Shed been boxing at a local gym for the past few weeks, and shed been amazed at how much fury rose up in her belly whenever she envisioned Ivans face on a punching bag.
Sloane laid her palm on Chloes forehead. The velvet baby skin was burning hot. I think youre coming down with something, sweetheart. How about you and I go home and climb into our jammies, have a nice grilled cheese sandwich, and Ill read you a bedtime storyyour choice.
Pooh Bea-uh?
Sure. Winnie the Pooh.
Sloane ducked into the restaurant to grab the baby bag, which doubled as her purse, briefcase, gym bag and zombie apocalypse survival kit.
Youre leaving? But the steaks are just about to come out, her biological aunt, Mara Colton, protested. Theyd adopted her and Fox after their own parents had died in a car accident. Sloane had been five and Fox seven at the time. She loved them for it, but truth be told, shed never felt like a real part of their family of three boys and two girls of their own.
I think Chloes sick, Sloane explained. I dont want to share her baby germs with any of you.
Her brother Decker, general manager of The Lodge, stood up. Ill have the chef put your steak in a to-go box and have the valet pull your car around.
Wyatt and Bailey expressed regret that she had to go and promised to come see her new house soon.
Bailey was awesome. She was a veterinarian whod recently reconciled with Wyatt after six years of an on-again, off-again relationship and was about to marry him for a second time. Furthermore, Bailey was expecting their first child. She and Sloane had hit it off from the first moment theyd met. Maybe it had something to do with feeling like outsiders in the middle of the loud, overbearing Colton clan.
Sloane followed Decker to the spacious covered portico out front with its huge timbered roof soaring overhead. Stone-clad columns rose to support the roof, and slate slabs stretched away underfoot. This place was solid. Permanent. Safe. The Lodge really was a remarkable resort.
Decker said, Youre sure I cant talk you into coming to work for me here, Sloane? That is why Dad paid for your law school.
Ive told Russ over and over that I have no training for nor interest in corporate law.
Training or not, youre smart as hell. I need someone I can trust in my legal department. He lowered his voice. Weve had some cancellations after last months murder, and weve got a big film festival coming up this summer. I could really use your help managing our corporate image and distancing The Lodge from any unpleasantness.
Then you need a publicist, not a criminal defense attorney. Honestly, Decker. Hiring me would raise more questions, not less.
Youre a Colton. And this is a family business.
Chloe fretted, giving Sloane a convenient excuse to end the conversation. She struggled to put the fussy toddler into a snowsuit, and Chloe kept pushing the hood off her head. As a result, her daughters fine blond hair stood up in a halo of static. Sloane tried to smooth it down, but Little Bug was having no part of that and threw her head back and forth, shouting, No way! No way! No way!
What had gotten into her? She was usually a sweet baby, cuddly and happy when Ivan wasnt around.
Terrible twos? Decker asked sympathetically.
That and shes not feeling well. A deadly combination, Sloane answered.
As her mini-SUV pulled up, Chloe swan-dived off the emotional cliff into a full-blown tantrum and screamed bloody murder.
Women nearby, obviously mothers, threw Sloane sympathetic looks. Everyone else winced and hurried inside to escape the earsplitting screams.
With a sigh, she put Chloe into her car seat and buckled her in around flailing fists and feet. Ahh, parenthood. And shed thought being a lawyer had been hard. Ha.
Tonight was one of those nights when she wished to be back at the Crooked C with Fox. The adult moral support would help her get through the challenge of dealing with a cranky baby, and her brother would pour her a glass of wine when Chloe finally wound down and crashed.
Shed had no illusion that being a single parent would be hard, but sometimes it was harder than others. Like tonight.
Finally pulling into the garage of the cute craftsman bungalow shed just bought with a piece of her divorce settlement, she sighed with relief. But the feeling was short-lived because once she extracted Chloe from her car seat, her daughter had gone from rage to even more alarming listlessness. Which was totally unlike her high-energy child.
It took Sloane several minutes to find the box, not yet unpacked, with the baby thermometer in it. She ran the device across Chloes forehead.
102 degrees.
Oh, my gosh!
After giving Chloe a quick cool bath and putting her into her footie jammies, then getting into her own pajamas, Sloane made a grilled cheese sandwich, Chloes all-time favorite food, but Chloe wouldnt take even the first bite.
She measured out the recommended medications for a baby with this high of a fever and convinced Chloe to swallow them. Honestly, her Little Bug should have put up more of a fight than she did at taking the medicine. Sloanes alarm spiked a little more.
She made up a bottlewhich Chloe hadnt used for monthswith an electrolyte drink and rocked Chloe like an infant to feed her the bottle.
Sloane desperately missed baby moments like this, but she hated that her child was sick enough to need one. Chloe fell asleep in her arms, and Sloane dozed with her in the big recliner chair that had been her first purchase for her new house.
Sloane woke with a jerk as Chloe whimpered in her sleep.
Good grief. She might as well be holding a furnace in her arms. Chloe was still burning up. Carrying her carefully into the kitchen, Sloane ran the thermometer across her little girls forehead again.
103.6.
Oh, no.
She transferred Chloes head to her shoulder, grabbed the baby bag, stuffed her feet into fleece boots and headed for her car. Chloe didnt fully wake up as she got her buckled into her car seat and tucked a blanket around her. Trying to stay calm, Sloane quickly climbed behind the wheel and pulled out of the driveway.
She breathed a sigh of relief when the emergency room was empty as she carried Chloe inside. A nurse showed her to an examining room and agreed to stay with Chloe while Sloane went out front to fill in paperwork and hand over insurance information.
She rushed through a pair of swinging doors that led back to the check-in station...and plowed face-first into a mans chest. He must have been standing just beyond the doors. Sloane, at five-foot-three and not much over a hundred ten pounds, barely budged the much larger person.
She inhaled sharply, and the scent of pine trees and fresh air filled her lungs. It was as rugged as the Rockies, as big as the endless skies, as free as a bald eagle soaring. She inhaled again, relishing the scent.
Powerful, gentle hands grabbed her upper arms and steadied her. Which was just as well. Suddenly, she was feeling a tiny bit dizzy.
Sloane? Sloane Colton? the man murmured in shock.
She looked up into a pair of familiar aspen-green eyes.
Liam? she blurted, equally shocked to have bumped into Foxs childhood best friend.
Bookish, but charming. Smart, but self-deprecating. A good skier on the high school ski team. More handsome than he realized... All the girls had loved Liam. But hed been oblivious. Suppressing a sigh, Sloanes eyes drifted over him. He had been tall and skinny in high school but had grown taller since shed last seen him. And had filled out. A lot. In all the right places. My goodness.
Liam Kastor, at your service. I was friends with...
Fox. I remember. You two tortured me incessantly in junior high and high school.
We did not! We just were looking out for you.
She snorted. You two drove me crazy.
You studied too much to even notice our hijinks.
Lord, it felt good to smile. She set aside the strange sensation of happiness. I would love to argue the point with you, but my daughters here and I need to give these folks my insurance information and get back to her.
Of course, Liam said quickly, stepping away.
She whipped through a daunting stack of medical history and personal information and then hurried back to Chloes room. The nurse looked up when she slipped inside. The doctor has already been in to take a peek at your daughter. Hed like you to try to get a bottle laced with some medicine down her.
Sloane nodded.
Chloe still didnt become fully alert when Sloane picked her up and popped a bottle in her mouth. Little Bug only glanced around the strange room, then closed her eyes and turned her cheek to Sloanes chest.
She looked up at the nurse in worry. This is totally unlike her. Shes usually wide awake anywhere new. Wildly curious. Full of questions.
Shes a sick little camper. You did good to bring her in when you did.
Any idea what she has?
Not yet. There has been a nasty virus going around, though. Weve seen a half-dozen kids with it in the past couple of weeks.
The doctor came back in a few minutes, and Sloane laid Chloe on the bed. He did the usual doctor thingslistened to her breathe, took her pulse, and looked at the chart where the nurse had written down Chloes vitals. He looked up at Sloane. Id like to do a quick CT scan of Chloes abdomen. Also, her temperature is continuing to spike, and we need to get control of that.
Sloane frowned. She knew in her gut that he wasnt telling her everything. What do you suspect?
Nothing yet. Im just eliminating various possibilities.
Look. Im a lawyer. I deal much better with blunt than tactful.
Okay. Your daughters belly is painful to the touch. But her reaction is generalized and I cant pinpoint a source of pain. Could be her spleen. Could be appendicitis. Maybe something else altogether.
Worst case? Sloane bit out.
The doctor shrugged, and she didnt like the evasiveness that entered his eyes. He answered, Worst case, we admit her and watch her.
Youd make a lousy poker player, Doctor. Wanna try that, again?
The guy sighed. I administered a massive dose of a broad spectrum antibiotic in that bottle you fed her. Based on what the CT shows, we may need to put her on an IV drip and throw more antibiotics at her. If her fever doesnt start responding to the meds soon, well have to take measures to cool her head and protect her brain from injury.
Sloane nodded stiffly, too scared to do much more. Still, she would rather know what they were up against than not. The nurse wheeled Chloes bed out of the room, leaving Sloane to wait. And worry. And imagine the worst.
A need to do something overwhelmed her, and she jumped up. The room was too small and too crowded with machines for a good nervous pace, so she went out into the hall to stride back and forth.
We have to stop meeting like this.
She looked up, startled, as she all but face-planted against Liam Kastors chest. Again. Im so sorry.
Hows your daughter? he asked, cutting off her apology.
They dont know. Sick. Her fevers not coming down.
What can I do to help? Liam asked quietly.
I have no idea. Shes never had a bad fever before.
He smiled gently. I was talking about you. Is there anything I can do for you?
Oh! The idea of a man lifting a finger to take care of her was a completely foreign concept. Distract me. Keep me from panicking.
Do you want me to call Fox?
God, no! He wouldnt know what to do and would call Mara. And she would call everyone in the whole blessed Colton clan.
There is that, Liam replied dryly. Whens the last time you ate?
She frowned. She hadnt gotten around to eating because shed been more concerned with taking care of Chloe. And earlier, shed left The Lodge before dinner had arrived. Lunch, I guess.
Liam asked a nurse at the station in front of Chloes room to call him as soon as Chloe was brought back, and then he whisked Sloane down the hallway. Come with me. Cafeterias this way. Foods terrible, but the coffees outstanding.
How do you know that? Sloane asked. Did he work here? The nurse had clearly known who he was and had his phone number. Are you a doctor? she blurted.
Me? Never.
What brought you to the emergency room, then? Do you have a loved one here? Im sorry to be so insensitive. Im such a mess right now
He stopped just inside the door to a small lounge with linoleum-topped tables, plastic chairs and institutional fluorescent lights. Gently, he laid a fingertip on her lips. Im a police detective. We were shorthanded at the station tonight, so I volunteered to transport a prisoner who got sick in the drunk tank.
Youre a cop?
He grinned and steered her over to the coffeepot.
How was law school? he asked over his shoulder.
HowFox. Of course. It was hard. But fascinating.
She scrutinized him as he studied the self-service line. She supposed some people might call him boyishly handsome, but she sensed a quiet strength in him. Mature. Reliable.
Funny, but a few years ago, she wouldve called Liam boring. And then she went and married an exciting man who took her straight to hell. Boring was starting to look pretty darn good these days. It was amazing how time and life changed a persons point of view.
How do you like your coffee? he asked.
As black as my soul, she replied dryly.
Do tell, he replied mildly. One corner of his mouth turned up sinfully, though, for just a moment. Tuna salad okay with you?
She picked up the cups of coffee and carried them to a table while he went to a vending machine and bought two sandwiches in triangular plastic packages, two bags of chips, a packet of baby carrots and a bag of apple slices.
He dumped his haul on the table and slid into the seat opposite her. I havent seen you around Roaring Springs since you left for college. What have you been up to since then, Sloane?
She ripped open a sandwich package and bit into the day-old bread and nearly dry tuna. Not that she cared what anything tasted like at the moment. After I graduated from law school at Colorado State, I moved to Denver and got a job as a criminal defense attorney at Schueller, Mangowitz and Durant.
Liam whistled under his breath. Thats a high-powered firm.
She rolled her eyes. The women there call it Chauvinist, Misogynist and Douchebag.
Ouch. That bad?
Worse, she growled.
I sense a story.
Dont be a detective tonight, okay?
He threw up his hands. No interrogations out of me. He took a cautious sip of his coffee. Am I still allowed to ask what brings you to Roaring Springsas a friend-slash-past-tormentor?