Chapter 26
B randon finally made it down the last stretch of road and onto the homestead.
It had taken him far longer to get back from Three Rivers Ranch than it had taken him to get there.
Paul and Brielle’s baby boy was absolutely adorable.
They’d named him about the cutest thing Brandon could ever think of—Spur.
He still smiled to himself through the last of the storm, his headlights illuminating the front porch of Lenny’s house.
He expected to see lights on there, but the house sat in darkness except for the faint, orange flickering light of the fire through a single side window.
That didn’t seem quite right, though he supposed the storm could’ve affected her electricity.
He brought the truck to a stop outside her house, trying to decide what to do.
His house would be cold and dark, and while hers was one of those, at least she already had a fire going.
Paul and Brielle had fed him dinner, and Brandon really just wanted to curl up with a thick blanket and an audiobook and call it a day.
He looked down the lane again, but his headlights didn’t reach all the way to his cabin. He didn’t see Lenny’s dogs under the porch, and Dumpling would be fine for a few more minutes.
He pulled in beside her truck, the rain barely a drizzle now. He hoped the catchment system had done its job. He couldn’t wait to go see how much water they’d gotten off her roof.
He wasn’t one to check the weather until he stepped outside and saw that it was storming. When Lenore had told him a couple of days ago that there would be rain this week, he hadn’t had time to do the other half of her roof.
Still, you’ve got six hundred square feet there , he thought, peering up through the windshield. Only the rain gutter on the right side had been covered, cleaned, and attached to a hose that fed into a container to collect the water.
“Dear Lord,” he prayed. “Please let that rain catchment system work.” The storm was over—what was done was done. Brandon certainly didn’t expect that God could go back in time and change it, but the prayer made him feel better.
When he didn’t notice any more raindrops hitting his windshield, he opened the door and dashed up the front steps to Lenny’s porch.
He knocked and called, “It’s just me, Lenny,” then eased the door open and stepped inside.
He wouldn’t catch Lenny getting out of the shower, as she didn’t have water in the house.
He supposed he sometimes changed his shirt out in the living room, but he couldn’t imagine that Lenny would ever do that.
Admiral barked from the middle of the living room, but Lenny didn’t answer him, and Brandon quickly closed the door behind him. “Len?” he called, frowning as he smelled something burnt in the air.
His heart throbbed strangely in his chest, because something definitely wasn’t right here. He went into the kitchen and found a burnt quesadilla sitting on the stove. Papers—his sketches and figures—sat scattered all over the table, and Lenny’s phone waited there too, plugged in.
Back in the living room, Susie-Q whined, and Admiral barked again. Neither canine had come to greet him, though, and Brandon’s skin crawled and pricked at him.
The stove stood next to the window, with door ajar. No wonder he’d been able to see the flickering light, and with a quick glance down the hall and another, “Len?” that got no answer, Brandon stepped toward the stove.
Why would she leave it open? he wondered.
Then he saw her, lying on the ground in front of it. Passed out. Both dogs sat almost on top of her, and Admiral barked again.
He rushed toward her, panic rising in his throat and tasting like hot metal.
“Lenore.” He dropped to his knees beside her, not sure if he should touch her or not.
She seemed to be sleeping. He watched in the golden firelight as her chest rose and fell.
He didn’t see any cuts or wounds, but she lay in a puddle of water.
He reached out and touched her shirt. It was soaking wet.
Brandon had no idea what she’d been doing out in the rain. Perhaps the rain catchment system had failed, and she’d been trying to fix it. She clearly hadn’t eaten dinner, if the black quesadilla told him anything.
He pressed his eyes closed as another prayer flowed from his mouth. “Dear Lord, thank You that she didn’t fall forward into this fire.”
If she had…. Brandon didn’t even want to think about it. As it was, he needed to get her out of these wet clothes and get her warm and dry as her lips had started to take on a semi-bluish hue.
He grabbed another dry log from the stack she had clearly brought in and added it to the flames, stoking them up nice and hot. He left the door to the stove open, said, “You guys keep her warm,” and ran down the hall to her bedroom. He flipped the light, but nothing happened.
He scrambled to get his phone out and turned on the flashlight.
He found Lenore’s bedroom to be one of controlled chaos.
She didn’t make her bed, but it was very clear she slept on the right side.
At least three cups and a plate sat on the nightstand, and a recliner waited in the corner, its purpose apparently to hold her discarded clothes.
Brandon went in that direction because he needed those dry clothes. He grabbed a soft pair of pants he’d never seen her wear before and a T-shirt with the American flag on the front of it, then hurried back down the hall.
He jogged into the bathroom and grabbed the hanging towel there, not sure why Lenny needed it as she didn’t have a shower. It didn’t matter right now.
“Lenny?” he asked again as he re-entered the living room. Still, she didn’t wake. Brandon wondered how long she’d been passed out before he arrived, and how long he should wait before he simply loaded her in the truck and took her to the emergency room.
Taking a chance, and with another whispered, “Stop me if I shouldn’t do this, Lord,” Brandon muscled the dogs out of the way, draped the towel over his lap, and slowly pulled Lenny into it. He quickly undressed her, covering her with the towel and rubbing it up and down her arms.
“Come on, Lenny, you gotta wake up. It’s Brandon. You gotta wake up, sweetheart.”
A horrible groan started in the bottom of her throat. It didn’t get any louder, and it didn’t go on for very long. He quickly pulled the dry shirt over her body, swiping the towel out from underneath once she was covered.
He repeated the process on her lower half, wiping the towel down her legs as far as it would go and still keep her covered. He’d gotten his nieces and nephews dressed as babies, and putting pants on another person was never easy—especially one who reacted like a limp rag doll.
Brandon managed the feat, and then he scooped Lenny up in his arms and laid her on the couch. Admiral didn’t get too far from her, and Brandon gave the dog a quick pat.
He wanted to take her down the hall to her bedroom and curl up with her there, but it had been at least ten degrees cooler than out here.
Instead, he jogged back to get her blanket, kicked off his boots and jacket, and laid behind her on the couch, pulling her into his chest and covering them both with her comforter.
“Come on, sweetheart,” he said, rubbing her back. “You gotta wake up.”
Lenore groaned again, and Brandon said, “That’s right. Come on, girl. You gotta wake up now. You gotta wake up for me.”
The groan stopped, and Lenore sucked in a breath. She started to flail, beating against him as she screamed, “Let me go!”
Admiral and Susie-Q barked then, both of their voices filling the cabin with thunderous protests.
“Hey, it’s me,” he yelled into the commotion, irrationally tightening his arms around her. “It’s Brandon. It’s me. We’re in your cabin.”
Lenore stopped thrashing, but he now held her on the very edge of the couch. “I’m going to drop you,” he said.
“Brandon.” Recognition lit her eyes.
“Lean into me, Len.” Thankfully, she did, and Brandon settled her back into his arms as the dogs calmed down. “You passed out,” he said. “Do you remember what happened?”
A long exhale came out of her mouth, heating his chest where she’d curled against him. “I was so cold.” She shivered then, and Brandon tucked the blanket in behind her and all along the back of her head.
“I had to go outside to change the water containers.”
“You didn’t wear a coat?” he asked.
“I was just so excited,” she said. “I even burnt my dinner while I was looking at your calculations.”
Yes, he’d seen it.
“So I haven’t eaten. I’d built a fire, but it had burned way down by the time I came back inside. I opened up the stove and had just put a log in, and…I don’t know. I don’t remember anything else.”
“We’re getting you warm now,” Brandon said. Though he didn’t feel a hundred percent comfortable with the situation, at least Lenore had woken up and was talking. Her stomach growled violently enough for him to hear and feel.
Despite the situation, he smiled. “Let me get you some dinner, baby,” he said, and he carefully eased her out of his arms and laid her back onto the couch. “You stay right there.”
He moved around to the back of the couch and pushed it so that it faced the stove, all of its heat flowing right onto Lenny.
Brandon had lived here and worked with her for six weeks now, and he could make her something she’d love.
He shone the flashlight into her cooler, pulled out the package of pepperoni, and moved back over to the stove.
She’d made a plain cheese quesadilla, but he made her a pepperoni pizza one.
He found one of her electrolyte packets in the drawer where she kept them and emptied it into a bottle of water.
He took the meal over to her and sat down on the floor near her. “All right, Len. You gotta eat.” He held up the triangle of pepperoni pizza quesadilla for her. Their eyes locked. She opened her mouth, and he fed it to her.
The moment was intimate and hot—and not just because Brandon was sitting next to the fire. He couldn’t look away while she chewed and swallowed.
“You changed my clothes?” Lenore asked.
“I used a towel to keep you covered. Don’t worry.” He grinned at her and fed her another bite of quesadilla. As she ate and drank, more color came into her face, and she sat up, tucking the comforter around her legs.
“Thank you, B.”
“You need something else? I can whip you up a smoothie.”
“The power is out,” Lenny said.
“Oh, right.” Brandon wanted to be closer to her, and he groaned as he stood up, complaining, “That floor is hard.” He settled onto the couch beside her, stroking her hair back and enjoying the way she fit against his side.
“I got sixty gallons of water off the roof,” Lenny said, a touch of pride in her voice. Then she coughed, a sound that concerned Brandon.
“Wow, sixty gallons?” he asked.
Lenny beamed up at him. “I kept changing them when they filled up. That’s why I was outside for so long.”
She looked exhausted, despite the obvious joy on her face. Brandon grinned at her and tucked her back into his side. “Way to go, Lenny. But you need to rest now. You got really cold there, and I don’t want you doing anything.”
Lennie yawned and laid down, her head now resting in his lap. He tucked the blanket around her, glad for the steady warmth of the stove.
“Will you stay with me tonight?” she asked. “Just to make sure the fire doesn’t go out.”
“Of course,” Brandon said, seizing onto the excuse to stay with Lenny. He didn’t want to go back to his cold, dark cabin anyway. “I’ll have to run and get Dumpling, but I want to keep an eye on you too. Make sure you’re okay after passing out.”
“I feel okay,” Lenny said, but she’d closed her eyes and didn’t speak louder than a whisper. “Maybe a little shaky. Thanks for dinner.”
It had been her food, but Brandon didn’t say anything. He sat with her for several minutes, trying to organize his thoughts and categorize his feelings. When none of that worked, he eased away from her and stood.
She didn’t stir at all, and he motioned for Admiral to come sit by her. “Keep an eye on her,” he told the black lab as he and Susie-Q crowded in around Lenny. “I’ll be back in ten minutes.”
He just needed to drive down the lane and get his cat, some food for breakfast, a change of clothes, and his blanket.
Oh, and it sure would be nice if he could figure out how he really felt about Lenny, and if he could talk to her again about making the homestead—and her—a permanent part of his life.
“Maybe it’s too soon,” he muttered as he left her cozy, toasty cabin for the bleak, cold darkness outside. He never thought he’d be one to fall so fast, but maybe he’d just needed to meet the right woman.
But how would he know for certain, and how could he get Lenny to see and feel the same things he did?