Shoved (Moonlit Lake Matchmaker #4)

Chapter 19

STORM

The knock on the door surprised me. I rarely got guests. My family stopped by once in a while, but they usually texted to make sure I was home and not at the office.

Lulu, my ferocious watchdog, was at my side as I opened the door.

I stood there, stunned. The last person I would have expected on my doorstep late at night was Serena. But before I could utter a word, Sadie spewed chunky red vomit all over me.

“Uh, hello,” I muttered, taking a step back and grabbing Lulu to keep her out of the mess.

Serena gasped, her eyes wide with shock. “Oh, my gosh! Storm? You live here?”

“Yeah. What are you doing here?”

“It’s a long story. Can we use your bathroom?”

“Sure. Right through that door.” I pointed to the first door on the left. “I need to clean myself up, too. It’ll just take me a minute.” Too bad I hadn’t changed out of the black pants and blue button-down shirt I’d worn to work. Even though I knew I didn’t have to dress up in this town like I did at my previous job, I still wanted to convey a professional image. It always felt good to relax in comfy sweats at the end of the day.

“I’m so, so sorry,” she called out as she rushed Sadie to the bathroom and shut the door.

What were they doing here? How had Serena learned where I lived?.

A dozen different scenarios rushed through my mind, as I changed into sweats and put the dirty clothes in the washing machine—none of them good.

I grabbed an extra t-shirt and knocked on the bathroom door. “You two okay in there? I brought an extra shirt for Sadie.”

Serena cracked the door. “Thanks. This will be great. We’ll be out in a few minutes.” She took the shirt from me and closed the door again.

By the time they emerged, I had the floor cleaned up. “I can throw your dirty clothes in the washer with mine, if you’d like. And Serena, if you need clothes, let me know.”

“I’m fine for now. She didn’t hit me.”

“Wish I could say the same.” I tried to crack a smile to lighten the mood, but it fell flat.

“I’m so sorry about that. She said her tummy hurt, but I thought she just ate too much spaghetti.”

“What are you doing here?”

She looked down at Sadie, curling up with a blanket on my couch. “Could you get her a big bowl or bucket, just in case? Then I’ll tell you everything.”

I found a large plastic popcorn bowl in the cupboard and brought it to Sadie.

She wrapped her arm around it like it was a precious doll. “Thanks Mr. Storm.”

“You’re welcome. Feel better.”

“K,” she said as she closed her eyes. Out like a light.

Serena sat on the other end of the L-shaped sectional. I stood with my arms crossed, too amped up to sit, needing to hear her story before I could relax. “Okay. What happened?”

She took a steadying breath and exhaled. “Sadie and I had dinner with my mom.”

“Yeah. Spaghetti. I saw.”

She cringed. “Yeah. After that, we went driving to see the holiday lights. We were about to head home when I noticed a car following us. I didn’t want them to follow us to our house, so I kept driving, trying to lose them. And I think I was successful. But I hit some ice and ended up in the ditch, a little ways from your driveway. Thankfully, our followers weren’t behind us anymore, so they don’t know we’re here. Unless they drive by and see our trunk sticking out of the snowbank. But as I walked here, I didn’t see any cars or activity whatsoever. This house was the only light I saw in any direction. I had no idea you lived here.”

“Thank God you made it here safely.” I pulled the curtain back just enough to peer out the window. “It’s snowing pretty hard again. Your car will be covered in no time. Not good for your car, but good for hiding your whereabouts. You’ll be safe here.”

She was shaking like a leaf. I could hear her teeth chattering from across the room. I got up and covered her shoulders with a throw from the back of the couch.

“Maybe I should start a fire. You must be freezing.”

“I don’t know why I feel so cold all of a sudden. I wasn’t this cold when I was outside.”

“You were pumped full of adrenaline. Now that’s wearing down and your body is finally reacting to the stress.”

“I’m sorry to have imposed on you like this.”

“Stop apologizing. This is the best place you could have gone. Nobody would ever look for you here. And I will do everything in my power to keep you both safe.”

“Thank you,” she said, her voice quiet and vulnerable. “I actually felt relieved when I saw you open the door. For a split second anyway, until Sadie barfed all over you. But seriously. I am glad we ended up here.” She pulled the blanket tighter around her, still shivering. “Do you mind if I rest here for a bit? I’m really tired all of a sudden.”

“There’s a guest room you can both sleep in if you’d prefer.”

Serena moaned, barely able to keep her eyes open. “Too tired to move. I’ll just rest a bit and then I’ll go to the guest room.” She rested her head against the armrest of the couch and fell right to sleep.

So much for getting more information out of her, or a description of the car that had been following them. I texted Evan to let him know what happened, as much as I knew, anyway. I also wanted him to know Serena and Sadie were safe with me, in case anyone was looking for them.

I pulled a couple of water bottles from the fridge and set them on the coffee table, in case they woke up and needed fluids.

Sadie turned over and moaned, her blanket falling off to her waist. Lulu stood with her front paws on the couch next to the sleeping girl. Then she carefully grasped the top edge of the blanket with her mouth and tugged it up over Sadie’s shoulder again. Once Sadie was tucked in, Lulu hopped up on the couch and stretched out along the sleeping girl’s side.

I shook my head. This dog never ceased to amaze me. “You’re a good dog, Lu.”

She lifted her head to acknowledge me, and then laid right back down.

My attention shifted back to Serena. Her face looked pale, but she was no longer shivering.

What was I supposed to do?

I didn’t know anything about caring for the sick. My mom would know what to do, but I didn’t want her to know they were here. She’d get ideas I didn’t want her to have. Next best thing would be my twin sister. I’d never admit this to her, but she was the smartest person I knew. And no matter what the question was, she’d likely know the answer.

Stepping away from the sleeping beauties, I placed the call.

“Heya, Stormy. What’s up?” she asked.

“Lark, what do you know about taking care of sick people?”

“Just what Mom always did for us. Why? Don’t tell me you’re thinking of changing careers. You’ve got the bedside manner of a porcupine.”

“Hey now. How would you know what my bedside manner is like?”

“I shared a womb with you. Believe me, I know you better than anyone. I love you, but Florence Nightingale, you’re not.”

“Don’t worry, I’m not changing careers.” I leaned my back against my kitchen counter and ran my hand through my hair. “But I kind of have a situation here.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, Serena and Sadie arrived on my doorstep tonight, and they’re both sick and sleeping on my couch.”

“Why are they at your house?” Skye asked with a suspicious, yet suggestive, tone to her voice.

“It’s not what you’re thinking. Her car landed in the ditch near here. She went to the closest house, not knowing it was mine.”

“Interesting.” Skye was clearly amused.

“And now it seems they’re both sick. What should I do?”

“Okay. I don’t suppose you have a thermometer, do you?”

“No.”

“Okay, then put the back of your hand on your forehead, and then on her forehead, and see if she feels hotter than you.”

“Alright. Give me a minute, and I’ll check.” I set the phone down and did as Skye suggested. First on Sadie. She was slightly warmer than me. But was that because she was bundled up in the blanket? How did I know?

Next, I went to Serena. I brushed her hair from her face, trying hard not to wake her. Even sick, she was breathtakingly beautiful. I gently pressed the back of my hand to her forehead. She was burning up.

I picked the phone back up. “Sadie’s a little warm, but Serena’s burning up. What should I do?”

“You have a couple of options. You could run a lukewarm bath or shower for her. That would cool her down the fastest.”

My body heated and not from fever. Images ran through my mind, the sort I had no business conjuring about my client. That’s what she was, a client. No, I definitely could not let myself go there. “Nope. Not happening. What else you got?”

Skye chuckled. “Next best thing would be to put cold damp washcloths on their foreheads to help cool them off. You’ll have to keep re-wetting the cloth with cold water, wringing it out, and reapplying it to their foreheads.” She paused for a moment, letting me process it all. “If Serena wakes up, you can give her some acetaminophen to bring her fever down. And make sure they drink water whenever they’re awake.”

“Okay, cold washcloth, medicine, push water. Got it.”

“And Stormy?”

“Yeah.”

“I was joking about your bedside manner. You’ll do fine. They’re lucky they landed at your door.”

“Thanks, Lark.”

“Call me if you need anything else. Whatever time it is.”

“I will. Good night, sis.”

“G’night.”

I hung up the phone to get the cold washcloths Skye recommended. I placed one across Sadie’s forehead, though since she was on her side, it covered the entire side of her head, too.

Serena moaned when I put it on her. I wiped the cloth across her face and forehead to cool her off and keep her hair out of the way. By then, the washcloth was warm already. I got a bowl of ice water to dunk it in, so I wouldn’t have to keep running back and forth to the sink.

By the time Serena’s cloth was cooled and back on her head, I checked Sadie’s and hers needed to be cooled again, too. These ministrations continued for hours while they slept.

The protectiveness I felt for these two when it seemed they were in danger only multiplied as I cared for them through the night. The impenetrable wall I’d kept around my heart to keep people from getting too close, apparently, wasn’t so impenetrable after all. They had both wiggled their way in and set up residence.

Getting involved with Serena would be a bad idea, but the reasons why that was true seemed to have gotten lost somewhere along the way. My resolve weakened with each gentle snore and touch of her skin.

After being awake most of the night, my recliner called to me. I just needed to sit and rest my eyes for a bit. I tended to Sadie one last time, wiping her forehead with the cloth, when Serena lifted her head, her gaze meeting mine.