Promise Me the Stars: A Hearts of Harkness Romance (The Standish Clan Book 3)

by Norah Wilson

  “Okay, let’s get her out of her clothes,” he said. “We need to get her dry and get her body temperature up as fast as we can.”

  April met his eyes, her own rounding at the seriousness in his.

  “Come on, Sidney, let’s get this stuff off.” She sank down on the snow so Sid was sitting on her lap. Between April’s efforts and Scott’s, they got her boots and pants off. Scott immediately swaddled her lower half in a dry blanket before they removed her coat. He’d hoped she could keep her sweater on, but the lower hem was wet too, so off it came. He pulled the blanket up to cover her bareness.

  “We need to wrap her in this heavy duty space blanket, but let me fetch the sleeping bag first. We’ll get her swaddled in three layers.”

  April nodded, pulling her daughter closer. “Hang in there, Sidney. Scott has a plan. He’s got all the search and rescue stuff. It’s going to be all right.”

  “I know,” Sid said simply.

  He bounded up onto the rock. Her sleeping bag was there and reasonably dry. It looked like she’d been sitting on it, using it for insulation against the cold rock. He hopped back down. By the time he reached the girls, he had the sleeping bag unzipped. He dug out the heavy duty Mylar blanket and lined the sleeping bag with it. Then he reached for Sid. She was shivering rhythmically now.

  “Come on, sweetheart. Time to bundle you up like a burrito.”

  He took a blanket-wrapped Sid from her mother’s arms and placed her on the Mylar. April started to tuck the crinkly blanket around her, but he stopped her. “Just a sec. We need to put some of these in with her.” He handed her a couple of heat packs. “Just tear the package open and they’ll start heating up.”

  When they had a couple of body warming packs started, he tucked them around her. With April’s help, he swaddled her with the reflective blanket, then zipped her into the sleeping bag. Within minutes, she was wrapped up as snug as he could make her.

  “Can you feel the warmth yet, Ladybug?” April asked.

  Sid nodded sleepily. “I think so.”

  Scott’s own feet felt like blocks of ice. He couldn’t imagine how cold poor Sid was.

  Working quickly, he gathered stuff up and shoved it back in the search and rescue bag, then strapped it on securely. He’d leave the damned thing there, but if Sid ran into trouble, he might need some of the other supplies.

  “How are we going to get her back to the car?”

  “I’ll carry her.” He bent and took the precious load from April. “I’ll get her back as fast as I can and get the heat blasting in the Jeep.”

  Tears sprang to her eyes. “Thank you, Scott. I’ll be right behind you.”

  She would have to be. She was pretty wet now too.

  “Can you dig my phone out of my coat’s right-hand pocket? You’ll need to call Ember and tell her what’s happened.”

  “Of course.” She took off her wet glove and fished his phone out.

  “Ask her to meet us at the house,” he said. “She’ll know if Sid needs a hospital or whether she’s okay at home.”

  “I will. Now go! Run!”

  He did.

  Chapter 45

  APRIL WAS still shivering when they pulled into the yard. For that matter, so was Axl, sitting on the back seat beside her.

  They were met at the door by Jace and Ember.

  “Bring her right up to her room,” Ember instructed. “Jace, can you get the blankets out of the dryer?”

  “On it.”

  By the time Scott got her up to the room, Jace was there with flannel sheets hot out of the dryer. While he spread one on the bed, Ember stepped in to help unwrap Sid. Feeling useless, April watched as Ember directed Scott to deposit Sidney on the warm blanket. Immediately, she pulled it snugly around her. Jace then piled on several more hot blankets and he and Ember tucked them around Sidney.

  “How you doing, Sid?” Ember asked. “I hear you went for a polar dip.”

  “Only by accident,” she said. “Polar dips are stupid.”

  “I’m just going to get your vitals, but I’ll be real quick about it.” Ember dug one of Sid’s thin arms out of the warm cocoon of blankets, took her pulse and a quick blood pressure reading. She removed her stethoscope and tucked Sidney’s arm away again.

  “How is it?” April asked anxiously.

  Ember glanced up at her and smiled reassuringly. “So far, so good. You’ve got a strong kid here.” She produced a digital thermometer and applied it to Sid’s ear. It beeped right away and Ember checked the readout. “Whoa, you’re a pretty cool cat, Sid.”

  April twisted her hands together. “Does she need to go to the hospital?”

  Ember shook her head, stashing her medical stuff back in her bag. “No, she’s going to be just fine, thanks to you guys. We need to bring her body temperature up, but that first aid wrap was outstanding. Getting her out of her wet clothes and bundling her like that…well, it made all the difference. Good job, guys.”

  “That was all Scott.” Tears welled in April’s eyes as she turned toward him. “I don’t know what would have happened if you hadn’t been there…”

  “Hey,” Ember jumped up from her perch on the edge of the bed. “I think you guys both need to get under a hot shower yourselves.” She ushered April and Scott toward the door. “I’ll stay with Sid until you guys are warm and dry.”

  “Axl needs attention too,” Scott said. “He was first on the scene and waded in to give Sid a hand.”

  “I’m on it,” Jace said, then turned to Ember. “What do you recommend? Towel him off and give him the hot blanket treatment?”

  “I’m no vet, but that sounds good to me. If he gets too hot, he’ll let you know by crawling out from under the quilts. Right, Sid?”

  “Right,” Sid confirmed.

  Clearly her daughter had tried to snuggle Axl under her quilts a time or two.

  “Titus keeps Metacam for when his arthritis flares,” Scott said. “I’ll dig it out and make sure he gets a full dose. He’s going to need it with all the running he did tonight, never mind the cold dip.”

  “That’d be great,” Ember said, waving them all out of the room. “Now everybody, go and do what you need to do. That’s an order.”

  Jace hustled downstairs to deal with the dog, leaving Scott and April standing outside Ember’s bedroom door, which Ember had firmly closed behind them.

  April promptly burst into tears.

  “Whoa, honey, it’s okay.” He pulled her into his arms. “You heard the doctor. Sid’s going to be all right.”

  “My poor girl.” She drew a deep breath and let it shudder out. “She must have been so scared when she fell in. God, she’ll probably have nightmares about it for months to come. She’s still half frozen, and there I was, reminding her what might have happened...” She made a choking sound, half laugh, half sob. “No wonder Ember ejected me.”

  “That’s her job as Sid’s doctor.” He tipped her chin up forcing her to meet his earnest eyes. “And your job as her mom is to hop in the shower right now, then get into your warmest pajamas so you can go curl up with her.”

  “I know.” She reached up and touched his face. “I’ll pull myself together. For her sake, I will. But it just scares me so much when I think about it. If I hadn’t woken up, and if Axl hadn’t whined and paced in the hallway, I wouldn’t have noticed that she’d run off. And if we didn’t know she was missing, we wouldn’t have gone out in search of her. She might have died out there from hypothermia. With wet clothes and nothing but that sleeping bag…”

  “I know.” He pressed her head into his chest and hugged her tighter than he’d ever hugged her. Hard enough to drive half the breath from her lungs. Close enough that she felt the emotion vibrating through him. “Jesus, April. I don’t think I’ve ever been so scared.”

  Knowing that he was just as shaken up as she was actually helped calm her. Or maybe it was the tightness of the hug. They clung together for long moments until finally, he loosened his grip. But he didn�
��t let her go entirely, keeping a grasp on her shoulders, gently massaging them. A shiver went through her. He must have felt it because he released her.

  “What am I thinking? Go hit the shower,” he said gruffly. “I’m going to check in on Axl and give him his meds.”

  “Okay.”

  Feeling a little less shaky, she made her way down the hall.

  The hot water felt like pure heaven, but as soon as she was reasonably warm, she shut it off. Scott had gotten much wetter than she had. She wanted to make sure there was plenty of hot water left for him.

  God, he’d saved her girl. His foresight to bring the search and rescue kit, his knowledge of first aid. His strength and stamina to get her back to the car so quickly. Even thinking to call ahead to put Ember on alert. April wasn’t sure she’d have thought of that. She’d been so frantic.

  Realizing that she’d been staring at herself in the steamed-up mirror for God knew how long, she gave her still damn hair another toweling, hung the towel up, cinched her robe, and left the bathroom.

  She almost bumped into Scott in the hall as she stepped out of the bathroom. “How’s Axl?”

  “Feeling pretty good under all those heated blankets, I think. Jace missed his calling. I predict that when the meds come on line, old Axl will sleep like a puppy.”

  “Thank God for that dog.” She blinked rapidly. “Now it’s your turn to get warm. I think I left you lots of hot water.”

  “I’m pretty sure you did. I expected you to be in there a lot longer. I hope you didn’t cut it short for me. I was just on my way to shed these wet clothes and get into something of Titus’s.”

  She grinned. Obviously, dipping into Titus’s closet was a better solution than running out to the loft in the cold to change, but the idea of him wearing his brother’s clothes struck her as comical. Scott was nicely muscled—just the way she liked, in fact—but Titus was wickedly ripped from all that gym work and the S&R training.

  He laughed. “I know what you’re thinking. But I’m hoping he has some older clothes from before he went crazy with the weights.”

  Her smile faded. “I don’t care what you look like, just come to me when you’re done, okay? To me and Sidney.”

  “Just try to stop me.”

  He put a hand on her warm nape, which made her shiver, but not from the cold. He leaned in and kissed her, careful not to get her robe wet. It was a quick, fierce kiss.

  He released her and strode away seconds later, leaving her reeling. But she didn’t know what affected her more, the kiss or that very emphatic statement.

  Chapter 46

  SCOTT’S HEART pounded ridiculously hard as he made his way down the hall to Ember’s room toward Sid and April. Toward everything that mattered. How could he have been so stupid? So blind?

  So scared.

  He’d made a freakin’ career out of scared. Running from strong emotion, from attachment. From love, dammit. But he was done with that. No more.

  The only thing he was scared of now was that it might be too late.

  The door to Sid’s room was closed. He tapped on it and April called for him to come in. He did. The reason for the closed door became quickly evident. They’d plugged in a fan-forced portable heater. Sid lay in the middle of the bed, bracketed by April on one side and Ember on the other. She now wore fleecy pajamas. Scott was willing to bet Jace had pre-heated the PJs in the overworked dryer too. She sat reclined against the pillows, with both arms out from under the blankets, which he took as a very good sign.

  “Good grief!” Ember said. “You look like a scarecrow.”

  He looked down at the sweats he’d dug out of Titus’s room. The athletic pants weren’t too horrible. They were loose at the waist, but the drawstring solved that. At least he hadn’t had to roll the bottoms up. He couldn’t say the same for the Title Boxing classic hoodie. Without his brother’s bulk filling it out, the sleeves reached his fingertips and the waist hung so low, it looked like he was trying to conceal a muffin top. Which he sort of was, with all that material bunched under the drawstring of the athletic pants.

  “That’ll be enough out of you,” he said, giving Ember a stern look. “Have you forgotten that I lived through the nineties with you? I mean, crimped hair? On a redhead? Scrunchies? That weird lip liner thing…”

  “Enough said.” Ember held up her hands.

  He went to the foot of the bed, rolling up his sleeves as he went. “How you doing, kiddo?”

  “Better,” Sid said, dipping her head almost shyly. “Jace brought that hot fan and some hot water bottles.” She lifted the blankets to look under. “I’ve got one on either side. Oh, and a heating pad at my feet, but I have to wear some of Mom’s big wooly socks to make sure I don’t get burned. I think I’m finally warmed up.”

  He looked at his sister. “What do you say, Dr. Standish? Is Sid the Kid no longer a cool cat?”

  Ember smiled. “I’m happy to say she is not. Temp’s very acceptable. I’d like to see an adult sleep with her tonight, though, to share body warmth. She shouldn’t have any trouble regulating her temperature, but it couldn’t hurt.”

  “Oh, I planned to do that,” April said.

  Ember nodded. “I knew you wouldn’t let her out of your sight. Just wanted to make sure you’d snuggle in the same bed.” She glanced around the room. “I’d take that heating pad out before you settle down, and maybe even ratchet that heater back a bit at the same time.”

  “Would you and Jace consider staying?” Scott asked. “Titus’s bed is free.”

  “Of course we will. I expect Jace has already changed the bedding.” She grinned. “I’m not really worried. I mean, Sid’s doing great, as you can see. But if you do have any questions or concerns, I’d rather be on hand, you know?”

  “Thank you.” April reached across Sid to squeeze Ember’s hand. “You don’t know what this means to me.”

  “Happy to do it,” she said. “But again, you guys did all the heavy lifting with the pre-care.” She squeezed April’s hand back, then slid out of the bed. “I think I’ll leave you now, if you’re good?” She glanced at April for her approval.

  April nodded. “We’re good. Go take care of Jace. He’s been running himself ragged looking after everyone else.”

  “I will.” Her smile was a little too wicked for Scott’s taste. “He’s certainly earned a special reward, I think.”

  “Whoa.” It was Scott who threw up his hands this time. “TMI.”

  Ember laughed, then batted her eyes innocently at him. “What? I meant a relaxing massage.”

  “Of course you did.”

  “Or a game of Scrabble,” Sid offered, quietly.

  Everyone laughed, and it was more with relief that the little girl had made a joke than the joke itself.

  “See you in the morning, Sid the Kid.”

  “’Night, Ember. And thanks. Those warm blankets were the best thing I ever felt.”

  “They are pretty awesome, aren’t they?” Still grinning, Ember left, closing the door behind her to preserve the heat. Or maybe their privacy.

  Now that he had the girls to himself, Scott felt awkward. Tongue-tied. He moved around to the side of the bed Ember had just vacated.

  Sid looked up at him with those big, luminous eyes suddenly brimming with tears. “How’s Axl? He got awful wet helping me.”

  “He’s doing great,” he said. “Jace dried him really well—even used a hairdryer on him. His hair kind of looks a bit fluffy now. Then he gave the old boy the same warm blanket routine you got. We also gave him some pain medicine in case his bones ache from all the excitement.”

  “I’m so sorry.” The gathered tears spilled. “I didn’t mean for him to get wet or worn out. I didn’t mean for anything bad to happen. I just wanted…” Her words trailed off and she looked away, blinking rapidly.

  “I think I know what you were doing up there,” he said gently, as she dashed away tears. “You went up there to wish on the stars, right? Because of the story I
told you about how they’re so close.”

  She nodded. April handed her a tissue and she blotted her face.

  “Blow,” April instructed.

  Sid blew her nose noisily, then crumpled up the tissue. “I know it was dangerous. But it was my last chance. I was going to wish on all the stars I could until they faded away, and then I was going to wish and wish some more, as hard as I could. Because the stars are still there, right? Even when we can’t see them?”

  He recognized the words as his own. “They are,” he said, sitting down on the edge of her bed. “I promise you they’re always there.”

  She ducked her head again and her lower lip trembled. “So when we’re in Boston and I look up at the stars, they’ll be the same ones as you’ll be seeing in Alberta?”

  “Absolutely. But about that…” He looked across Sid to her mother. “Would you mind if your mom and I talked privately?”

  Sid looked up, her incredulous gaze going from one adult to the other. “Uh…you want me to leave?”

  April’s eyes had widened at Scott’s words, but she had to smother a smile at Sid’s reaction.

  “No way,” he said. “You stay there with all that heating apparatus. Your mom and I will just step into the hall for a few minutes. Would that be okay? We’ll be right outside, and I won’t keep her too long.”

  “Take your time,” Sid said, a completely different gleam coming into her eyes, one that owed nothing to the shimmer of tears. The kid was sharp. “Keep her as long as you like. The heat is making me sleepy anyway.” She produced a convincing yawn.

  He stood, looking at April. “Shall we?”

  She gave Sid a kiss on the top of her head. “Be right back.”

  He followed her out of the room, pulling the door closed behind him.

  ♥ ♥ ♥

  April could feel her pulse throbbing in her throat. What could he have to say that he couldn’t say in there?

  “Marry me.”

  What? Sudden tears stung her eyes and made her throat ache. “That’s not funny, Scott. I’ve had a long day and I can’t…” She shook her head. “I just can’t.”