Chapter Thirty
Eden woke up screaming her head off as the sun sank below the purple and tangerine horizon. The fever had come back with a vengeance. Rachel gave her a few more drops of the tea, but this time it did nothing. She pumped some water into a shallow pan and removed Eden’s clothes. She put her baby daughter into the coolness and sponged water over her hot skin. That’s how Heath found them when he entered with Jax.
He hung his hat on a nail beside the door. “How is she?”
“The fever is back. I frankly don’t know what we’re going to do.”
Heath covered the space in three long strides. “Tell me what you want. If you want me to go for the doctor in Estacado, I’ll saddle up and ride.”
That he asked for her opinion instead of taking over and doing what he wanted wasn’t lost on her. Maybe their talk had opened his eyes. She wished it had been under different, less dire circumstances.
“I’m so scared, Heath,” she whispered.
“I know.” He slipped his hands underneath the long braid she wore and cupped her neck. “I am too. If anything happens to our baby girl, I don’t know what I’ll do.”
His voice cracked. Rachel turned and discovered tears in his eyes. The love he had for this child equaled hers.
She took a deep breath and found strength. “Shhhh. She’s going to be okay. We have to believe that. Will you say a prayer?”
Heath bowed his head, his deep voice filling the room as he prayed for mercy and healing. Rachel silently mouthed her own prayer and felt a little better after the amens.
“Thank you, Heath.” She removed Eden from the water and dried her off. “If you’ll go for the doctor, I’d be ever so grateful. He may be unable to do anything to help, but he can tell us what’s wrong and what we’re dealing with.”
“I agree. I’ll go saddle up.”
The house would be so empty once he left. She longed for someone to keep her company until Heath got back.
“I don’t suppose you located Sally?”
“Nope. I don’t know what to make of it.” He kissed Eden’s cheek. “I’ll be back in to say goodbye before I mount up. I hate to leave you and I wouldn’t if it wasn’t necessary. You’ll be unprotected except for Jax.”
“We’ll be fine. I have a rifle and I know how to shoot.”
A wry smile flickered on his lips before he turned. He lifted his hat from the nail and walked into the fading light.
Rachel focused on Eden. She spooned a few drops of the willow bark tea into the tiny mouth. At least Eden had stopped screaming. She laid the babe in her crib to rest and listened for Heath’s footsteps.
When she heard them, she hurried to meet him.
“When I leave, bolt this door. Don’t let anyone in unless it’s Sally.” He pulled her against him and she could feel the pounding of his heart. “I’ll be back as soon as I can. With any luck by first light. I won’t return without a doctor.”
“Just be careful.” She wanted to reach up and smooth the worried lines from his face but knew if she did she wouldn’t be able to let him go.
“We need to talk when I get back,” he murmured against her temple.
Curiosity picked at the frayed edges of her mind like fingers plucking lint from a dress. She had no idea what was on his mind.
“Just hurry please.”
Rachel’s pulse quickened when he lowered his head and slanted a long kiss across her mouth. In that moment she knew she wanted to spend the rest of her life with this man if it were possible.
I won’t ask you to marry me again. You know where I am when you make up your mind.
Heath’s words replayed in her head. She wouldn’t know if they could have a future until she put the black shadows of the past to rest once and for all. It was time to start anew.
She’d inform him of her decision.