Free Heroes (Hollywood Heartthrobs #1) by Kate Rivers Page A

burdened
him enough already, but in her heart of hearts she very much hoped Dean would
keep his word to visit.
    Nurse
Mather returned a short while later. He was a kindly gentleman with a
comforting demeanor belied by his size. First he checked her arm, and,
obviously pleased with its apparent healing, took off most of the bandages that
held it immobile, replacing them instead with a simple sling over the cast. He
also removed the bandages from her head, gave her a short robe to wear (a vast
improvement on the scratchy hospital gown), and helped her take a quick shower.
Blessed with a shower, something clean and comfortable to wear, and his promise
to send a volunteer to take her to the library PDQ (as he put it), Jane felt
like a woman restored, memory loss or no memory loss.
    ****
    Dean
awoke to a pair of small eyes and a tiny nose a few inches away from his face.
He started with a yelp as Tucker dove off the bed to the floor, next to his
brother. Both boys began to giggle. Dean had an urge to scoop them up and hug
them gently until they were old enough to drive, but he knew the best thing for
them was to move on like nothing had happened. Rolling off the bed, Dean put
his arms around his nephews, shouting “Who dares disturb my slumber?” in his
best Disney villain voice. The boys’ giggling escalated to cacophonous cackling
as he threw them both down on the bed and tickled their bellies.
    Nate
whistled from the kitchen. “Pancakes!” he called. The boys hollered. “And
coffee!” he added. Dean gave a half-hearted yay. 
    Samantha
and Nate were standing in the comfortable open-concept kitchen-and-dining room.
Delicious smells of coffee and chocolate-chip pancakes wafted throughout the
house.
    Nate
poured a fresh cup with milk and sugar and walked over to Dean. “You okay?”
Nate asked quietly, out of earshot of the boys. Nate looked a little wan, but
Dean figured he was probably worse.
    “I’m
okay.” He said.
    “Good,”
Nate replied, returning his voice to normal speaking volume. “Sam and I both
took the day off, figured we could all use a peaceful day at home.”
    “Or
as close to peaceful as it gets around here,” Samantha added over her shoulder
as she slid fresh pancakes onto a plate.
    Ostensibly
to get in on the pancake action, Dean went over to Samantha. He put his hand on
his sister-in-law’s shoulder. When she turned, he had trouble meeting her eye.
He’d made peace with Nate last night, but a chill gripped his heart as he
prepared to make another apology. A quick negative nod from Samantha stopped
him. She handed him a plate with a large helping of pancakes. “Eat up,” she
said simply. Dean knew her well enough to know the offering of food was one of
her ways of showing love, acceptance, and in some cases, forgiveness. She
looked over Dean’s shoulder, directing his eye to Nate. Dean turned to see Nate
give him a smile and a nod. Those two, Dean thought to himself, if either one
of them ever goes mute, it won’t matter a lick as long as they have each other.
They can say more with looks and gestures than some people could say with a
speech and a series of organizational charts. Nate clapped him on the shoulder
as he headed for the kitchen table. Tucker and Alec were already devouring
pancakes with obvious relish.
    After
breakfast and the post-breakfast melted chocolate cleanup, the boys and
Samantha adjourned to the living room with cartoons, while Dean stayed to help
Nate with the dishes.
    “Before
you say it,” Nate offered, “Samantha and I talked, it’s behind us all, so don’t
make any more efforts to atone, okay? Just let it go now.”
    “If
you say so,” Dean responded, repressing a catch in his throat.
    “I
do.” Nate said, with a tone of finality. “Look, I get that you feel like you
need to keep apologizing, but it stops now. Today we’re just all happy to be
together. Anything else is just going to upset Sam and the boys. Got it?”
    “Got
it,” he agreed, readily