Page 74 of Holiday Hire

Georgia orders, "Spin."

He turns.

She rolls the bottom of his shirt and commands, "Duck down a bit."

He obeys, complaining, "This is nasty. Please don't get it on my face."

She tugs the back of his shirt over his head and moves in front of him. She bunches the front and carefully slides it over his arms.

"Thank God! Let's go. I need a shower," he says, moving toward the door.

"Good thing we don't have a baby yet. I'd be on my own," Georgia points out, rolling her eyes at me.

He claims, "You can be on sick duty and I'll do everything else."

She snorts. "Sure you will." She smacks his butt and orders, "Go on. Bye, Phoebe." She smiles at me.

"See you, Phoebe," he says.

I wave. "Bye! See you later."

They step out the door. I go to Wilder's bedroom. The door is halfway open, so I peek my head past it.

He lies on his bed with his hands under his head, staring at the ceiling.

I knock.

He looks over.

I tease, "You're missing all the action out there."

He scrunches his face and asserts, "I don't want anything to do with that. That was disgusting. Did you see Uncle Sebastian?"

I keep a straight face, answering, "Yes. He'll be okay though. He's going to take a shower. Are you feeling sick at all?" I sit down on the edge of the bed next to him, studying his semi-flushed face.

He claims, "Nope! I'm fine. Why did Ace get sick? He was fine all day."

I shrug. "Not sure. I take it he doesn't get sick very often?"

Wilder shakes his head. "Nah, none of us get sick, especially Dad. Everybody else on the ranch can get sick, but Dad never does. He's got the immune system of a vulture."

Amused, I question, "A vulture?"

A serious expression appears on Wilder's face. "Yeah. They never get sick and eat all the rotting animal carcasses."

"Eww." It's my turn to wrinkle my nose.

Wilder laughs. "It's true."

I reach for his forehead. It feels normal, but I still ask, "And you're sure you're feeling okay?"

"Yep. I'm staying away from Ace though."

"Good idea. At least until he's better," I add.

Wilder sits up. "That was a fun party today."

I beam. "It was, wasn't it?"

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