Page 81 of The Geography of Happiness

As I padded down the hall with the blanket still wrapped around my shoulders, my gaze slid sideways into Spencer’s room, but his bed hadn’t been slept in. Maybe I should have woken him when I left the couch but he looked so peaceful.

Gabby’s head shot up the second I opened Hannah’s door and she slid awkwardly off the bed to greet me. “And how are you doing, girl?” I ran my hand along her spine as she limped a circle around my legs, tail wagging. She looked okay, but I hoped Spencer would check her over again before we left.

Hannah stirred and her head lifted off her pillow. “Dad?”

“Yep. It’s early still. Time to do the checklist again. How’d you sleep?”

Hannah groaned and rolled onto her back. “Okay, I guess, but I’m still tired.” She hesitated and looked away. “And my knee hurts a little more than last night.”

I kept my reaction in check. “That’ll be the swelling. There’s more colour in your cheeks though, so that’s good. How’s the headache?”

She moved her head from side to side. “Almost gone.”

Small mercies.I sat on the mattress beside her. “As soon as we’re done, you can have some more painkillers and a fresh cold pack for your knee. There’s no rush to get up. It’s freezing and there’s a frost outside.” I handed her the remote for the small television on the wall. “Do you think you could eat something?”

She took a few seconds to decide. “Maybe something small.”

It was progress.“Good. I’ll see what I can rustle up. Zach will be here at ten, so we have four hours up our sleeve.”

Hannah completed the checklist with flying colours, and I would’ve relaxed if it weren’t for the expanding patchwork of green and blue bruising around her knee.

“I’m really sorry, Dad.” She took my hand, her expression stricken. “I ruined everything.”

My gaze shot up. “You did nothing of the sort. It was an accident. It sucks but it’ll heal. How bad is it?”

She shrugged. “I can’t bend it hardly at all. I might need to use my chair for a bit when we get home.”

Translation: it hurts like a motherfucker. Hannah avoided her chair at all costs.

“That’s what it’s there for, right?” I tried to sound unconcerned. We both knew I was lying. “You want me to carry you to the bathroom?”

She grimaced. “Yes, please.”

Once I had Hannah back in bed and settled watching television, I headed for the kitchen to switch out her cold pack. The couch in the lounge was empty as I passed, and when I peered out the front window to the drive, Spencer’s ute was missing as well.

My heart sank. Maybe he’d been called out on an emergency. It happened, right? But there was no note and that didn’t seem like Spencer. Then again, who was I to even expect one? The man didn’t owe me a breakdown of his freaking whereabouts for Chrissakes.

I tried not to feel disappointed at the thought I might not see him again before Zach arrived to pick me up, because that was foolish shit. He’d catch up with me in his own time.

Back in Hannah’s bedroom, I wrapped the fresh cold pack around Hannah’s knee and motioned for Gabby to follow me out. “I’ll let her into the backyard and see if I can rustle up some dog food. I’ll send her back in when she’s done.”

“Thanks, Dad.” Hannah burrowed under the blankets and I slipped into the hall with Gabby limping at my heels. She seemed keen to get outside but came to an abrupt stop when I opened the back door and a polar blast hit her in the snout.

I grinned and scruffed her head. “Go on. You’ve got a nice fur coat to protect you.” I pushed the reluctant retriever out into the cold and shut the door. Then I hitched up the blanket so I could clamber onto the bench and watch her through the glass, just to be sure she did her business. That dog hated the cold.

As expected, Gabby stared at the closed door for a long minute, willing it to reopen. When it didn’t, she raced down onto the lawn for the fastest poop and pee in history before hoofing it back to the porch like a bolt of lightning.

“Now there’s a sight I don’t see every day in my kitchen.”

I gasped and spun to find Spencer standing in the doorway with a large box in his arms, his smiling gaze raking over my half-naked body.

“Dammit.” I glared, my heart still hammering in my throat. “You scared the shit out of me. Can’t you knock or call out or something?”

Spencer looked around. “This is still my house, right?” Then he grinned at my fumbling attempt to drag the blanket over my bare legs. “Don’t bother covering up for my sake. You’re a feast for the eyes at this hour of the morning.” He made no attempt to hide his appreciation, going so far as to adjust himself just for my benefit.

I rolled my eyes, but a small, pleased smile stole over my burning face anyway. I couldn’t look at the man without remembering the feel of his lips on mine, or his cock down my throat, or a million other things he’d made me feel just hours before.

“I thought you must’ve been called out,” I finally managed.

---