Page 43 of Samuel

Sam helped her sit up against the arm rest and handed her the glass of orange juice.

“I’m not a big breakfast person.”

“Are you not a big lunch or dinner person either?”

She looked at him with big doe eyes and cringed.

“I-I couldn’t eat after I looked at the ledgers. It made me sick to think I was going to lose everything again.”

Sighing, Sam ran his hands through his hair before he reached out and covered her hands with his.

“Evie, you heard Jake last week. Low blood sugar is serious. You need to start taking better care of yourself. Your top priority needs to be your health and the baby’s too. Okay? I can’t have you passing out on the ranch.”

“I didn’t. I passed out on the side of the road, andalmostpassed out in my apartment. You aren’t responsible for me at either of those places.”

Evie must have made up her mind, because she launched herself off the couch and wobbled for only a second before turning an unnatural shade of green. Sam held her waist and gently pushed her back onto the sofa.

“Could you pass me those crackers, please.”

“Here.” He opened the package sitting on her coffee table and held it out towards her, praying she would feel better once something got into her stomach.

She chewed one damn cracker so slowly he was about to yell again, but the color was returning to her cheeks, so that had to be a sign things were turning around.

“I need to step out for one minute, are you okay to sit here by yourself?”

“I’m a fully grown woman, Sam,” she snapped.

“I am well aware of that Evie, I just want to make sure you aren’t going to pass out again while I’m gone and injure yourself.”

He watched her push her back into the sofa and close her eyes.

“I’ll be fine. You should probably just go anyway. It’s late and I need to go to bed.”

“Yeah, well, I need to make sure you’re okay. Rest for a minute. I’m not going anywhere.”

She wanted to argue and tell Sam to leave, that she was fine and didn’t need anyone’s help. But there was something so comforting about the way he’d listened to her about the missing money. He hadn’t jumped to conclusions. And he’d been genuinely concerned about her and the baby.

The crackers had revived her enough that she felt okayabout testing her legs and balance. She felt Sam’s doubt-filled gaze scrutinizing her, but she wasn’t about to give the stubborn cowboy anything to be worried about.

“You sure you’re okay to be up and about?”

“I’m fine.” Her legs felt a bit wobbly, but they would get her to the kitchen and back just fine she figured. There was a bit of cheese in the refrigerator that had been calling her name for the past few minutes, and since her stomach didn’t seem to revolt with the crackers, she was willing to give it a go.

Evie shuffled into the kitchen. The cool air that greeted her as she scoped out her loot was refreshing. Yep, she was going to be just fine. Leave it to the cranky cowboy to overreact about a little dizzy spell. Her hand jolted as she pulled the cheese from the fridge, sending her pickle jar crashing towards the ground. Pickle juice and glass shot in every direction around her.

“Evie?”

She stood to let Sam know she was okay, but regretted that decision faster than the pickle juice flowed out of the broken jar. The kitchen dissolved from her view as blackness crept back in. Her stomach lurched and she would have fallen again if not for strong, warm hands holding onto her waist.

“Hey now. Let’s not have you pass out on me again.”

Sweeping her up into his arms, Sam brought her back to the living room and set her down on the sofa.

“Are you feeling okay?”

“Yes. I just stood too quickly.”

“I’m going to go clean that up. Don’t move until I’m back. And for the love of God, please try to eat something else.”

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