Page 33 of Fourth Heartwarmers Trilogy
“Yay! Let’s go see him. He looked funny when we got hewe, his fowehead’s all blue and swollen.”
“During the accident, he banged his head and has a concussion. You were sleeping sweetkins, but I saw him battle the wheel to control the truck. It was amazing.”
“He’s a hewo.”
“Uh-huh.” As she knocked at the door connecting their rooms and waited for his permission to enter, she thought about what Maisie had said and found herself in full agreement. The man was a hewo!
***
Once the food was eaten and their containers cleared from the room, Mia hustled Maisie into their room, changed her into her jammies and snuggled her into one of the two beds.
By the time she’d read one page from the storybook they’d brought in the suitcase, the child was in dreamland. Standing over her, Mia brushed her hair from her cheeks and leaned down to place a kiss there.
Forcing Maisie to stay at the end of Jack’s bed with her wasn’t easy when the headstrong little girl wanted to snuggle near her hewo. But Mia knew Maisie’s eating habits were far from perfect, and while they shared baskets of chicken and fries, finger food she knew would be easy to eat, she made sure that Maisie kept her food over the towel she’d placed as a tablecloth.
She’d been worried that Maisie, who loved to be close to her favorite adults, sit on their laps and have their full attention, would insist that Jack hold her on his. She should have known the child would be sensitive to his condition.
Propped up against the pillows when they’d arrived, he’d appeared comfortable. As soon as the picnic had been eaten, Maisie hopped up next to him. With her little hand brushing his forehead tenderly, she’d laid her head on the same pillow beside his and was satisfied.
“Does your boo boo huwt, Mr. Jack? It’s a weiwd color.”
“Boo boo?” He looked to Mia for translation.
“She’s talking about your swollen face. It’s her name for whenever she gets an injury.”
“Oh!” Jack turned his face and winked at Maisie. “My boo boo feels much better now that we’ve eaten. Thank you for bringing dinner to me. I like picnics.”
“Me too.”
“And I like chicken and fries.”
“See… me too. Mia never lets me eat fwies unless it’s a tweat.”
Jack grinned and ruffled her hair.
“And I like to get my sleep,” Mia interrupted.
Both individuals on the bed gave her a disgruntled look and said in unison, “Not me.”
Insistence won out, and Mia had her way. Good thing, from the sight of the little one now in dreamland hugging her fuzzy, white puppy.
Gently smoothing her hair from the child’s flushed cheeks, Mia let her thoughts roam. Maisie’s acceptance of Jasmine’s disappearance from their lives was worrisome for her. The truth couldn’t be ignored, Jasmine often spent months at a time on location and might only get back home for visits every few weeks. Therefore, Maisie didn’t have the same dependence on her mother that she did for Mia.
Though Mia felt the loss every day, missed their nightly phone calls, some might think it was a blessing the child didn’t suffer. In another way, it was sad. Therefore, whenever it felt right, Mia reminded Maisie there was an angel in heaven watching over her. She leaned down again for another kiss and realized the amount of time she’d been away from Jack.
As promised, she headed back into his room. With his head still propped against the pillows, his hands linked behind, showing his powerful arms, he looked even more like a hero. Muscular body with narrow hips and long legs crossed at the ankles, his arms tanned and defined, his face tanned and handsome, she found him watching her survey him. Gulping her irritation for being caught, she started to say good night.
Jack slid up to make room. “Come and talk to me. Remember the doc said I wasn’t to sleep alone.”
“He did not. He said someone had to check on you every few hours. I’ve set my phone alarm, and we’ll leave the door open between the rooms.”
“But I’m not sleepy. I need to talk about something.”
Interested, despite the awareness that being alone with this devil might create temptation, and he’d cotton on to her attraction, she couldn’t help herself. His flirty grins and daring expression undid her constraints and she soon found herself with her knees curled in a yoga pose, perched next to him on the bed.
“What is it you need to talk about?”
“You.”
