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When she tugged them off, he didn’t protest. Oh yes, he was definitely sick. She went into the bathroom and returned with a cool, damp cloth. Dax didn’t open his eyes but as she placed the cloth over his forehead, he sighed.
“You might feel better undressed.” Her face heated to say such a thing, but the man was miserable.
“Later.” Voice weak, he lifted a weak hand. “Go.”
Gathering Sophie, she did as he commanded, backing out slowly, her gaze on him as long as possible. What was wrong? What if something terrible happened to Dax? He wasn’t one to complain and in fact, she’d noticed the way he shrugged off hurts such as Gavin’s bloody nose and his own more recent run-in with an angry cow that had left him with a dislocated finger. With gritted teeth, he’d yanked the joint back into place, slapped some ice on it and never mentioned the accident again.
This was something worse than a dislocation.
Fretting, she dried and dressed Sophie and rocked her for a while. The presence of her daughter soothed her nerves. When Sophie fell asleep again, Jenna put her to bed and tiptoed across the long house to Dax’s door.
Peeking through the crack she’d left, she saw a white rim around his lips and the frown of misery between his dark eyebrows.
When Gavin arrived home from school, she met him in the foyer with a finger to her lips. “Your daddy is not feeling very well, Gavin. We need to be extra quiet okay?”
Nodding sagely, the boy placed his schoolbag on the table and slid off his coat, taking special care to make no noise.
“Is it one of his headaches?” he whispered.
“Does your dad often suffer from bad headaches?”
“I can’t remember what they’re called. Grains, I think. Yeah, that’s it. Dad calls them his grains. They’re bad.”
“Migraines?” she asked, amused at the child’s misunderstanding.
The little face screwed up in sympathy. “You get ’em, too?”
“No, sweetheart. Thankfully, I have never suffered with the malady but I have encountered it.” Her mother had them at convenient times. Somehow she doubted Dax’s were the same. “Will you help me keep Sophie quiet in the nursery tonight so your daddy can recuperate?”
“Yep, but I got homework. The letter E. E is for egg.”
“Very good. Can you think of anything else that starts with the sound of egg?”
“Elephant. Like that clock in Sophie’s room.” He screwed up his face. “Elephant and egg and egg-cited.”
Jenna’s lips twitched. “Excited?”
“Yep. The way I feel about Christmas. I’m getting a bulldozer and a dump trunk. We’re having a party at school, too.”
“You are?”
“Yep. Miss Jenna?” He pulled papers from his bag and carried them to the kitchen table. “Are you coming back to my school?”
“I have to ask your father about it, but I hope to.” The day at Gavin’s elementary school had been one of the most interesting and enjoyable times she could remember. She’d never been in a public school classroom. The sounds and smells and colorful decor had captivated her. She’d read with a group of children, listened to their adorable chatter, and after serving cupcakes had helped put them down on little mats for a rest. When the teacher had asked her about volunteering once a week, calling her a natural with the kids, she’d been flattered and promised to give the offer some thought. But the answer had to come from Dax. He paid her to be here at the ranch.
“Noah said you’re pretty. He said Dad probably likes you.” Head bent as he carefully traced the letter E, his voice innocent as a lamb, he said, “I told him yes. Dad likes you a lot. Maybe Sophie will be my sister now.”
With a pang, Jenna patted his back and headed for the kitchen to prepare dinner. This was Gavin’s obsession with having a sibling and nothing more.
She took the marinated beef from the refrigerator, pausing with one hand on the oven dial.
Did Dax like her? She hoped so. She liked her job, loved the beauty of this austere country and was falling fast for Gavin. Most of all, she was safe here. In the days since Sophie’s birth, she’d traveled into Saddleback, shopped, had lunch with Crystal, all without hearing mention of the runaway heiress from Pennsylvania.
Her life here grew fuller and more fulfilling every day. She could easily think of Texas as home, and as long as she and her daughter were free of the smothering pressures of her former lifestyle, Jenna didn’t care if she was a domestic forever.
As she prepared dinner, she helped Gavin with his work, praised as he practiced writing his name in a laborious hand. She couldn’t help thinking this was what a normal family life should be.
