When You Look at Me (A Pleasant Gap Romance Book 2)

by Pepper Basham

  T he world spread in patches of lush green as far as the eye could see, but Henry rarely took his attention from the two beauties next to him. Julia held his hand, and Rose snuggled close against him in the sling as he guided Julia’s steps up one rock after another. Hiking didn’t appear to agree with the little one. She became fussier and increasingly more vocal, moving against him, huffing and mewling as if she might break out into a cry.

  Julia had asked to go on a walk with him—one of his favorites: Stanage Edge. No, it wasn’t the same as her Blue Ridge, but once they made it up the back path and onto the rocky ledge overlooking the view, Henry believed the vista would prove almost as breathtaking. Rose may not be as impressed.

  “I think Rose is still recovering from the flight.” Julia pushed up the next set of rocks with ease, her curves more pronounced than last time he’d seen her now that her waistline had gone down even more post-baby. “Eisley said some babies have a bad response to travel. Although, Rose did great throughout the flight. Slept better on the plane than she does at home.”

  “Then you got some sleep too?”

  “A little. Planes aren’t super comfortable, especially when you have a chatty five-year-old Spiderman at your side.”

  Henry chuckled and steadied her as she slipped on one of the rocks. “Who doesn’t want to be a hero?”

  “I think Pete’s trajectory is on that path for sure.”

  Rose released another sound of discontent, followed by a rotten sounding cough. “Do you think she’s comfortable in this?”

  Julia leaned over and brushed back a bit of Rose’s hair. “She’s not had any trouble in the past.”

  “Do you think I’m carrying her the wrong way?”

  Julia examined the sling. “No, I just think she’s an unhappy camper right now.”

  “There’s only a little further to go. Do you want to continue?” He held out his hand.

  She took it, grinning, her face flushed from the activity. “I sure do. How about you?”

  “Of course.” He gave her hand a squeeze as they maneuvered up a few more rocks. “Perhaps later in the week, we can go to Winnats Pass for a hike, near Castleton. It’s rather beautiful. And I must take you to Bakewell on market day. You’ll love it. And the Lake District is only a few hours away. Maybe Wednesday? It would remind you of home.”

  “Wherever you want to go is fine with me. I’m just happy to be here with you.”

  Henry stood a little taller and drew in a deep breath. He felt fairly certain he could leap tall buildings with a single bound.

  She laughed and shook her head.

  “What is it?”

  He helped her up the next rock, and she leaned into him. “I just love that you’re so excited.”

  “Of course I am. I’m introducing you to my home like you did for me.”

  “I don’t think I was quite as thrilled about it as you are.”

  He paused in the climb and tugged her closer. “You don’t understand. Your world in Pleasant Gap is already bright and wonderful on its own. But here? You and Rose bring something bright and wonderful into my world. Just having you here makes everything better.” He squeezed her hand.

  Her smile stilled, her gaze searching his. “I’m happy to learn more about you by exploring your world, Henry.”

  “Come on, then. I’ve brought you up the back way to save the best for last.” He took both of her hands. “Do you trust me?”

  Her lips crooked. “Yes.”

  “Then close your eyes and hold on.”

  He tugged her up onto the last rock then led her out onto a rocky ledge overhanging an extensive view of Derbyshire Dales that stretched all the way to South Yorkshire on the cusp of the horizon. Daylight slipped through gray clouds and shone like a gentle spotlight on various points in the distance.

  “Okay. Now.”

  He kept his gaze on her face as she took her first look. “Oh Henry, it’s beautiful.”

  “Not too bad for jolly ole England, is it?”

  “Not at all.”

  “What do you think, duck?” He glanced down at Rose and froze. She looked back up at him with a pair of glossy, watery eyes and her round cheeks shone bright red. “Julia, I…I think something’s wrong.”

  Julia followed his gaze, stepping to his side as they both moved away from the ledge to pull Rose free from the sling. Rose’s body tensed and she released a shocked cry. Julia pulled the baby into her arms, patting her back and rocking her.

  “What…what do you think is wrong?”

  Henry placed his palm on Rose’s head and studied her face again. “I think she has a fever. Feel.”

  Julia complied and her eyes widened. “She’s burning up. What…what’s wrong with her?”

  “Come, let’s get back to the car.”

  “Henry, she’s really warm. This isn’t normal.” Julia didn’t budge, so he gently directed her toward the descent. “We’re in a different country. I can’t even take her to her regular doctor. What if it’s something they won’t fix because I’m American?”

  “The doctors will treat her. It’s their job, American or not.” He kept urging her forward as Rose’s cries intensified. “Julia, I’ve tended to my brother’s children before, and babies can develop fevers rather quickly over a great many things. Perhaps she was becoming ill even on the plane. You said she slept a lot.”

  Julia stumbled, and he caught her again, steadying her against himself until she found her balance. “She…she had a runny nose a few days before the trip, but it didn’t seem like anything serious.” Her eye filled with tears. “What have I done to her?”

  “You didn’t cause this, dove.” His pulse pounded like a drum solo in his head, but he refused to allow Julia to see his concern. “And she’s breathing fine, it seems, judging from her crying. That’s a good thing.”

  Julia nodded, even though her bottom lip gave a tiny quake that pinched at his heart. “What if…what if she’s having an allergic reaction to something? We’re in a new place.”

  He studied Rose’s red face, but apart from the blotches around her eyes from crying, he didn’t see anything like the rash his nephew Connor developed from his peanut allergy. “I don’t think that’s it, dove. Matthew’s son, Connor, has a peanut allergy, and he swells and makes horrible breathing noises. Rose isn’t showing any of those signs.”

  She nodded, following close to him as they continued their descent. When they reached the car, he held the back door open for her to get inside with Rose. “She’s going to be fine, Julia.”

  Rose’s screams contradicted the calm in his statement. Her cries took a greater intensity as Julia buckled her into the car seat. Something was definitely wrong.

  He rushed to his side of the car, gave it a start, and prayed he spoke the truth. His mind raced through myriad examples he’d experienced with Matthew’s children, Connor and Mary. What could it be? She was breathing. No rash. No vomiting—

  Rose immediately contradicted his last observation by proceeding to do just that, a projectile that even reached Julia’s shirt.

  They didn’t talk in the car, nor would they have heard each other very well over Rose’s cries. At one point little Rose sobbed so hard she made pitiful hiccupping noises, and when he caught sight in his mirror of Julia crying too, her eyes closed and mouth moving in what he supposed must be silent prayer, he pressed the accelerator harder.

  Just as he turned off the motorway and veered toward the hospital, the car grew unexpectedly quiet. The sniffles quieted little by little.

  “She’s…she’s stopped crying?” Henry caught Julia’s gaze in the mirror.

  She tugged Rose from the car seat and placed her against her shoulder. “And she’s awake.” Julia shot her attention back to Henry. “What’s going on?”

  Henry turned into the hospital’s Accident and Emergency car park. “Perhaps she doesn’t like hospital any better than anyone else.”

  Julia graced him with a weary smile and rubbed the baby’s
back. “Sounds like something a strong-willed girl would do.” She sighed. “I think we’re in trouble, Henry.”

  He almost smiled at the way Julia included him in their future story but turned his focus instead on parking the car and assisting his girls from the vehicle. “Allow me to hold her so you can collect your things.” He leaned in and took the quiet, sniffling Rose, but as he backed up he stopped. Cold swept through his body. A dark stain, brownish red, marked Julia’s shoulder where Rose had rested her head.

  “What?” Julia searched his face. “What is it?” She followed his gaze and gasped. “Henry, is that…is that blood?”

  He turned Rose’s head gently to the side. The same reddish-brown stain oozed from her left ear, smearing down the side of her cheek. His gaze locked with Julia’s.

  “Let’s go.”

  ∞ ∞ ∞

  Julia stepped into the Accident and Emergency waiting room with Rose fast asleep in her arms. People still crowded the room, the same as when they’d arrived, but Julia’s heart wasn’t on the verge of breaking now. No, thank the good Lord. The answer to Rose’s problem had been an easy one.

  She scanned the room and found Henry pacing back and forth by a nearby window, his hair in erratic confusion—probably from running him hand through it so many times. An overwhelming tenderness swelled through her at the thought of him gently reassuring her as he helped her down the rocky cliffside, of racing toward the hospital without a single complaint.

  He looked her way then, his gaze almost passing her by before recognition dawned. Julia met him halfway across the room. “She’s okay. Everything is going to be okay.”

  His body sagged with a sigh, like he’d been holding his breath for the hour they’d been with the doctor, then he pulled them into his arms. Julia rested her forehead against his shoulder, breathing in his comfort and scent. She’d always called her familiar world of Pleasant Gap ‘home’, but now…now she was beginning to think that home had a whole lot to do with Henry Wright. Something about this feeling, this moment, vied for a place in her heart. “Thank you for taking such good care of us.”

  “Of course.” He nudged her toward the hospital doors and snatched up her diaper bag as if he’d always carried one. Pale pink worked for him. “What did the doctor say?”

  “He thinks she had an ear infection before we left Pleasant Gap, but then the flight…” She shrugged and looked up at him as they stepped into the gray afternoon. “Do you know what the eustachian tube is?”

  Henry’s brows rose.

  She grinned. “I only know because Sophie is a speech therapist and has tried to impart every ounce of knowledge she’s learned in grad school to the rest of the family.”

  “I feel certain she lectures with a great deal of animation.”

  “Like none other.” Oh, it felt so good to laugh.

  “The eustachian tube is the tube that drains fluid from the ears to the throat so that your ears stay clear of fluid for hearing.” He took her arm and gently guided her across the parking lot as she talked. “Well, it also equalizes the pressure outside the body with the pressure inside the body. When we fly our body is constantly trying to equalize the pressure changes.”

  “And her body didn’t?”

  “The doctor seems to think that was part of the problem. Evidently, she already had some swelling and fluid in there that I didn’t know about, so the pressure was kind of the final straw.”

  He nodded, opening the back door of the car so she could place Rose into the car seat. “And the blood?”

  “Her ear drum ruptured, which then released the pressure inside of her ear.”

  “And caused her pain to disappear instantly.”

  “Right.” Julia pressed a kiss to the head of her sleeping little one and squeezed back another round of tears. Grateful ones. “The eardrum heals on its own, apparently, and shouldn’t cause more trouble, but now we know what to look for.”

  “That’s good news, isn’t it?”

  She gently closed the door and rose on tiptoe to give him a kiss. “It is.”

  He cupped her shoulder with his palm and bestowed one of his crooked grins on her—the kind where his eyes lit with pleasure she somehow brought into his life. His words from the hike came back to her with renewed curiosity. You and Rose bring something bright and wonderful into my world. “I’m so sorry things turned out this way, Henry.”

  “Why are you apologizing? We received good news about Rose.”

  But it ruined their lovely afternoon.

  “Based on how I thought our little angel was suffering from something much worse than an ear infection, I’d say our afternoon has taken a splendid turn.” He brushed a thumb over her cheek. “You must be exhausted.”

  Our little angel? He’d been hired for his new job—his dream job. Would he really be willing to leave it all for a small-town life in Pleasant Gap? “I’m hungrier than I am sleepy right now.”

  With a little flourish, he opened the passenger-side car door and grinned. “That’s something I can fix.”

  She exaggerated her sigh and allowed her words to sink deeper than the playful lilt she gave to them. “My hero.”

  ∞ ∞ ∞

  Daniel and Eleanor Harrison, Wes’s parents, welcomed Julia into their extravagant home as if she’d always belonged, and their raven-haired daughter, Cate, gave off all the right “sister” vibes, so that Julia felt as if she’d known her for years. After a good night’s sleep and a low-key day hanging around the Harrison’s expansive manor house with Henry, Julia didn’t feel so bad leaving a happy Rose with the babysitter Cate had hired to watch her toddling son, Simon.

  How long had it been since Julia had had an adult night out?

  A long time.

  And she was pretty sure she’d never had one that involved a manor house with the golden hues of sunset bathing the gilded dining-room-turned-ballroom in an amber halo. People dressed in ensembles straight out of costume dramas stood at black-tablecloth-covered tables enjoying drinks and hors d’oeuvres. Oh dear. She couldn’t even imagine how her dad would handle something like this.

  Eisley and Wes stood at the far corner of the room as guests entered from the grand hallway leading into the house. Well, at least that was an added bonus of already being a guest in the house. One could slip into the room without being noticed.

  Her sister wore an elegant purple gown reminiscent of something from the fifties with its draped back and shimmering satin while Wes had his movie-ready handsomeness on full display in a black suit. Julia grinned. What fun God must have had planning a romance for the two of them. So opposite, yet so complimentary.

  She searched for her own handsome yet less-flashy hero but didn’t see him among the tables and guests. He’d mentioned something about a recording session in the early afternoon that might put him a little behind, so Julia kept near the wall, watching the magic of the room. Chandeliers with glittering crystals hung down like something from a Disney movie and sparkled their lights against the glossy wooden floor. Not too far from Wes and Eisley sat a string quartet, adding classical favorites to the noise of cutlery and chatter.

  Mr. and Mrs. Harrison stood next to Wes and Eisley, joining in greeting the guests, the older couple classy in their refined kindness. Eisley had been right. Wes’s parents offered welcome as if Julia was a part of their family. Perhaps there were a few more similarities between England and Appalachia than Julia originally thought.

  “Hiding back in the corner?” Eisley walked toward Julia, brow raised in a perfect ‘big sister’ look.

  “And near the music.”

  “Of course near the music.” Her sister laughed and looked around the room. “Can you even believe this? It’s like a movie set.”

  “All the more reason to stay in the corner.” Julia took inventory of the space again and sighed. “But it’s amazing. I can’t imagine what it’s like to live here every day.”

  “I know.” Eisley followed her gaze, then turned her attention on J
ulia. “And I’m marrying into this family. Who would ever have dreamed it?”

  “God.” The declaration nestled within her, sweet and hopeful. How often had she underestimate the bigness of God’s dreams for her life? For her family’s lives? And here was proof she dreamed too small. Too inside-the-box for an outside-the-box God.

  If anyone could get Henry to work in America, it would be God.

  “So true.” Eisley sighed, her smile filled with all kinds of daydreams.

  “But Eisley, if this is your engagement party”—Julia waved toward the room— “what on earth is the wedding going to look like?”

  Eisley’s eyes popped wide. “Oh, no, no, no.” She waved her hands as if wiping away the thought from the air. “All of this is for Wes and his family, so they can have something special for his family and famous friends. The wedding is going to be back home in Pleasant Gap, and Cate is going to use her magical wedding planner skills to make it beautiful.” Eisley wiggled her brows, her lips tipping. “Then Wes is going to sweep me away for a two-week honeymoon of my dreams before we return to the real world of Pleasant Gap and a traveling-movie-star life.”

  “I wonder what Cate will think of Pleasant Gap.”

  Eisley’s laugh lilted into the room. “She can’t wait to visit, especially after all I’ve told her about it.” She blinked her gaze back to Julia. “And I suppose Cate’s babysitter was willing to take Rose for a few hours while she watches little Simon.”

  Julia nodded, fingering the simple chain around her neck. “She has my cell number and will text me if something gets tricky, but her babysitter, Laura, was wonderful.”

  “You can bet Cate’s going to make sure she has the best.”

  “She’s great. So down to earth and friendly. She kind of reminds me of Rachel.”

  “Except Cate is less intimidating than our lovely sister Rachel. Oh, just wait until you spend more time with her. Cate fits right in with us, Julia.” Her sister nodded to a passing guest, completely oblivious that the lady was a famous actress from a recent blockbuster. This was crazy. What kind of scene had her family been dropped into?