Page 44 of Willing to Wed the Rancher
He lowered her to the mattress, and thankfully she didn’t resist.
Instead, she settled in and drew the knit blanket around her body. “I’ll comfort Bianca next time,” she whispered.
He finished tucking the blanket up to her chin. “Do not worry about it. I will take care of her.”
With the faint light coming in from the main room, he saw her lashes fall and sleep claim her again, so he straightened and stepped back.
“Thank you,” she said, her voice husky.
What he wouldn’t give to hear her talk like that to him every day. As tempted as he was to keep talking to her, he forced his feet to walk out of the room.
He didn’t trust himself to stay a moment longer.
*
He lost count of how many times he climbed into the loft to calm Bianca. Finally, after one particularly intense nightmare, he came down to find Clarabelle standing at the bottom of the ladder.
“You’ve been awake most of the night, Franz.” She hugged the blanket around her. “Let me go up and tend to her next time.”
He couldn’t deny the exhaustion that was settling in, so when she guided him toward the bedroom, he was too tired to resist. He didn’t bother checking his watch, but he guessed dawn was only an hour or two away. He needed to get a couple hours of sleep so that he had the energy and stamina for continuing the search for whatever Eric had hidden.
And after the attack on the cabin yesterday, he also needed some rest if he hoped to stay alert and at his best.
He fell asleep almost right away but awoke every time Bianca started screaming and sobbing. He went up once to find Clarabelle on the floor, rocking back and forth with the child on her lap, tenderly showering her face with kisses.
Clarabelle had whispered at him to try to get more sleep, and reluctantly he went back to the bedroom and lay down again.
The next time he awoke, Clarabelle was hovering above him and attempting to pull a blanket over him.
“How is she?” he asked.
“Now that it’s daylight, I think she’s finally asleep.”
The room had lightened, and from what he could tell past the curtain in the room’s only window, the sun had risen.
He shifted and began to sit up.
She pressed against his shoulder. “No, don’t get up. I’ll take care of things.”
As she took a step back, he clasped her hand. “Let me.”
“No, I’m up and awake already.” She yawned but didn’t pull away from him.
“But you are tired.”
“So are you.” Her eyes were troubled. If she felt anything like he did, then she was at a complete loss as to how to help the little girl.
He tugged at her, causing her to stumble closer to the bed. “At least sit down for a minute and talk to me about Bianca.”
She hesitated only a moment before perching on the edge of the box board that held the mattress.
“Has she been like this before?” He pushed himself up and situated his back against the wall.
“No.” Clarabelle’s voice held a note of defeat. “She’s never woken up more than two or three times in a night. Not even that first night after Eric’s murder.”
“Perhaps she is even more anxious after what happened to the cabin.”
Clarabelle’s shoulders slumped, and they shook just a little.
