Judy Christenberry - Randall Wedding

“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, there’s more snow in the air than there is on the ground. Travel is impossible.”

“Oh. So we’re in Rawhide?”

“Yeah. Where were you heading?”

“Rawhide.”

He stared at her as if she’d said something strange. “You were?”

“Yes. Is there something wrong with that? Don’t you get visitors in Rawhide?” She shifted under the covers, feeling uneasy suddenly.

“Yeah, sure. Were you visiting someone?”

“Yes, my aunt.”

“Oh, that explains it. But Angel is too young to be traveling. And you need to watch the weather closely in Wyoming.”

“Thanks for the warning!” she snapped angrily, but she was so weak her eyes filled with tears.

“Hey, no need to cry. I saved you.”

“I’m sure we would’ve been all right,” she said with a sniff.

He stared at her. “No. You would’ve frozen to death.”

His raw statement made everything worse. “Give me my baby!”

“Why? She needs to be changed so she can go back to sleep.”

“I know that! I can take care of her!”

“Can you? You can barely stand. You certainly can’t carry her around, and you’ve been very sick. I don’t think you should push it.”

She gave up, though she didn’t think it was her nature. But he was right. She didn’t have any strength. She turned over and buried her face in a soft pillow. “Go away!”

She heard him stand and walk away. When she looked up she was alone again, the door closed. Wearily, she pushed her hair back from her face and tried to think about her next step. But it seemed too hard to make a decision. Gradually her lashes lowered over her eyes.

AFTER A SLEEPY Angel was settled back down in her carrier, Russ silently opened the door of his bedroom and discovered Isabella had gone back to sleep.

He breathed a sigh of relief. Last night she’d seemed sweet and cooperative. This morning she was difficult…except that she was too weak. He really needed to feed her again, but he was thinking they both might benefit from another couple of hours’ sleep. This was Angel’s six-o’clock feeding.

He returned to the air mattress he used when he went camping. It was better than the floor. He was too old to sleep on the floor. Okay, he wasn’t ancient, only in his early thirties, but he felt older.

He lay down, thinking of his king-size bed in the next room. He had a second bedroom, but he’d made it into an office. There was no bed there. One thing about taking care of Angel, though. He didn’t have to worry about falling to sleep.

That was true this morning, too.

AROUND EIGHT, Russ pulled on jeans and a sweater, using the spare bathroom. Then he headed for the kitchen. He first put on a pot of coffee. Then he put oatmeal on to cook. He fried bacon and added buttered toast. When it was all ready, he went to the bedroom door and opened it.

“Isabella, I’m serving breakfast in five minutes. Want to visit the bathroom beforehand?”

At least she’d opened her eyes. She stared at him, blinking several times.

Then she nodded and began shoving back the cover. Until she reached her bare legs. “I don’t have anything to wear.”