Operation Ginger Avenger [Divine Creek Ranch 24] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)

by Heather Rainier

The phone screen hadn’t even dimmed before it rang again. Sighing, he took another swig of his beer. “Burnett.”

  “Hi, Troy, it’s me, Grace. I wanted to thank you for agreeing to help with the fundraiser auction and let you know we’re having a planning meeting at the ranch next month. I’ll have to get back to you with the exact date and time, but I wondered if you would let Tank know and hopefully both of you can come. And like I told Tank earlier, it’s just supposed to be a fun, no-strings-attached bachelor auction, and all either of you is obligated for is an evening out, a meal, and gentlemanly companionship. The boys’ ranch and all the other charities are going to be so grateful for your participation. I hope everything is going well—oh boy. Listen, I’ve got to let you go because Grant just woke up from his nap and he sounds cranky. I hope he’s not coming down with something. It was really nice talking to you. Bye!”

  “Nice talking to—”

  Grace was making shushing sounds to her fussy toddler when the line went dead.

  “—you, too. Well, all right then.”

  He wished he knew how to feel about the auction. He liked the idea of helping a charity or two but not at the expense of Jessica’s feelings. He hoped whoever offered the winning bid would be happy with dinner out at O’Reilley’s or Chantilly’s or maybe a nice breakfast at Cassie’s place, Divine Drip, which had been reconstructed and was now the new place to “be seen” in Divine, thanks to her location and her awesome cupcakes.

  The stillness of the house crept in on him as he drank his beer. He loved the constant activity, the physical exertion of working on the Rockin’ C Ranch. The Carlisles were fantastic employers, besides being friends, and he’d do anything for them. Lydia was a one-of-a-kind lady, as well as a world-class cook. Her homemade meals served to all the men living on the ranch made the Rockin’ C feel less like work and more like home, which was the reason he loved living there. He’d grown up in a huge family, and when he hadn’t been home, he’d been next door at the Drummond house. He’d wanted a home and family like the ones he’d grown up in for as long as he could remember. The only thing he wanted more was Jessica.

  The memory of her shocked face as she’d watched that video made his heart ache all over again. She deserved so much good in her life, and she’d had so much sorrow and hurt instead. Talking to her earlier, he had felt her melancholy. Sitting a foot away had sucked when he’d wanted nothing more than to wrap her up in his arms, hold her close, and keep her safe, but he couldn’t do it because she spooked so easy.

  She probably didn’t think anyone knew about the nightmares that had persisted. He and Tank knew because they’d been vigilant while Trevor Dornan had been in the wind a couple of years before. Dornan had been recaptured and returned to prison, but Troy and Tank had remained attentive. Her cabin was nestled close to the Divine Creek, which snaked through the woods behind the Rockin’ C’s main ranch house, and they had clear line of sight from their quarters and the perfect excuse for their watchfulness since they served not only as ranch hands but also as security for the expansive cattle ranch.

  Troy’s and Tank’s instincts had told both of them that not all the facts regarding Dornan’s brother, Brian’s involvement in Jessica’s captivity had come to light. A nonverbal communication had occurred between the brothers as they’d stared at each other across the courtroom when she’d testified a second time about Trevor coming to Divine, seeking to retake Jessica until he discovered she’d borne a girl, and then had attempted to kidnap Grace Warner, who had been pregnant with Grant, in her place.

  In addition to the premeditated and attempted kidnappings, he’d also killed a sheriff’s deputy, so it was unlikely Trevor Dornan would ever see freedom again. But something had still felt off about the brother as he’d walked out of the courthouse and disappeared.

  Troy’s ringtone interrupted his thoughts, and when he saw that it was Jessica calling, he fumbled the phone in his attempt to answer it quickly.

  “Jess?” he said as the line connected and his ear was filled with the sound of a child crying. He went to the front picture window to look across the wide pasture to her house. The light was on in the bedroom and the kitchen, and the front door was standing wide open. White plastic grocery bags sat in disarray on her porch and just inside the doorframe.

  “Troy?” She sounded weird. Hoarse.

  “Jess, what’s the matter? Are you okay? Is Bella all right?”

  “Troy, I hate to do this. I can’t get in touch with Lydia. Otherwise, I wouldn’t bother you. I saw your truck in front of your house, and I need—”

  It sounded like the phone hit the floor, and chaos erupted on the other end. A strange echo as if she was talking in a barrel distorted the call, and he listened with growing concern as Jessica spoke in soothing tones to Bella.

  “Jess?”

  After a moment, the phone crackled, and then he could hear her panting. “I’m so sorry, Troy.”

  “Stop apologizing. I’m here. Just tell me what you need.” He was already closing his front door behind him and heading for her place.

  “I know I told you I’m not ready for anything, and I’m still not, at least I don’t think so. I did some thinking, and I wanted to talk to the two of you about that, and then this happened. Troy, I need you right now. If you can handle me and Bella at our absolute worst, I need you.”

  “Mama!” Bella wailed and hiccupped.

  Jessica shuffled the phone again as Bella continued crying. “Oh, honey! It’s okay. You can’t help it.”

  “I’ll be there in less than a minute, baby. And I’ll take the good, the bad, and the ugly where the two of you are concerned.”

  She gave a weak chuckle. “Thank you. Oh God,” she croaked, and then the line went dead.

  The sight that greeted him might’ve scared off a more squeamish man, but he’d grown up with siblings and cousins and had served three tours in Iraq.

  Huddled by the toilet, drenched in baby vomit, with Bella red-faced and bawling in her arms, Jessica gagged and whispered through a raw throat. “I hope you’ve had your shots because I have no idea what we’ve caught.”

  “Whoa.” Instincts honed from years of assessing and handling unpredictable situations while on deployment kicked him into triage mode. Jessica was flushed and bleary-eyed, but she didn’t look as though she was about to lose consciousness. He needed to secure the house so no critters wandered in. Next came basic clean-up duty of the girls and then serious comfort measures were called for. “Hang on to her for one second. I’ll get the wipes and close up the house.”

  “There’s still groceries sitting in the back of the car.”

  Taking his phone out, he said, “Siri, call Tank.” He quickly carried in the rest of Jessica’s groceries, closed up her car, and shut the front door. By the time that was done, he’d filled Tank in on what had happened and Tank told him he’d be there soon. He could hear Jessica and Bella both being sick in the bathroom. Bella’s wailing made his chest ache.

  The next call went to Doctor Emma’s answering service. While he waited for the callback, he grabbed a package of baby wipes Jessica told him about and a trash bag and began cleaning the girls up. Bella’s face was flushed and teary, and he could feel her fever through the baby wipe as he cleaned up her chubby cheeks and neck, which only made her squall harder, then began stripping her soiled clothes off of her with Jessica’s help. Jessica was flushed, as well.

  “Can you tell me what happened, Jess?”

  Her voice sounded like it hurt to talk, as if she was talking over glass shards. “After I got Bella from daycare, I went to Batson’s to do my grocery shopping. I noticed Bella was getting a little cranky, so I hurried. When I was checking out, I started to feel strange—kind of dizzy and like I had a knot in my throat. I had goosebumps, and my stomach felt queasy. Bella started fussing in the car, and—oh my gosh—my car is a disaster area. I didn’t even get all the groceries inside before we were both throwing up. I’m so embarrassed…” Her voice bro
ke on the last syllable, and then she got sick again.

  She was still holding the baby, so he held her hair for her and talked soothingly to Bella as she wept in her mother’s arms, now seeming wrung out. “My poor girls. There’s nothing to be embarrassed about. You’re sick, and we’re going to be here for you. That’s all there is to it. We’ll handle cleaning up the car.”

  “No! I can do that. I just need—”

  While she got sick all over again, he held her hair back and said, “You’re in no shape to do anything besides go to bed.”

  Several minutes later, after a returned call from Emma, Troy came back in the bathroom with a change of clothes for Jessica, her soft pajamas from the chair by her bed and a fresh pair of panties, and held out his hands for Bella.

  “Emma said there’s been a rash of flu cases calling in today. She said to keep you both hydrated and make you comfortable. She said she could call in a prescription for Tamiflu, but—”

  “No. I had a bad reaction to it last time I took it. It makes the nausea even worse.”

  “That’s what she told me, so we’re going with traditional symptom treatment. Tank just got here, and he’s going to help you while I take care of sprout for you.”

  “But—”

  “Don’t worry, I’ve got a trashcan nearby if she gets sick again. Let Tank help you.”

  “I hate that you’re seeing me like this—” Her eyes were bloodshot and watery as she looked up at them. The emotion in her tone told him she was close to tears.

  “You said that if we could be around you at your absolute worst, you needed our help. We can handle it, baby.”

  Tank squeezed in around him and squatted beside her. “I’ve got you, Jess.” She moaned when he started to lift her, and he gathered her hair away from her face just in time as she got sick once more. Tank looked up at him and said, “I stopped and got some electrolyte drink for Bella and ginger ale for Jess.”

  “I’ll get it after I have Bella cleaned up and changed. Poor babies,” he murmured soothingly as he carried Bella to her bedroom.

  He could hear Jessica’s shaky voice as she spoke to Tank, and then the shower came on and the door closed.

  “Toy, my tummy hurt,” Bella whispered lethargically as she laid her cheek against his chest, the heat seeping quickly through his work shirt.

  That was what she called him, he thought with a smile. Toy.

  “Toy gonna get you fixed up, sprout.”

  “Mama sick,” she replied, sympathy evident in her elongated syllables. Emma had told him to push fluids, so that was his first order of business once he got Bella cleaned up.

  Jessica had asked if they could handle her at her worst. This wasn’t it. This was just sick with the flu. Seeing the hurt, the way Trevor Dornan continued hurting her, that was the worst. He’d do anything to make that better, too.

  * * * *

  Helping her undress and get in the shower without lusting after those dangerous curves was an epic fail. There was no way Tank could keep his gaze from ranging over all that beauty. She was sick. He should be shot.

  It’s impolite to ogle a naked woman in distress. Don’t look at her amazing breasts or those tight nipples. Tank looked down. Shit, don’t look at her hips…or her thighs. Look at those thighs! Hey, she trims her pussy. Stop it! He jabbed his finger in his eye to distract himself.

  “What’s the matter? Did you get something in your eye? You okay?” she rasped out. He felt guilty. She had to feel like crap, and she shouldn’t worry about him. He turned to face the sink so she wouldn’t see the epic boner making his jeans tight and wished he’d worn a jacket to cover it up.

  Absolutely do not tell her you think she is amazingly beautiful, even sick as she is. She’ll shut down if you do. Be there. Just be there. Pretend she’s your sister. An image of his sister Daphne popped into his head. Nope, now it’s creepy! Just chill, man. You’ve seen plenty of pretty naked women. None that pretty. None that he wanted to fuck as bad as he wanted—ohmygawd, shut up!

  “I’m okay. Is the water warm enough now?”

  She made a noncommittal groaning sound and reached for the sidewall of the tub as she stood from her perch on the toilet, and started to careen sideways.

  “Whoa, baby,” he murmured as he reached for her arm and side. Under his hands, she was as hot as a branding iron. He steadied her as she stepped under the spray and immediately hissed.

  “Too cold!” she warbled as she stepped back and put up her hands to shield herself from the lukewarm water.

  “Your fever is making you think that. Let’s just get the baby vomit rinsed off of you so you can get comfortable.”

  She gave a weak chuckle. “I think some of that’s mine actually. I’m so sorry.”

  “That’s okay, Jess. You don’t need to apologize. I’m glad you reached out to us so we’d know something was wrong.”

  Jessica inched back into the shower spray and moaned as her skin dotted with goosebumps. As she started to tilt a little, Tank caught her again, and she looked up at him with startled, reddened eyes. She righted herself, and after a moment, her gaze dulled. “You always seem to be there for all of my worst moments. First, I go into labor and my water literally breaks all over you and you get deputized to guard me while I give birth. Then you get treated to the thrill of me vomiting, and now you’re seeing me naked and looking like death. This is not how I imagined you seeing me naked the first time.” She put her head back to let the shower run over it and grimaced as she shook hard.

  It seemed like a good idea to stay near her in case she lost her equilibrium again, so he stood right by the shower curtain. Then her words finally registered. “You’ve imagined me seeing you naked before?”

  Her eyebrows arched, and she blinked the water out of her eyes. Giving him a lame chuckle, she said, “I…might’ve.”

  “Both of us?”

  “Ummm…”

  Regardless of what she might say or how she’d reacted that morning, her subconscious had been willing to go there. Maybe all wasn’t lost. He didn’t think of any of those times as worst moments with her. The worst was seeing how terrified she’d been of Trevor Dornan when she’d spotted him in the hospital when she’d been in labor. He was thankful he and Troy had been there to protect her from that son of a bitch.

  She cleared her throat and grimaced. She looked so vulnerable, standing there with her forearms against her chest and her hands wringing together under her chin. “I’ve been doing some thinking, or at least I was before the projectile vomiting started.”

  “’Bout what?”

  “About us.”

  “What were you thinking?”

  “That I wished I could be the brave kind of person that didn’t let Trevor Dornan have the victory over me more than he already has.”

  “That’s some pretty fearless thinking. You know we’d be good to you. I’d never want to do anything that might trigger your anxiety. I have friends with PTSD, so I know how it can come at you out of nowhere.”

  “I want to be brave for Bella. For myself. And for you.” Her voice was barely above a whisper as she cradled her head in her hands. “My head hurts.”

  “I’ve got you, Jess.” He’d take her admission. For now, that was enough encouragement. “We can talk about it when you feel better. Let’s get you dried off.”

  After shutting off the water, he held up a towel to wrap around her and then helped her onto the bathmat.

  “What about Bella? I have to—”

  “That’s why you have us. We’ll take care of both of you.” Hearing voices, he put his ear to the door. “Troy’s talking to Lydia. She must’ve come to check on you. You’re going straight to bed after you replace some of the fluids you lost. And Troy’s going to give Bella some Pedialyte after he’s got her ready for bed.”

  Jessica didn’t argue, just nodded as she stood there trembling and pale.

  The shakes grew more violent as he gently patted her dry, his concern for her now much great
er than his arousal at her nudity had been. It didn’t sit well with him that he could’ve been turned on when she felt so bad. He steadied her as she stepped into her panties and then helped her into her soft pajama pants and the matching shirt and then set to work on her dripping-wet hair. He’d wanted to pin it up until he’d seen that Bella had gotten her there, as well.

  When it was dry enough, they exited the humid bathroom, and she gasped as she walked into the air conditioning. But Troy was there, concern in his eyes and her robe and slippers in one hand and Bella in the crook of his arm. The toddler’s head rested on Troy’s shoulder, and her tousled curls were damp so he must’ve given her a quick bath in the other bathroom.

  “Did Troy get you something to drink, sugar?” Jessica whispered as she plugged her feet into the slippers and then pulled on the robe. Concern for her daughter seemed to rally her a little.

  Bella nodded, her red cheek still plastered against Troy’s shoulder. “Toy gave me piddly-lights,” she murmured as she showed her mommy her sippy cup.

  Jessica clutched the lapels of her robe together and gave Troy a grateful look. “Thank you.”

  Troy handed her the bottle of children’s pain reliever and patted Bella’s back. “Lydia said Clayton is down sick with the flu bug, and Chance is looking kind of green, too. She’s making homemade chicken soup and will bring you some in the morning. She said she’s talked to Jack Warner, and he thinks both Grace and Grant are coming down with it, too.” Jessica measured out the right amount of medication for Bella and showed them how much to administer. Bella opened her mouth like a little bird and leaned forward, taking the medication from the dropper without hesitation.

  “Grant and Bella had a playdate recently. And we’ve probably exposed you both to this virus. I’m so sorry, guys. First the vomit and all this and—”

  “Stop,” Tank admonished softly. “Honey, we can handle it. We’ve served in countries where being a member of the American military meant we had targets on our backs. We’ve had rocks thrown at us, been shot at and pissed on, survived a helicopter crash. Helping you and Bellykins and risking catching the flu just doesn’t even factor.”