He nodded without a smile. “Come. Dinner is ready.” He held out a robe, but this one wasn’t the one she’d had on earlier. That one had been terry cloth and had looked more than slightly ragged. This one was soft and fluffy, thick and inviting.
“Where did that come from?” she asked, still clutching the sheets to her nakedness.
“I had it delivered while you were sleeping,” he explained, patiently holding out the robe for her. “Along with a few other things that you needed.”
Pepper blinked, staring at him for a moment. “What other things?”
He sighed and sat down next to her. “Pepper, you are a mess, and I think I finally understand.”
She shifted, not wanting him to touch her. His hand along her hip felt wonderful, but…she couldn’t let him touch her. Not now.
“What do you understand?” she asked stiffly, sure that he was wrong.
“You were standing in line, waiting to get some food.”
He was going to go through her sins? He wanted to lay them out and pick them apart? Didn’t he know that she was already punishing herself?! Shaking her head, she blinked back tears. “Please, let’s not rehash this. I don’t want to go through it all over again.”
“Tough,” he replied, pinning her in the bed among the sheets and the soft, fluffy blanket that…the new, fluffy blanket that perfectly matched her handmade duvet cover. Where had that come from? She wasn’t sure, but it was so warm! And it had been so long since she’d felt warmth.
But it wasn’t her blanket, so she pulled her legs out from under it.
“You’re going to listen, Pepper. And then you’re going to eat. After that, we’ll talk.”
Pepper blinked, surprised by the hard edge to his voice. Ever since the…well, for the past however long since that horrible day, his voice had been soft and gentle.
She liked the hard tone better but her chin lifted defiantly. “I don’t want to talk. And I’m not hungry.”
He sighed. “Damn it, Pepper, it wasn’t your fault! You were standing in line to get some food! You were completely innocent in the…” he couldn’t finish that sentence. “It wasn’t your fault. It wasn’t my fault either, although for a while afterwards, I convinced myself that it was.”
The look in his eyes caused her already wounded heart to ache and she wiggled closer to him. “You weren’t even there, Dimitri. How could you blame yourself?”
“Because I wasn’t there!” he growled, taking her hand and turning it so that he could wrap his hands around her cold fingers. “I wasn’t there to protect you and our unborn child! I was working instead of watching out for you and our baby.”
A sob burst from her and she shook her head, needing to comfort him, to assure him that the loss of their child wasn’t his fault. It was hers!
“You couldn’t have known, Dimitri,” she told him, tightening her fingers around his. “It was my fault. I should have been paying attention. I should have been more aware of my surroundings. Instead, I was texting…” she stopped, shaking her head. “I was texting myself some notes, texting my sisters, letting them know that I wanted to talk to them.” She bowed her head, her shoulders shaking. “We were going to tell my sisters and I was so excited, Dimitri!”
He growled and pulled her into his arms, tucking the soft robe around her bare shoulders. “It wasn’t your fault!” he repeated.
Pepper knew it was wrong to accept his warmth. She should pull away and get on with her day. She had things to do, responsibilities with her employees, her business, and her customers. But for this brief, wonderful moment, she let Dimitri comfort her. “I should have been paying attention. If I hadn’t been texting, I would have been looking around, Dimitri! I would have seen the fight break out. I would have gotten out of the way!”
His arms tightened around her and he pressed his face against her neck, feeling her tears mixing with his own. “Oh Pepper, it wasn’t your fault!”
“It was! I wasn’t paying attention! I lost our baby because I wasn’t being a good mother!”
She sobbed against him, her shoulders shaking as all of the emotions and self-hatred poured out of her soul. He could do nothing but close his eyes and hold her, wishing he could find the words that would help her see the truth.
When the emotional tidal wave eased slightly, he pulled away a little.
“Pepper, there was a shooting over on Tenth Avenue last night.” He waited until her eyes cleared somewhat before he continued.
She shrugged, looking confused. “Why are you telling me about that?”
“Because you were here. Only a few blocks away from that shooting.”
Pepper was still confused. “And?”
He rubbed his thumb over her cheek, wiping away another tear. “And, you didn’t do anything to stop it, Pepper.”
She pulled back, irritated now as she grasped the direction of his argument. “Right. You’re saying that I couldn’t have stopped the shooting last night any more than I could have anticipated the fight at the coffee shop. But you’re missing one very important fact, Dimitri.”
“What’s that?” he asked gently, knowing what she’d say next.
“I wasn’t the mother of the person who was shot last night,” she whispered through the pain that seemed to be crushing her soul.
“No.” He moved closer. “You weren’t the mother. Nor was I the father. But my point is still relevant, Pepper. You didn’t anticipate last night’s tragedy, just as you couldn’t have anticipated two men losing their cool.” He held both of her hands tightly, not letting her pull away. “In other words, you are human. You have frailties. You can’t anticipate everything, Pepper.”
She shook her head. “That’s not the point.”
“Yes. That’s exactly the point. And what’s more, you
