by Tina Beckett
Once she’d said it she wondered if that wouldn’t make the whole thing feel a little too much like a family for comfort. And she didn’t want to give Daniel and Cleo the idea that they could stay together permanently. Because that wasn’t on the cards.
Besides, she wasn’t sure Ben would be thrilled about sharing his room with a preteen and a child, especially after the slow smile he’d given her that morning. The one that had her face heating despite her best efforts. He’d even stayed and slept in his own hammock last night—a first since they’d arrived. Was it because of what they’d done?
She must have thought so because it was what had set off the self-examination in the bathroom. She hadn’t touched herself like that in a long time.
“Will the soldiers let us go with you?” Daniel gave her a hopeful smile.
No backing out now.
“I don’t see why they wouldn’t, but you’ll have to get well first, which means you’ll need to get some rest.” What else could she say? They couldn’t just let Daniel and Cleo wander the streets or sleep in one of the unoccupied houses. The pair had had a home and a family not three weeks ago. And now it was all gone.
She’d been there, done that. She could at least try to help these children as much as she could before she had to leave—be their temporary family, kind of like a foster-care situation. At least until they figured out something a little more permanent.
How was she supposed to do that before she headed back to Sao Paulo?
Something she didn’t want to think about right now.
Just then, Ben walked into the room, his brow raised in question when he saw the two of them sitting together. She stood, glancing down at Daniel, and noted with horror he had a huge smile on his face.
Don’t, Daniel. Not yet. Let me talk to him first.
But even as she thought it, the boy spoke up. “Tracy says Cleo and I can stay with you once we are well.”
Ben’s glance shot to her. “She did? When?”
“Just now. I explained we did not have any place to go, and she offered to let us stay with you. Cleo was scared.” He blinked a couple of times as if that last statement had been hard for him to admit. “We both were…about what might happen. If they tried to take Cleo away from me…” He didn’t finish the rest of his statement.
Ben’s face grew stormy. “Tracy? Would you like to explain?”
“I, um… Well, I simply said we would figure something out…”
“Figure something out,” he parroted.
Daniel’s smile never wavered. He had no idea Ben’s now icy glare was sucking the heat right out of the atmosphere.
Nodding, Daniel continued, “Yes, so Cleo and I wouldn’t be alone—so we could stay together.”
Oh, no! He’d obviously misunderstood her intentions—had thought she’d meant the living arrangements would continue even after they left the town. Ben was going to blow his top.
“Well, Daniel, I’m glad to hear she’s making those kinds of plans.” He moved toward her. “Can I borrow her for a minute?”
“Yes, I have to tell Cleo the good news, anyway. One of the doctors is helping her walk around the yard outside. She should be back in a minute.”
Right on cue, Cleo and her companion came through the door and made their way slowly towards them.
“Tracy, do you mind?” Giving a sharp nod toward the door to indicate she should follow him, Ben stalked toward it.
Gulping back her own dismay, she forced a smile to her face. “I won’t be long. Could you tell Cleo I’ll be back to check on you both in a few minutes?”
As upset as Ben was, she couldn’t help but feel a fierce sense of gratitude over the kids’ steady improvement. From all indications, they were going to recover fully.
Two miracles in a sea of sorrows.
They’d lost fourteen patients in all. In such a tiny village it was a good percentage of the population. They’d have a hard time coming back from this without some type of government aid. Whether that meant sending them to another town and bulldozing these homes, or finding a way to get things up and running again, nothing would truly be the same again. They would not soon forget what had happened here.
Neither would she.
Pushing through the door, she saw that Ben was already striding down the hallway on his way out of the house. She hurried after him, knowing he must be furious. But once he heard her explanation, he’d understand that…
The second the bright noonday sun hit her retinas, a hand reached out and tugged her to the side, into the shadow of the house.
“Would you like to tell me what the hell that was all about? You expect those kids to stay with us once we leave here? Kind of hard, as we no longer live in the same house. Or even the same state.”
“No. Of course not. He took my words the wrong way. I was only talking about here in the village. That they could stay in our room once they left the hospital.” She reached out to squeeze his fingers then let go. “They have nowhere else to go. I didn’t know what to say.”
“So you said they could stay with us?” He swore softly. “Are you that worried about being alone with me, Tracy?”
She looked at him blankly for a second or two. “What are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about what happened between us yesterday.” He propped his hands on his hips. “I think it’s a little late to start worrying about your virtue—or reputation—or whatever you want to call it.”
What a ridiculous thing for him to say. “You’re wrong. This has nothing to do with what happened. Nothing.”
“Then why?”
Was it her imagination, or was there a shadow of hurt behind his pale eyes?
“They have nowhere to go until the outbreak is over. This was their house, remember? Once they’re released from care, they’ll be expected to leave, just like our other patients have. They have no relatives here—or anywhere else, if what Daniel said was true.”
Ben pivoted and leaned against the wall, dragging a hand through his hair, which was already damp from the heat of the day. “You’re right. I thought…”
Since he didn’t finish his sentence, she had no idea what he thought.
Maybe he was worried she was making a play for him. That she wanted to move back to their old house. No, that didn’t make any sense. He’d given no hint he wanted to start things back up between them. For all she knew, he’d just needed to get laid, and she’d practically put up a neon sign saying she was ready, willing and able to take care of that need.
What had she been thinking, inviting him to get in the tub?
Well, it was over and done with. They were both adults. They both had needs—heaven knew, hers hadn’t been met in quite some time. Four years, to be exact. She hadn’t been with anyone since she’d left him.
To say that the experience yesterday had been cataclysmic was an understatement. A huge one.
“Maybe we can put up a curtain or something.” She pressed her shoulder to the wall and looked up at him. “Can they stay with us? At least for a little while?”
“Of course they can.” The words were soft, but he seemed distracted, almost as if his mind was already on something else entirely. “I’ll check with General Gutierrez, and see what he can do about finding them a place to stay after the quarantine is lifted.”
“Thank you.” She leaned closer and stretched up to kiss his cheek, her hand going to his arm and lingering there. “And I’m sorry Daniel dropped it on you like that. He asked, and it was the only thing I could think of. I was hoping to talk to you alone before we made any decisions.”
“What are you going to do about the other part? If he misunderstood, someone is going to have to talk to him.”
“I know.” She blew out a breath. “Let’s give it a few days, though, okay? Until they’re stronger and we see how things are going to play out here. Maybe someone in the town can take them in.”
“That might pose a bit of a problem.” He paused before covering her ha
nd with his own. “I came by to tell you something is getting ready to happen.”
Her internal radar went on high alert. “With the military?”
“Yes. I sat in on another meeting today.” His jaw tightened. “The news wasn’t good. And despite what you think, my opinion doesn’t always hold that much sway.”
Her skin grew clammy at the way he said it. “What are they going to do?”
Tracy had heard tell of things going on behind the scenes where the military police were concerned. Although many were honest, hard-working, family men, there were others who wouldn’t think twice about asking for a bribe.
She’d also heard stories about other branches of the police colluding with the drug cartels that worked out of the favelas. The shanty towns were notorious for narcotics and illegal dealings. Many of the slums actually had armed thugs guarding the roads leading to the rickety housing developments. It was not only dangerous for the police to enter such places, it was often deadly. Only the corrupt cops could enter and leave with impunity.
“Nothing’s been decided for sure. They’re still discussing options with the central government.”
The hair on the back of her neck rose at the quiet way he said it. She thought again about Daniel’s words and the way she’d found him sitting in that chair. He’d seemed almost hopeless. An unsettling thought occurred to her.
“When Daniel mentioned having nowhere to go, I assumed he was talking about for the next several days. But you and he both jumped to the same conclusion about my offer. You both thought the offer was something more permanent.”
“Yes.”
“Why is that?” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “What’s going to happen here, Ben?”
When she tried to drop her hand from his arm, he held on, fingers tightening around hers. “Remember I told you they were going to lift the quarantine in another week? That we—along with the rest of the medical and military personnel—would be allowed to leave once there were no new cases of the plague?”
“I remember.”
“Have you looked around you lately? At the survivors?”
She tried to think. One young mother said her husband was trying to pack all their belongings. She’d assumed it was because they wanted to leave for a while to try to forget the horrors of what had happened here. But what if that was not the reason at all? “I know one couple is preparing to leave. So the military must be planning on lifting the quarantine for everyone at the same time.”
“Oh they’re lifting it all right. The people you mentioned aren’t the only ones getting ready for a big move. There are signs of packing going on all over town. Windows being boarded up. Acerolas being bulk-harvested from trees.”
She had noticed the berries being picked and put into baskets.
“So everyone is going to leave when this is over? They’re going to board up the entire town?” If so, what did that mean for Daniel and Cleo?
“No, they’re not going to board it up.”
“What, then?”
He drew a deep breath then released it on a sigh. “They’re planning to destroy the town once this is all over.”
Her eyes widened. “Destroy it? How?”
“The same way they’re destroying the bodies. They’re going to torch everything, until nothing is left of this place but ashes.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
A FAMILY. HE’D always wanted one, but not this way. Not at someone else’s expense. And certainly not at the expense of an entire village.
He could still hear the pained cry Tracy had given when he’d told her the news.
Ben leaned against the wall as she helped Daniel attach one end of the hammock to the protective iron grating that covered the window. She gave the rope a tug to make sure it would hold. He’d offered to help, only to have her wave him off, saying Daniel needed something to do.
Maybe she did as well.
He tried to read her body language and the furtive glances she periodically threw his way. They hadn’t had much of a chance to talk since she’d had to go back to work at the hospital, but her horror when he’d shared the military’s plans had been obvious. They both knew it happened in various countries. Not just in Brazil. It could even happen in the United States, if there were ever a deadly enough epidemic. The same heartbreaking choice might have to be made: contain it, for the good of the general population.
In this case, he wasn’t sure it was the only option. But in a poor state like Piaui, it was the easiest one. Sao Joao dos Rios was pretty far off the beaten path. It would be expensive for the military to come in and check the village periodically to make sure the outbreak didn’t erupt again, as they still hadn’t isolated the initial source of the infection. And if it did recur and spread to a place like Teresina—the state capital—it could affect hundreds of thousands of people. If he thought fourteen deaths were far too many, how would he feel if that number was multiplied tenfold?
Hopefully Tracy realized he’d been upset for another reason entirely when she’d explained about Daniel and Cleo sharing their room. And the spark that had lit in his gut when Daniel had talked about them all living together had been hard to contain once it had started burning, although he’d better find a way to extinguish it quickly, because Tracy had no intention of letting this arrangement become permanent.
Well, neither did he.
But he had been hoping to have Tracy to himself a little while longer before they went their separate ways. Why he wanted that, he wasn’t sure. Maybe just to understand her reasons for inviting him into that tub. To say it had been unexpected would be an understatement.
That was the least of his worries right now, however. The folks in charge were concerned about this getting out to the press. Yeah, hearing that your own military had sluiced cans of gasoline over an entire village and set it ablaze would not be the most popular story. Which was why they were trying to go about it quietly and peacefully. They’d spread the word that stipends would be awarded to anyone who agreed to leave town after the quarantine was lifted.
If they could relocate all the townsfolk before the match was struck, no one would be the wiser—except Ben and a few other key people—until long after the fact. Telling Tracy had probably been a mistake, in fact. But given their history—and her distrust of the military—what else could he have done? Keeping this to himself would have given her one more reason to hate him.
As far as Ben was concerned, as long as no one was hurt, these were just buildings. But he knew Tracy would feel differently. It was one point they’d argued about in the past. He tended to see things with a scientific bent, rather than an emotional one. But it was also one of the things he’d loved about her. She was the balance to his cold, analytical stance, forcing him to see another side to issues. Which made his actions in the past seem childish and petty. If he’d waited until she’d gotten home to talk to her calmly and explained his concerns, would things have turned out differently?
Possibly. There was no way to know.
But it was another of the reasons he’d talked about the military’s plans this time. Nothing good could come from discovering the truth from someone else. If she realized he’d kept the information to himself, she’d be furious. And that’s the last thing he wanted. Especially after their time in that home-made hot tub—or cooling tub, in this case.
Daniel secured the last of the knots and tried to hop onto the hammock to check it out, but ended up being flipped back onto the floor instead. He lay there panting as if he was exhausted, which he probably was. He was still weak from his illness. Ben pushed away from the wall and reached the boy before Tracy did, holding out a hand. “Easy. You need to regain some strength before trying stuff like that. Besides, you’ve been on a cot for the last week and a half. You’ll have to get used to sleeping in a hammock again.”
Daniel let Ben help him up and then rubbed his backside with a rueful grin. “I feel so much better than before, so I forget.” He glanced around the space, already cramped
from three hammocks. “Where will Cleo sleep?”
“We’ll string another hammock above yours. Kind of like bunk beds. Only you’re taller, so you’ll sleep in the top one.” Ben nodded at the bars on the windows. “They’re strong enough to support both hammocks.”
Tracy stood next to him. “Good idea. I was beginning to wonder how we were all going to fit.”
He gave her a pained smile. “I could always put you up on top, but…” He let the words trail off, knowing she’d catch his implication.
True to form, pink stained both her cheeks, and she turned away to adjust the fan they’d brought in from one of the other rooms. “This will help keep the mosquitoes away, as most of nets are being used by the hospital.”
“We never used them at home anyway,” Daniel said.
Tracy’s sister had died of dengue fever, so she was a little more paranoid about using the netting than many Brazilians. He couldn’t blame her. He still remembered the day he’d come home to find the milky netting draped across their huge canopy bed. Despite the fact that her reasons for putting it up had had nothing to do with romance and everything to do with safety, he still found it incredibly intimate once they were both inside. And when he’d made love to her within the confines of the bed, there’d been a raw, primitive quality to Tracy that had shaken him to the core. She’d fallen pregnant that night.
A shaft of pain went through him.
Her eyes met his and she gave a rueful smile, her face growing even pinker. She was remembering those nights as well. He could at least be glad some of those memories made her smile, rather than filling her with bitterness.
And then there were these two kids. What was going to happen to them if the village really was burned down?
Something else he was better off not thinking about, because there wasn’t a thing he could do about it.
Tracy says Cleo and I can stay with you once we are well.
If only it were that easy.