Page 28 of Hold My Heart

And she didn’t regret it for a moment.

She tried not to think about the way her legs still felt boneless or the way she remembered the taste and feel and scent of him. How all three had been absorbed into her subconscious and she could recall them at will. He’d managed to melt away the last of her reservations, all of her worries and concerns and stresses about how a smart woman would conduct her relationships—because smart women did not get involved with the manny hired to care for their children. They certainly didn’t throw themselves at a man who depended on them for a paycheck. A man who wasn’t their significant other.

She must have drifted off at some point. In her dream, she didn’t have to go to work. Her time was occupied with caring for Renee and creating a proper home. And the scary thing was? It frightened her. She’d spent a large portion of her life thrown into her job, and it had gotten to the point where she felt more comfortable busting her ass for someone else’s dime than she had being alone with herself. There was an aura of escape to the dream, but not in the way she expected. There was no comfort in it. She knew she was dreaming, and tried to get out of it by doing what she normally did at work. Methodically checking off one item at a time from her list, turning what should have been happy and fulfilling housekeeping chores and child-rearing duties into items on a pre-arranged agenda. But that only took her deeper into the dream instead of the opposite.

She woke up on a ragged inhale, wondering just what the hell her mind was trying to tell her. And came face to face with a drowsy Renee.

“Sweet pea,” she said, trying desperately to get her lungs to resume normal functions without coming off sounding like a crazy person. “What’s wrong?”

“I can’t sleep.”

There was the honeyed voice, the whispered syllables with a hint of an accent.

“Do you want to climb in here with me?” The offer was automatic.

Oddly, her heart quieted when Renee nodded, lifting her arms for assistance in getting into the large bed. Olympia made a nest of covers around them, bunching them on either side until it brought a smile from the child.

“Bad dream?”

Renee nodded again. “I didn’t want to be alone.”

Olympia was astounded when the little girl snuggled against her. She felt strong, and strangely at peace. It had been a long time since she’d felt so at ease.

So needed.

She didn’t want to move a muscle, didn’t want to disturb the tentative silence and peace. This was the first time Renee had actively reached out to her for comfort. If she thought too long about it, she’d wonder at the timing, at the message her dream was trying to tell her coupled with this new milestone.

Renee dragged Olympia’s hand to her belly. “When I had a bad dream, my mommy used to rub my tummy to make me feel better.”

“Then I’ll rub your tummy. It’s okay. It was only a dream. It’s gone now. It can’t reach you.”

The baby nodded again and Olympia made small clockwise circles gently on the child’s stomach.

“I don’t feel well,” Renee admitted.

“What’s the matter?”

“My throat hurts.” Renee coughed and snuggled closer.

“Is that what woke you up?”

“Mm-hm.”

It didn’t take Olympia long to realize why Renee wasn’t feeling well. The thermometer she pressed to the child’s forehead revealed a fever of one hundred and one, and the coughs soon turned into a hack deep in the little chest. Thank God she’d had the foresight to stock up on children’s aspirin and other such necessities. Her first real test at surrogate parenting was about to begin.

But instead of striking fear into her heart, it galvanized her. Olympia was all Renee had to count on now, and she wouldn’t let the child down. No matter what.

***

“IDON’T THINK I’LLneed you today,” she told Harlan over the phone a few hours later. She jiggled a fussy Renee on her hip, her other hand holding the phone with Harlan on the other end, and she tried not to let the goose bumps of memory distract her.

“I know it’s my day off, but I can come if you need to get things done,” he offered. “I know I took you away from your work last night.”

His voice deepened on the last two words and she fought against another shiver. “Yes, you did,” she purred. “But it’s Sunday and it’s the only day off you get. Renee isn’t feeling well, so I’m just going to take the time to focus on her instead of what I need to be doing for work.”

“Renee is sick? Why didn’t you say so?” he said urgently. “Does she have a fever? Is she vomiting? Can she tell you where it hurts? Do you think you should call an ambulance?”

Olympia could hear the panic rising in his voice and hurried to reassure him Renee was fine. The children’s aspirin along with some cough syrup and more sleep had done wonders for the little girl, although she was still cranky and restless. Unless her fever spiked again, Olympia thought she would get over it without a visit to the emergency room.

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