A Time to Heal
Brody Mason needs a nurse. As soon as he can walk again, heâll leave Hope, Montana, and go straight back to the army. But Kaitlyn Harpe? Thatâs adding insult to injury. Not just because sheâs a daily reminder that Brodyâs fiancée, Kateâs sister, married his best friend while he was fighting in Afghanistan. But because Kaitlyn had kept the truth from him.
The Kaitlyn he knew before he deployed would never have perpetuated a lie like that. But this new personâthe confident, beautiful woman with hidden depths in her eyesâis nothing like the shy, serious girl he knew. This Kaitlyn troubles him. Because Brody is starting to wonder if he proposed to the wrong sisterâ¦
âDonât say that you donât matter, because if youâd died over thereââ
She was saying too much, and she bit back the words. What was she going to do, confess that sheâd been in love with him for the two years heâd been dating her sister? It didnât matter. Heâd made his choice.
âHeyâ¦â His voice was a low rumble, and he put a finger under her chin and tipped her face up so he could look into her eyes. His gaze moved slowly over her face. âYou saying you missed me?â
A smile flickered at one side of his mouth. She was saying a whole lot more than thatâat least she had been before sheâd wisely shut up. Brody ran his thumb along her jaw, the movement slow and deliberate.
She didnât answer him. He was joking around, wasnât he?
Chapter One
Brody Masonâs leg throbbed. The last of his morphine had worn off, and no matter what position he adopted in front of the crackling fireplace in his childhood home, the pain was constant.
Heâd been honorably discharged from the army and given a medal for braveryâpresented to him in the crisp hospital bed where heâd spent the last couple of monthsâbut heâd never felt less deserving. While people at home called every returning soldier a hero, he saw a difference: real heroes got their buddies out alive, and Brody hadnât managed to do that. Now he was home in the tiny town of Hope, Montana, and while his family doted on him, no one really understood. His fellow soldiers hadnât survived the explosion that tore up his leg in early December; he was supposed to have their backs. And that hurt worse than the shrapnel.
The hospital stay had been a haze of pain meds, and every week the doctor assured him heâd be able to leave soon, but then something would hold up his recovery. Brody had missed his sisterâs wedding because of an infection in his leg, and heâd been forced to watch her nuptials via webcam, which was just as well, considering that he solidly disapproved of her choice in groom. Once he recovered from the leg infection, there was a bronchial infection triggered by all the dust heâd breathed for the last year in Afghanistan, which put off his second surgery to remove the last of the shrapnel. When the surgery was complete, the nurses stopped hovering quite so muchâa good sign.
Then one day in late January, a week after his last surgery, the doctor had deemed him sufficiently recovered and signed his discharge papers. Just like that. No muss, no fuss, no grandeur. His parents picked him up from the hospital and drove him home. Which left him here, sitting in front of the fireplace, trying to find a comfortable position for his aching leg.
The back door to the ranch house opened and shut, and there was the soft murmur of voices. He couldnât make out who the nurse was...not that it mattered. He shifted again, closing his eyes against the wave of pain. Brody heard a noise behind him, and he reluctantly turned.
Kaitlyn Harpe stood at the door to the sitting room, her arms crossed over her chest. Her auburn hair hung in loose waves around her shoulders, dark eyes fixed on him uncertainly. She looked nervous to be hereâand rightfully so.
âYou? Seriously?â Brody wasnât normally this much of a jerk, and he resented the words as soon as they came out of his mouth, but with the pain, his verbal filter seemed to be missing.
âI get that Iâm not your first choice, but there arenât a whole lot of nurses available in Hope,â she replied with a small smile.
Yeah, that was an understatement. Hope, Montana, was a small ranching community, and while there were two large animal veterinarians in town, medical care for people was a little sparser. Before Kaitlyn went to nursing school, her aunt Bernice was the only other nurse in town. Heâd half expected to see the older woman.