All Chapters of Someone to Watch Over Me: The Thorntons Book 5: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

Blood, sand, heat. It smells of copper and he can’t see anything in front of him. He shouts, hoping he’s not the only survivor, and he hears a groan through all of the noise. He wonders if his eardrum is blown from the blast.He follows the noise. It’s instinctual at this point. He wonders if he imagined it when he can’t find the source of the sound. Then: he sees something. He kneels next to his comrade, gently turning him over. He doesn’t know if his friend is dead. When he hears him choke and gasp, he realizes he’s alive.But given the wound in his belly, he will be dead within minutes.He tries to get his friend up, get him help. He can’t die out here when they’re going home in a week. Not like this. His friend has a new baby girl and his wife needs him—Another blast rocks him. He collapses onto the sand, hits his head on something hard and painful, and it all goes black.Seth Thornton barely caught the scream in his throat as he woke up. Thrashing under the too-heavy bedcove

“Shh, Bea is napping,” Lizzie cautioned as she let Seth in. “She should be up in a half hour, though.”Seth wanted to tease his twin sister about how much she’d changed in the last year—who would’ve imagined Lizzie worried about waking up a baby?—but considering what his sister would do to him if he woke up the baby…“Trent’s at La Bonita until this evening. How are you? I feel like I haven’t seen you in forever.”“It’s been a week, Lizard.”Lizzie, with her dark hair and bright green eyes, looked like one of the Thorntons, although she and Seth only resembled each other in their hair and eye color. She was the opposite of him in every other way: slender and of average height, she was quite a bit shorter than him and had been since he’d outgrown her in junior high.Despite having given birth only two months ago, Lizzie looked radiant. Tired, definitely, and a little harried: her hair was frizzy, and Seth saw what looked like spit-up on her t-shirt, but she was happy. After a long

“Hey Rose, can you get my table?” Rebecca asked, her expression harried. Rebecca had just started at The Fainting Goat, and she tended to get overwhelmed easily.Rose waved a hand. “Go take a break. I’ll take care of them.”Rebecca sent her a grateful look and sneaked to the back, where she’d stay until Trent noticed one of his latest waitresses had disappeared. Rose enjoyed working at the local bar: Trent and his assistant manager, Landon, were fair, although they expected their employees to work hard and follow the rules. Rose had been astonished when Trent had told her that not only did his staff receive more than minimum wage, but they kept the tips they received.Rose had almost jumped at the chance when Trent had called her and told her he had a position for her.Despite the decent wages and tips, it still wasn’t a ton of money. Although Fair Haven was a far cry from being as expensive as Seattle just south of them, the cost of living was high. Thus the reason why Rose had an

“Why did I agree to get up this early just to see you?” Rose joked as she barely stifled a wide yawn.Heath grinned. “It’s only nine a.m.”“You’re a morning person, I’m not.” She yawned again, and Heath laughed.Rose had agreed to meet Heath for coffee that Sunday at The Rise and Shine, the bakery Megan Thornton—née Flannigan—owned and ran. Rose had only been here a few times; working at The Fainting Goat, she tended to get up late and return home in the wee hours of the morning.“I’m not a morning person,” Heath replied, “but I’ve been getting up early for work so many years now that I can’t break the habit.”“I’ve never had that problem.”“Why does that not shock me?”Rose stuck out her tongue right as Jubilee Thornton placed their two coffees and muffins in front of them. “Cinnamon latte for you,” she said as she handed the drink to Rose, “and a latte with an extra shot for you. Just how you like it,” she said to Heath.Rose suddenly felt more awake than she had been just a

Seth watched as a shutter fell across Rose’s features, and it only made him want to know her better. Shouldn’t women burst into tears and tell men like him about all the monsters under the bed?He almost snorted. He’d never met a woman like that and he probably never would. He only dealt with stubborn women, brave women, annoying women. Like his twin, Lizzie.“I don’t want to talk about it,” Rose finally said.He clucked his tongue. “Look, I heard you screaming. Screaming, Rose. Something’s going on, and I’m not leaving this apartment until you tell me what it is.”Anger flashed in her eyes. Good. He could deal with anger better than he could deal with hysterics. He understood anger.She glared down at him from her perch on her chair. “I didn’t think you were into harassment, Seth Thornton.”“I’m not, but I know when somebody needs to talk. You need to talk. You look like shit, by the way.”That made her laugh, which he’d hoped it would. “You’re an asshole. Go away.”