From Glowing Embers

by Emilie Richards

Chapter 17

  Just before she opened her eyes, Julianna heard a moan. The sound convinced her she was alive, but told her nothing about where and when. Neither did it explain why. She lay quietly, gathering the strength to force her eyelids apart.

  The moan sounded again, but this time she knew it was coming from her own throat. Her eyelids fluttered open in protest. She’d never been a moaner. She took what life dished out without audible complaint. As her eyes began to focus, she wondered if moaning might not be a healthier response after all.

  The room undulated in shades of gold and ebony, and for a moment she concentrated on the fact that it was a room, not the swirling center of a violent storm. Then she remembered something more important.

  “Gray.” Her lips were dry, and the word crackled hoarsely. She said it again. “Gray!”

  “I’m right here.”

  She felt fingers slide between her own and a thumb making slow circles across the back of her hand. She gripped Gray’s hand with all her strength—which she discovered wasn’t much—and turned her head to look at the man that hand belonged to.

  “You’re alive. I’m alive.”

  “Apparently Eve didn’t want either of us.”

  She swallowed, and he seemed to anticipate what she needed. He bent and slipped an arm under her back, lifting her just far enough so that she could sip from a glass of water he held to her lips. When she shook her head, he lowered her to the bed again and picked up her hand once more.

  She rested a moment before she managed her next words. “Tell me what happened.”

  “You hit your head one time too many.” Gray caressed her hand as he spoke. “Do you remember the tree falling?”

  His words brought back the sound of exploding wood. She nodded, and pain throbbed in jagged waves across her forehead.

  “I knocked you to the ground.”

  “You threw yourself on top of me.”

  “Any chance a man gets.”

  She tried to laugh, but instead a tear ran down one cheek. “You were trying to protect me,” she said haltingly, interrupted by more tears.

  “Sweetheart, don’t.” Gray sat down on the bed beside her and began to smooth her hair back from her face. “It’s all right.”

  “You shielded me.” She turned her face to his hand and rubbed her cheek against it. “I thought you were going to die. I wanted to die, too.”

  He was silent, but no words were needed. He lay down beside her and took her into his arms, wrapping them around her so that they lay face-to-face. He kissed her forehead, her cheeks, nuzzling each teardrop. Hesitantly he kissed her lips, brushing his own back and forth over them until she was kissing him, too. Only then did he withdraw far enough so he could watch her expression as he answered.

  “I want to live with you, not die with you,” he said, tracing the trail of her tears with one finger. “We’ve been given that chance.”

  Julianna knew how much more courage living took than dying. She turned her face from his. “Tell me what happened.”

  “The tree missed us.” He didn’t add that it had missed only by inches. She didn’t need to hear how close they had come to dying in each other’s arms. “You were out by then. Dillon says from shock as much as a slight concussion.”

  “Dillon?”

  “He works on a miner’s rescue squad as a trained paramedic. He’s the one who patched up your head. You’ve got a cut right along your hairline. It should heal without a scar.”

  As her hand went to her head to touch a neatly taped gauze square, she realized that although the wind was blowing steadily against the bedroom windows, it was blowing without conviction. “The storm. Is it over?”

  “The worst of it is. The winds rimming the eye were fierce, but they’ve died down. Last I heard they were going to downgrade Eve to tropical storm status. As hurricanes go, she was a pussycat.”

  “Don’t ever say that again.”

  He laughed, and his finger circled higher to trace the frown lines on her forehead. “Jody’s fine.”

  Full memory returned in a rush. “Jody!”

  “She’s all right, Julianna. In fact, she’s waiting to see you.”

  “How long have I been out?”

  “About an hour.”

  “May I see her now?”

  “But you haven’t exactly been out the whole time,” Gray went on, as if she hadn’t interrupted. “You’ve come to a couple of times, said a few interesting things.”

  She wet her lips, afraid to ask.

  “For instance, when I undressed you and put you in dry clothes, you thanked me.”

  Her eyes challenged his. She refused to cringe because he had seen her without clothes. It certainly wasn’t the first time. “Thank you again.”

  He smiled. “My pleasure, believe me.”

  “Since I don’t remember, I’ll have to take your word for it.”

  “You never wore underwear like that when we were married.”

  “On the few occasions we were together, you could hardly wait to get me out of my underwear anyway.”

  “I’ve learned a few things since then.”

  “More than a few, I’ll bet.”

  “There were no women that I could pretend were you.”

  Jealousy was quickly replaced with something else equally powerful. “This so-called slight concussion knocked my tear ducts haywire,” she said, wiping another errant tear with her fingertips.

  “I’m sure that’s what it is.”

  “What else did I say?”

  “I’ll tell you someday. Right now there’s a little girl who’s pretty worried about you.”

  He kissed her forehead, untangling himself as he did. At the door, he paused. “Don’t be angry at her, Julianna.”

  “I couldn’t be.”

  Gray opened the door. “She’s awake, shrimp.”

  Julianna listened to the clatter of footsteps coming closer. She pushed herself upright, blinking as pain radiated along her skull and down her neck. The room swayed, then was still.

  “Paige said you weren’t dead!” Jody flew past Gray and landed on the bed.

  Julianna opened her arms, and in a second Jody was in her lap, her whole body wrapped tightly around her.

  “I am definitely not dead,” Julianna assured her. “How are you?”

  “I’ve got a bump on the back of my head. Wanna feel it?”

  “Can’t wait.” Julianna smoothed her fingers through the little girl’s silky hair. “A goose egg!”

  “Wait’ll I tell my mommy.”

  “I imagine Julianna would like to know what you were doing outside,” Gray prodded Jody.

  “I’m sorry, Julianna.”

  Julianna hugged Jody close again. “Why did you go outside?”

  “I wanted to see if the storm was gone. I didn’t believe you. There was a kitten...” Her voice trailed off.

  “And you chased it into the workshop and slipped on the logs trying to get it,” Julianna finished for her.

  “How’d you know?”

  “I was eight once, too.”

  “It’s fine. Dillon and I peeked outside a little while ago and I saw it run through the yard. I’m going to put it in my book. But not a kitten, a cobra,” Jody said with enthusiasm. “A big, ugly cobra. And the little girl tries to get away from it, not get it, and it’s not a workshop, it’s a haunted house in India.”

  “I think I ought to get a free copy of this book.”

  “I’m going to name the little girl Julianna.”

  “Thank you.” Julianna rested her cheek on Jody’s hair. “I think the storm’s gone for good. Your mommy can come and get you soon.”

  “Will I see you sometimes?”

  “I’ll come visit,” Julianna promised. “And I’ll write.”

  “We’d better let Julianna rest,” Gray told Jody.

  Julianna hugged the little girl again and watched as she skipped out of the room. “Was I ever that resilient?” she wondered out loud.


  “The question is how resilient you are now.”

  She looked at Gray and saw he wasn’t smiling. “I’ll be as good as new tomorrow.”

  “I wasn’t talking about your health.”

  She shook her head, too tired, too vulnerable, to tackle anything else.

  Her thoughts were easy to read. Gray relaxed. “Get some sleep, sweetheart. Today’s for recovering. Tomorrow’s for dreaming.”

  She lay back, resting her cheek on her hands, and, surprisingly, she fell asleep.

  But the dreams wouldn’t wait.

  Neither would the nightmares.