Chapter 4

4

Meyra stayed with him.

After she'd dialed 911, she'd texted and told Darcey what was happening and to direct the ambulance to the side entrance. Behind the family wing. Where they had a small parking lot just for family .

Darcey came running moments after Meyra's text. With blankets like Meyra had told her to.

"What happened? Brandt?" Darcey dropped to her knees in the snow next to him. She spread blankets over him quickly while Meyra helped. "The ambulance is on the way. But they're about twenty minutes out. What can we do in the meantime?"

Darcey was touching his face. He grinned up at her. He was a very beautiful man. Meyra had noticed that before. "Keep me from freezing to death, that's all. If you ladies want to cuddle me together, I am all yours. That would be a good way to croak, I think. Right next to the two of you."

He flirted a lot, too. She'd seen that before.

Meyra was still on her knees next to him. She scooted a bit. Ignoring the snow. "You can rest your head here."

His head immediately landed on her lap. Like it had been exhausting him to hold it up.

Tears sprang to her eyes.

Meyra brushed the dark hair off his forehead. His hair was mostly dark brown. Like the best baking chocolate, but sometimes, in the light, she thought there was red in it. Like hers. Hers was mostly light brown, but there was a little bit of red. She just kept touching his hair, especially when he sighed and closed his eyes like he did. He had really blue eyes, but she couldn't see that right now.

She'd never forget how his eyes had looked right before he'd kissed her that night.

She'd dreamed of his eyes sometimes.

"It'll be okay. They'll be here soon," she whispered to him. "I'm not going anywhere."

"I think, if you'll just keep touching me like this, I'll stay right where I am. I missed you, you know." He reached one hand up and caught hers. She gasped when he brushed a kiss across her open palm. "Thank you for rescuing me, little one. You are my angel. I've known that forever, it seems."

Then the man just passed out right there on her lap.

She looked at Darcey, her arms around him, snow soaking into her jeans where she knelt. "What do we do?"

"Unfortunately, we just…wait. But he'll be okay. He's too tough not to be." Darcey stood as people came rushing down the path, making so much noise. "I'll keep the crowd back. Stay with him?"

Meyra nodded. She wasn't going anywhere.

She wasn't going to leave him alone. Tears covered her cheeks, but she didn't wipe them away. She just kept touching him.

She'd wanted him to come back, but not like this.