Very Private Duty Read Free

he’d had most of the girls who had grown up on the horse farm fantasizing about marrying him, but not Tricia. Four years her senior, Ryan was too old and much too serious. Her choice had been Jeremy. They were the same age, carefree and at times very reckless.
    Jeremy had earned the reputation of driving too fast, swearing and fighting too much, and he had been the one who had introduced her to a passion she had not experienced since.
    “What am I dealing with, Ryan?”
    “Broken ankle, dislocated fingers and a concussion. His ankle is held together with screws.”
    Tricia nodded. “Is there anything else I should know about your brother? Perhaps why he has been sedated, since it’s not for pain?”
    A sheepish grin softened the lines of tension around Ryan’s mouth. “I could never fool you, Tricia. It’s as if you have a sixth sense when it comes to Jeremy. The two of you must be bound by an invisible force that keeps you connected even though you’ve been separated for so many years.”
    A shiver snaked its way up her spine. There had been a time when she and Jeremy were able to complete each other’s sentences. “You’re wrong, Ryan,” she said softly. “If that had been the case, then I would’ve known that something had happened to him. What aren’t you telling me?”
    “He has episodes—flashbacks of what happened to him and the other members of his team before he was rescued.”
    Her large dark eyes widened with this disclosure. It was obvious Jeremy was experiencing post-traumatic stress syndrome. “Was he tortured?”
    Ryan shook his head. “I don’t know. He was debriefed, but as civilians we’re not privy to that information.”
    “What are his meds?”
    Ryan told her about the prescribed medication and dosage. “I’ll make certain to give you the hospital’s report. My brother is scheduled to see an orthopedist and a psychiatrist in a couple of days. I know this is your vacation, but I will make it up—”
    “There’s nothing to make up for,” Tricia said, interrupting him. “Remember, I grew up here, and I’ve always thought of you and Jeremy as my brothers.”
    Ryan smiled. He wanted to tell Tricia that he had always thought of her as a younger sister, but not Jeremy. There was something about the assistant trainer’s granddaughter that softened his brother, made him vulnerable. She would only stay a month, but perhaps it was long enough to help Jeremy adjust to coming home.
    “He can’t stay on the sofa,” Tricia said. “He needs a bed and easy access to a bathroom.”
    “We plan to move him into his house in a few minutes. Things will go easier for you if he’s under his own roof. A hospital bed has been set up in thefamily room. There’s also a wheelchair, shower equipment and a pair of crutches. Sleeping arrangements will also be set up for you at his place, so I suggest you pick up what you’ll need and then come back to Jeremy’s place.”
    Tricia nodded numbly as she walked out of the main house. Sheldon had houses built for his sons less than a quarter of a mile from the main house after they’d graduated from college.
    Sleeping arrangements have been set up for you at Jeremy’s place. Ryan’s words echoed over and over as she drove back to the two-bedroom bungalow where she’d grown up with her grandparents.
    She’d returned to Blackstone Farms to spend a month with Gus Parker, never believing she would have to share a house with the man she’d fallen in love with and continued to love even though she’d married another.
    It had taken Dwight Lansing less than a year of marriage to realize his love and passion would never be reciprocated. A week before he and Tricia would have celebrated their first wedding anniversary, their marriage was annulled. She’d given her husband her body but never her heart. That she had given to Jeremy Blackstone to hold on to for eternity.
     
    Jeremy surfaced from a drug-induced haze for the first time in hours. Long, thick