Page 30 of Welcome Home, Cowboy
A soft whimper replaced the loud screaming. Just knowing Lawson was on the way made Sabrina feel better. It made Julie feel better, too. “He’ll take care of you.” Because, obviously, she had failed to do so.
“I’m pulling in the driveway now,” he said, still on the phone. “I’ll be there in just a second.”
Julie nodded to herself, more relieved than she’d ever been to know someone was coming to her rescue.
—
Lawson strode through the door of his sister’s home two minutes after disconnecting with Julie. He’d torn down the street just like the jackass who lived a few houses down. He had an excuse, though. Sabrina was in trouble, and family always came first. At least in Lawson’s book.
“Julie?” he called, walking briskly down the hall. When he turned the corner to Sabrina’s bedroom, he stopped to find Sabrina and Julie laughing. Julie was holding an ice pack to the side of Sabrina’s head.
“That was fast,” she said, looking a lot less stressed than she’d sounded on the phone a minute earlier.
“I was just down the street, heading in this direction anyway,” he said.
“To check on me?” she asked, her chin lifting just slightly.
“To drop these off.” He tossed a bag of cookies on the floor in front of them. “I promised the squirt a special treat if she didn’t run you off by noon.”
Julie’s eyes widened.
“So? What happened?” he asked.
“She fell and hit her head,” Julie recapped, looking sheepish, and sexy as hell. “I’m sorry. I just left her for a moment, I swear. I was going to make lunch and—”
He held up his hand. “Looks like you have everything under control now.” His gaze moved to Sabrina, who was reaching for the bag of cookies.
“You got the healthy kind, didn’t you?” Sabrina accused, crumpling her face.
“Yeah, so? It’s a cookie, isn’t it?” He sat on the floor beside them. “So your head is feeling better?” he asked his niece.
Sabrina nodded. Her eyes were bright, he noticed. Alert.
“Are you tired?” he asked.
She shook her head vigorously. Something a child wouldn’t do if they had a concussion.
“Good.” He turned to Julie. “And how are you doing?”
“It scared the”—she looked at Sabrina—“bejeebies out of me.” A soft smile colored her pretty face. She really was gorgeous, he decided, sitting this close to her. From her rigid posturing, he could tell she was expecting him to be mad at her. He hated that, and couldn’t help but wonder who the jackass was that had put that fear in her eyes.
“Want to know a secret?” he asked, leaning in toward her and lowering his voice. As he drew closer, the scent of her perfume tempted him to keep leaning in. Her gaze was hesitant to meet his.
“Am I fired?” she asked.
“Fired?” He laughed softly. “No. The secret is, Sabrina fell off the bed on my watch once, too. Except that time she actually did get a concussion. I had to take her to the emergency room. It was horrible. Scared me to death.”
The corners of her pink lips lifted. “Sounds awful. I’ll have to keep a better eye on her. Unless, of course…”
“No unless. You’ll be back tomorrow. My niece needs you. My sister needs you. That means I need you.”
Julie’s mouth quirked to one side.
“You deserve a cookie, too.” He reached for the bag and pulled one out, offering it to her.
“I happen to like healthy cookies,” she said, winking at Sabrina. “They make you big and strong.”
Sabrina seemed to consider this as she took another bite of hers. “I’m big,” she said finally.
