by Leanne Banks
Then he devoured her.
Although he was now sleeping like the dead, an hour earlier he had turned the tables on her, alternately seducing her with the feather and his mouth. Who would have thought something as unsubstantial as a feather could make her scream? She closed her eyes and covered her burning cheeks at the thought. She’d been so embarrassed she’d tried to crawl under the covers, but Eli, unable to suppress his gentle amusement, hadn’t allowed her to hide.
Something more profound than love play, however, had transpired between them. He had endured her need to pleasure him and his own need to claim her. For all her teasing, through Eli’s giving, she had become his. Through the sharing, she had been completely taken.
It had started almost the moment they’d met. In the past, the men in her life had been content to take. Eli had instead insisted on giving—understanding when she’d needed it, care when she was sick.
She looked at his face, his lips swollen from kisses, his eyelashes shielding the fire in his eyes, the hard line of his determined jaw unsoftened by sleep. Her chest squeezed tight with tenderness. She shook her head in wonder. He had been persistently attentive, and it had been the everyday attention that had conquered her, she realized. Not grand gestures or big promises.
No pretending anymore. He hadn’t actually asked, but she was committed in a way she’d never been before. If something hurt Eli, it would hurt her, too. If he was happy, she would feel his joy. She sensed it was the same way for him.
Exhilaration and fear battled for dominance inside her. She loved him so much she thought she would burst with it, yet Andie had learned the hard way relationships could fall apart with no warning. There could be no easy parting between them, now. Her heart twisted with the bittersweet knowledge. They’d shared too much.
* * *
“Chicken pox,” the pediatrician confirmed as he surveyed the telltale spots on Fletch’s trunk. He chucked Fletch under the chin and smiled encouragingly, then scribbled some directions on the blue prescription pad. “If he gets uncomfortable you can purchase both of these over the counter,” he said to Eli. “Discomfort is usually the main issue with chicken pox in children. It can be a little more troublesome with adults.”
“What about fever?” Eli asked, pulling Fletch’s striped shirt over his head.
“Children’s Tylenol. No aspirin.” He scribbled some more on his chart, then handed Eli the bill and gave Fletch another quick smile. “He should be fine. The chicken pox virus is very contagious, though, so you’ll want to keep him away from other kids until his lesions get crusty.” He opened the door and slid the chart in the wooden slot. “Call me if you have any problems.”
Eli paid the bill, then hustled Fletch into the car.
Fletch remained unusually quiet until they’d nearly reached home. “What does contag—contag—”
“Contagious,” Eli said. “It means that it’s very easy for other people to catch your virus and get sick.”
“Virus?” Fletch’s voice rose anxiously.
Hearing the thread of panic in Fletch’s tone, Eli gave his son’s stiff little shoulders a reassuring squeeze. “Chicken pox is a virus. You’ll itch a little bit, then you’ll get over it. You probably caught it from one of your friends. Has anybody in the neighborhood got it?”
Fletch paused. “Jennifer,” he finally said in a ominous tone. “I’m never playing with her again.”
Eli pulled to a stop in the driveway and regarded his son curiously. “Why not?”
“‘Cause she made me get sick!” So upset he looked ready to cry, Fletch unhooked his seat belt and pushed open the car door.
Eli’s heart gave a hard jerk at Fletch’s distress. He caught him just as he rounded the corner of the car. “Hey, hey. What’s going on here?” He pulled his little boy up into his arms, and Fletch fastened himself around Eli like a rubber band.
Eli’s heart gave another jerk. He closed the car door, then ruffled Fletch’s hair. “You’re gonna be okay. I think you’re feeling bad because of your fever. After we get inside, I’ll give you some medicine to make you feel better. Then you can go upstairs and take a n—” Eli made a quick modification. Fletch didn’t respond well to the N word. “You can relax. I’ll even let you have grape Kool-Aid in your bedroom if you promise to keep the sipper seal on your cup.”
Fletch glanced up at him. “Mrs. G. won’t like that.”
Pushing the door open, Eli laughed. “Yeah, well, since Mrs. G. is off for the whole weekend, maybe we won’t tell her. If you’re feeling better tonight, you can watch a Three Stooges movie with your uncles and me.”
“When are they gonna be here?”
Eli glanced at his watch and winced. “Sooner than I’ll be ready for them,” he muttered. He let Fletch slide to the floor and urged him upstairs. “C’mon, you need to get a little rest.”
After Eli bribed Fletch into bed by allowing the puppy to stay with him, he came downstairs to prepare for his brothers’ arrival. The most obvious reason Eli had invited his brothers for the weekend was that he was trying to give Fletch more of a sense of family. There was more involved, however, than the obvious. Being with Andie had made Eli aware that he’d let his relationship with his brothers fade to nearly nothing. Now, he was beginning to realize how important those brotherly bonds were.
He figured they should be able to fumble through a weekend as long as he had plenty of cold beer, pizza and a few Three Stooges videos.
He had beer. Unfortunately, the refrigerator was broken. He made a quick call to a twenty-four-hour repair service and was told the repairman would show by nine o’clock. He put the beer in the refrigerator anyway.
After making a call to the pizza delivery, he learned they were in the process of moving and wouldn’t be delivering against until September.
“Dad. Brownie peed on the floor,” Fletch called from the top of the steps. “Can I have some more Kool-Aid?”
“Just a minute.” Ignoring the phone, Eli grabbed the paper towels. He’d hoped Brownie was finally trained, but the puppy just couldn’t seem to contain his excitement or control his bladder. After cleaning up the puddle, Eli put Brownie in the kennel downstairs, gave Fletch a refill and ordered him back to bed.
The first thread of uneasiness ran through him when he punched the button on his answering machine for messages and heard Andie apologetically inform him that she had to work late.
Then the doorbell rang.
“Dad, all my Kool-Aid is gone, and I gotta go to the bathroom,” Fletch yelled from his room.
“Go ahead, I’ll be up in a minute,” Eli called as he opened the door.
Drenched, Ash stood in the doorway. “Hey, bro.”
Eli took in the sight of his two-hundred-pound baby brother, and his heart gave an odd clutch. “You always did ignore weather reports.”
Ash pushed his damp hair from his face and strode through the doorway. Water dripped from his duffel bag and boots. “It was a great day to ride my bike—sunny in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina. The sky opened up when I hit the North Carolina border.”
Eli shook his head. “I’m checking the date. It’s got to be Friday the thirteenth. Come on in.” He put his hand on Ash’s shoulder and urged him down the hall.
Ash, who had been persistently cheerful since birth, grinned through his dampness and cocked his head to one side. “Rough day, Oh Great One?”
Eli felt himself respond to Ash’s good-natured jab despite the chaos. Throughout his growing-up years, both his brothers had razzed him with the nickname to keep his head from swelling. Funny how it used to annoy him. Now it made him feel connected. “Do you know how long it’s been since someone called me that?”
“You mean they don’t call you Great One in the lab?”
“No. The neighbors call me Dr. Frankenstein when they think I’m not listening.” His lips twitched. “Andie nearly skinned one of the men alive over it.”
“Andie’s the babe next door,” Ash recalled with
a nod and stopped at the stairs. “Wasn’t she a nurse? I may need someone to tend to my wounds,” he said waggling his eyebrows. “I think I got a scratch when I put down my kickstand.”
Eli’s gut instinctively tightened. Ash was just teasing, he told himself, but he knew his baby brother had turned into one hell of a flirt. On the off chance that Ash wasn’t needling him, Eli set the record straight. “Andie doesn’t tend to other men. I keep her busy.”
Ash’s grin glinted with mischief. “Just checkin’.”
Eli relaxed and nodded. “Glad you could make it. You want to take a shower?”
Ash nodded. “Dinner afterward?”
“I’m working on it.”
For all his joking, Ash had never possessed much of a sense of humor about food. He gave Eli a worried glance. “Working on it?”
“Got a little problem with the refrigerator, and the pizza delivery place is temporarily closed, but—” The doorbell rang again. “That’s either the refrigerator repairman or Caleb.”
“Where’s Fletch?”
“In theory, he’s taking a nap,” Eli said and opened the door to his other brother.
Laptop computer in hand, Caleb regarded Eli with a familiar glazed expression as he stood there silently.
Eli immediately knew Caleb hadn’t cut down on his hours in the lab. Behind those wire-rimmed glasses, his brother was in a different world. But that discussion was for a different time. Sighing, he waved Caleb through the door. “How was your trip? Did the rain slow you down?”
Caleb’s brows knitted together. “Rain?”
Eli stifled a groan. It was worse than he’d thought.
“Have you got somewhere I can set up?” Caleb asked, looking around. “I had a few ideas on the way and wanted to key them in before I forgot.”
“My study’s the second door on the left. I’ll try to rustle up some dinner....” Caleb was already walking down the hall.
The irony struck him and he shook his head. While Caleb probably wouldn’t think about food until midnight, Ash would start gnawing on the woodwork if Eli didn’t find something in five minutes. Glancing out the door, he noticed Caleb’s headlights were still on and ran to turn them off. At least he’d turned off the engine.
The refrigerator guy showed, and just as Eli had decided to feed Ash a peanut butter sandwich, Andie swept through the door with bags from a local restaurant.
He was so glad to see her he took her in his arms, bags and all. She felt like heaven. “How did you know we needed food?”
She pulled back and looked at him with knowing humor in her eyes. “I had a feeling you might wait until the last minute to order pizza.”
“Just a feeling, huh.” Eli kissed her thoroughly, tasting her lips and soaking up the pleasure of holding her.
Ash cleared his throat loudly. “Excuse me, but—”
Eli reluctantly ended the kiss. “What?”
“Food.”
Andie’s cheeks turned scarlet. She wriggled away. “Oh, here,” she said, thrusting the bags on the table. “I stopped by this little place right here in Cary called Serendipity. There are plenty of sandwiches and they make the best gazpacho soup and chocolate chip pecan pie with whipped cream.” Taking a quick breath, she glanced around and self-consciously pushed her hair behind her ear. “Where’s Caleb?”
Ash had already unwrapped a sandwich. “Having an intimate experience with his laptop.”
Andie looked confused.
“He’s working in my study,” Eli clarified.
She nodded. “And Fletch?”
Eli groaned and wiped his hand over his face. “He’s got chicken pox.” He swore. “I was supposed to take him some Kool-Aid. It’s been almost an hour.”
“I’ll do it,” she offered, stepping around the table. “You go ahead and eat.”
“No, I—”
Andie shook her head. “Really,” she said, waving him off. “Spend a few minutes with your brother. Let me see if I can make Fletch feel a little better. I do this for a living. Remember?” she asked in a pseudostern voice, then quickly filled a cup and left.
Eli watched her go and felt his heart squeeze with emotion. God, he was in love with her.
“So, the Great One has finally fallen,” Ash said.
Eli met his brother’s considering gaze and nodded. “Yeah. All the way.”
Ash slid a sandwich across the table. “Well, she won’t let you starve.”
His brother was speaking of food, but Eli remembered sipping wine from her skin. He gave a rough chuckle. “So true.”
For the first time today, Eli eased back in his chair and relaxed. He asked Ash about the construction business in Florida and took some ribbing when he told him about his recent award. He was just about to take some food to Caleb when Andie returned to the room with a worried expression on her face. He immediately stood.
“I looked under his bed and in his closet. I checked your bedroom and the bathroom.”
Eli’s heart plunged. “What are you saying?” he asked hoarsely.
She shook her head helplessly. “I can’t find Fletch.”
* * *
Within seconds Ash set down his second sandwich and Caleb cut off his computer. They searched the house. Andie grabbed her slicker, but Eli had already gone outside.
Stepping into the rainy night, she heard Eli calling Fletch. Her stomach twisted. The night was black as pitch, but she could still picture the rigid anguish on Eli’s face when he’d realized Fletch was missing.
She ran to catch up with him and squeezed his shoulder. “We’ll find him, Eli,” she told him.
He swore. “I should have checked on him sooner, but I swear the whole damn house went nuts. Fletch was freaked about getting chicken pox.” He shook his head. “I still don’t understand.”
His words nudged at something in the back of her mind. She couldn’t put her finger on it, not with the rain pouring down, not with Eli so worried she could feel it standing next to him. Not with Fletch missing.
They split up after they searched Eli’s yard and garage. Eli went down the street calling out Fletch’s name. Andie checked her yard again and again. Desperation edged in and she began to make bargains.
“Come on, Fletch. I brought pie and you haven’t had any.”
Silence.
“You can have frozen yogurt.”
Silence.
Huddled beneath Andie’s porch, Fletch clutched his llama closer to him. It was wetter and darker than he’d thought it would be. He missed his Flintstones night-light. He’d gotten scared when the doctor said he had a virus, but his dad made him feel a little bit better. When he was in bed, though, he started thinking about the virus that killed his mom. He got so scared his stomach started hurting. He didn’t know what else he could do but leave. Now Andie was calling and Fletch wanted to go home, but he knew he shouldn’t.
“Fletch, honey, chicken pox isn’t that bad. It’ll be gone before you know it.”
Her voice sounded as if she might be crying. Fletch swallowed over a hard lump in his throat.
“Fletch, your daddy and I love you. We want you home, so we can take care of you.”
He squished his eyes closed. All his insides hurt.
“Fletch, your father is worried. He’s so sad.”
A sob squeezed through his tight throat, and Fletch started to cry.
“Fletch—”
Andie heard a muffled broken sound and froze. Her heart seemed to stop. She waited agonizing seconds and heard the heartrending sound of a child crying helplessly beneath the porch steps.
“Fletch!” She nearly stumbled in her haste. “Eli!” she screamed. “He’s here.” Dropping to her knees, she reached toward him in the dark, but he shrank backward.
“No,” Fletch said, shaking his head. “I got a virus, and you might get sick.”
Although he fought her, she pulled him out. “No, I won’t, sweetheart. I’ve had chicken pox before.”
His small frame rigid wi
th distress, he continued to cry. “But the doctor said I’m very contag—contag—”
“Contagious?” Andie wiped her own tears. “That doesn’t mean—”
“Fletch!” Eli rounded the corner of the house. “Oh, thank God.” He had died a thousand deaths in the past fifteen minutes. Sweet relief ran through him when he saw Fletch and Andie. Walking closer, he extended his arms. “Come here.”
Fletch shook his head and started screaming. “No! No! Go away!”
Eli froze in shock, glancing at Andie, who looked as confused as he was.
“I’ll make you sick like I made Mommy sick, then you’ll die,” he wailed.
His heart breaking, Eli shook his head. “You didn’t make your mother sick.”
“Yes I did,” he insisted. “She died ‘cause I gave her a virus I got from day care.”
Fletch’s words echoed between the three of them for an endless moment. Horrified that Fletch thought he’d been responsible for Gail’s death, Eli slowly walked closer. “No.” When Fletch started to protest again, Eli lifted his hand. “You must listen to me. I won’t get chicken pox.”
“But—”
“You’ve got to trust me, Fletch.” Eli shot a quick glance to Andie and felt her support clear to the bone. He just wished he deserved it.
Kneeling, he took one of his son’s small resistant hands in his. He looked at the child who’d come to mean the world to him. “Your mother caught a virus in South America. She was very sick when she came home.” He tried to think of a way to simplify the explanation. “The virus made her heart sick and that’s why she died. You don’t have the same virus.”
Fletch’s face crinkled in confusion. He sniffed. “But I got one in day care right before she went to the hospital.”
“That’s right. You got a bad cold and sore throat. Your mom didn’t catch your virus. She got sick in South America.”
He sniffed again and swallowed. His eyes were wide with tentative hope. “Does that mean I didn’t make her die?”
Eli’s eyes burned. His heart ached. Although it took all his strength, he kept his voice steady. He wanted to brand these words on Fletch’s heart and mind. “You absolutely, positively did not make your mother sick. And you absolutely, positively did not make your mother die.”