Page 20 of Italian’s Christmas Acquisition

“Oh,” she said. “I think I’m delirious.”

She practically windmilled away from him, and carried on up the stairs. And then she lay down on the bed, her hand pressed to her heart.

That was insanity. And she was not going to indulge it.

CHAPTER FIVE

THESNOWDIDnot let up. The next day, it had piled up even higher than it had the day before. She called the local department of transportation and was told they couldn’t plow up her way yet, as long as it wasn’t a safety issue.

“No, we’re just fine,” she sighed, hanging up the phone.

But the good news was, her cold was much, much better. The bad news? Was when she heard Rocco sneeze.

“Oh,no,” she said.

“I’m fine,” he growled, his voice much rougher than it had been the day before.

“No, you aren’t,” she said.

She didn’t need to know him well to know in advance he would be the worst patient imaginable.

“I never get sick,” he said. “I am fastidious about germs.”

She pinched the bridge of her nose. “As you pointed out yesterday, I wassporingin your vicinity.”

“You can’t get sick that quickly, can you?”

“I don’t know,” she said. “I’m not an expert in anything. Except maybe home remedies.”

“We need a home remedy for your snowplow. So that we can get out of here.”

Great. His response to this illness she very obviously had no control over was going to be him being growly at her.

How nice for her.

“Well, I am more likely to be able to help your cold than I am to deal with the carburetor or the starter or whatever is happening with that thing.”

“Youdid this to me,” he said.

She threw her hands into the air. “You just said that you don’t get sick that quickly, or ever.”

“Well, now I’m convincedit was you.”

She huffed. “Maybe it was somebody you encountered on your travels.”

“I travel in a private plane.”

“I don’t know. Maybe it was your driver.”

He looked stormy, and she went to get a cup of coffee from the kitchen.

“Youseem well,” he said.

And he seemed petulant, but she did not say that.

“I am,” she agreed. “Which is good news for you. Because that means that you’re probably going to be just fine in not very long.”

“I should hope so. Also, I sincerely doubt that this is going to diminish me in any way.”

---