AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“What’s wrong with him?” Andrew asked over her shoulder as he watched her comfort Rev.
“He has seizures sometimes. It’s not a big deal. He’ll be like this for a few minutes and then he just snaps out of it and it’s over. He might be a little tired after, but that’s it.”
“Can they give him medicine for them?” He sat on the floor behind Jill and wrapped his legs and arms around her and the dog. Even though she was calm and trying to act casual, he could tell she was worried.
“They can, but they won’t do that until he starts to have them more frequently. The meds have some serious side effects, so his vet will only start him on them if his seizures happen more than once a month. As long as they aren’t that often and they stop within five minutes, we don’t need to do anything other than make him comfortable and safe when they’re happening.”
She looked down at Rev as she talked and petted gently until his legs began to relax.
“See? He’s coming out of it already,” she said and smiled up at Andrew.
He felt like he had been punched in the gut when she smiled at him like that.
Somehow, someway, in the short span of just a few days, this woman had reached deep down into his soul, touching a part of him that he had buried the day he found out what Blair had done.
Andrew wasn’t sure he wanted anyone reaching that deep inside him but neither did he want to fight his response to Jill.
He helped her lift Rev up onto the bed with them and they fell asleep with the dog between them. Just before slipping into sleep Andrew wondered how the hell he ended up snuggling with a giant, curly mop of dog hair instead of Jill, but was surprised to realize he didn’t care.
Shit.
Chapter Twenty-One
After leaving Jill’s house the following morning, Andrew pulled into Nora’s driveway and let himself in through the front door.
“Nora, Lydia!” he called out as he walked back toward the kitchen. He found the ladies sitting in the breakfast nook together, looking up at him as innocent as can be. Andrew had learned a long time ago that these two were anything but innocent.
“Good morning, dear,” Nora greeted him. “Will you join us for breakfast?”
He leaned his large frame in the doorway, crossing one foot over the other. Arms crossed, he leveled a hard stare at both women.
“Is that a ‘no’?” Nora asked.
“You told Jill about Blair.” He knew his stance and tone would have gotten results in the boardroom, but Nora refused to budge.
Lydia squirmed a bit and got up to fidget with a plate of eggs and toast for Andrew, but a little fidgeting didn’t appease him.
“Sit, eat. You’ll feel better.” Lydia passed Andrew the plate and tried to herd him to the table.
He held his position for a moment, but then gave in to Lydia and sat down. He couldn’t resist the two women when they ganged up on him and remaining angry was just too hard in the face of Lydia’s cooking.
The three sat and ate while Lydia and Nora chatted about mundane affairs: the weather, their plans to have the upstairs library painted, a charity event they’d be hosting in a few months. Andrew finished his meal and brought the conversation back around to Jill and Blair.
“Nora, you told her about Blair,” he said more emphatically.
“I must have had a moment. I forget who knows about Blair and who doesn’t.” She tried her best to look innocent but Andrew knew better than that.
“You’re more lucid on a bad day than I am on my good days, so don’t give me that crap. You know perfectly well that outside of this family, Chad and Jack are the only people who know about Blair.”
He didn’t need to explain that his reference to family encompassed Lydia.
His grandmother raised her chin. “Then maybe it’s high time to change that. If you don’t talk about things like that, you can’t possibly have a future together.”
“Nora,” he said with patience but still an undertone of firm resolve, “Jill and I aren’t going to have a future. We’re just having fun together. Nothing serious.”
As he said the words, he knew they weren’t true. A week ago, hell, even a day ago, they might have been true, but they weren’t anymore. He felt more for Jill than he had ever felt for another woman.
Shaking off his thoughts, he stood and carried his plate to the sink. He rinsed it and put it in the dishwasher then turned to the women.
