“I’m fine,” he answered flatly, before adding on a thank you.
“Anything special you want for dinner?”
“I don’t have much of an appetite.”
“I thought you liked to eat,” she said, approaching the bed.
“I do, but not hungry today.”
She reached out and touched his forehead. His skin was smooth. He wasn’t feverish. He wasn’t cold, either. “Do you think it’s the pain meds?”
“Maybe.”
“Or your brothers leaving.”
For a moment, he said nothing then he let out a raspy laugh. “Am I that pathetic?”
There was no chair in the room and so she sat down on the edge of the bed. Her eyes were adjusting to the dim light, and she could see the light blue of his sling holding his left arm still. “You love them. That’s not a bad thing.”
“It’s hard being left behind. I wanted to be there this weekend.”
She bit her tongue to prevent her from answering. She couldn’t understand how Billy could even think of competing when he was so badly injured.
“At least Sam will be with Tommy. They’ll compete together for the team events, so that’s good,” Billy added, struggling to sit up.
She rose and adjusted a pillow behind his back. “Do you need another pillow?”
“This bed isn’t very comfortable.”
“Maybe because you’ve been in it all day. I bet you could use a change of scenery. You have a very nice leather recliner in the living room.”
“Is this your way of telling me you’re feeling lonely?”
She choked back a laugh. “In case you haven’t noticed, Beck keeps me quite busy.”
“And I haven’t done much to help out today,” he said, swinging his legs out from beneath the covers. His flannel shirt was half on, buttoned over the injured shoulder and arm. An ACE bandage wrapped tightly around his rips, giving her glimpses of bare skin.
“You get a pass today,” she said, smiling. “Now tomorrow, who knows?”
“And Beck? How is he?”
“He’s been napping but I think he’s waking up.”
“Does he need a bottle?”
“He will.” She watched him rise. He swayed a little on his feet. She nearly reached out to help him but stopped herself in time. “You okay?”
“Fine. Just give me a second.”
“You don’t need an arm on the way to the living room?”
“I have two of my own, and my legs work just fine.”
“Okay. I’m going to get Beck up from his nap, change him and then bring him to you for a bottle.”
When Erika emerged from her room, Billy was in his leather chair, a pillow wedged beneath his left elbow, the TV on to an early news broadcast.
She positioned Beck on Billy’s lap so that he could give the baby a bottle. “You’re good?” she asked him, cocking her head, frowning down at him.
“Do I not look good?” he drawled, giving her a look that made her blush.
He was so confident, but also so sexy. It wasn’t fair. He was completely out of her league. She had no idea how to manage him. “Fishing for compliments?” she flashed tartly.
“Just wanted to be sure I hadn’t lost my charm.”
She rolled her eyes. “If you’re good, I’d love to go take a shower.”
“Take your time. Beck and I are just going to be watching the news.”
*
After her shower, Erika heated up the leftover stroganoff for dinner, and then took Beck and put him on a blanket on the floor so Billy could eat.
She’d been worried there might not be enough, but Billy ate his fill, but didn’t ask for seconds, which was good, since there wasn’t any. She carried the dishes to the kitchen sink to soak and then refilled Billy’s tall water cup and brought him the prescription bottle from the kitchen counter. “You’re supposed to take this one with food in the evening,” she said.
“Thanks.”
She pulled the blue gel teething ring out of the diaper bag and handed it to Beck before sitting down on the couch. “Are you hurting?”
“A bit, but I’m holding off the pain meds until I go to bed. I don’t like to take them too often. Don’t want to get dependent on them. I’ll probably stop taking them in another day or so since they make me a little groggy.”
“Is groggy bad? You’re not supposed to be doing anything but healing right now.”
“I’ve got my horses to care for. Beck that needs attention. And you,” he said, looking straight at her, “have work to do. Work you haven’t been able to do. Two weeks in a row now.”
She was touched, and appreciated he was thinking of her. “Tomorrow, I’m hoping to get some work done.”
“Good.”
She was trying to feel optimistic, too, but she was also aware that Billy was limited in what he could do without help. She wasn’t even sure what he could do. He hadn’t asked her for any assistance today, but she knew his brothers had been like a morning nurse, changing his bandages, aiding him with his sling, before helping him with his shirt, ensuring he was partially dressed before they left. “What will you need me to do for before bed? Any bandages need to be changed?”
“Can you not say it like they’re diapers?”
She snorted, and then giggled at her own inelegant snort.
Billy lifted an eyebrow which only made her laugh all over again. Erika didn’t know why she was laughing, only that it felt good, and for the first time in a long time, she felt happy. And it was an amazing way to feel.
Chapter Seven
The next morning, Erika had only just finished making coffee and dressing when Billy appeared in the kitchen in nothing but baggy black sweatpants that hung off his lean hips, revealing a torso of chiseled abs and sinewy muscle. He had bruises across his chest, as well as scars, fresh scars from the recent surgery, and then older ones.
She tried to drag her gaze up to his face, but his body was fascinating. It was an athlete’s body, a mature man’s body, the embodiment of strength with so much muscle. She found herself wanting to study each hollow and shape, shadow and scar, tracing the lines and planes.
It took every ounce of her discipline to raise her gaze and look him in the eye. “Morning,” she said.
“Morning. Hoping you can give me a hand,” he said, holding a big Ziploc bag filled with gauze and tape, while stretchy bandages and the blue sling dangled from his fingers.
“Of course. How do you want to do this? What first?”
He set everything on the kitchen island and pulled out a stool and sat down. “Gauze and tape on the surgery wound, and then we’ll wrap my chest with the first bandage, and finally the sling.”
“Aren’t you supposed to have another stretchy bandage on top of the sling, to hold it all in place?”
“I’m not going to worry about it. Keeping the surgical wound clean is key, and then the rib compression thing helps a lot, and so does the sling.”
He walked her through covering up the dark red and purple wound on his shoulder. She could still see all the stitches and was glad when it was covered by the gauze, and securely taped.