Joey sighed, resisting the urge to scratch at the neat row of stitches on her upper arm. “I don’t really have much choice.” A laugh bubbled up. “I’ve always considered myself a realist, a skeptic. But it’s hard to deny something that happens right in front of you.” She looked deeply into the doctor’s eyes.”And by the time I learned what Luke is I think it was too late to matter.”
She dropped her eyes from the concern in Collier’s and twisted her hands together in her lap. The sound of his sigh filled the moment of quiet.
“I see. I had hoped—I had wondered what was happening. Between the two of you.” There was a constricted quality to Collier’s voice that betrayed his discomfort. “I’ll be honest, Joey. I didn’t think it would be any different with you than with any of the others.”
Struck by his words, Joey looked up quickly. “I remember your warnings.”
He smiled. “I tried, even though I’m very fond of Luke. I’ve known him a very long time, as I’m sure by now you’ve guessed. But Luke—” His laugh was short “Luke is, as you now know, very different. He never let any of his previous ‘interests’ touch his heart. Oh, he never hurt them, not in ways that would have done lasting damage to any of them. But, and I hope you won’t mind my being very frank, my dear—when I met you, I knew he might be capable of injuring you in ways he could not understand.”
Biting her lip, Joey tried to take it all in, all the things at which Collier had hinted. Some of them she had suspected before, that Luke’s involvements with other women had been casual, and that she had been intended as just another diversion. But later, somewhere in the midst of their sparring, and then at last when they had made love, that had changed. Irrevocably changed—and not only for her. Her life had been turned upside down by Luke Gévaudan, but he had not emerged unscathed.
“When he called us to come for you, I knew it wasn’t that simple. Not like the others.” Collier’s voice had become grave. “Joey, you have changed him. You have touched him in a way that no other woman has done. And I don’t know whether to be grateful or frightened by it.”
The ominous tone of the last sentence caught Joey’s attention. “What do you mean, frightened? Allan, I’m very thankful for your concern. I still don’t know what I did to earn it.” Smiling, she reached for his hand and rested her fingers on it in a light caress. “It means more to me than I—sometimes I’m not good at saying these things.” Collier turned his hand to grip hers reassuringly. “I’ve been obsessed with one thing for a very long time. That was all that mattered to me. Now—other things have come to matter too. And it’s because of you and Maggie”—she swallowed—”and Luke.” Shaking her head, she sighed out the words. “I wish I were better at explaining, but when it comes to matters of the heart, I…”
“I understand, Joey You needn’t try to explain.” She looked up into his smile. “I’m more glad than I can say that you’ve found some—something that brings you happiness.” He broke off, and his face changed as if he were about to say more,;Joey felt the echo of unspoken words between them. But then he merely sighed and leaned back, stretching out his lean legs.
Retracing his earlier words, Joey examined the significance of everything he had told her.
“Allan—you said you’ve known Luke a long time. And this village—Luke said few ‘Outsiders’ knew of it. But you said when I first woke up that this was part of your regular monthly rounds.” She cocked her head at Collier expectantly, and he pursed his lips with a nod.
“I am,” he said slowly, “one of the fortunate few who are permitted knowledge of Val Cache. My relationship with the village goes back many years—as does my acquaintance with Luke.”
“And you’ve known all along about Luke—what he is?” Joey leaned forward eagerly.
“I’ve known since before he did,” the doctor admitted. “I knew his mother.”