Page 66 of Thin Lives

Cynthia nodded. “Okay, not all day.”

Across the kitchen, Emma found the cook was watching her again. This time, Sherry had a wrinkle between her brow—a sure sign of her concern.

Emma didn’t blame the woman.

She was concerned, too.

Midnight’s whimpering woke Emma from her nap. In a week and a half, since the shooting, she hadn’t been able to get a decent night’s rest as her mind just wouldn’t slow enough to shut down. Her body, on the other hand, was finally fighting back with exhaustion.

A nap in the middle of the day was just one of those ways.

Emma blinked, and corrected her previous thought. She had fallen asleep in the middle of the day. Earlier, when she climbed into bed, the sun had been high and bright in the bedroom windows. But now, all she could see staring back at her from the windows was a black sky filled with gray clouds, and just the barest hint of the moon gleaming behind them.

How long had she slept?

Emma checked the clock on the bedside table. It read just a little before 9:00 PM. Almost half of her day was gone to her body finally giving up the fight and putting her to sleep.

She didn’t mind.

What else was she going to do, anyway?

Sleep seemed like a good choice.

Again, the little dog on the floor whimpered. Ignoring the twinge of tightening pain in her side as she rolled over in the bed, Emma reached down to scoop Midnight up from the floor. It wasn’t often he slept in the bed with her now that he wasn’t just a puppy anymore, but some nights couldn’t be helped when the pup was feeling lonely … or Emma was feeling desolate.

She needed comfort, and the pup was good for that.

Calisto’s gift kept on giving, that was for sure.

Once Midnight was in the bed, his whimpering settled almost instantly. He curled his thin, furry body around the side of Emma’s swelled stomach, his nose bumping her belly with gentle huffs of air. She wasn’t sure if it was because the dog liked her belly, or if he knew there was a baby in there and he was just saying hello in his own way.

Whatever it was, Midnight always touched her belly with his nose.

“All right,” Emma told the pup, scratching behind his fluffy, floppy ear, “it’s time for sleep. No more going on, huh?”

Midnight barely reacted to her order, but he did flick an ear, and then looked toward the door. The slight wag of his tail accompanied his diverted attention as his head perked up more.

Emma hadn’t heard anything outside in the hallway, but it was possible one of Affonso’s daughters were up and moving around. It wasn’t all that late, after all.

The softest knock on the bedroom door damn near made Emma jump out of her own skin.

“Emmy?”

She stilled in place.

That voice did not belong to one of Affonso’s daughters. It was the very last person she expected to come back to the Donati home after the last time he was there, and what happened between them.

Clearing her throat to rid the nervousness from her tone, Emma said loudly, “Yeah, Cal?”

“You decent?”

Emma glanced down at what she was wearing. The over-sized T-shirt and thin cotton shorts kept her covered and comfortable. “Decent enough.”

“Can I come in?”

“Ah, you probably—”

She was going to tell him that he shouldn’t, given it wouldn’t be appropriate, but Calisto was already pushing the door open, seemingly satisfied with her earlier comment about being dressed.