Holiday Hideout. Lynette Eason
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from?”
Fiona gave another light giggle. “They’re mine. I outgrew them quite a while ago—” she patted her distended belly with a loving hand “—but they looked like they might fit you.” She bit her lip. “I hope you don’t mind, but we couldn’t leave you in your clothes once your fever broke now, could we? Mom helped me get you into those.”
“No, I guess not.” She’d had pajamas in her bag.
As though reading her thoughts, Fiona offered, “We didn’t get your bag from the bus station until yesterday afternoon.”
That explained it. Abby pulled in a deep breath. “I really appreciate you all taking care of me. It was a very kind thing to do.”
Fiona smiled and something flashed in her eyes. Something Abby wanted to discern but couldn’t quite put her finger on. She ignored it and said, “I probably should get going.”
She tried to stand and another wave of dizziness almost knocked her down.
Fiona took her by the arm and helped her lie back down on the bed. “You aren’t going anywhere until you get better. You’re welcome to stay here until you feel well enough to leave.”
Abby wanted to argue but couldn’t summon the energy. She knew Fiona was right. But the problem was, she had someone after her.
The other problem was she didn’t have the strength to do anything about it. She lay on the bed and closed her eyes for a moment, trying to take everything in that had happened in the past several months.
Would Reese really go this far? Was he still after her? Or had the fever caused her to hallucinate in the bus station?
Even though he fully believed—as did she—that the deaths of his wife and her baby were her fault, would he really go to the extreme of following her this far?
She honestly didn’t know, but it sure looked like it.
But why would he search her apartment? Why would he try to get in her window in the middle of the night?
To keep her off balance? To make her so afraid of her own shadow that when he finally pounced, she’d be an easy target?
Possibly.
“What do you think?”
Fiona’s question made Abby blink. She realized she hadn’t heard a word the woman said. “I’m sorry. I was thinking … What’d you say?”
“I said I think it might be a good idea for you to stay here awhile. Unless you have someone—”
“No. Like I said, there’s no one.” No one at all. Her family had disowned her the minute her sister had taken her last breath.
Because it was her fault her sister had died. At least that’s how she felt. And so did her family.
Shuddering, she looked at Fiona, grief piercing her as she studied the large bulge under the woman’s blue maternity shirt. “When is your baby due?”
An excited smile curved Fiona’s lips. “Right after the first of the year. My due date’s January 2.”
“That’s wonderful for you. Just about three more weeks, eh?”
“Yes.” The word was more of a groan. “And it can’t come soon enough.”
As an obstetrician, Abby figured if she had a dollar for each time she’d heard those words from an expectant mother, she’d be a millionaire.
“I don’t—”
A knock on the door jarred her to a stop. Heart in her throat, she grabbed the blanket and pulled it to her chin. Like it could protect her from whoever was on the other side of that door.
Compassionate green eyes watched her, saw her fear. “It’s all right,” Fiona said. “It’s probably my mother or my brother, Cal. My husband sold two of our horses and went to deliver them to a family in Virginia. He’ll be home Monday afternoon.”
Feeling like an idiot, Abby relaxed her death grip on the blanket and nodded. Of course it couldn’t be Reese. If it was, he certainly wouldn’t announce his presence with a knock.
Fiona opened the door and a tall man with reddish-blond hair and blue eyes deep enough to swim in stepped over the threshold.
The man from the bus station.
The man whose strong arms had easily caught her when she’d dropped like a felled deer.
Abby couldn’t help the flush on her cheeks because, while he didn’t know this, she was embarrassed that she could remember what his arms felt like around her.
And flustered because she wished she could fall into the comfort of them once more.
How long had it been since she’d had someone hold her and offer—
She blinked the thought away. Right now she had to concentrate on getting well and leaving before she brought trouble to this sweet family.
Only then did his uniform register.
The gray shirt, black pants, black tie. And the gold badge placed just over his heart.
He was a cop.
Her heart thudded. She gulped and looked away.
“Hi, there, how are you feeling?”
His deep voice sent shivers all over her. Shivers that had nothing to do with a fever she no longer had. “Hi. Better, thanks.”
Fiona said, “This is Abby Harris. Abby, this is my brother, Callum McIvers.”
Cal smiled, revealing even white teeth. And twin dimples on his clean-shaven face. “But you can call me Cal. All my friends do. Nice to meet you, Ms. Abby Harris. A beautiful name for a beautiful girl.”
He was charming. Oh, my. Abby felt she might need to grab ahold of her heart with both hands before it ruptured from her chest. First he’d rescued her, now he flattered her. “I hear I owe you a thank you.”
“Well, I never could resist a woman falling at my feet.” He winked.
Her flush burned hotter.
Fiona slapped Cal’s arm. “Stop it.”
Cal laughed and cowered from his sister in mock fear. Abby watched their exchange and felt grief pierce her heart. She and Keira used to joke around like that.
“So, Ms. Harris.” His voice turned serious. “What are you doing here in Rose Mountain?”
Pulling in a deep breath, Abby ignored the flash of guilt at using a fake name and shrugged. Hoping she came across as nonchalant, she was seriously afraid she failed. “First of all, please call me Abby. And I … um … well, I decided to take a … vacation. Unfortunately, it looks like I took a little detour instead.”
“Where are you headed?”
Anywhere that took her away from the man after her. “Nowhere specific. I was just going to find a spot that looked nice and quiet and rent a little cabin. Have some time to myself.”
“So you have no reservations somewhere?” His right brow lifted like he had trouble believing her.
Abby sighed and told the truth—at least part of it. “Look, I’ve been working very hard. There’s no mystery here. I decided to take some time off. So I got on a bus that was going in the direction I wanted to go. I’d been traveling for about four days, sightseeing, enjoying the mountains and all that touristy stuff, before I took that header in the bus station.”
“Four days?” Fiona looked shocked.
Abby forced a little laugh. “I know. It sounds crazy, doesn’t it?” Not too crazy, she hoped. After all, it was almost the complete truth. She had decided to stop and find a cabin. She just hadn’t planned on it taking her quite so long to lose her brother-in-law. At least that’s who