She carried a makeup bag into the bathroom, then clipped her hip on the dresser on her return trip. The sharp pain made her cry out, then tears filled her eyes and she just wanted to crawl into a dark hole somewhere and be lost forever.
The fear returned. Fear of the darkness, of the unknown. Anger joined it. Anger that this had happened to her. It wasn’t right, wasn’t fair. She didn’t deserve to suffer. Now Lexi and Skye had dumped her with a guy they didn’t even know.
The sharp emotions bled away, leaving behind only despair. What was the point? She couldn’t win this battle. There was no reason to try.
She pushed the suitcase onto the floor and crawled onto the bed. There weren’t any tears. She’d cried herself empty for the past month. She curled up on her side, hurting on the inside from the feelings churning within her and on the outside from the sunburn. She closed her eyes, then quickly opened them to make sure the light was still there.
It was going to be a long night.
Some time later, maybe only a few minutes, maybe an hour, she heard a knock on her bedroom door.
Great. Because Nick wasn’t done being a total bastard.
“Go away,” she yelled.
The door opened.
“I couldn’t hear you,” Aaron said. “It was muffled, but it sounded like ‘come in,’ so I did.”
Izzy sat up. “Did he send you? I’m serious. You can just leave.”
“By he, I assume you mean Nick. No, he didn’t send me. I brought some aloe vera for your sunburn. Do you always throw your clothes on the floor? Won’t that make you trip later?”
His shape stiffened, then bent. She felt the weight of the suitcase on the bed.
“You’re nearly unpacked,” he said. “I’ll just finish up so we can put your suitcase away. How does that sound?”
He was annoyingly cheerful, but for some reason she couldn’t seem to snap at him. Maybe because Aaron was so obviously happy and caring. Maybe because he wasn’t her enemy in all this.
“I’ll put a pair of pj’s on the dresser here,” he said as he carried clothes across the room. “The drawer next to your panties and bras. Socks are right below. There are a few shirts to hang. Oh, this red one is nice. But you probably look best in green. It would bring out the color in your eyes. True hazel. So they can look blue or green, right? I have brown eyes. Bor-ring.” He sighed. “Okay, that’s everything. I’m going to zip up your suitcase and tuck it in the back of the closet.”
He disappeared into darkness, then reappeared. “That’s done. Now let’s take care of that sunburn. Pull off your tank top.”
She sat up and looked at him. “Excuse me?”
There was a snort, followed by, “I guess I have to tell you I’m rolling my eyes. Izzy, please. You’re sweet and I like you but, honey, I couldn’t be less interested. I want to put on the aloe. Now take off your shirt. Oh, we’ll need to pin up your hair. You have something in the bathroom?”
He disappeared again. Izzy didn’t know what to think, then decided she didn’t care. She pulled off her tank top.
Aaron returned. She knew because she heard him wince.
“That has got to hurt,” he said. “Ouch. If your skin blisters, we’ll need to get you to a doctor. Did you take anything? I’ll get you some aspirin. But first let’s get this on. I’ll be as gentle as I can.”
He handed her several clips. She twisted her long hair into a coil, then clipped it to her head. Aaron sat next to her on the bed.
“I’ll do your back first,” he said.
She turned away from him and felt the coolness of the gel, followed by the intense pain of his fingers rubbing her skin. She knew he was working carefully, but every stroke was agony.
“Arm,” he said, touching her left one.
She held it out.
“I know this is hard,” he said. “Being here, not knowing anyone. The thing is, Nick isn’t such a bad guy. He comes off as a little gruff, but you have to look past that.”
“I can’t look past anything.”
“Not literally. It’s a figure of speech. Honestly! I’m talking here. Nick is doing some real good.”
She didn’t want to hear about Nick at all, but liked Aaron. Which made being rude more difficult.
“We have corporate retreats,” he continued. “Management types come and explore the wilderness. We teach them how to swing from trees, start a fire with a couple of rocks. You know. Team-building stuff.”
“That’s hardly going to qualify your boss for sainthood.”
“It pays the bills,” he said as he tapped her other arm. “The real work is with kids who have been through something traumatic. A shooting. A violent crime. Parents fighting for years, then finally killing each other. They come here all shut down. It’s sad. We put them on the horses, take them outside. Show them how to climb a tree. It helps. That’s what he does. He helps fix them.”