Sea Haven 01 - Water Bound

forth. She stared forward at the large kaleidoscope built into the wall. It was moving, a rolling ocean, waves tumbling and churning.
    It was one of the coolest things he’d ever seen and he’d have to ask her how it worked. She was totally focused on it and evidently needed to be. He shrugged, checked his gun and headed outside.
    Night was falling, and he preferred to be in the shadows where he could see what was coming at him. Most likely it was one of her sisters. He didn’t feel a threat at all, but as always, he remained cautious, stepping back into the darkness, just off the porch. The position offered him a good view of the surroundings as well as the road. He studied the ridge. There was no one up there at the moment, but he expected they would have company soon. The nervous small fires told Lev that Rikki’s stalker wasn’t a patient man.
    He recognized Blythe, Rikki’s oldest sister. He knew instinctively that Blythe wielded a lot of power in Rikki’s life. There had not only been love in Rikki’s eyes, but also a deep respect. Her gaze shifted often to the nose of the other sisters, but not Blythe. She looked Blythe in the eye, which to him meant that she believed Blythe could accept her as she was.
    He shoved his gun into his waistband at the small of his back and stepped out of the shadows before she pulled into the circular drive. He bent as if checking a hose and straightened slowly, watching as she got out of the car. She flashed him a quick smile. “I brought food. We decided that until you were up and around, we’d take turns cooking for you. Otherwise, you’d be living on peanut butter.”
    “That’s very generous of you but not necessary. I can cook...”
    “Believe me, Levi, it’s necessary,” Blythe interrupted. “Rikki can’t take a lot of change at once. She needs plenty of time to process and get used to the idea. Her kitchen is sacred to her. It took me months to get her to let 175

    me inside to get my own coffee, and after I leave, I’m betting she wipes all the imaginary fingerprints off her cabinets and sink.”
    “You’d be right about that. I’ve seen her do it.” He glanced toward the house. “She’s upset right now. She’s sitting in her favorite chair staring at her kaleidoscope. She’s rocking.”
    Blythe nodded. “It calms her. We put in wood floors so she doesn’t have to use a vacuum cleaner. The noise hurts her and she can’t cope with it at all. Fluorescent lights do the same thing, although she says in a different way. And never wear corduroy, it hurts her skin. She’s extremely intelligent, never think she isn’t, but when she doesn’t want to talk to you, she won’t and nothing you say or do will change her mind. Rikki’s her own person and she has a good life here. It’s been difficult for her.”
    “I hear your warning.”
    “Are you hearing what I’m saying about Rikki? Before you turn her world upside down, you make very sure you’re prepared for what her world has to be. You have a choice. She doesn’t. Certain things have to be in place for her to cope.”
    “Such as?” Lev prompted.
    “Cooking. She’s not going to be able to handle grocery shopping or cooking. Not ever. She isn’t going to miraculously get better and do it for you when you’re having a bad day.”
    “She made me soup,” he pointed out.
    “She heated up the can outside, not in the kitchen.”
    “Then she found a way, didn’t she?” Lev countered with a small shrug.
    “Maybe I don’t have as much of a choice as you think I do. Rikki matters to me. I can’t tell you why or even how it happened, but I’ve never felt for any woman what I feel for her. I’m not playing her, Blythe.”
    He didn’t ever explain himself, but he felt Blythe deserved something.
    She obviously loved Rikki and wanted to protect her.
    Blythe leaned one hip against the car. “I wouldn’t plan any parties. She doesn’t like more than one person in her house. And the reason she goes on dangerous dives is because she thinks she doesn’t contribute as much as the rest of us, even though she does all the planting with Lexi. She couldn’t take the sound of the carpentry work. I wouldn’t ever take her near a construction site.”
    “So sounds can trigger a problem,” he mused.
    Blythe shrugged. “Among other things.” She kept her eyes on him.
    “It’s never going to change, Lev.”
    He sent her a smile, more a showing of teeth than actual humor.
    “You’re saying