“I think so,” she said, issuing a frustrated grunt. “I was trying to get to the bathroom, and I lost my balance. Hit my head on the dresser.”
“Where?” he asked as he wrapped an arm around her and gently guided her to sit up.
She leaned against the dresser as she brought her hand up to feel around the crown of her head. “Here.” She took his hand and placed it on the spot.
A pump knot was already forming.
“We need to get you to the ER,” he said, doing his level best to tamp down the panic rising in his chest.
“You’ll do no such thing,” Kit protested. “My name is Kit Wilde, short for Katherine.” She rattled off a couple other facts to prove she was lucid. Facts like the day of the week, her birthday, and the address.
“Then at least allow me to grab an ice pack,” he said. It could help with any pain.
“That I can live with.” Kit smiled with that grandmotherly warmth in her eyes. “I’m sorry to be such a pain.”
“You couldn’t be.”
“I’ve been thinking about what you said about Lynn. It couldn’t have been easy on you, and I’m figuring you took care of your wife all by your lonesome.”
He nodded, unsure where this was going.
“You shouldn’t have to step in and take care of an old lady like me,” she said. “It’s time you live your life for yourself, Blaize. I mean it, and I believe the others will agree.”
“Not a chance.” There was no way Kit was leaving the home she’d built. He frowned. “Are you trying to kick me out?”
Kit laughed.
“Would you go?” she asked.
“Nah. Probably not.” He smiled. “You raised me and my brothers. I may not have heard back from them yet, but I will. And they’ll agree with me, by the way.”
She folded her arms across her chest and pouted.
“What can I say? We love you, and it’s your turn to be taken care of. And it’s high time you reclaimed your bedroom.” He shook his head. “I have no idea what Cormac was thinking, butif he was alive, I’d…” One look at her said he was hurting her feelings by insulting her son. “I’m sorry, Kit. What he’s done to this place burns me up.”
“You don’t know what happened to Cormac to turn him that way.”
What?
CARYS GAVE Aself-satisfied smile after successfully changing a diaper and feeding Rue a bottle. Now the baby was happily stretching her hands out in front of her, cooing, and basically looking at this world like everything was miraculous. Carys couldn’t remember the last time she felt that way about anything in life. As a child, she’d been suffocated, miserable. Taking charge of her life meant being cut off by her father, a choice no person should’ve had to make.
She exhaled a slow breath and refocused. It was Saturday, her day off from work. She could turn her phone off and not worry about her boss figuring out what she’d done. At least, not today. That would be Monday’s problem, if it surfaced at all. Could she hide all this from work?
Relinquishing custody of a child to their parent was something Carys did on a regular basis. Technically, there was no proof that Blaize wasn’t the biological father. Sure, a simple spit test would do the trick in a matter of hours, but she hadn’t filed her report yet and so there was no reason for work to question that she’d done the right thing.
There were a few wrong things to worry about. For instance, staying overnight. That was out of the bounds of her job description and could be scrutinized should this case go to court. The storm could explain being stranded. Blaize offered shelter in said storm. The kiss they’d shared might be a bigger issueif questioned about developing a personal relationship with the father of her charge.
That would be the point the case could go south faster than a beginner skater on ice.
Wanting Blaize wasn’t an issue. Her body craved his touch. She’d dreamt about his hands on her last night. The kiss they’d shared had been soul-defining. It also caused her to question what she knew about attraction. Had she been settling for partners who either couldn’t commit to a relationship or were too clingy? Finding middle ground seemed impossible. Finding someone who saw her through Blaize’s eyes seemed unthinkable. Finding someone who made her want things like a real love with a person who loved her back was unimaginable.
Keeping everyone at arm’s length was her superpower. Who was she without it?
She listened for signs from the bedroom that Kit was all right. Seeing her lying on the floor, curled up on her side, had caused Carys’s stress levels to shoot through the roof. The distraction of caring for Rue kept Carys’s nerves at a level above panic.
Considering Carys never saw herself as the “get married and have kids” type, the satisfaction she got from calming the baby took her by surprise.
Maybe she could consider getting a cat? Or should start small with trying to keep a houseplant alive? The responsibility of day-to-day care would be different than her little win this afternoon.
