by Diana Palmer
“I’ll be okay,” came the smothered reply. “It’s just that stomach virus, I imagine. Billy Joe had it. Paul had it, too.”
“I know. Poor thing.” Janey rubbed her back, frowning. She saw Mrs. Meyer looking their way.
The older woman came over to see about Karina.
“Can I do anything for you?” she asked Karina.
Karina managed to shake her head. “Thanks anyway, Hilde, but I think I just need to go to bed.”
“A cold wet cloth might help. I will be right back.”
She was, a minute later. She pressed the wet washcloth to Karina’s feverish brow.
“Oh, that feels so good,” Karina whispered, holding the cloth in place.
“I thought it might.”
The outer door opened and Micah came in just ahead of Lindy and Burt. He wasn’t smiling. His wide-brimmed Stetson was slanted across one eye, pulled low, and his eyes were glittery with feeling.
“What’s wrong?” he asked without preamble.
“Virus, I think,” Karina managed weakly. “I’m so sorry...”
“You should have stayed home in the first place,” Lindy snapped. “Now we’re going to miss the show in Jackson Hole because you were selfish!”
“That’s enough,” Micah said irritably. He felt Karina’s face. “You’re burning up with fever,” he said curtly, and he had the oddest protective feeling for her. She was vulnerable, fragile. She needed someone to take care of her. His face hardened. “Where’s your new partner?” he chided.
“In Jackson for the weekend,” she whispered.
“So we’re stuck with taking care of you,” Lindy said angrily.
“I’m taking her by the twenty-four-hour clinic,” he said decisively. “Janey, you ride home with Burt in Karina’s car. Keys?” he asked her.
She dug them out of her blue jeans and handed them to him.
“Here,” he told Burt. “Take the skating bag, too.”
“I am not wasting time sitting in some stupid clinic,” Lindy said furiously.
Micah ignored her. He bent and lifted Karina into his arms, holding her tenderly against him. “It’s okay,” he said softly. “I’ll take care of you.”
Tears burst from her eyes. His voice was so tender, so gentle, that it made her ache for things she could never have.
“And now she’s going to turn on the tears to impress you,” the other woman scoffed.
“Go with Burt,” he told Lindy.
“And do what, sit at the house until you finally come home?” she demanded. “I’m going back to Vegas tonight. Burt can drive me to the airfield and your pilot can get out there and fly me home!”
“Fine, then go the hell home!” Micah exploded. His eyes glittered at her. “And stay there, for all I care!” He turned from Lindy’s shocked face to Burt’s surprised one. “Burt, take care of that.”
“Yes, sir! It will be a pleasure,” Burt said, with enough enthusiasm to make Lindy’s lips curl down even more.
“I won’t come back!” Lindy threatened.
Micah didn’t even look at her. “I’ll be home when I can,” he added, turning with Karina held close in his arms. He walked out the door toward his car without looking back once.
CHAPTER TEN
KARINA WAS BARELY aware of her surroundings, she was so sick. The nausea boiled out of her about halfway to the clinic. Micah pulled onto the side of the road. She spilled out onto the grassy edge of the road and lost her lunch.
He knelt beside her, wiping her face with the cold wet cloth Hilde had provided. “Better now?” he asked softly.
She bawled. “I’m so sorry!”
He kissed her pale hair. “You’re sick, honey,” he said tenderly. “There’s no reason to be sorry. Feel better?”
She swallowed hard. “Yes. A little, thanks.”
“It usually helps me, when I do that,” he chuckled. “More room out than in.”
“Yes.” She managed a smile as he helped her back into the vehicle and closed the door.
* * *
THE CLINIC WAS BUSY. There were a lot of people in the waiting room, but Micah spoke to the receptionist and Karina was taken right back into a cubicle.
Micah went with her. He sat down in a chair beside the examination table that the nurse laid her out on. They waited for the doctor.
He came in very quickly. He examined Karina, who told him her symptoms. He smiled.
“Stomach virus,” he mused. “It will wear itself out soon enough. Drink plenty of fluids. You can have Jell-O or soup, but nothing solid until the nausea passes. If you’re not better by day after tomorrow, come back.”
“Yes, sir,” she said gently. “Thanks.”
“You missed the last cattlemen’s association meeting,” Micah chided.
The doctor sighed. “I can treat patients or run cattle, it seems that I can’t do both lately. I’ll try to make next month’s meeting.” He made a face. “And you missed the last one.”
“I know. I had to fly to Dallas and straighten out a little problem with an oil refinery.”
“The one that’s on strike?” the doctor asked.
Micah looked innocent. “It’s not on strike anymore.”
“Why am I not surprised? Well, take her home. Keep her warm. You know the drill. I treated Billy Joe for this last week.” He frowned at Karina. “Have you been kissing Billy Joe, young lady?”
She flushed red. “I have not!” she burst out, laughing with embarrassment. “Actually, I think my skating partner passed it along. He had it the middle of the week.”
“It’s very contagious,” the doctor agreed. He noticed that Micah’s face had gone hard when the girl mentioned a skating partner. Micah was engaged to that Las Vegas businesswoman. But here he was acting protective, and even jealous, of the woman who was taking care of Janey. The doctor knew Micah Torrance very well. They’d been in the same class in college, years ago.
“Thanks so much,” Karina repeated as she got to her feet.
“All in a day’s work,” he chuckled.
“See you,” Micah told him.
He herded her back out the door to his car.
“But, the bill,” she protested weakly.
“Taken care of. Here.” He put her inside the car and went around to get in under the wheel. “I’ll have Burt heat you up some of his homemade soup. It’s the best I’ve ever tasted.”
“I don’t know if it will stay down,” she worried.
He smiled. “You can have Jell-O to go with it.”
She leaned her head back against the seat and covered her eyes with the cool damp cloth. “Okay,” she said softly. “Thanks,” she added huskily, and without looking at him.
He fastened her seat belt and then his own before he cranked the car. “Good babysitters are hard to find,” he said noncommittally.
“Oh. Is that it?” she asked with a soft laugh.
“That’s it.” He was lying through his teeth. He glanced at her. She was more vulnerable than usual. It brought out strange, new feelings in him. He’d sent Lindy home and she’d threatened not to come back. He found that he really didn’t care if she stayed in Vegas forever.
It was a revelation. He’d been putting up with Lindy’s bad attitude for a long time, passing over the way she treated Janey, because Lindy was hot and he’d wanted her badly. But it was a hunger that, once sated, seemed to die very quickly. They had nothing in common except his wealth and her love of possessions.
This little sunflower sitting beside him, however, wasn’t overly interested in things. She loved skating. She was protective of Janey. In fact, she’d been defending Janey more than he had when Lindy cut loose on the child.
“Do you honestly think that Janey will stick with ice skating?”
“Yes,” she said weakly.
> “Why?”
She smiled and drew in a breath. She still felt nauseated. “Because when Lindy was so mean to her, she wanted to run away to Siberia.”
He frowned. “Siberia?”
“Ice. Lots of ice. She said she could skate all the time there.”
He chuckled softly. “I see.”
“She works hard at the rink,” she added. “Chad’s a great instructor. He never yells, and he’s up on all the programs. He’ll take her to the next level, and if she continues, he’ll coach her all the way to seniors.”
“Your partner gave you the virus,” he mentioned. He glowered. “Have you been kissing him?”
“Paul? Of course not,” she said weakly. But the cloth was still over her eyes and she didn’t see the angry look of distrust that he shot her.
He’d heard the gossip, just as Lindy had, about the amount of time Karina spent with her old friend at the skating rink. Sure, they were trying to practice enough to be able to compete, but it involved a lot of physical contact. Almost intimate contact, if the figure skating he saw on television was any indication. He was jealous. And he didn’t want to be.
He shrugged. “Never mind.”
She moved the cloth long enough to glance at him. “Paul’s my partner,” she said. “We have to have physical contact, especially with the throws. That’s how I caught the virus.”
“Throws?”
She nodded. “I get great height on the jumps when he tosses me. I have to be precise about which edge I come down on, and that takes a lot of practice. It was during practice that I broke my ankle. Paul felt so bad about it, but it was the way I landed that did the damage. I didn’t quite get the rotation I was going for when I came down, and I wasn’t in position.”
“It’s a dangerous sport,” he replied. His eyes were on the road, but he glanced her way. “Why do you love it so much?”
“My mother loved it,” she said. “She taught me from the time I was three years old. She was patient and gentle. She never pushed me. In fact, when I got into high school, she did try to dissuade me. She knew what a long, torturous process it would be. I had no social life at all. I just skated. I loved being on the ice. I still do.”
“You’re twenty-three,” he remarked. “Don’t you want to get married, have kids?”
She wrapped her arms around herself. “I love children,” she said softly. “But I had a, well, a bad experience, in my teens, before Paul and I really settled into pairs figure skating. I was at a venue out of state. My father came to pick me up at the rink after practice, and when I wasn’t waiting for him, he went inside to look for me.” She hesitated. “An assistant coach was trying to force me,” she added quietly. “I screamed and fought, but everyone had gone home except me.” She drew in a breath, unaware of the silent rage in the man beside her. “My father taught martial arts. He put the coach on the floor and called the police. I had to testify. It was very messy and there was a scandal, because the man was liked locally. His friends said I was lying, because I wanted attention.”
“What a piece of work he was,” he muttered.
“He got probation, but I was too upset to skate my best, so I didn’t even place in the singles competition. I came back home and Paul said we should do pairs together, so that he could watch out for me. He has, too. He’s big enough that most men won’t try him.” She smiled. “Dad taught him martial arts, too. Paul has a black belt in tae kwon do.” She didn’t add that she had a brown. She’d trained in martial arts and ballet, because both taught balance and grace of movement. It helped when she and Paul were doing the long free skate programs at the various venues.
Micah didn’t like the way she favored her blond friend, even if he was just a skating partner. They spent a lot of time together. Maybe too much. He didn’t understand how they could have been together so long and still not be involved. Or maybe they had been, and it didn’t work out.
He put his torturous thoughts aside and just drove.
* * *
WHEN HE DROVE up in front of the ranch house, the front door opened and Janey came running out.
“Are you okay?” she asked, opening the door for Karina.
“I’m very contagious,” Karina said gently. “So don’t get too close, okay?”
“But you’re going to be all right, aren’t you?” she added worriedly.
Karina smiled. “Of course. It’s just a virus, sweetheart. I’ll be fine. Thanks for caring,” she added softly.
Janey flushed. “You’re my friend,” she said. “I worry.”
“Is Burt back yet?” Micah asked.
Janey made a face. “He hasn’t left.”
He scowled as he unfastened Karina’s seat belt and lifted her easily out of the car in his strong arms, bumping the door shut with his hip. “Why?” he asked curtly.
She sighed. “Lindy said she wasn’t leaving until you got home.”
His lips made a thin line. He walked to the porch, waiting while Janey opened the door.
Lindy was sitting on the sofa with a smoking cigarette in her hand and what looked like straight whiskey in a crystal glass, watching some audience participation show. She looked up, fuming.
“Well, so you’re finally back! What did you do, park at lover’s lane?” she demanded furiously.
“Put that damned thing out, and get it out of my house,” he said angrily, indicating the cigarette. “You know you’re not allowed to smoke in here!”
She cursed roundly, but she took the cigarette to the front door and pitched it out.
Micah carried Karina into her bedroom and put her gently on the bed, with Janey hovering.
“Help her get into a gown, honey, will you?” he asked Janey.
“Okay, Dad,” Janey replied, with a sigh of relief. Apparently Lindy had already had a few bites out of her.
He smiled at Karina. “I’ll get Burt to heat you up some soup, if you think it will stay down.”
She hesitated. “I’m pretty queasy,” she said hesitantly.
“Later, then. I’ll check on you in a few minutes.” He turned and left without looking back, closing the door firmly behind him.
Janey and Karina exchanged sad looks as the explosion went off in the living room. Lindy was cursing at the top of her lungs, questioning everything from Karina’s ancestors to Janey’s.
“She’s been horrible,” Janey said softly as Micah’s deep voice snapped back. The voices receded, indicating that Micah had moved the argument to a quieter place, like his study. “Burt tried to take her to the airport and she said she wasn’t leaving until Daddy brought you back home. She thinks Daddy’s got feelings for you,” she added with a grin. “She’s furious.”
Karina’s heart leaped. Micah had been kind to her, but he would have been that way with anyone who was sick. He was a good man, with a big heart. He hid it under bad temper and bluster, but he was pretty much a marshmallow inside.
“I wish she’d go away and never come back,” Janey said miserably. “She’s so mean! She’s even mean to Daddy. He stays so busy that he just ignores her. But I can’t.”
Karina rolled over on the bed to look at the little girl. “Things always work out,” she said gently. “Even when you think they never will. It only needs time.”
“It’s been months,” Janey said heavily. “Daddy tells her to go away, but she never leaves. She always bounces right back and he lets her stay.”
A door slammed suddenly. There were more curses, in a high-pitched, furious tone. Footsteps dimmed. Another door slammed.
There was a tap at Karina’s door. It opened. Micah had his hat on again, slanted over one eye, and he was absolutely furious. “I’m driving her to the airport,” he said shortly. “I’ve got the company jet on the way to pick her up and take her to Vegas. I’ll be right back.”
“Drive carefully,” Karina said wea
kly, because she could see how unsettled he was.
Those soft gray eyes, that gentle voice, melted him inside. Lindy had never cared about him. She cared about the things he could give her, the places he could take her. This quiet little sunflower just cared about him. It was...nice.
“I will. Get her into a gown,” he told Janey again. “If you need anything, Burt’s hiding in his room until we leave.” A twinkle lit his dark eyes. “She threw a pot at him because he wouldn’t fix her any supper. He locked himself in for the duration.”
They both laughed softly.
He winked. “Back soon.” He closed the door again.
Burt came out of hiding when he heard the car leave. He tapped on Karina’s door and opened it.
“You need anything?” he asked her.
She smiled. “Thanks, Burt, but I’m too sick to eat anything.”
“How about some orange juice?” he asked. “With lots of ice.”
“Oh, that sounds wonderful!”
“I’ll go fetch it.” He made a face. “She threw my favorite saucepan at me and it dented when it hit the wall. Shrew.” He glowered. “I hope she stays away this time.”
“We could form a delegation,” Karina murmured dryly, referring to the time Micah had planned to sell the ranch and the people who lived around it congregated to plead for him not to.
Burt laughed. “I’ll think about that. Back in a jiffy.”
* * *
AFTER BURT BROUGHT the juice, Janey dug out one of Karina’s silk gowns and helped her put it on.
“This is so pretty,” she said, admiring the white lace panels in the royal blue gown that draped to Karina’s ankles, held up by wide shoulder straps. It was demure for a gown. The bodice had a square top that didn’t dip below her collar bone.
“You look pretty in blue,” Janey said.
Karina managed a smile. “Thanks. I like blue. It’s my favorite color.”
“I like purple.”
“I did notice,” Karina murmured, having seen Janey’s bedcover, which had purple flowers on a lavender background, with shams and even curtains to match.
Janey laughed. “Dad said I must have been touched by grapes, because I’m obsessed with the color.”