“I won’t have any children, so it doesn’t matter who I marry or if I ever do. And it’s not in my nature to search all over creation like my brothers must to find the one compatible person.” She headed toward the bathroom to put space between her and Javier, to hide her pain from the one man on Earth with whom she would gladly mate if given the choice.
But it wasn’t her choice to make. It was his, and he’d apparently made it years earlier...with a woman named Isabela.
Heidi would never mate, never have children. Not without Javier. And Javier was leaving. He’d already shared a life with his one.
“I’m going to grab a quick shower, and then you want to go get some breakfast? I’m starving and seriously need coffee.”
Javier rolled onto his side, propping his head on his hand, and gazed at her. “Yes. Something other than hotel room coffee would be welcome. Is there anywhere that has steak and eggs?”
“I know the perfect spot. But I need to stop at my dads’ for a change of clothes. How about I show you around Leavenworth today...unless you’re ready to leave.”
Javier stretched his injured leg, pointing his toes toward the television on the low dresser across from the bed. “I think I need one more day before I am ready to drive.”
She smiled at him. “Good.”
He threw the covers back. “I will join you.”
“No.” She held her hand up to stop him. “If we both get in here, it’ll be another hour before we eat, and I’m hungry.” Shutting the bathroom door, she locked it for good measure and heard him chuckling.
Her smile faded. One day reprieve...only one more day.
After a quick stop by her parents’ home, Javier held the door for Heidi to enter a diner called simply Joe’s. The aroma of hot grease and coffee assaulted his senses, and his mouth watered. Several older gentlemen called out to Heidi, and as they made their way to one of the few empty tables, she stopped to give tender hugs, pats on the shoulders, and had a friendly word for each of them, politely introducing Javier along the way.
“Heidi!” A wiry man in his sixties wearing a dirty apron came from behind the counter, and she wrapped him in a hug.
“Hey, Joe. How are you doing?” She kissed his bewhiskered cheek.
Javier slid into a vacant chair at a small table against the wall and watched Heidi’s innocent flirtation with the restaurant’s proprietor—he assumed this was the same Joe. The old man smiled at Heidi, obviously taken with her.
The other men in the room watched Javier, not the byplay between Heidi and Joe. Some openly stared while others took quick glances as they sipped their coffee. Javier nodded respectfully to those who made eye contact. This small town seemed to watch out for its own, and Heidi was clearly a loved member of the community.
A few moments later, Heidi approached the table he’d chosen with a coffee carafe. She grinned at him as she poured him a mug, and then one for herself. “He’s digging out his biggest steak right now.
Three eggs to go with it?”
Javier gave a single nod.
A few grumbles from the men at nearby tables had him looking up when Heidi made the rounds, refilling the patrons’ coffee mugs. He heard, “Just because you’re cute, you get whatever you want,” and he frowned.
Heidi laughed. “I’m having the special just like you, Bill.” She laid her hand on a portly man’s shoulder. “But look at him. You think two eggs and a slice of ham are really going to satisfy him?”
Amid the guffaws, Javier smirked.
Finally, Heidi sat across from him and lifted her coffee mug to her lips. She smiled, and he asked, “What is it about the special?”
“Heidi’s the only person we know that can get something other than the specials to eat here. Joe’s smitten.”
“Joe’s old enough to be my grandfather.” Heidi directed her response to the gentleman who’d commented. “He’s just looking out for me.”
“We’re all old enough to be your grandfather. That don’t mean— Hey! Why’d you kick me?”
Chuckles permeated the diner.
“Burke and Fridrik will knock you senseless if you say anything about their baby girl,” the apparent kicker said.
“How are those old men anyway?” another patron asked.
“Doing well,” she answered with a sparkle of humor in her eyes. “But then you know that. They were down here the other morning.”
Another round of soft laughter.
“She’s a smart one.”
“What do they think of this one?” the man named Bill asked, motioning his coffee cup toward Javier.
“Javier’s just a family friend passing through.” Her smile faded. “I’m going to give him a tour of Leavenworth, show him the sights.”
One of them snorted. “Tourist then.”
“Yep. Just a tourist,” Heidi said, her smile completely gone now. She turned her attention back to her coffee and didn’t look at him at all.
Every time Heidi got quiet, a shadow of sadness descended on her, and Javier had the urge to wrap her in his arms, comfort her concerns and make a promise he couldn’t keep. He lifted his mug and swallowed the acrid, burned liquid. At least it was hot and had the caffeine he needed to kick his brain into gear.
Their conversation the night before about the possibility of her conceiving his child had almost made him cave in to his desires. When he’d asked her about her one, if she believed there was one match as her brothers and fathers did, he’d not only heard her sadness, he’d felt it in his soul.
Especially when she’d pulled away and tried to be so nonchalant about the whole discussion.
She’d been beautiful with her nephews, so natural. Imagining her as a mother was easy. Envisioning her with his children made something in his chest warm where for two years there’d only been ice and hate and an unquenchable need for revenge.
His fathers hadn’t instilled the idea of there being only one woman for him and his brother. They’d been taught, though, that they would know their mate when she stepped into their lives. And he had.
He’d awoken in the hospital with Isabela leaning over him listening to his heart through her stethoscope. In that instant, he’d mentally claimed her for what he thought would be forever. A long, fulfilled life.
They hadn’t had a long life together, and he no longer had a brother. He was alone, his entire world focused on avenging the murder of his family, his future. No thought of a time after Durchenko’s death had even occurred to him. Once his revenge was exacted, he could crawl into a hole and die, join his family in the afterlife, for all he cared.
Until he met Heidi.
A healer, like Isabela. Strong and independent, which was nothing like his Isabela had been. His mate had needed, craved, his and Juan’s dominance, their protection. Only they’d failed her.
Heidi was the caretaker in her family. Calling to check on her fathers, making sure her sister-in-law would handle preparation of the evening meal. He could see that sweet Heidi had taken on the role of mother to her brothers when their own had died. But who took care of her? Sure, her brothers tried to protect her from dangers, but when was the last time someone asked Heidi what she needed? From the way she shut down when the topic of children arose, he assumed there were topics off limits to her family, subjects too painful for her to face.
She expected to never have children of her own.
Yet there was a possibility he could give her what was obviously a deep desire of hers. A small part of him had even contemplated forgetting to use condoms last night, but the thought of her having children—his children—while he spent the next months, possibly years, tracking Durchenko... He couldn’t do it. He’d wanted to, he could not deny that, but he was selfish too. When Isabela died—and his sons within her—he’d known that was the end of his line. The end of all hope for children from his seed. But now, there was a possibility—a slim one if he chose to believe in the Falke family lore—and his heart ached to take the chance.