“Gwenny, honey, wake up.”
She blinked open her eyes, studying him for a long moment before her lids drifted shut once again.
“Oh, no you don’t, sweetheart. Stay with me. I’m going to prop you up so you can swallow some Tylenol.”
Eyes opened a crack, she shivered, then spoke through teeth beginning to chatter. “Where’s Cameron?”
“He’s gone to bed. I told him I’d take care of you. You cold?” He stood so he could pull the quilt up around her shoulders.
She gripped the quilt and brought it snug around her, body quaking. “Freezing. Got the chills.”
He shook out a couple of pills and sat again, leaning over to help prop her up. She loosened her hold on the bedcovers enough to take the pills. She swallowed them with a sip of water from the glass he held to her lips. He pressed her against him as he set the glass down, and she turned her face into his neck. Her lips moved against his skin, voice muffled when she spoke. “God, you’re warm. How can you be so warm when I’m freezing?”
“Because you’re sick and I’m not.” He lowered her back to the mattress, worried at the shivers racking her body. He spread the blanket he’d brought from his room over her for an added layer and climbed back into bed. He shifted to where she lay on her side, huddled under the covers. Wrapping an arm around her waist, he brought her back against him. He felt as much as heard her moan of pleasure as she absorbed the heat from his body. She snuggled against him until her head rested on his shoulder.
Eli lay motionless, trying his best to convince certain body parts that Gwen cuddling up to him wasn’t going to end up as anything more than what it was; a sick woman for whom any man would have sufficed as long as he had a warm body. The thought of her cuddled like this with anyone else, with someone like JD, made Eli’s blood boil. He blocked that image from his mind, and pulled Gwen closer, knowing something had changed between them.
He wasn’t as indifferent to her as he wanted to be, and he was going to make damn sure they would see where this would go.
Chapter Eleven
Eli walked down the hall rubbing his eyes. He’d woken still wrapped around Gwen and had carefully eased himself away, hoping she wouldn’t wake and feel his response to her ass nestled warmly against his groin. Coffee. He’d drink a gallon of coffee, take a cold shower, and then maybe he’d be able to think past the lust clouding his brain.
Walking into the kitchen and seeing the boy spooning up O’s while Oreo watched with rapt attention for something to drop, helped to redirect Eli’s brain. Nothing like a nine-year-old to extinguish thoughts of sex. “Hey.”
The spoon stilled an inch from Cameron’s mouth, dark-rimmed gray eyes narrowing. “How’s my Aunt Gwenny?”
“Sleeping.”
“Why’d you take care of her?”
Eli frowned. “Because she needed taking care of. You got first shift, I finished off the night. Seems fair.”
Cameron shoveled in a mouthful of cereal, milk dripping down his chin. He pulled up his pajama shirt and wiped the milk on Spiderman, never taking his eyes off Eli. The kid had a way of focusing that was a little disconcerting.
“I still don’t get why. Aunt Gwenny and I had a talk yesterday. She says you and her have a difference of opinion about things. But I know that means you don’t like her. She says you like me fine, but we can’t stay here permanent because of the opinions. That this is only a short-term solution.”
Eli stared at the boy, sensing that whatever he said now would have ramifications long into the future. “Look, Cameron. As much as it pains me to say it, there’s grown up stuff that is hard for a kid to understand. But, whatever is going on, I won’t lie to you. It’s true that Gwen and I haven’t always gotten along. But you’re both wrong about me not liking her.”
He felt like the accused sitting in front of a jury, praying to God that the verdict would weigh in his favor. Cameron nodded slowly. “Okay. I guess you wouldn’t have taken care of her if you didn’t like her.” Whew. A couple hundred pounds had lifted off Eli’s chest.
He got a bowl, opened the cupboard, and pulled down a box of cereal. Cameron crossed to the sink and rinsed his bowl.
“Get that sponge and wipe up the milk from the table.”
Cameron did as asked, a frown forming furrows between his eyebrows.
Eli poured milk over his shredded wheat and sat. He was good at waiting and figured the kid would tell him what was on his mind when he was ready. Instead of heading upstairs, Cameron sat in the same chair at the table. Looked like he was ready.
“Can I ask you something, Uncle Eli?”
“Any time.”
The boy twined his fingers together, then leaned back in his seat, chin resting on his chest. Eli waited until Cameron sat up again giving Eli the direct look he was coming to appreciate.
“What’s going to happen to us? To me and my Gwenny?”
“You both are going to stay here where you’re safe.”
“I can’t go back home, can I?” Those gray eyes remained focused on Eli. The kid was asking for it straight, and Eli refused to soften the answers.
“Not to the house you lived in with your mom and Justin.”
“Because Justin killed my mom there.”
“Yeah, because of that.”
“So now I’ll live with Gwenny.”
“Is that what you want?”
He nodded. “But what if Grandma wants me? Gwenny wants to adopt me but she says you and Grandma have to agree because you’re blood related.”
Eli thought he followed the kid’s reasoning. “Your grandma loves you, but I don’t think she’s up to raising a boy.”
“Yeah, she says I wear her out. But Gwenny would let me visit Grandma.” He bent his head again and plucked at the damp spot on his pajama top.
“Cameron, do you like it here at the ranch?”
The child raised his gaze, and they held more worry and anguish than any nine-year-old should ever have to carry. “I do. I like being able to go outside and not having to stay in the yard. There’s places to explore, and I caught a fish yesterday. Ben showed me how to clean it. I want to learn how to ride a horse.”
“Do you think you’d like to stay here with me permanently?”
Expression troubled, Cameron shook his head. “I can’t.”
“Why can’t you?”
“I want to stay with Gwenny. And I need to be with her in case Justin tries to get her.” He raised haunted eyes. “I didn’t stop him from killing my mom, but I’m not going to let him kill my Gwenny.”
Eli sighed. He should have guessed the boy was carrying something like that around. Eli leaned forward and chose his words carefully. “Cameron, you couldn’t have stopped him. If Justin had seen you, he’d have tried to kill you, too. It’s not your fault your mom was killed.”
Cameron looked down at his hands again, his fingers knotted. “You weren’t there, so you don’t know. If I’d gone downstairs when they were yelling at each other, maybe I could have jumped on Justin, knocked him over, and my mom could have run away.”
Eli shook his head. “You did the right thing by calling Gwen.”
“But Gwenny saw what Justin did, and now he’s going to try to kill her because she’s a witness. That’s why we have to be careful, Gwenny and me. We don’t want him to know where we are. That’s why we came here.”
“You came here because I can protect you, and Gwen knows that.”
“It would be my fault if Justin killed Gwenny, too.”
“Why do you think that?”
“If I hadn’t called her to come get me, then she wouldn’t have been a witness when Justin killed my mom.”
Cameron knuckled away a tear and Eli went with his gut. He stood and picked the boy up out of his chair, then sat him on his lap. Cameron turned his face into Eli’s shirt, and Eli patted his back. He smelled of milk and the same citrusy shampoo Gwen used.
“Listen to me, Cameron.” Eli didn’t get a response but fig
ured the kid was listening. “Justin killed your mom. That’s a horrible thing, and he won’t get away with it. He’ll pay for what he’s done. But that was Justin’s doing, and it’s not your fault. You couldn’t have prevented it, and I think if you had stayed there, if Gwen hadn’t come and gotten away with you, Justin would have killed you, too.”
He rubbed Cameron’s back, then put a hand on his shoulder. “Sit up a minute so you can see me when I tell you this.” Cameron straightened, and Eli wondered at the whims of DNA. Looking at his sister’s son, a sister with whom he shared only one parent, he could see without a doubt the resemblance to himself. They shared the same unruly dark brown hair, and eyes the same shade of gray. Looking into the young face, he wondered fleetingly whether Cameron’s biological father, whoever he was, had left any stamp on the boy’s features.
“Tell me what?”
“That no matter what happens, I’ll always be honest with you. If there are tough choices to be made, you will be included in the decision-making process. Clear?”
Cameron nodded. “Clear. But don’t forget Gwenny.”
“What do you mean?”
“Me and Gwenny are a team. If tough choices have to be made we have to talk to her, too.”
Eli considered the statement, then nodded. “You’re right. And you might want to consider adding me to the team, because you, me, and Gwen are going to see this thing through together.” He set Cameron on his feet, then held out his hand. They shook, Cameron’s expression solemn.
“I’m glad you’re on our team, Uncle Eli.”
“Me too, Cameron. Let’s go see if your Gwenny is awake.”
***
Gwen rolled onto her back and stifled a groan. She ached all over and thought if she could lay under the covers for the next week, maybe she would feel better. Thank God her stomach seemed to have settled. She pushed herself up against her pillow, taking a minute to orient herself.
Then the memories came crashing back. Eli, carrying her to bed. The coolness of his chest against her cheek. Propping her up and holding a glass to her lips so she could swallow a couple of pills. And when she had been so cold she thought she would die, he had crawled into bed with her.
Granted she’d been pretty out of it, but not so out of it that she hadn’t been aware that he’d wrapped himself around her from head to toe, sharing his incredible warmth. Thinking about it generated heat low in her belly, and the sick fever kind. The memory of sleeping with Eli MacElvoy and the resulting sexual frustration would have to be locked into a compartment of her brain to be dealt with later.
She closed her eyes and rubbed tiredly at the ache lodged in her forehead. Beyond the sexual frustration business, she’d also succeeded in adding onto the debt she owed him. Her entire life her parents had made her feel like a burden. Her mother had never let her forget that being pregnant with Gwen had forced her to give up a college scholarship, and Gwen’s stepfather had reluctantly supported her.
For some reason, being a burden to Eli was hundreds of times worse, and it seemed she couldn’t help but add to the red column. He’d taken both her and Cameron in. She’d learned from Jed that Eli had paid for the new fuel filter for her car. And he hadn’t let her pay for any of the groceries the day before. Added to all that, now he’d cared for her when she’d gotten sick. And not just the give her a couple of Tylenol and let her fend for himself kind of caring. No, Eli’s brand of caring meant he’d gotten into bed with her to share his body heat when she’d been fighting the chills.
At least on his end, climbing in bed with her had been strictly…humanitarian, she decided. Definitely platonic. Despite the impression she’d first formed of him and had tried so hard over the past several days to hold onto, Elijah MacElvoy was essentially a good man. He’d even acknowledged that he might have judged her wrongly all those years ago. So now she would have to adjust how she dealt with him going forward while keeping him at an emotional distance.
A noise from the doorway had her eyes flying open. Eli and Cameron stood side by side, studying her with identical assessing expressions.
“You’re awake.” Cameron crossed the room to stand beside the bed. “Are you feeling better?”
She nodded, then winced as the movement made her head throb. “I’m not throwing up, so I’m a bunch better.”
He put a small hand to her forehead, the gesture tugging at her heartstrings. “I think you still have a fever.” He turned to the taciturn man in the doorway. “Uncle Eli, can you check if Gwenny has a fever?”
Eli crossed the room.
“I’m fine,” Gwen mumbled and sat up straighter against the headboard. “Really.”
Eli ignored her and cupped his hand across her forehead, then lay the back of his fingers against her cheek. Her gaze locked with his, and the walls that had been erected between them began crumbling fast. She drew in a steadying breath. She’d work at building those walls up again when she felt better, but at the moment, she simply didn’t have the energy.
“Still a bit hot.” He withdrew his hand and turned toward Cameron. “You want to take this glass to the kitchen and get a clean glass with water so Gwen can take more Tylenol?”
Cameron picked up the glass from the nightstand and carried it out of the room. Eli sat on the side of the bed, gaze inscrutable. She plucked at a loose thread on the quilt. “Eli, about last night.”
“What about last night?”
She glanced up at him, suspicious that there was a note of amusement in his tone. She shifted and wished he wasn’t sitting so close. “Thank you.”
He raised his brows, the corner of his mouth lifting. “I thought you were going to chew me out for getting into bed with you.”
Warmth spread up her neck. “Kind of hard to do that when I think you’re the reason I’m better today. It’s a bit hazy but I remember being chilled down to the core, and then you were next to me and I wasn’t cold anymore.” More than that, wrapped in his arms she had felt completely safe and secure in a way she hadn’t felt for a long, long time. “So anyway, thank you.” He stood and she could hear Cameron coming up the stairs.
Eli leaned down. “I’ve got to tell you, Gwendolyn,” he paused, and when Gwen turned her head, his face was mere inches from hers. “It was no hardship. And it got me more convinced we need to rethink our standoff.”
***
Gwen shut off the iPad in frustration. Eli had consigned her to bedrest the previous day, and while she didn’t mind defying him, so far she hadn’t had the energy.
Glancing at the clock on the nightstand, she swung her feet over the side of the bed and sat up. It was almost noon and she’d had enough of lying in bed. She wasn’t feverish, her head no longer throbbed, the muscle aches had eased, and while not one hundred percent, she was better than she had been. Standing on wobbly legs, she made her away to the door and across the hall to the bathroom. Seeing her wild tangle of hair in the mirror had her groaning and grabbing a brush. After combing out the messy curls, she pulled her hair into a ponytail. Brushing her teeth made her feel human, but nearly exhausted her.
She would take things easy and sit down when she needed to, but she’d go stir crazy if she had to lay in bed a minute longer. Holding on to the banister, she made her way downstairs and into the kitchen as the front door opened and shut, followed by footsteps going up the stairs.
“Gwen.” She stepped into the living room as Eli called out.
“I’m down here.”
He peered over the railing and quickly descended the stairs, face set in a frown. “I told you to stay in bed.”
“I’m much better.”
He crossed the room to stand in front of her, reaching out a hand to lay on her forehead. With a muted sigh, he tilted back her head and peer intently into her face. She reached up to snag his wrist. “Eli, I’m fine. I don’t have a fever, and I can’t stay in bed any longer without pulling out my hair. I’m not completely over whatever I caught, but I’m much better.” His pulse beat strong under
her fingers.
“I don’t want you overdoing it.”
“I won’t.” When the worried look didn’t leave his eyes, she asked him, “Is there something wrong?”
“Two guys showed up today, asking for work on the ranch. Ben didn’t like the look of them and told them we weren’t hiring.”
Gwen frowned. “Okay.”
“Then one of the hands came across them in their truck parked on the Forest Service road that goes up into the mountains to the east. They said they’d gotten lost.”
“You don’t believe them?”
“I think they’ve been keeping watch on the ranch.”
Fear dropped a lead weight of worry in her stomach. What if they’d been hired by Justin? Eli turned his hand, fingers lacing with hers. Her grip tightened, scenarios running through her head, each of them involving a threat to Cameron.
“Where’s Cameron?”
“He’s fine. He’s having lunch with the Cutter kids. Daisy is making them mac and cheese. I told them to take the dogs with them wherever they go.”
“Does Daisy know to keep watch? That someone could be after him?”
“She knows. Everyone on the Broken Arrow is on the lookout. Rafael kept an eye on the vehicle as long as he could, but then he had to attend to the cattle and by the time he got back the truck was gone. He got the license plate but local law enforcement isn’t likely to run the plates as a favor to me.”
Gwen wondered about the history between Eli and the officer, Jack Morgan.
Eli continued. “Regardless, we’ll stay vigilant. I told the kids to always tell an adult where they’re going, and to be aware of their surroundings.”
He looked down at her hand in his, then brought it up to rest against his chest. “Gwendolyn.”
“What?” she rasped.
“We’re going to have to talk about this.” His gaze held hers as he raised her hand and rubbed her knuckles against his lips, sending warmth zinging up her arm.
This couldn’t be happening. Eli MacElvoy was off limits. Off. Limits. She disengaged her hand and took a hasty step back. “Sorry, I wasn’t thinking. There is nothing to talk about.”
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