Page 117 of Forever After All

Linc pushed stray strands of her hair back and brushed his thumb over her forehead. “Youcanbe sick, and it’ll be okay. I’ll take care of you.”

She let her head rest in his strong hand. Letting Linc take care of her sounded like a dream come true right now, but she wasn’t the damsel in distress type, and she didn’t want to start now.

“You’re so good to me. What would I do without you?”

Linc huffed, and his smile rose on one side. “Be lonely and grouchy.”

She let her head loll to the side. “I’m glad I have you then.”

He rubbed a hand over her back, and she let the soothing motion calm her. “I’ll be okay. The meds should kick in soon.”

Linc pulled his phone from his pocket. “I’ll call Jameson and let him know we’ll be at least a day behind.”

Her head jerked up. “No! I can help.” She stood and gripped the back of the chair to steady herself in the spinning room.

“It’s okay. I’m saying I think you need to rest. You don’t look up to riding half a day tomorrow.”

Jess shook her head. “Then we won’t get all the things done here.”

“I’ve almost finished everything we planned to do today. Blake and Ridge can handle the rest when they get here.”

Hanging her head, Jess sighed. “We can start heading back today and at least make some progress. I might not be able to go far, but progress is progress, right? I’ll get the chores done in here while you finish the firewood. Then, we’ll pack everything up and be on the trail in an hour.”

Linc wrapped an arm around her and pulled her to him. She made the mistake of sinking into him like melted butter, and no amount of willpower would make her lift her head from his chest. It was the pillow she’d been craving since she crawled out of the bed, and she didn’t care that it was hard as a rock. She was going to sleep right here and enjoy every second of it.

“Just relax. The guys know what they need to do when they get here. Paul is hiring a bunch of hands, and they’re probably already starting training. Everything will get done, and you don’t have to kill yourself to do it.”

A traitorous sniffle snuck its way out. “Are you sure?” Man, she hated being sick.

“I’m positive. Your health is the most important thing right now, and I bet everyone back at the ranch would agree with me.”

Jess tried to shake her head, but Linc held her closer.

“You know I’m right,” he whispered.

“Fine. I’ll do the bare minimum and call it resting.”

Linc kissed the top of her head. “I’ll take it.”

He released her and gave her a once-over before heading out the door. Why did he have to be so reasonable when she tried to just will things into being the way she wanted? She didn’t want to be sick. She wanted to be helpful and strong.

At least he knew she’d rather be doing her part. Linc had never coddled her, and even now, he saw her struggle to push past everything for her responsibilities.

An hour later, they were wrapping things up at the cabin, and Jess was gasping for every breath. Before they loaded up the water, she splashed a handful onto her face. The shock of cold pushed some of the exhaustion back, but the ache in her head was getting stronger.

Linc stepped up beside her as she readied Liberty for the ride. His heat pulled her in, and she finally gave into the urge to look up at him.

She’d expected pity, but the tightness of his jaw held concern. Did she look that bad?

“We can stay another day so you can rest.”

Jess shook her head before he finished the sentence. “No. We need to go. We can at least make it to the nearest campsite today.”

Linc’s fingertips brushed over her temple and the rough pad of his thumb grazed her cheek. “I hate seeing you like this. I just want to help.”

She leaned into his touch, craving the warmth and comfort he promised. “I’ll be okay.”

It was all she had right now, and she prayed it was enough to get them down the mountain.

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