Maybe the universe wanted him to atone. But he’d beenplaying a role on the ice, doing a job he was paid alot of money to do. And Julia? He’d never promised her a damn thing.
Karma be damned. He didn’t believein that shit anyway. No, it was time to focus forward. Denver and lots ofchanges were coming at him, and he had twelve hours to prepare himself.
Denver.Kevin May’s in Denver.
A thought niggled at him, but it was preposterous, so hedismissed it. At first. Then it basted in his brain,and a decision crystallized. It wouldn’t hurt to throw some positive at theuniverse. Might even help him turn his luck around.
He drew in a long, shuddering breath.
Tomorrow, he would visit Craig Hospital and see with his owneyes that May was all right.
CHAPTER 6
The Atonement Express RunsThrough Denver
Natalie gave Kevin’s door atentative knock. They’d moved him to a different part of the hospital, andshe’d only just learned the new location from Kristin—who’d apparently overseenthe move on her watch the evening before.
Somehow Natalie had been relegated to morning and lunchtimewhile Kristin had appropriated the sweet spot: afternoon into evening. Itwasn’t that Natalie minded visits early in the day, but often Kevin was asleepor gone for tests or therapy, which meant she saw little of him. Worse, thevisits were competing with her business schedule, chewing up precious clienttime while she scrambled to fit everything in. Her first dog-sitting roundsstarted in the morning, as did calls on her bookkeeping clients. She’d beenjuggling appointments, missing a few assignments along the way, to her horrorand chagrin. Letting a client down had never been her MO but now seemed aconstant series of blips, and she teetered on the edge of losing a few biggerones.
And her previously healthy habits?Sleep was elusive, and her diet consisted of far too many grab-and-goes. Thenight before, dinner had been leftover rice and two string cheeses with an IPAchaser. Routine morning runs, once a sacred ritual, had fallen by the waysideentirely. Her go-to for calming herself, fly-fishing, seemed a vague memory.
So here she stood, knuckles poised to rap again, ponderinghow much time she’d spend with a conscious Kevin—or waste on a sleeping orabsent one. Grace Guilt gave her a good finger wagging, and she chased theselfish thought away. But today she had little choice; her timewas limited by her brother’s dogs waiting in her vehicle.
Another knock, and a croaky voicecalled to come in. She poked her head inside, relieved to see Kevin in bed andalert, and she plastered on her best smile.
The effort was rewarded when he said, “Hey, beautiful lady,”and reached out his hand. She took it and leaned in for a quick peck. Kevin frowned.“Why are you so late?”
Embarrassment heated her cheeks, and she pulled away. “I’mnot that late.” The crushed look on his face made her instantly regret herretort.
In a softer tone, she said, “I had to spend extra time withan important client, and that put me a little behind.” A client she’d beendesperate to soothe and keep from firing her ass. But she couldn’t tell Kevinany of this. Colin had warned her not to put any undue stress on hisbrother—about anything. Besides, these were her business affairs, andshe could handle them.
Kevin laced his fingers with hers. “I see how it is,” hemocked. “Your client’s more important than I am.”
He’d just yanked on Grace Guilt, making Natalie rush to say,“No, it’s not like that.” Why did she feel the need to justify herself?
As if he hadn’t heard her, he said, “I’m hungry, babe. Doyou see the menu anywhere?”
She glanced around quickly. “No. Let me get one for you.”
Less than five minutes later, she returned triumphantly.“Ta-da! Menu.”
“I didn’t ask for a menu,” he growled, startling her. “Iasked for a fucking cup of water. Or juice. You know, liquid?” His sarcasm hada nasty bite. “Christ, you couldn’t even get that right.”
Natalie looked around, wondering if he might be talking tosomeone else. Maybe he thought she was someone else. Otherwise, hisbehavior made no sense.
He hit the call button, and a moment later a nurse came in.He gave the woman a saccharin smile. “Nurse Ratched,may I please have a cup of water? My girlfriend’s a little too scattered to getme one.”
The nurse cut her a look that said, “Are you lame?”Natalie’s face flared a little hotter, amping up herdefensiveness and no doubt making her appear guilty as charged.
After the nurse delivered the water, Natalie swallowed herpride. “Do you want to look at the menu now?”
“I’m thirsty, not hungry.” He reached for the cup with hisleft hand. While Natalie scratched her head mentally over his confusingbehavior, she watched his hand tremble, splashing water from the cup. “I can’tget a grip on it,” he gritted out.
Natalie slid it from his feeble grasp and placed it in hisright hand. “Do you want some help?”
“No.” He lifted the cup to his lips and swallowed. “Thatworked.” A tentative smile curved his mouth. “God, I hope that’s notpermanent.”
Natalie averted her eyes, suppressing despairing tears. Sodo I. Kevin was left-handed. With a deep breath, she rallied and faced him.
He took her hand in his again, his thumb stroking herknuckles. “I’m sorry to put you through this. I’m sure my injury isn’t what yousigned up for.”
On that seemingly lucid comment, she lowered herself intothe chair beside his bed. “It’s okay. So … speaking of your injury, is thereany news?”
“Kris told me that T.J. Shanstromjust got traded to Colorado.”
Natalie nearly shook her head. She’d expected news aboutresults of medical tests, not hockey. And she certainly hadn’t expected thistidbit that had her jolting to the edge of her seat. “He’s coming here?”
“Yep. The team probably needed to move him out ofCalifornia. Apparently, he’s been getting crucified by the press and attackedby angry fans.”
“Serves him right,” she hmphed, animage of Kevin’s shaky left hand flashing in her brain.
“Yeah, well, rumor has it the coaches told him to come afterme.”
Incredulous, she perched farther forward, anger percolatingin her veins. “So he does everything he’s told? It doesn’t excuse him fromlacking a conscience or
