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But Nova was safe, and just as Nurse Cain had promised, she’d warmed up from the bath. It was a test of his strength and intellect to get her hair dried with very little help from her which kept his lust at bay. He considered carrying her over to the bed like a sack of potatoes after he was done. She probably wouldn’t notice or care given how exhausted she seemed—she’d barely reacted to the blast of hot air and the noise of the hair dryer—but he would know. So instead, he cradled her in his arms and set her down gently and ordered her to stay put before fetching her warmest-looking pajamas from her bureau. Then he started to get her dressed, which turned out to be quite a task.
Was this what it was like to try to get an octopus into pajamas? Linc was glad he’d never find out—although he wouldn’t put it past the Little girls on Enclave to try. Honestly, they needed to get a few litters of puppies so those girls would stop trying to make every damn creature into a pet.
He’d heard about Lujha’s squirrel, Nutsy, and poor Vincenzo the guard donkey had looked ridiculous in his elf outfit. Luckily the chickens had mostly tolerated the scarves, hats, and aprons the girls had crafted for them.
At last, he’d managed to get Nova into her clothes, and under the covers plus an extra blanket he grabbed from her couch and draped over her. He’d check her hands and feet overnight, but when he’d been wrestling her into her pajamas, she’d been warm.
Once he had her snug in her bed with Custard, the tenderness he felt for her while she fought to keep her eyes open and failed was almost painful. She was everything he’d ever liked about her in high school and more and he was hard pressed to think of anyone more perfect. It hurt to know she didn’t feel the same. But that was one of the reasons he’d stayed besides it just being the right thing to do; to prove he wasn’t that cut and run guy anymore. That he’d learned how to show up and stick around.
“There,” he told her, smoothing back a lock of dark hair from her forehead. “All tucked in and cozy. Sweet dreams, little girl.”
“Night night, Daddy.”
Oof. If she kept that up, he was going to be the one who needed a visit to Nurse Cain because something was sure happening to his heart.
Chapter 22
It wasn’t long after he’d gotten Nova tucked in and added one more blanket just to be safe and he’d parked himself on her couch that Linc’s phone buzzed in his pocket. Who was calling him at this time of night whose number wasn’t already in his phone?
“Hello?”
“Linc, it’s Derek Hawkins. I’m calling about Nova. Are you with her?”
Linc looked over to where Nova was more like a heap of bed linens than a person. He’d maybe overdone it on the blankets. But maybe not. “Yeah. We’re in her apartment, and she’s asleep in her bed.”
“And she’s doing okay? Nurse Cain told me you two had come by the infirmary.”
“She seemed to warm up in the bath. I’ll check on her before I fall asleep and a couple times overnight to make sure it wasn’t just that her skin got heated up by the water.”
“Good. That woman is one of the smartest people I know, but…”
Linc could picture Derek shaking his head, and he knew why.
“Yeah, but that’s grownup, brilliant Nova. I don’t think she was making decisions with her adult brain earlier. More like Little brain with hurt feelings. That’s not a good combination.”
“She still shouldn’t have been out alone in the cold and the dark. As soon as she’s recovered, there needs to be some consequences so she’s deterred from doing anything like that ever again.”
“I completely agree. Could I ask that I be allowed to handle Nova’s discipline?”
There was a pause before Derek answered. Linc could’ve been insulted, but he was glad Nova had people who would think twice about letting a man who was almost a stranger administer her punishment. “If she’s amenable to that, I see no issue there. You’ve been there for her a lot this week. Anything I can do?”
“As a matter of fact there is. I was late to meet Nova because one of your guests changed the time on my phone. Not sure if it’s her real name, but she introduced herself as April.”
Derek made a noise that sounded like this wasn’t the first incident April had been a party to. As per usual, he didn’t envy the man in charge.
“Of course I’ll take care of that. Unless you wanted to?”
“No,” Linc said. “I’d prefer to focus on Nova.”
“Seems wise. Nova is a good girl and I believe she’d flourish with some constant one-on-one attention. It would be nice to know there’s someone who wants to give that to her.”
Linc had spentthe night on Nova’s couch which was way nicer than some of the places he’d slept—floors, in his truck, on couches that were older than he was, on a pile of spruce boughs in the woods—and woke before her. He’d gotten up a few times overnight to check on her, and even took a blanket off after she seemed maybe too warm. It had been a few hours since he’d been awake and he was checking on her again when her lashes fluttered and she looked up at him.
“Morning, shortcake. How you feeling?”
There was an uncomfortable hesitancy in his gut. Had last night changed something, and not for the better? Not that he expected Nova to suddenly look at him all starry eyed after he’d been kind of responsible for her being on the way to freezing to death. But April’s actions hadn’t been his fault, and he’d carried her inside from the cold, gotten her checked out, and then given her a bath and put her to bed, checked on her overnight. That had to count for something. Didn’t it? Or did it?
When Nova didn’t say anything for a few seconds, he put a hand to her neck. Nice and warm.
