“Thanks,” Bailey muttered. She hobbled over and opened the door.
Ryan came up behind her and whispered, “Please be careful on that foot.”
An officer approached and introduced himself. Bailey listened as he explained his theory as to how the intruder got inside the house. Her father used to worry about leaving the upstairs windows unlocked. He had even tried to explain to her mother the ease of breaking in with the canopy roof over the front porch and back patio. The officer explained it just as her father had all those years ago.
“…from the fence, to the garage roof, to the canopy roof, and into the open window. It’s really best to leave all the windows locked,” the officer chided, until Ryan interrupted him.
“I actually left the window open,” Ryan said.
“I get that it’s easy in hot weather, but it leaves the house unprotected,” Officer James repeated.
Bailey nodded. “Thank you, Officer. We’ll be more careful.”
After the police left, Bailey, Ryan, and Vince started cleaning up the mess. At least, Bailey tried to help until they bullied her back into bed. It was wholly unfair that she had to miss out on the cleaning, but she was exhausted, and the pain medication was starting to steal her senses.
She got back into her mother’s bed and tried to relax, but the image of her mother’s gutted piano kept resurfacing. She slowly concentrated on one body part at a time until her muscles relaxed. Still, she fought sleep, wanting to talk to Ryan before dozing off.
A while later, Ryan came in and said, “You okay in here?”
“Yeah…fine…but I want to talk to you, Ryan.”
“Not tonight.” His voice was cutting, and it hurt he wouldn’t let go of his anger long enough for them to hash out what had happened between them.
“You’re mad. I get it, and I apologized. I don’t know what else to do to make you listen to me.” Her teeth started chattering as the cold set in again. Even after spending over an hour in bed, she was still freezing. Or maybe it was the coldness Ryan was projecting.
He turned back around and clutched the bottom of the blanket, jerking it up and surprising her. He sat on the end of the bed and grabbed her injured foot and looked at the bandages, then gently slid a sock over it. “How does that feel?”
“Warmer, thank you.”
He slid another thick sock on the other foot, then lowered the blanket. “Call me if you need me or if it starts hurting. Don’t get up and walk around, okay?”
“No, not okay.” Her teeth started chattering again. “Stay and talk to me, damn it.”
Ryan stared at her for a few moments, watching her shiver. She felt like an idiot, and she was just about to tell him to forget it when he stepped closer and motioned for her to roll over.
When she turned to her side, he lay next to her and spooned her hips, wrapping his arms around her and rubbing to help warm her up. She tensed for a few seconds, but relaxed when his warmth seeped through her clothes.
“Oh, God, thank you.” She tried not to purr, but the warmth felt so good. She settled against him, enjoying the feel of him next to her. Images from the past day faded in and out of her vision: this morning, the look in his eyes when he pulled away from her, this evening, the hospital—it had been a long day. Ryan’s music room…her mother’s music…her books, her sheet music…her precious piano trashed. An overwhelming sadness struck her so hard, she couldn’t hold back her sobs.
“Don’t cry, Bay. Everything’s fine. It doesn’t look like anything was stolen.”
“I don’t want this weirdness between us. I’m sorry for everything. I already lost my mom. I don’t want to lose you, too.”
Ryan nodded against her. After a few seconds, he sighed and mumbled, “It was my fault. Not yours. I shouldn’t have taken advantage of you on the boat.”
She shook her head violently. “No…my fault.”
He rested a hand on her cheek and kissed the back of her head. “It’s okay. We’re going to be fine.”
“You promise?” she asked through her broken cries.
“Yes, I promise.” He exhaled heavily into her hair. “Nothing’s changed, okay? And Bailey, you are never going to lose me.”
“Okay.”
It took a while for her crying to subside. When it did, she rolled over to look at him. “Ryan.”
“What, babe?” He brushed the hair off her face and used his thumb to wipe at her tears.
“I really miss my mom.” As soon as the words were out, her face crumbled again.
“I know, honey. I do, too.” He drew her to his chest, and she was so thankful to have him there with her.
* * *
Ryan planned to wait for her to cry herself to sleep, then sneak out of the room and leave her alone, but once she was breathing heavily into his chest, he couldn’t bring himself to move. Since the day of Helen’s passing, he couldn’t understand why Bailey hadn’t cried. It was as if she was in shock and couldn’t grieve. But now that she was, he felt helpless. He didn’t know what to do for her except be here when she needed him.
He lay there for a least an hour, listening to her sleep, then decided he was doing more harm than good by staying. He had his own heart to protect, and now that he knew nothing else could ever happen between them, he had to get over it and move on.
As gently as possible, he eased out from under her before tucking the blankets up to her chin. She was out cold. He turned to leave the room but stopped when he saw a letter poking out from inside her purse. He slipped it free, his stomach
