Page 103 of Rocky Mountain Home

If he was going to start burning the candle at both ends, he’d better get ready.

Chapter Nineteen

Blog post: Stuck in the Middle With You

Looks as if I’m in Pregnancy Prison for a few days. Just precautionary, but I have a confession—I’m not a very good patient.

Or maybe that should read I’m not very patient.

Either one…

Other than she wasn’t sure what the mystery meat had been in the dinner offering, Dare’s first evening in captivity went better than she’d expected. All sorts of visitors stopped by; a trickle in the beginning followed by more and more people until her room felt like a gathering place during one of Ginny’s barbeques.

Hope Coleman waltzed in first with an entire box of flannel scraps and the other requirements for making squares for a baby quilt. Her husband Matt, one of Jesse’s brothers, had come along, and to Dare’s amusement he joined in the impromptu sewing lesson Hope gave, his thick fingers moving carefully over the soft material as he good-naturedly followed his wife’s orders. Colt refused to let go of his mom, so Matt had acted as demonstrator.

The way Matt looked at Hope as she spoke, and the easy way he slipped a hand around her hip in a familiar caress spoke volumes about the connection between them. Dare ended up poking herself in the finger with her needle hard enough to draw blood, she was paying more attention to the simmering glances they kept giving each other.

Shortly after they’d arrived another set of Colemans marched through the door, and then another, and every one of them simply joined in the conversation, and there was no fuss and no awkwardness.

For which Dare was very grateful, considering she was sitting on a bed in her pyjamas for all intents and purposes.

By the time Jesse returned, damp hair curling at his neckline, the room had settled into small groups. The women all stitching together squares while the guys each cheerfully completed one before abandoning the task and pulling out a deck of cards. How they managed to play while holding babies and entertaining a couple of boys under the age of two, Dare had no idea.

Jesse stood beside the bed and offered her an amused smile along with a fresh glass of water. “What are you looking all bewildered about?”

She made a small gesture at the room and answered quietly, “It’s like my room is Grand Central Station.”

“There’s no train arriving any time soon,” he teased. “I hope you’re ready to share your hospital food with the entire horde.”

Dare pulled herself up regally. “Jell-O for all, my good man.”

He leaned in close, forehead touching hers as he looked into her eyes. “You let me know when you’ve had enough, okay? They can come back tomorrow. In fact, unless you order them to stay away, it looks as if Little Hospital Room on the Prairie is the happening place to be these days.”

“I’m okay,” she insisted, stealing a quick kiss before he stepped back. A dangerous smolder in his eyes promised her many things before he slid into a chair next to Matt and Daniel and joined in their card game.

The party broke up at eight o’clock when regular visiting hours were over, and she lay back on the bed surprisingly tired. “Considering I haven’t done anything except lie here and talk, I’m pooped.”

Jesse shrugged, settling in the chair beside her with a cup in his hands he’d appropriated from somewhere down the hall. The rich scent of coffee hung on the air. “No one’s keeping track. If you want to hit the sack early, go for it.”

“Maybe I will.” She looked him over, wondering why he was drinking coffee at this time of the night. “You don’t have to stay with me all night.”

“I know. I’m going to do a pickup run for Blake tonight. I’m leaving in a couple of hours, but don’t worry—if they need to get in touch with me, I’ll be here pretty damn fast. I’ll be back to see you first thing in the morning.”

She thought it over for a moment, having to adjust her mental processes. “I thought Blake said he didn’t need help.”

Jesse put the coffee cup down, his expression going serious. “About that. I meant it last night when we were talking by the fire pit about this and got interrupted. Blake didn’t do anything wrong, I did.” He looked away for a moment before meeting her gaze again, his typical cocky teasing subdued until nothing but sincerity remained. “I was stupid when I left last February, and my stupidity put them in a tough situation. That’s why Blake wasn’t blowing sunshine up my ass, but I totally deserved it. I’ve talked to him. Apologized. It’s okay now.”

“That’s good.” His explanation didn’t answer all her questions, but she was glad because some of the stress seemed to have leached out of him. When he finally kissed her good night an hour later, it was easy to give in to the siren call of her pillow.

The next thing Dare knew it was morning and the curtains were being pulled open to another blue-sky day.

She stretched a bit, happy that she felt so normal and rested—although considering she hadn’t had to lift a finger for most of yesterday, her burst of energy made sense. She wasn’t looking forward to two more days of limited mobility. AKA, sitting around on her butt.

“When you’re done in the washroom, we’ve got some tests we need to put you through, as well as another dose of medicine,” Tamara informed her.

By the time Jesse slipped into the room to say good morning, Dare’s cheeks were sore from smiling. His cousin had helped pass the time by spilling the beans on some of his exploits when he was little, most of which were embarrassing.

Dare laughed at Jesse’s expression when he realized what Tamara was talking about. “Your cousin knows all the good stories about you,” she teased.