Page 68 of Ignite

I could have kissed him for not making me go into details.

“Shar, I’ve got an idea. I’m with Ethan Cooper. He can give me a lift to your place. You go. Take Milly to the hospital. Emma will be fine until we get there.”

Twenty minutes later, Ethan pulled my work truck to a stop outside Shar’s bed and breakfast. In panicked garble, I explained how Shar’s husband had been killed in a work accident when she’d been pregnant with their third daughter and that two-year old Lily had never met her father. Shar hated asking for help, but Bailey had put the call out for an impromptu working bee, clearing her gutters and back burning a few weekends ago.

“That explains more than I wanted to know about Bailey,” Ethan said without going into details.

“Well, I love those kids as if they’re my own,” I finished as Emma ran out to meet us, the ten-year-old in tears.

“Hey, hey, it’ll be okay.” I greeted her, pulling her tight into my chest and hoped Shar had gotten to the hospital safely. I kissed the top of Emma’s head, “Where’s Lily?”

“She’s asleep. Mum didn’t want to wake her. But Milly was breathing funny.”

“Croup is like that. Taking her to hospital is the right thing to do.”

“But what if she stops breathing? What if she dies? Daddy died.”

Oh. Hell.

I knelt down to her level and fixed her with my eyes. “I know, sweetheart, but croup is easy to fix. They’ll give her a steroid that opens up her lungs and she’ll be stealing your toys in no time.”

“How do you know?”

“Ryles might not, but I do.” Ethan said, pulling Emma out of my arms and swinging her up and onto his shoulders. “I ended up in hospital with croup every year until I hit high school. A dose of steroids and I was as good as new.”

“I can see down to the Roberts farm from up here,” Emma called, pointing south. “Where are your horses, Rylee?”

“At my property halfway between Meringa and Beringi. When was the last time you rode Cider?” My ten-year old dapple-grey mare was perfect for riding lessons, even though I preferred the impossible job of taming my beautiful Wildfire. Rachel had a better way with her than I did, not that I’d admit that to anyone.

“Aaaaages ago. You promised you’d teach me.”

“Then how about I talk to your mum and see if I can bring both horses down here for a few weeks. You can learn how to look after them, and I’ll teach you and Ryan how to ride. It’s about time he learned to ride something other than his bike.”

“But he’s a boy. Boys are gross.”

I laughed and looked at Ethan. “Yeah. Boys are gross, but sometimes they grow up into men and they start to look a hell of a lot better.”

Before Emma could correct me or Ethan could use my words against me, we looked towards the house where a siren was sounding.

“Lily is awake,” Emma said with the matter-of-fact nature of an older sister. “She probably wants her bottle, but mum said she is too old for a bottle.”

“Then how about we play a game,” Ethan said, still with Emma on his shoulders and propelling me towards the house. “Lucky for you, I know a heap of games.”

“But Lily is a baby.”

“She’s two,” I said to Ethan. “Not really a baby.”

“Then the two of you can be a team. Maybe Lily will teach you how to win at hide and seek.”

Lily and I teamed up for hide and go seek, then for snakes and ladders. Each time we finished a game, I texted Shar. Milly had responded quickly to the steroid, and they had finished observing her for side effects.

“Good news.” I held up a hand to high five Emma and Lily. “They are just waiting for the doctor to come and check on Milly and then they’ll be home.”

“Teddy,” Lily yawned. “Want teddy.”

“How about the two of you go to bed, and by the time you wake up, your mum and sister will be home.” Ethan didn’t wait for an answer, picking Lily up and carrying the sleepy girl back to bed.

We met in the doorway between the kitchen and lounge room. There hadn’t been a chance to talk about Rose, or us, or anything. I’d lost my alcoholic buzz two coffees ago and had no excuse for looking at the man I wanted to kiss.

---