble up but Aidan set a hand on her shoulder, careful not to apply pressure anywhere until they had a better idea of the extent of her injuries.

“Please. Just stay still. By the sound of it, help is almost here.”

She didn’t look thrilled at the reminder as the siren’s wail approached them but she subsided on the cold ground again. Heedless of the weather conditions, he took his coat off and folded it under her head so she didn’t have to lie on asphalt, just as the ambulance pulled up behind his rental vehicle.

A couple of frazzled-looking emergency medical technicians—probably volunteer firefighters, if Haven Point was anything like his hometown of Hope’s Crossing—raced over carrying boxes he assumed contained medical supplies.

The EMTs greeted the woman who had come out of her store to help.

“It’s that stupid patch of ice we’ve had such trouble with this year,” she said. “Mr. Caine couldn’t stop in time and he slid right into her.”

After quick, furtive looks in his direction that made him squirm, the EMTs turned their attention to Eliza. Aidan quickly stepped out of the way to give them more room.

He noticed Madeline—Maddie, her mother had called her—standing to one side, watching the activity with eyes that looked very large suddenly in her pale face.

He stepped closer and leaned down to her. “Don’t worry, Maddie. The paramedics are taking very good care of your mom. Everything’s going to be okay.”

She looked skeptical. “How do you know?”

He could appreciate someone who demanded verification. “Your mom was talking to us. That’s a great sign. She said she was okay. I think we’re going to have to believe her until we find out otherwise. What about you? Are you okay?”

The little girl’s chin wobbled a little, as if she had been trying all this time to be brave and had finally lost the battle. “My knee hurts,” she said with a sniffle. “My mom pushed me and I fell and now I think it’s bleeding.

“See?” She pulled up her purple jeans and he could see she had a scrape about the size of a quarter just below her little kneecap.

“Look at that. You are bleeding. I bet we can find a Band-Aid to put on that for you.”

“Will it have a princess on it?”

She reminded him forcefully of his niece Faith, which seemed odd as Faith was a few years older, slender and blonde. This little curly-haired imp with the big personality and the dimples probably had more in common with Carter, Faith’s younger brother. They seemed about the same age.

But there was something about her, a kind of fragile sweetness, that made him want to blindly promise her everything would work out—and then tuck her against him to protect her from further harm and do everything in his power to keep his word.

“I’ll see what I can do,” he said.

He spent a few more moments talking to the girl while the paramedics were working on her mother and learned, much to his surprise, that she and her mother weren’t from Haven Point.

“We were just moving here. All our things are in boxes,” she revealed. “I was going to sleep in my new bed tonight, but then my mama’s new job burned down. See?”

She pointed down the hill toward the lake, where he could see the charred remains of the comfortable inn where he had stayed on his first visit to the area.

“Your mother was going to work at the Lake Haven Inn?”

Maddie nodded, curls bouncing. “Yes. Only now she can’t and the lady was really sad. She cried and my mama told her not to worry, that we would figure something out. That’s what she always says.”

He was still mulling that and the atrocious luck that had hit Eliza Hayward in the past hour when the woman who had first come out of the store to help after the accident approached him.

She was young, he could see now, no more than twenty-seven or -eight. This was the new mayor of Haven Point?

“You’re Aidan Caine, aren’t you?”

She said it bluntly and without any of the kind of embarrassing awe he sometimes encountered. In fact, her voice and expression were completely devoid of any kind of warmth.

“I am, yes. I’m afraid I didn’t catch your name.”

She wasn’t overtly hostile but there was definitely a coolness in her tone and expression. “I don’t think I told you. I’m McKenzie Shaw. That’s my store over there. Point Made Flowers and Gifts.”

Was she trying to drum up business? This really wasn’t the time.

“I like your Christmas tree,” Maddie said.

The woman smiled at her with considerably more warmth than she had shown Aidan. “Thanks, honey. If you come in with your mom, I’ll give you an ornament made out of a pinecone. I make them myself.”

“Wow! Thanks,” Maddie said.

“You’re welcome.”

Ms. Shaw turned back to Aidan. “I’m also the newly elected mayor of Haven Point and will take office in January.”

“So you said.”

“I apologize again on behalf of the town for the poor road conditions,” she said stiffly. “You can be assured, it won’t happen again.”

Was she afraid he would pursue legal action against the town? The fault was entirely his own. If he had been driving a vehicle with better tires, this wouldn’t have happened. He was already planning on purchasing an additional vehicle besides the ranch Suburban and pickup truck—one with excellent tires—that he could leave at the Lake Haven airport and use for ground transportation on future visits.

Before he had the chance to tell her that, a police officer approached them. “I’m Officer Bailey with the Haven Point police department. I understand you were the driver of the vehicle that struck Mrs. Hayward while the light was red and she was in the crosswalk,” she said sternly.

“Yes,” he answered. By her unfriendly tone and set jaw, he had to wonder if he was going to end up behind bars over this whole thing. He wasn’t sure the town even had a jail but he had a feeling he was about to find out.

“I saw the whole thing from my shop window, Wyn,” McKenzie Shaw said. “He wasn’t speeding and definitely tried to stop in time.”

He blinked, shocked by the would-be mayor’s unexpected defense.

“It’s that stupid patch of black ice,” she went on. “How many times have I tried to get the road department to lay down extra salt solution there?”

“Plenty,” Officer Bailey said. “Regardless, it’s still considered a failure to yield situation. I’m going to need to see your license and registration.”

“You know who this is, don’t you, Wyn?” McKenzie said, giving him a significant look.

The police officer—who looked only a few years older than the new mayor—gave a shrug. “Sure I do. No matter what Mr. Caine might think, owning half the town doesn’t give him any special privileges, as far as the law is concerned.”

Why the hell were all the women in this town pissed at him? This was only the second time he had even stepped foot in Haven Point. What had he done?

“I don’t expect special privileges,” he insisted.

“Good.” She smirked. “Then you’ll understand that I have to give you a citation with a hefty fine.”

“Absolutely,” he said, with a coolness to match hers.

“Mr. Aidan! Where are they taking my mama?” Maddie spoke in a frantic voice, adding several progressively more insistent tugs on his shirt for emphasis.

While he was talking to the new mayor and the police officer, the EMTs had started to load the stretcher into the back of the ambulance, he realized.

“Where is the closest medical facility?” he demanded of the two women.

“Lake Haven Hospital,” Officer Bailey answered. “It’s the closest and only medical facility around here. You’ll find it at the halfway point between Haven Point and Shelter Springs.”

Maddie tore away from him and raced over to the ambulance. “No! Don’t go, Mama. Don’t go!”

Eliza looked equally distressed. “Please. My daughter. I can’t leave without her!”

One of the EMTs, a man with a completely bald head and a bit of a paunch, gave her an apologetic look. “It’s against our department policy, ma’am, to take uninjured minors in the ambulance. But Officer Bailey over there can transport her to the hospital in her patrol vehicle. She might even beat us to the hospital.”

“I want to go with my mama!” Maddie exclaimed. “I’m hurt, too! I scraped my knee!”

“It’s true,” Aidan offered solemnly. “She definitely needs medical attention.”

“I’m sorry, but—”

“She’s a little girl who’s been through a terrible ordeal, seeing her mother hurt like that. It’s cold out here and she’s frightened. What’s the harm in letting them stay together?”

“The rules—”

“Just let her ride the bus, Ed,” the police officer said, her voice weary. “I’ll clear it with Chief Gallegos. He’s too busy dealing with the fire at the inn to mind a little breach in protocol this once.”

After a moment and another whispered conversation between the EMTs, the bald dude shrugged. “Fine. Come on up here, little lady. You have to promise not to touch anything, though.”

“I won’t,” she promised.

Aidan lifted her up into the ambulance and she paused in the door opening to give him a little wave before the EMTs climbed in after her and closed the door. A moment later, the ambulance pulled away, lights flashing, and drove away from the scene.

He shivered a little and realized his coat had disappeared somewhere. Maybe they had used it to cover the woman in the ambulance. He hoped so.

“Mr. Caine. I need your license and registration, please.” The police officer’s expression had once more returned to a stern, uncompromising line.

He found the necessary information inside the rental vehicle—not an easy task since the glove compartment was packed with all kinds of paperwork, from the last time the tires were rotated to a receipt for pizza from a place called Pie Guys Pizza.

By the time they finished, he was freezing. The mayor had long since returned to the warmth of her store, with its cheery Christmas tree in the window.

“That should be all,” Officer Bailey said, still without smiling once. “You can find all the necessary instructions for paying your citation or where and when to appear before the judge if you want to contest it. If you have any questions, there’s also a number there you can call.”

“Thanks. Am I free to go, then? You’re not going to arrest me?”

“Not today, anyway.”

Was that a joke? It was tough to tell, since she seemed completely humorless.

“Can you tell me again how I get to the hospital?”

“Take a left and go a block until you hit Lakefront Drive, then head north about a mile. You can’t miss it. Big redbrick building. The storm is picking up. Drive slowly and leave plenty of room to stop, especially with those tires.”

He nodded and climbed back into the rental SUV. His headache had ratcheted up about a dozen notches. He wasn’t in any hurry to drive anywhere except his lodge at Snow Angel Cove after the trauma of actually hitting a person, but Dermot and Margaret Caine had raised him to do the right thing, even when it hurt.

CHAPTER TWO

AIDAN’S PHONE RANG with the signature ringtone for his father just as he pulled into a parking space near the sign for the emergency department at the modern-looking redbrick hospital along the lake.

He briefly entertained the temptation to ignore the call. He loved his father dearly but at the moment his primary focus centered on finding out Eliza’s condition and checking to make sure Madeline had someone looking after her.

On the other hand, after such a traumatic afternoon, he was drawn to the safe, warm, familiar connection with his father.

“Pop. Hi.”

He pictured Dermot Caine—hearty, strong, still handsome even as he headed toward seventy. Wherever his father might be when they spoke on the phone, Aidan always imagined him in his favorite environment, the Center of Hope Café, where he ruled as master and commander—pouring coffee and serving up pie and conversation to tourists and locals alike.

“Are you in the country?” Pop said. “I wondered if you might be abroad.”

Aidan winced a little as he watched the snow pummel the windshield with increasing intensity. Calling his father had been on his to-do list for a week.

“I’m here. I got your messages. Sorry we never connected. I’ve been in the middle of some pretty intense negotiations this week.”

“You work too hard, son.”

He couldn’t argue. He had been working twenty-hour days for the past week trying to iron out some contract disputes with one of their vendors in China and for several weeks before that, he had been neck-deep in product development projects.

Everything seemed harder since September. He wanted to think he was almost back to full throttle but he still had times when he had to collapse and sleep for almost twenty-four hours straight.

He didn’t tell his father any of that, of course.

“How is Katherine?” he asked, choosing a topic certain to distract his father.

“Lovely. Just lovely.” The delight and satisfaction in his father’s voice made him smile, despite the bleakness of his errand. “I had forgotten so many little things about sharing a home and a life with a woman. How she straightens up the towels in the bathroom and fills the house with fresh flowers and scented candles and little fancy soaps. She’s had such fun decorating for Christmas. The house is beautiful.”

His father, who had been a widower for most of Aidan’s adult life, had married just a few months earlier to a woman he had secretly cared about for years.

Aidan was deeply happy for his father, who deserved to find love and joy again after all these years on his own.

“And how are things coming there?”

“Good, I guess. I haven’t been up to the house yet.”

“Katherine is anxious to see it. We all are.”

“Everyone is still coming, then? I was afraid you might be calling to tell me you’ve decided to stay in Hope’s Crossing, after all.”

“No. We’re all excited to be together for once. No one else has any place big enough for all of us, now that we’ve absorbed all these new people into our midst.”

In the past year, two of Aidan’s siblings had also married and another had become engaged. When his family was already unbelievably large, every new person added a little more chaos into the mix.

“You’re sure about having us all, then?” Dermot asked.

“Absolutely. I’m looking forward to it.”

He was, even if he was beginning to have a few misgivings as the holidays approached. The whole plan to host everyone for Christmas had been his idea, actually, during that dark time in September while he waited for test results and feared the worst.

He had only recently come into possession of the property here at Lake Haven and his initial visit had convinced him the rambling ten-bedroom lakeshore lodge would be the perfect place for his overlarge family to gather.

Now that the reality of it all was sinking in, he was beginning to wonder if this was yet another decision he had made when he wasn’t precisely in his right mind. He loved his family best in small doses. Having everyone at Snow Angel Cove was certain to be noisy, chaotic and intense.

“I wanted to talk to you about the travel arrangements.” His father’s voice turned disapproving. “That’s the reason for my call.”

He braced himself for the lecture he knew was coming. “What don’t you like about the arrangements?”

“A private jet, son? Really? You’re sending a private jet for us?”

“Yes. And?”

“And it’s a ridiculous expense, that’s what it is. Why, we can drive there in no more than thirteen, fourteen hours, on a few tanks of gas.”

“Do you have a school bus I don’t know about, big enough for twenty people plus luggage?”

“Smarty. We could take separate cars. We could each drive our own and it would still cost less than a chartered flight.”

He sighed. His humble, hardworking father couldn’t quite grasp the fact that Aidan was loaded, even after all these years.

“I don’t want everybody to have to spend their whole holiday in the car. I can get everyone here from Hope’s Crossing in less than two hours.”

“It’s a big waste of money. That’s what it is.”

“It’s my money. If I want to waste it giving my family a happy Christmas, that’s my prerogative, isn’t it? I’m excited for everyone to be here. We haven’t spent a Christmas together in years. It’s too bad Jamie can’t make it.”

“Yes.” He could tell his father was still fretting about the expense.

“Just relax and let me worry about the details, okay? The flight is already arranged. It’s too late to back out now so you might as well just sit back and enjoy it.”

“I don’t see that you’ve given us a choice, if you’ve already paid for it.”

He would have smiled at Pop’s reluctance if he wasn’t parked outside a hospital, about to go in and check on the woman he had injured.

“I’ve got to go, Pop. I’m sorry.”

“I know. You’re a busy man.”

“I’ll see you in a few weeks, though, and we’ll have plenty of time to catch up.”

“You know I love you, son.”

“I love you, too, Pop.”

He had said those words whenever he spoke with his father since September. Each time, they seemed to carry a new weight, to ring with resonant depth.

He loved his family, each crazy one of them. His father had set a fine example of the way a man should live, with dignity, compassion and Dermot’s inherent goodness. As a result, his brothers were all men of honor and strength and he admired each one of them for different reasons—and the women they had chosen.

He only had one sister, the sweet and kind Charlotte, who impressed the hell out of him for the determination and courage she had directed toward turning her life around the past few years.

Aidan had neglected them all. For years, he had been immersed with single-minded focus on building Caine Tech into the powerhouse it was today. Something else had to slide along the way and his personal life had, by default, dwindled to nothing. As a result, he had missed countless birthdays, holidays and special occasions over the years.

This year, he wanted everything to be different. Life had taken an unexpected, disconcerting turn for him in the fall but he had emerged from it with a new determination to tighten and strengthen those ties binding him to his family.

He wanted this Christmas at Snow Angel Cove to be perfect for all of them, his way of making up for all those years of neglect.

First, he had to make sure the woman he had injured would be able to enjoy a merry Christmas of her own.

* * *

OH, HOW SHE hated this.

From the drafty hospital gown, to the smell of sickness and disinfectant, to the frustrating and unsettling sense of being completely out of control of her circumstances, Eliza heartily disliked hospitals.

She had a great respect for medical professionals and understood that certain instances required their services but she would rather be standing out in the middle of that storm out there in bare feet than be tucked here under warmed blankets in the emergency department of the Haven Point medical center.

Okay, she seriously loved the warmed blankets. They made her feel sleepy and cozy and safe. She probably should be ashamed at her fierce desire to just curl up on the uncomfortable exam bed and sleep for a few days.

All the more reason she had to get out of here. She didn’t have the luxury of dawdling under blankets, warmed or otherwise, when she and her daughter were now basically homeless.

“I’m fine, I promise,” Eliza insisted for at least the twentieth time. “Can’t I just go?”

The lovely red-haired young woman frowning at her appeared far too young to have earned that stethoscope and the name tag on her lab coat that read Dr. Devin Shaw.

“You were hit by a car, Ms. Hayward. The head CT showed a concussion.”

“And you said yourself, you saw no evidence of bleeding or swelling.”

The doctor made a dismissive gesture. “Yet. Sometimes those things can develop hours or even days after the initial injury. With all that’s been in the news lately about professional athletes and concussions, you surely understand that any head injury is potentially serious.”

“I know. I will be very careful, I promise.”

The doctor jotted a note on her chart. “I would still like to X-ray that wrist and possibly your shoulder where the vehicle struck you.”

All of which would take time and money, both of which she had in very short supply right now. “That’s hardly necessary. The SUV barely tapped me. Nothing is broken.”

“You sound very certain of that.”

“I’m sure I would know if I had any broken bones. Besides the concussion, I’ve got some scrapes and bruises and possibly a sprained wrist. That’s all. I don’t need to waste any more of your time.”

“You’re not wasting anything. It’s my responsibility to make sure we don’t let you leave the hospital until we’re absolutely certain it’s safe for you to do so.”

She shifted in the flimsy gown, wanting rather desperately to be done here. It was growing dark and a storm was poised to deliver a hard uppercut to this little corner of western Idaho. She didn’t have time to lie here being coddled and fretted over, not when she needed to find somewhere safe and warm for her daughter to stay.

“Look, I appreciate what you’ve done so far but, really, I’m fine. Please.”

She couldn’t stay here. The hospital was nice enough. Over the past five years with Maddie, she had seen the inside of more than her share of medical facilities and as far as she could tell, the Lake Haven Hospital was small but modern and seemed to have all the necessary diagnostic equipment.

The doctor might seem young but she also projected a calm, comforting bedside manner that Eliza appreciated.

That didn’t make her any more eager to stay a moment longer than necessary.

She craned her neck to see Maddie curled up in the visitor’s chair, watching one of her favorite Disney movies on Eliza’s tablet while she colored a picture with crayons and paper provided by the hospital staff.

Maddie had plenty of experience with hospital rooms and didn’t seem at all distressed to be in a new one. In fact, she had spent the past hour chatting up all the doctors and nurses in her usual friendly fashion.

Every time Maddie touched a surface, Eliza wanted to cringe and grab the spray disinfectant. Having a child with a serious health condition had given Eliza a severe case of germaphobia, at least when it came to hospitals.

No matter how good the hospital’s housekeeping department might be, most emergency departments were a breeding ground for viruses and bacteria by the very nature of the cases they treated.

She had to get out of here.

“Look, I appreciate your concern and I understand you’re just doing your job, but what do I have to do to convince you I’m fine so you’ll let me go? As I said, the SUV barely touched me. I don’t need X-rays or stitches and I don’t want any pain medication.”

“You might be singing a different tune in the morning. You’re probably going to hurt everywhere.”

She already hurt everywhere but she wasn’t about to tell this earnest, concerned young doctor that. “I promise, I’ll pick up a bottle of ibuprofen and take them faithfully.”

The doctor still didn’t look convinced so Eliza decided to appeal to her sympathy, if nothing else. “I appreciate your concern. Everyone here has been really great. I can highly recommend the hospital and will be happy to post good reviews on Angie’s List or wherever you hospitals need reviews, but I have had a really miserable day. The worst.”

The doctor gave her a sympathetic look. “The paramedics told me you were supposed to start work at the Lake Haven Inn. I’m so sorry. What rotten timing.”

“Almost as bad as being in the crosswalk at the exact moment a driver coming down the hill hit a patch of ice, right? Haven Point hasn’t been really great to me. Right now I just want to take my daughter and go.”

The doctor frowned again, looking torn. She studied the computer screen again and studied Eliza carefully.

“If I were to release you, where will you go?”

“I was going to drive back to Boise. I have friends I can stay with for a few days, until I figure things out.”

That was a blatant lie. Yes, she had plenty of friends but she wouldn’t feel comfortable calling any of them a few weeks before Christmas and inviting her and her daughter over for an open-ended visit.

She didn’t like the bleak option of an extended-stay hotel somewhere, but she would figure out a way to make it work for a while.

Dr. Shaw chewed her bottom lip, looking more like a middle-school student prepping for an algebra test than the attending physician at an emergency room.

“I’ll be honest, I don’t feel good about you driving two hours back to Boise when we haven’t properly assessed your injuries, especially with that storm. It’s already snowing pretty hard out there and I can imagine the mountain passes between here and Boise are restricted to chains or four-wheel drive only.”

“I have four-wheel drive on my vehicle and chains in my trunk.”

She also had a pounding headache that would make even driving to the mountain pass an interesting exercise, but that was another thing she decided not to mention to the physician.

“How about this. I’m all right with releasing you from here but I don’t feel good about sending you out into the storm. Do you know anyone in town you could stay with tonight?”

She shook her head then fought a wince as her pain cells reacted quite negatively to the gesture. “Megan Hamilton is the only person I know—besides the nice EMTs and your staff here, of course. I imagine Megan has her hands full right now, dealing with the fire at the inn. I can’t add another burden onto her plate.”

“We’re at a stalemate, then.”

“What if I were to find a hotel room for the night and drive back tomorrow?”

“I’m afraid that might be easier said than done. A lot of our hotels are only open seasonally, during the summer. With the fire at the inn, we lost half the available hotel rooms in town. All their guests had to scramble to find lodging here or in Shelter Springs, from what I understand.”

She sighed. Finding a way through this quandary was more effort than her aching head wanted to handle right now. “I suppose that’s our answer, then. I can’t stay overnight in the hospital simply because of a lack of hotel rooms. Not with Maddie to think about, too. I’ll drive back to Boise to stay with friends. I’m sure I’ll be fine.”

The doctor was quiet. “I’m still not crazy about that option. You’ve got a sprained wrist and a concussion. We both know you’re in no shape for driving under perfect conditions, forget about driving at night during a winter storm. Give me a few moments to see if I can arrange something.”

“I may have the solution.”

The sudden masculine voice in the room startled both of them. Only Maddie, happily watching her show with her headphones on, didn’t jump.

Eliza and the doctor both turned to find Aidan Caine standing in the doorway, looking lean and sexy in a blue sweater, jeans and worn leather boots.

She knew who he was now. She had figured it out during the ambulance ride, when she heard the EMTs mention his name. She should have recognized him immediately but she had been too dazed after the accident to place why the face of the man whose vehicle had hit her seemed so familiar.

Aidan Caine. The Geek God. That’s what the magazines called him. He was a tech genius whose company had recently been named one of the five most influential in Silicon Valley. Though only in his midthirties, he was reported to be worth well into nine—possibly ten—figures.