by Pepper North
Everyone watched as he pulled out his phone and entered the number. He tilted the phone so that everyone could hear the tones that signaled a disconnected number. “I’ll do some research. I have a feeling that’s not your current number but a phone number from your past—maybe your childhood. It’s a clue to help us. I’ll also check the missing persons listing. There’s no one matching your description on the list now.” He quickly took a picture of Rita.
The flash made her eyes water in pain. She pressed the fresh ice pack to her head more firmly. Nodding slightly as he apologized, Rita closed her eyes and clung to Bart’s hand. She missed the officer’s departure from the room.
Chapter 5
In a flurry of activity, the emergency room doctor returned to share the results of the testing along with a nurse that brought in a pain reliever just slightly more potent than an over-the-counter drug. The doctor introduced himself to Bart while the unfamiliar nurse raised the head of Rita’s bed higher and helped her take the medicine. When she had swallowed the pill, the doctor opened her chart and reviewed the findings.
Speaking to Bart, he said, “I understand that you were with her when she suffered the head injury? Do you know anything about Rita’s medical history?”
When the veterinarian shook his head no, the doctor continued, “There is no sign of swelling of the brain tissue. This is an excellent sign. Because of the memory loss and Rita’s other symptoms, it’s clear that she has a serious concussion. She will need care and supervision while she recovers. Will you be able to stay with her?”
“I’m going to take her with me with your okay. I have a country home that I was headed to when we met,” Bart informed the physician.
Rita watched him carefully. She didn’t want to be a burden. She opened her mouth to volunteer that she could take care of herself, but she realized she had no idea where to go. The thought of those shadowy figures flashed into her mind, and she slid her hand into Bart’s. He quickly reassured her with a squeeze of his fingers as the doctor continued.
“Since we are unsure of her primary care physician, I will count on your medical skills to note if she has concerning signs such as a worsening headache or confusion. Wake her up, every three hours at least, to make sure that you can rouse her easily. For her headache, treat with ice, on and off and stay away from aspirin-based pain relievers. Those could cause bleeding in the brain. Consult a physician or bring Rita back to the hospital if her symptoms worsen,” the doctor advised.
He looked at Rita and cautioned her, “You’ll feel bad for several days. Don’t do too much physically or mentally. Be mindful of what your body and mind are telling you. Don’t push yourself, or you’ll delay your recovery.”
Pausing to choose his words carefully, the doctor glanced over at Bart and then back at Rita. “Your recovery could be very frustrating. The amnesia could disappear in three hours or three months, maybe longer. Your brain is in charge. You may regain chunks of memories or strange bits of information may appear. There’s no way to rush it.”
“I’ll make sure she takes it easy, doctor,” Bart said as he squeezed her fingers once again before letting go of her hand to shake the doctor’s and thank him for taking care of Rita.
Joanne walked in with several pieces of paper. “I’ve got all the recommendations for dealing with a concussion here. When you sign these papers, you’ll be free to go.”
Chapter 6
Bart hurried to the far end of the parking lot to retrieve his truck and trailer in the early dawn light. Driving to the front of the hospital, he jumped out to lift Rita from the wheelchair that Joanne had required her to ride in as they exited the emergency room. When she tried to fuss that she was too heavy, he was already placing her into the passenger seat without any sign of distress or struggle. Bart patted her leg and leaned across her to fasten her seatbelt.
When Rita looked up cautiously for the bar that had hung over her head, it surprised her to find that it was no longer there. She smiled at Bart as he slid into the driver’s seat before apologizing, “I’m sorry that you’re stuck with me. You could drop me off at a hotel ...” she began before the smile slid from her lips as she realized that she had no money or credit cards to pay for a room. The reality of her situation crashed over her. What was she going to do?
“You’re going to stay with me where I can keep an eye on your health and make sure you’re protected from harm.” Bart’s voice left no wiggle room for her to deny his assertion.
“Are you sure?” she asked in a small, quivering voice.
“I found you. I’m keeping you,” he announced with a smile before laughing and lightening the mood. “Well, Gumdrop found you.”
A companionable silence fell over the cab. Rita peeked over at Bart after several minutes. “Aren’t you going to feel strange riding a horse named Gumdrop?” she asked with a smirk.
“Gumdrop is for my Little girl.”
“Oh,” she answered in a tiny voice. Rita’s heart sank. Deep inside her, she knew that she’d been looking for a Daddy for a long time. Now, she’d found one but, he already had a Little girl. Trying to figure out what to do, Rita was still debating when Bart pulled into a driveway, passing a farmhouse to drive to the large barn.
“Do you want to go into the barn with me, Little girl, or do you want to stay here and rest?” Bart asked, looking at her as he turned off the truck.
Thinking fast, Rita answered, “I’ll just stay here and see if I can go to sleep. My head will feel better after I sleep for a while.” She knew that she would need to disappear to allow Bart to be with his Little.
“It’s been a long time since we’ve both eaten, I guess. Are you hungry?” Bart asked, reaching past her knees to remove a box of protein bars from the glove box. When her stomach growled in response, he pulled out one individually wrapped packet and opened it for her. “Here, eat one of these.”
Bart inhaled his bar quickly and watched her take a tentative bite from hers. He smiled as she quickly chewed and took a bigger bite before saying. “They’re good, aren’t they? Have another bar or two if you’re hungry. I’ll go unload Gumdrop. I’ll be back as soon as I get her loaded in the back.”
Hearing Gumdrop’s name made Rita remember that Bart already had a Little girl and couldn’t be her Daddy. Her eyes dropped to the almost finished bar in front of her. If only Bart could still be looking for his Little girl, Rita thought sadly. Quickly, she covered her thoughts by saying, “Be careful. Tell Gumdrop hello for me.” She popped the last morsel into her mouth to keep from blurting out anything else.
Bart nodded and slid from behind the wheel. He surprised her by rounding the hood of the truck, and instead of heading into the barn, the kind man opened her door. “If you’re finished eating, let’s lay your seat back so you can be comfortable,” he murmured as he operated a lever to lower her seatback.
Closing her door, Bart opened the back door into the extended cab to reach into the back of the seat. He leaned over her to pull the blanket from its new storage place. The smaller segments of the rod that had extended over her head clinked together.
His position stretched across her body brought his lips close to her. Unable to stop, Rita licked her naturally red lips as his drew her attention. Her eyes flew to meet his when a deep groan sounded in his throat.
“Little girl, you may be the death of me,” he said, his deep voice sounding even lower, guiltily drawing her attention to his face seconds before his lips took hers.
It was not a soft, introductory kiss. Bart’s lips pressed hers apart as if it was his right to kiss her. Her soft gasp of delight only allowed him freer access to the interior of her mouth as his tongue swept in to meet hers. He did not allow her to remain passive but drew a response from her.
Rita couldn’t resist the delight of his kiss. Eagerly, she pressed her mouth to his savoring the masculine, clean flavor that was simply his. Her arms looped around his neck as she arched from the reclined seat to press her torso against his. S
he wished that this moment would never end and protested with a low whining sound as he raised his lips just enough to break their contact.
“Oh, Little girl, how you make me forget that I’m supposed to be taking care of you, not kissing the breath from you,” Bart murmured against her lips.
“Please!” she begged, holding her breath. To her delight, his lips pressed against hers once again. Avoiding the bump on the side of her head, Bart threaded his fingers through her thick brown hair and tugged slightly, drawing her attention from her injury and sending an erotic thrill down her spine. All thoughts fled from her mind as she focused on the feel of his mouth seducing her.
A low sound of disappointment slipped from her when his lips rose from hers, and his body lifted away from Rita. After spreading the blanket over her body, Bart stopped to look at her before cupping her chin. He tilted her eyes up to meet his and said, “Sleep, Little girl. I’ll load Gumdrop, and I’ll be right back.”
Her heart sank as he stepped back to close the door, enclosing her in the cab. She heard him lower the gate on the trailer before she saw him enter the large building. His words reminded her he already had a Little girl and had even bought Gumdrop for her. She was sure that horses were expensive and required a lot of attention and care for years. Buying one for someone was a sign of a lasting commitment. He was already taken. She wasn’t the type to mess with someone who was already in a committed relationship. That wasn’t fair to anyone involved.
Rita knew what she needed to do. When he disappeared into the barn, Rita forced her body to sit back up in the chair. Shoving the blanket to the side, she turned quickly to find the door latch. Her hand tightly gripped the armrest as she was forced to pause for the dizziness to subside.
When her eyes would focus once again, Rita tried to find a balance between moving too rapidly and making herself dizzy. She needed to fl while Bart was still occupied in the barn. She didn’t know who his Little was, but she’d been lucky enough to find her Daddy. Rita didn’t want to interfere.
Sliding from the tall cab seemed like a mile-long drop. The impact of her feet striking the ground took her breath away, and she gripped the door. Panting as her brain seemed to slosh around inside her skull. Dizzy and not able to focus well, Rita forced herself to step away from the cab and push the door closed as quietly as possible.
She rested her hand against the cool metal of the truck and made herself move around the front of the vehicle. Rita had just reached the driver’s side when she heard the jingle of Gumdrop’s reins. Leaning down slightly to hide behind the tall truck, she waited until she heard Bart patiently encouraging Gumdrop to climb the ramp into the trailer and heard the horse’s feet step up on the metal floor.
Hurrying as fast as she could, Rita walked unsteadily toward the woods that lined the long drive. She didn’t want Bart to feel burdened by her or responsible for taking care of her. Her fingers rose to press against her lips. She hoped someday if she was lucky enough to find her Daddy that he was just like Bart.
Her eyes closed briefly as tears overwhelmed her vision. She’d been too late to find the kind man. He belonged to some other Little.
“Where did you come from, darling?” a rough voice asked from the side.
Rita turned to look at an older man with silvery hair. His lean muscled body filled his worn jeans and a denim jacket. She tried to come up with a good story, but her head was pounding. Her hand automatically went to her injury as she tried to soothe away the pain.
“Did you ride in with Bart, honey?” he asked. When she looked at him in confusion, trying to come up with a story, he walked forward to wrap an arm around her. “Are you hurt? You look like you’re about ready to drop in your tracks. Let’s go talk to my buddy, Bart. I don’t want him to think I’m poaching his girl.”
“He already has a Little girl,” Rita blurted out as she leaned against this friendly stranger for support.
The older man’s blue eyes softened, and he looked at the curvy woman tucked next to him. “I think we need to talk to Bart even more. Bart has been searching for his Little for a long time. I suspect he may think he’s met her now.”
“I know. I just need to go,” Rita confessed. The tears that had been threatening began to roll down her cheeks. Crying only made her head hurt more. She tried to stop as she brushed the tears away, but they just kept falling.
“Rita? What are you doing outside the truck? Did you need to go to the restroom?” A familiar voice sounded close to her. She turned her head to watch the handsome man finish covering the distance that separated them.
“I was worried about her, Bart. She didn’t seem to move well.” As Bart reached them, the older man continued, “She is upset. I believe she thinks you have a Little girl and that she should go.” He stepped back to allow Bart to take his place supporting the brunette.
“I’ll just go. I’ll be okay. I’m sorry I’ve delayed your Little getting to meet Gumdrop.” Rita tried to step away from the man who had saved her, but he tightened his arm around her waist, holding her next to him. Futilely, she resisted as Bart turned her to face at him. Her eyes dropped to the dirt under her once white sneakers.
When he dropped to his knees, her eyes flew to meet his. “I think you misunderstood, Rita. I bought Gumdrop so that whenever I was lucky enough to find my Little girl, she would have a horse to ride. I didn’t have a Little girl before I met you,” he stressed, running a large hand over her cheek and threading his fingers back into her hair on the uninjured side of her head. “I didn’t know that buying Gumdrop would help me find a Little girl who I hope will turn out to be mine.”
Stepping forward into his arms, Rita collapsed against his muscular body. This time, she didn’t protest when he stood, and his arms looped under the curve of her bottom to lift her into his arms. She laid her head on his shoulder in relief as her mind stopped whirling in panic. Bart would take care of everything.
“Thanks, Dirk. I appreciate you making sure that Rita was okay and keeping her from running away before I could explain my words. She’s had a very hard last few hours. I’m taking her to SANCTUM with me to recover from her head injury. I owe you one for looking after Gumdrop for me,” he said with a smile.
“I’ll take you up on that one when I come to visit. You take care of Rita, or I may just try to steal her away,” he joked. His eyes twinkled when her arms tightened visibly around Bart’s neck. “Or better yet, I’ll just find my Little girl, and they can be friends. Come on. Let me open the door for you if you’ve got Gumdrop settled.”
In only a few minutes, the trio of a new mare and a handsome man with an exhausted Little girl stretched out with her head on his thigh set off down the driveway back to the highway. His strong, skilled hand wrapped around her shoulder as one of her hands clung to his leg under her cheek. Only then did Rita allow herself to sleep.
Chapter 7
Bart was used to missing a night’s sleep. Animals needing assistance came at all hours of the day and night. As he negotiated the secured entrance into SANCTUM, he watched Rita carefully. She had slept the entire morning as he drove to the remote community, plagued by bad dreams twice. To his relief, Rita had settled back into more pleasant sleep when he’d rubbed her back and softly reassured her.
Rita murmured sleepily as Bart brushed his warm hand over her shoulder and down her arm to rouse her. His blue eyes watched her carefully as he tried to assess how easily he could wake her. Concussions could be very serious. Her memory loss alone concerned him. To his relief, her big, brown eyes blinked opened and her hand tightened around his thigh.
Inwardly, Bart groaned as her fingers bit into his tense muscles. After he tilted his steering wheel up as high as possible when they’d first set out, Rita had settled into a more comfortable position with her head resting high on his leg, nestled against his pelvis. As she slept, Bart had felt her warm breath puff through the denim stretching tightly over his muscular leg. Other parts of his jeans had become tighter with each mile th
at they passed.
“Bart?” she asked sleepily before realizing just how intimately she was nestled against him. She pushed against his thigh to press up to sitting but swayed when the sudden motion seemed to make her dizzy.
His arm wrapped around her to steady her body. “Whoa, Little girl. You need to move slowly, okay?”
She leaned against him as those brown eyes closed in discomfort. “I’m really tired of my head feeling like this already,” she complained.
“I know. It will get better,” he reassured her.
“Do you think?” Rita asked, opening her eyes to scrutinize his expression.
“Yes,” Bart confidently answered. The veterinarian knew that amnesia could be a lingering ailment. There was no timetable for memories to return. The worst thing to do was to try to force them back. That never worked. He needed to keep her hopeful and relaxed to aid the process. He hated to admit even to himself that he hoped that regaining her memories would take a while. Already, he wanted to keep her with him.
Her eyes drifted past him to see a wide-open green space surrounding them. “We’ve stopped. Are we wherever you were planning to go?” she asked, moving her head slowly to look around. Behind her, she saw a large red barn with an open double-wide door. “Is this where Gumdrop will stay?”
“Yes. This is the barn we constructed to house our shared equipment, supplies, and horses. Come on. You can help me show Gumdrop her new home as you stretch your legs a bit. Stay right there. I’ll come to help you out,” Bart instructed before opening his door.
Before he had rounded the front of the vehicle, Rita opened her door. “Little girl, wait right there,” he sternly called. When she hesitated and didn’t try to slide from the truck, Bart controlled the smile that wanted to spread over his lips. She responds instantly to a dominant voice. It was just one more clue that she needed to have a Daddy to take care of her.