The Widow Bride by Carey Baldwin

Author:Carey Baldwin [Baldwin, Carey]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-03-11T00:00:00+00:00

TWENTY-FOUR

NOW

Rosalyn opened her eyes, grateful to see the afternoon light dancing around the familiar corners of her bedroom.

Home.

She’d spent two miserable days, that seemed like twenty, in the hospital. The doctors had pumped her full of fluids for dehydration and given her antibiotics to combat a potential infection from the rats, though they’d never officially diagnosed her with rat bite fever.

The hospital staff had been wonderful, but all she’d wanted was to get home.

Back to someplace she felt safe.

Her fever had been above 105 when they’d brought her in, and she’d been babbling about flying. According to Ashton, the doctors initially considered putting her in “soft restraints”, but Blake had persuaded him to refuse their recommendation, saying it might make her more agitated. Blake had suggested they take turns sitting by her bedside to make sure she didn’t pull out her IVs instead.

Blake.

Outside her room, she heard voices, and then the door eased open and Ashton poked his head in. “You up for visitors?”

That safe feeling evaporated.

She could always say no, but one of the voices was Mel’s, and she was worried about her. She wanted to verify, with her own two eyes, that she was okay. She’d had terrible, vivid dreams of Blake slapping her, accusing her of trying to destroy his marriage, and then pushing her off a cliff.

According to everyone, her first words upon coming around, had been, “Blake’s trying to kill me!”

She’d gone on to insist he’d slapped her, stolen her antibiotics, and then pushed her off the rim of the Grand Canyon. She’d also insisted she’d be dead if only she hadn’t flown with the eagles back to safety.

Obviously, Blake did not push her off a cliff, though he easily could have if he’d wanted to. And even if he believed she’d interfered in his marriage, he certainly wouldn’t have tried to murder her because of it. This close call reminded her, and everyone else, of the fact that not so long ago it’d been Blake who’d saved her from a deadly rattlesnake.

The high fever had left her confused, disoriented and, unfortunately, she had to admit… delusional.

There was no denying it.

And, yet, her face was bruised, and the antibiotics she knew she’d packed had vanished. But could she swear she hadn’t forgotten them? “Sure. Come on in, everybody.”

Blake was the first to enter toting a big vase of red roses mixed with white hydrangeas and lilies.

Suddenly the stale room smelled delicious.

Melanie followed, looking perfectly safe and sound, and Ashton brought up the rear.

Blake offered her a tenuous smile. “Hope it’s okay for me to be here. I’ll leave if it makes you uncomfortable.”

She studied him, looking contrite and worried and hurt.

Then she glanced at Melanie, who wore a pleading look on her face, and at Ashton’s hopeful smile.

No, she didn’t feel comfortable around Blake, and, yes, she’d like him to go. But now that he was married to Mel, he was family. And she couldn’t honestly say she’d ever known Blake to actually hurt anyone.

Her cheek throbbed, and she gingerly touched it.

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