LITMIR.BIZ

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end of the blizzard. As if that was a good thing.

      Chapter Three

      When he moved to the kitchen to clean it up, he first took two steaks out of the freezer. A little steak and some vegetables would be good for Isabella. He’d cook them after Angel’s six-o’clock feeding.

      He checked on Isabella several times before Angel finally sounded the alarm. He listened for Isabella to ask to feed her baby again, but he heard nothing. He gathered the baby against his chest and put the bottle in her mouth and all noise ceased. He cooed to her, entertaining her while she ate. Entertaining himself. He warned himself not to depend on Angel’s being around. After all, the snowstorm was supposed to end tomorrow.

      But he doubted Isabella would have the strength by then to move on. After all, four bites of an omelette had knocked her out. It was strange that she hadn’t even stirred when Angel woke up. Suddenly he panicked. Still holding Angel, he jumped up from the couch and hurried to the bedroom door.

      But Isabella was fine. She was curled under the covers, sound asleep and seemingly at peace. He backed away before Angel’s greedy guzzling of her bottle could bother her mother. Was Isabella going to sleep through dinner, too?

      He’d looked forward to eating with Isabella. How pathetic. He was looking forward to dinner with a woman just this side of a coma. Yeah, he was going to have to change his lifestyle. Get out more. He didn’t need to consider dating or anything like that. He had no intention of dating. But he could hang out with his family.

      It was just that he was curious about Isabella and Angel. He wanted to know they would be all right. That they had someone to turn to.

      She probably had a truckload of relatives anxious to know what had happened to her. Especially if her car and her coat indicated her level of income. A runaway wouldn’t leave in her full-length mink coat and the Cadillac. That was a silly idea.

      He had Angel changed and back down asleep before he heard anything from the bedroom. A thump. He hurried to the door and saw nothing. Including no one in the bed. He turned to the bathroom, but the door was open and the room was empty. He turned back to the bed and saw Isabella sprawled out on the floor beside it.

      “Isabella! What happened?”

      “I need to go to the bathroom,” she whispered.

      He lifted her from the floor and helped her to the bathroom. Once he got her inside, he stood her against the sink.

      “Can you manage on your own?”

      “Yes.”

      He wasn’t sure it was wise to leave her there alone, but he didn’t want to embarrass her. He’d already seen more of her than he wanted her to know.

      He hovered outside the door, waiting for her to call him.

      “Russ?”

      He barely heard her. Had the omelet made her worse?

      He opened the door and found her where he’d left her. “Did you take care of business?”

      She nodded. He scooped her up into his arms and maneuvered her through the door. When he got her back to the bed, he followed her down to the side of the bed. “Are you hurting anywhere?”

      She shook her head.

      “But you seem more out of it than before,” he said, really worried.

      “Sleepy,” she muttered.

      He pulled the cover over her shoulders. “But I was going to cook you dinner. Aren’t you hungry?”

      “Sleepy,” she repeated.

      He left the room and grabbed the phone to call Jon again. Tori answered this time.

      “Hi, Russ. Is everything all right?”

      “I don’t know, Tori. She never really got awake. I found her on the floor because she fell trying to get to the bathroom. I got her in there and left her alone for a few minutes. Then she called me and wanted to go back to bed. All she’d say was she was sleepy. I was going to cook her supper, but she’s gone back to sleep. Does that sound normal?”

      His cousin repeated the facts to Jon, her husband. He took the phone. “Does she seem to be sleeping okay?”

      “Yeah, her breathing is even. Actually, she seems to be sleeping more deeply.”

      “Probably she didn’t get any good sleep until you got more food down her. I bet the next time she wakes up, she’ll be hungry. Don’t worry, Russ.”

      “Whatever you say, Jon.” He knew he didn’t sound satisfied with Jon’s words, but he couldn’t help worrying.

      “If you get worried later, give us a call. No matter what the time.”

      “Okay, thanks. Hopefully I won’t have to bother you.”

      Russ went back into the bedroom. He stared down at Isabella, watching her breathe. Then he walked out to the living room and looked at Angel. They were both sleeping fine. Maybe if he watched Monday Night Football he could forget the warmth and beauty of the two females. But he knew Angel had already claimed his heart. What worried him even more was that Isabella had that effect on him, too. He couldn’t feel anything for her! Could he?

      WHEN SHE WOKE UP Isabella had no idea where she was. She realized she must have been ill, because she was very shaky. What had woken her up?

      It had to be Angel, of course. But had she stopped crying? That didn’t sound like Angel. She usually screamed continuously until she got her bottle. They’d been in a hotel. Was that where—? She heard a man’s voice.

      She struggled from the big bed and managed to get as far as the door, leaning against the wall for support. She silently opened the door and stared into the next room.

      There was her child, wrapped in a blanket and snuggled against a man’s bare chest, taking her bottle. Isabella watched as the man moved around the room, as if slowly waltzing with Angel. He was wearing loose sweatpants, hanging low on his hips—and nothing else.

      “Who are you?” she demanded, but her voice came out faint and weak.

      “Isabella! You’re up!”

      “You know me?”

      He gave her a strange look. “We introduced ourselves last night. Don’t you remember?”

      “No. Where am I?”

      He moved closer and she almost fell over. “I think you’d better get back in bed. Angel and I will come in there and we’ll talk while she finishes her bottle.” He bent over and got a clean nightgown and diaper before coming toward her.

      She stumbled back to bed, already exhausted by the brief exchange. As she pulled the cover up, she realized she had nothing on her legs. She was only wearing a pajama top and panties. Her panties, someone else’s top.

      The man sat on the foot of the bed, still feeding the baby. “I picked the two of you up three days ago on the road south of Rawhide. A blizzard was starting and I was trying to make it back to Rawhide. Your car was off the road in the ditch.”

      She didn’t remember any of this. Three days ago?

      “You opened my passenger door before I could get out and shoved in Angel in her carrier. Then you started loading your suitcases and boxes. I climbed out and helped you. Then I got you in the truck and myself behind the wheel. When I looked at you, I realized you were running a high fever.

      “We got back here and I brought you both up here and started taking care of you.” He stood and went over to the curtains. He pulled them open and showed her a white nothingness. He pulled the curtain closed again. “Helps keep the cold out.”

      “You mean the snow is as high as the second story?”

      “No. But with a storm, we get a lot of wind. Until it blows itself into North Dakota,

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