Page 75 of Perfectly Complicated
But tonight, I don’t have to do it alone. Rourke will be here soon. I didn’t know how much I needed that until right now.
I’m stroking Aria’s feverish forehead when I hear a car door slam in the driveway. The key clicks in the lock, then his gear bag hits the floor, followed by footsteps. Usually, I’d be meeting him at the door with a smile, but tonight, there’s nothing left in me.
“Janie?” he calls.
He appears in the living room doorway, hair damp from the shower, the cut on his face bright red. He takes one look at me and his smile falls.
“What’s wrong? Is Aria okay?” He’s across the room in three strides, his hands immediately checking her forehead, then brushing my cheek. “Hey, talk to me.”
And that’s when I completely fall apart. Because he’s here, and he’s taking care of us. This is what I’ve been wanting without letting myself admit it. Someone who can hold me up when I’m falling apart.
“I can’t get her fever to break.” The words tumble out of me. “I’m out of medicine and there are no pharmacies open in town. Last time she had a bad fever, she had a seizure and I can’t…” I shake my head, my eyes flooding with tears. “Iwon’tlet that happen again.”
He immediately kneels on the floor and lays his hand on my arm. “Janie, let me help.” He rolls up his sleeves and pulls out his phone. “I’ll drive wherever a pharmacy is open.”
“I need some infant pain reliever,” I say. “But the closest one is thirty minutes away.”
He doesn’t even hesitate, just turns around and grabs his coat, already pulling up the GPS on his phone. No complaints about being tired from the game, even though he’s still limping slightly from that hit he took tonight.
“You don’t haveto do this,” I say.
“Iwantto do this.” He gives me a look that leaves no room for argument. “Tell me what else you need.”
I shake my head. “Nothing.”
“I meantyou,” he says, studying me with concern. “How can I makeyoufeel better?”
“Rourke, you’re already doing everything by helping Aria.”
His gaze narrows as he takes in the way I’m barely holding it together. “I’m worried about you, Janie. You look like you’re about to collapse. I’m texting Jaz to come over?—”
“I don’t want to bother her this late.”
He’s already pulling out his phone, his thumbs flying across the screen. “The wives were all at the game. And Jaz would never forgive me if I didn’t let her know you needed a break.”
He finishes the message and Jaz texts back immediately. “She’s already on her way over.”
I lean back against the couch. “How do you do this?”
“Do what?”
“Think of everything I need?”
“Because taking care of you and Aria isn’t something I have to think about…it’s instinct now.”
This man could be celebrating an overtime victory with his teammates at Boots and Buckles. Instead, he’s preparing to drive across town late at night to buy medicine for a sick child—a baby who isn’t even his. But that distinction has never mattered to him.
He’s already moving toward the door when I call him back. “Thank you,” I say. “For being exactly what we need tonight.”
He strides back and presses a kiss to my forehead, then gives Aria one. “That little girl has me wrapped around her finger…and so do you.”
Jaz arrives within minutes of Rourke leaving and takes in my exhausted appearance before prying Aria from my arms.
“There’s nothing you can do until he gets back,” she says. “I’m giving her a cool bath while you rest. And before you argue—you’re no good to her if you’re running on fumes.”
She’s right. I crash on the couch, falling asleep to the sound of water running in the bathtub.
Next thing I know, an engine dies in the driveway and Rourke’s through the front door with a pharmacy bag before I can even get off the couch.
