Because You're Mine(39)

Shudders wracked her body, and she couldn’t stop them. “What’s wrong with me?” she stammered through chattering teeth.

“Shock, I think.” Jesse shoved his hands in his pocket as he stood at the edge of the sofa where Barry laid her.

Alanna couldn’t bear to look at him.

She clenched her teeth to keep them from jittering. “Can I have a blanket?” she asked Barry.

“Of course.” He grabbed an afghan from across the back of a chair and laid it over her. He knelt beside her, and his warm breath caressed her face. He stroked her hair. “Are you hurting anywhere?”

The warmth enveloped her, but the shivers didn’t stop. No pain in her belly though, and she laid still with her hands protectively over her child. She couldn’t lose the only piece she had left of Liam. “I-I think I’m all right.”

He frowned at her bare feet. “You were outside again with no shoes? You could get snake bit.”

“You know I hate shoes.”

From outside, the ambulance screamed up the drive, the siren growing louder until it stopped with a final shriek right outside. Footsteps pounded up the porch then the front door shuddered with a fist pounding it. “Paramedics!” a voice shouted.

“I’ll let them in.” Jesse disappeared into the hall.

“What’s he doing here?” Barry asked, still stroking her hair.

“I don’t know. When I came to, he was standing over me.”

“Came to? What happened?”

She stared into his worried face. It was a bit dodgy that Jesse happened to be there right after she’d been pushed, but she couldn’t afford to let Barry forbid Jesse to come on the property—not if she wanted to get to the bottom of what happened to Liam. Could he have pushed her, then played the hero? It made a twisted kind of sense.

“I fell down the hill,” she said.

“I should have made you come in.” He tucked the afghan around her better. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you.” The paramedics came rushing in and he stepped back.

The paramedics checked her vitals and told her nothing serious appeared to be wrong. They bandaged the worst of her cuts and told her to rest. When a worried Barry asked if she should be transported to the hospital, the paramedics glanced to Alanna for input.

If her fall had damaged the baby, no doctor could fix it. “I think I’m all right,” she said. “But I wouldn’t turn down an ultrasound.”

“Is it okay if I take her in?” Barry asked.

The men nodded. “She’s in no danger.”

When the EMTs left, she realized Jesse had gone as well. On the way to the ER, she reflected on her attack and tried to remember anything in that moment before she fell, but nothing was coming to her. No whiff of cologne, no sense of who her attacker had been.

Shudders racked her again, but this time they were from knowing a madman was out there.

Barry escorted her into the emergency room, and she was quickly taken back to a room. The ultrasound showed the baby moving around with a strong heartbeat. Once she knew the baby was all right, fatigue weighed down her limbs, and she nearly fell asleep on the way home.

“Want me to help you to bed?” Barry asked when they reached the entry hall.

She still ached all over, and her skin throbbed from the cuts and bruises. “If you’re not minding, that would be lovely.”

She took his hand and he supported her with one arm around her waist. The warmth of his skin penetrated her clothing and strengthened her. His strength, his steadfastness, were what she needed right now.

He helped her up the stairs. The vertigo was disappearing, and she felt stronger by the time they reached the door to her room. Barry flipped on the light and led her to the bed, where he pulled back the covers and helped her climb in. The cool sheets that smelled of sunshine welcomed her.

“Could you get me a washcloth?”

He nodded, then stepped to the bathroom, and she heard water running before he returned with a warm washcloth. The bed sank as he sat on the edge by her feet and gently washed her face and arms. The hospital had tended to her cuts and scrapes, but traces of mud and grass still clung to her skin. The warmth of the water soothed her, and so did the steady grip of his hand on her ankle. Barry’s touch was growing more and more welcome to her, but she couldn’t help the feelings of guilt that welled up. Liam had been gone only a few months, and she had no business enjoying another man’s attention.

She pulled the sheet up over her legs. “It’s a good bloke you are, Barry,” she said, her voice husky.

He tucked the edges of the sheet around her. “You want me to stay with you? I can sit right here in the chair.”

“You need your rest. I’m fine now. Thanks for taking such good care of me.” She caught his hand and pressed it to her cheek. He had broader hands than Liam. Square-cut nails that were well cared for. Liam’s had been jagged where he chewed them sometimes.

Barry bent and brushed his lips across her forehead. His breath whispered over her face. “I’ll just be across the hall if you need me.”

She smiled up at him, and he stared back with such an intense gaze that her smile faltered. The passion in his eyes made her wish she could respond the way he wanted. “See you in the morning,” she said softly.

He retreated to the door and flipped off the light. “I’ll leave the door cracked so I can hear you if you call.”