Ellie nodded, her blue eyes huge in her suddenly pale face. Her cheeks flushed, she looked away. “You’re right. Of course. There’s no need to let my imagination get the best of me. I hope your grandmother gets well quickly.”
“She will,” he said with a confidence he didn’t feel. “Anyway, Gemma is going to come by tomorrow and check us all out. I can’t risk the baby’s—Amelia’s—health by taking her down to the clinic.”
“I agree.” Her brow creased in a dainty frown. “But it’s still safe to go into town, isn’t it?”
“Of course.”
“Good. I need to pick up a few things.” She hesitated, and then continued, sounding a bit sheepish. “Though now that my stalker might have found me, I’m a little bit scared to go.”
“Don’t be.” Here Theo could speak with confidence. “I’ve called a company to come out and install an alarm. They’ll be here tomorrow. And as far as going into town is concerned, I’ll go with you, like a sort of bodyguard.”
He could tell his words pleased her from the dusky rose that suffused her face. “Thank you,” she said. “If you don’t mind, I need to make a trip in the morning, as long as it won’t interfere with the alarm installation.”
“They’re supposed to come around two, so if we go early, we should be fine. I’ll need to find out what time my sister plans to stop by, but we can work around that. I want to make sure none of us is sick before we leave the ranch and risk infecting others.”
She nodded. “Good point. Do you have any idea what the early symptoms are?”
“It’s flu-like. From what I remember Gemma telling me, it’d probably be fever and nausea, weakness or tiredness, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose and maybe body aches.”
She nodded. “That’s kind of what I thought. So far, Amelia hasn’t exhibited any of those.”
“What about you?”
“Nothing.” Tilting her head, she studied him. “And you? Have you been feeling all right?”
He started to answer, then checked himself. “I’m still dealing with fallout from my rodeo accident, but no flu-like symptoms yet.”
“I’m sorry.” Her soft voice matched the softening in her blue eyes. “What exactly happened to you?” She blushed, then shook her head. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to pry.”
Even now, six months later, he could still barely talk about it. To anyone else. But for some reason, he wanted to tell her. “I got thrown by a horse. A crazy, completely out of control bronc. My skull was broken, I had a right clavicle fracture, messed up my hip and my ankle was shattered.”
He took a deep breath, forcing himself to continue. “But the worst thing was that my spine got messed up. All the other injuries were fixable. Meaning, I could heal and go back to competing. But that damn spinal cord injury nearly paralyzed me. They told me I can never ride again. I’m lucky I’m even able to walk.”
“You don’t sound as if you think you’re lucky,” she commented.
Which meant he hadn’t successfully hidden the bitterness. How could he, when it rode so close to the surface?
“Rodeo was my life,” he said quietly. “With that gone...”
Her chin came up. He was starting to recognize that habit of hers. Gesturing at Amelia, still cocooned in his arms, she gave him a look that reminded him of Gram Dottie when she was about to make a point.
“With that gone,” Ellie threw his words back at him. “You now have time to focus on something else. Someone else. Amelia. Your daughter.”
* * *
Ellie hadn’t meant to be so bold. Judging from the total shutdown on Theo’s rugged face, she’d gone entirely too far. Still, she didn’t regret her words, nor would she call them back.
Amelia had just lost her mother. She deserved a father who’d give her 100 percent.
Theo had given Ellie a hard stare and then turned without a word, placed Amelia in her bassinette and walked away.
Apparently she’d touched a nerve. Well, baby Amelia’s situation touched Ellie. She knew better than most how it felt to have parents who treated you as an afterthought. She’d do everything she could to make sure Amelia didn’t suffer the same fate.
The rest of the day passed quickly. She bathed and changed Amelia, before taking her down to the kitchen so Ellie could resume the rest of her duties. Despite his offer to help, Theo didn’t put in an appearance. Ellie wasn’t really surprised, though she was disappointed.
Since Amelia had gone right to sleep, Ellie was able to work unencumbered. Dinner went off without a hitch—she’d placed the chickens in the oven to roast along with some potatoes, carrots and onions, and opened several cans of rolls and baked them just before it was time to eat. For dessert, she’d made a cobbler using baking mix and canned peaches. Not exactly gourmet fare, but it would fill their hungry bellies. She’d fed Amelia while everything cooked.
The meal turned out delicious and the cowboys were loud and appreciative. Theo arrived just after everyone had started to eat. A few of the men paused, but Theo waved them to continue. So they did, still raining compliments down on Ellie.
She smiled, told them thank you, and waved them back toward their meal.
As had been her habit, Ellie stayed slightly apart, near Amelia’s portable bassinette. She watched from near the oven, having just made herself a plate and about to sit down at the smaller dinette table. She’d fed and changed Amelia earlier, and despite her earlier nap, exhaustion battled to claim her.
Theo crossed the room to stand near her. Conversation at the long table briefly ceased. But a quick look from Theo and it resumed, though several of them men made no secret of the fact that they were watching.
“I’m sorry,” Theo said, pitching his voice low so the others couldn’t hear. “I promised to help you with the evening meal and I forgot.” He rubbed his leg as he talked to her, making her realize his injuries were no doubt hurting him.
“That’s okay.” Surprised that he’d even apologized, she slid the plate she’d just filled toward him. “Go ahead and eat. I’ll make another plate and join you.”
He glanced at Amelia, who, with her tummy full, slept contentedly. “How is she?”
“Still fine.” Turning, she busied herself filling a plate with food. Once she was done, she carried it over to the smaller table that sat in the kitchen proper.
After a moment, he followed and took the chair opposite her, his expression shuttered. “I talked to my sister. Gemma’s going to be here about eight-thirty tomorrow morning. That’ll give her plenty of time to check us all out. The stores in Dead River don’t open until ten anyway.”
“Sounds great.” She glanced at the still-sleeping baby. “What about Amelia? After she’s cleared as healthy, can we bring her with us? I can’t exactly leave her here alone.”
“Of course not. I’ll help you with her.” Flashing her a preoccupied smile, he dug in. The muscles rippling under his button-down shirt made her mouth go dry. Even here, Theo radiated masculinity and sex appeal. And tension, though he appeared to relax a little as he began eating. “This is great,” he said. “How did you manage to make all this and still look after the baby?”
Secretly pleased, she shrugged. “It’s nothing fancy, that’s why.”
“It’s good food. Thank you for managing to act both as cook and nanny. I promise I’ll make it up to you as soon as I can.”
He sounded earnest