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“I would love to take you on part of the Appalachian Trail. You’d love it.”
“That would be great.” Jenny yawned.
“Let me go grab lunch. I’ll be back.”
She watched him leave the living room, taking note of how he walked and how well his jeans accentuated his butt. She set the remote down beside her, and Faith came over and nuzzled her hand.
“Hi, Girl. How are you?”
The dog whined.
“I’m not up for playing today. I’m sorry.”
Faith licked her hand, then batted her head against her palm.
“Oh, you want head scratches. That I can do.” Jenny threaded her fingers through the silky black curls of Faith’s coat until she was scratching her scalp, then Faith plopped down in a heap beside the couch. This forced Jenny to reach farther down to keep up her petting. She knew she was doing a good job when Faith let out an appreciative moan.
“Are you seducing my dog?” Brax asked as he came in with a cuddly stuffed dog in his hand.
“What’s that?”
“Believe it or not, it’s a heating pad. CiCi got it for me at Christmas. It’s called a Warmie®. I can put it in the microwave or the freezer.” He pulled back her blanket. “Where do you need it?”
Jenny pointed to the most painful point on her ribs. He snuggled it close, and she felt instant relief. Faith raised her head and looked.
Woof.
“I’m not sure that she likes the competition,” Jenny laughed. “How often have you used this?”
“Don’t tell CiCi, but this is the first time that this has been used.”
“I think she probably knows.” Jenny smiled.
“The pot pies should be ready in about twenty minutes. Didn’t you find anything you wanted to watch on TV?”
“I’ve watched enough TV to last me a lifetime. Do you have any books?”
“What kinds?”
Jenny laughed again. She realized she laughed a lot around Brax. “Give me an assortment. Anything will do. That is, if you have books in print.”
“You’re in luck. Dad gave me two boxes when he saw that the home office in this place had built-in shelves. He thought some of the shelves should have books. I hope you like Westerns.”
“Louis L’Amour?”
“Yep, and Zane Grey. But he also has some military action and adventure, police thrillers. I’m pretty sure I saw a romance or two. But a whole hell of a lot of westerns.”
“Bring the boxes.”
Brax grinned.
Jenny didn’t even make it long enough for stew that night. Brax ended up carrying her to the guest bedroom. Earlier he had talked her into getting more comfortable, so she was wearing leggings and an oversized t-shirt, so when he put her to bed, at least she would sleep comfortably. It had been a nice afternoon. When she’d assured him that she could tune out him watching a documentary on TV while she read a book, she hadn’t been kidding. She was a good quarter of the way through one of the Louis L’Amour books by the time she passed out.
He took the book into the guest room with her, in case she woke up during the night and wanted to continue reading. He really wanted to leave her bedroom door open so that he could hear her during the night in case she needed something, but he wasn’t sure if she would be comfortable having Faith wander into her room at some point.
Faith had never slept on the bed in the guest room, but he had let her sleep in his bed on more than one occasion, so he was afraid that she might get the idea to sleep with Jenny. With Jenny still being on edge, that was the last thing she needed, waking up in the middle of the night with an eighty-pound dog jumping up into bed with her. She’d be traumatized for sure.
After he got Jenny settled, he went back to the living room and got out his phone. He owed some people some calls and texts. First his sister. CiCi knew what had happened, and she’d been worried sick. She’d visited Jenny at the hospital both days she’d been a patient, and she wanted to be at his house when she arrived, but he’d nixed that idea.
