Chapter 33 Lauren
Lauren
Once she was in the water, Zach went to start a fire. Showing Zach just how stupid she was had heat blooming in her cheeks. Her body temperature was almost back to normal.
Embarrassment was the least of her problems. If Zach hadn’t come when he had, she’d be frozen to the ground. At best, she could have gotten frostbite. At worst, she could be dead.
Then there was the secret—the reason she’d been there in the first place. Zach was going to be furious when he found out. She’d promised to stop looking for Anthony, but there hadn’t been a day when she’d skipped checking every online forum she had access to.
She’d promised no secrets. He would never trust her after this.
There were three raps at the door followed by Zach’s muffled voice. “Can I come in?”
Lauren sat up in the water, wrapping her arms around her and pulling her knees up. The heavy clothes weighed her down. “Yes.”
The door opened, and Zach stepped into the small bathroom looking everywhere except at her. His chin stayed tucked to his chest as he leaned his back against the counter. “You ready to get dressed?”
The water lapped against the sides of the tub as she braced herself to stand. “Yes.”
Zach grabbed a towel and held it in front of her. Her hands didn’t shake as she took it and wrapped it around her, but she almost lost her balance before she remembered her sore ankle.
Once the towel was secured around her middle, Zach lifted her from the tub and set her gently on the rug. “Let me know when you’re ready for a lift to your room.”
Right. She didn’t exactly want to send him on an errand to get her pajamas and underwear. She could take care of that herself if he could just get her close enough.
He tilted his head toward the door. “I’ll be out here. Shout if you need me.”
Lauren nodded, unsure if she could trust her voice if she spoke.
Everything hurt as she strained to pull her sweater off before plopping it in the tub.
Then, she struggled to pull the jeans off but it was as if they’d shrunk three sizes.
The strength left in her arms was weaker than a baby flailing about learning how to grab a rattle.
Sitting on the edge of the tub she switched tactics and tried to pull one leg off at the hem. It didn’t budge. They were glued on. “Get off!”
Another sob escaped, and she pulled the towel tight around her middle. Maybe she’d cut them off. “Zach?”
She’d barely finished saying his name when his concerned face appeared through the door.
“What do you need?”
“Um…” Help me take off my clothes isn’t what she wanted to say.
Neither was I’m stuck in my pants.
“I need…” Lauren hid her face into her towel before she fell apart completely. Exhaustion hung on her shoulders. Zach had been patient and wonderful and now here she was stuck in a stupid pair of jeans.
“Hey.” His voice near her ear came a moment before he wrapped her in a hug. “What is it?”
Full on crying she managed to say, “I’m stuck.”
“Let me help you to your room.”
“It’s these pants. I can’t get them off.”
Zach buried his face in her neck and a suspicious shaking in his shoulders exposed his laughter.
“It’s not funny. I really can’t get them off.”
“It’s a little funny.” Zach took her face between his hands and pecked a kiss on the tip of her cold nose. “What do you expect me to do about it, angel?”
“You could close your eyes and, um, cut them off?”
“I thought you were the one with all the degrees.” His eyebrows couldn’t go any higher. “You want me to cut off your jeans with my eyes closed?”
“Just bring me the scissors, please.”
He rose to his feet and gave her a salute. “On it.”
He returned with the scissors, and he stood beside her as she cut her pants off.
“You know, this is not how I pictured this going.”
Lauren shot a glare at him. “I wish I could kick you.”
“I’ll let you do that later.”
“Why are you still in here? My pants are coming off.”
Zach raised a brow. “Exactly.”
“Out.” She pointed toward the door with the sharp end of the scissors.
“Fine. I’ll be out here if you need me.” Zach turned and slipped out the door.
Wrestling her wet pants off was a chore, but she did it. Stretching her back, she stood, careful not to put any weight on her ankle.
After brushing her hair out, she turned in front of the mirror. The wrapping on her arm needed to be changed again, and a huge blue bruise covered the middle of her back. She was lucky to be alive, but now wasn’t the time to let those thoughts run free.
She made sure the towel was securely around her as she cracked the bathroom door open. “Zach?”
“Right here.” He pushed off the wall beside the bathroom and stood in front of her until she got her balance holding onto the door frame.
He was careful as he lifted her into his arms. He carried her as if she were as light as a feather, and she’d never been held more securely in her life. Zach was the kind of strong that didn’t waver. Nothing could shake him.
He rested her on her one good foot in the bedroom where she could hold on to the dresser for support. “I’ll be in the hallway if you need me.” With that, he turned around and closed the door behind him.
Now that the danger was past, he couldn’t get far enough away from her.
He helped her move around, dropped her off, came back when she needed him, and left again.
Not that she would allow him to hang out in her bedroom while she dressed, but the way he avoided looking at her even when she was covered said he was angry with her.
She’d struggled into loose pants and had just pulled a sweatshirt over her head when the room plunged into darkness. The wind howled outside, and branches scratched against the roof.
The storm was here and doing all the damage weather stations had predicted. With the power out this early, she was more than grateful for her fireplace.
“Lauren.”
“You can come in.” She braced herself against the bed as she stood on her good foot.
Zach came in, pointing the beam of a flashlight at the floor. “We need to move to the living room.”
Right. The fire would be their only source of heat until the power came back on. If the storm lived up to the hype, that could be days.
Zach handed her the flashlight and scooped her into his arms. She held onto his shoulders with her uninjured arm and burrowed her face against his neck.
“You’re so warm,” she said as a shiver raced over her body.
Zach’s hold tightened around her. “Travis said it might take a while before you shake off the cold. He said you need to eat and sleep as soon as you can. Basically, you’re my new baby.”
Eating. Sleeping. All she could think about was Zach holding her like she was a priceless work of art. “You think you’re so funny.”
“Only occasionally.”
In the living room, he knelt on the rug in front of the fireplace and put her down on a pile of blankets and pillows.
“What’s this?”
“Well, you’re going to be hanging out here for a while. I found your blankets and pillows in the hall closet.”
The heat wrapped around her in an instant, soothing her tired body. Her fingers slid over the softness of the blankets. “Wow. While I was freezing my toes off, you were getting ready for the storm.”
Zach’s hands were off her the moment she was settled. “I’m going to get the candles.”
“Candles? Are you setting the mood or something?”
He was already walking away. “We have two flashlights and two extra batteries. I’m not a fan of groping around in the dark.”
“There won’t be any groping in the light either,” she shouted at his back.
Resting her face in her hands, she let the guilt hit her. Running out into the storm was stupid. Zach had been preparing for other dangers, and she’d brought one straight to him. When had he become the rational one?
He returned with three candles and a lighter. After putting the candles on the end table, he sat on the floor with his back propped against the couch—a few feet from her. The dim glow from the fire cast a dancing shadow over everything.
“Why are you sitting over there?” she asked.
“You need to be closer to the fire. I’ll move you to the couch when you get warmer.”
Pushing off the floor with her good arm and leg, she scooted across the floor to sit beside him. The closer she was to him, the more she could pretend things would be okay between them.
Pressing herself against his side, she rested her head on his shoulder.
“You saved me,” she whispered.
After a pause, he whispered back, “I guess that makes us even.”
Lauren lifted her head to look at him. “I didn’t save you.”
“You did.” He kept his gaze on the fire crackling in front of them. “Why did you call me?”
She shrank back from him as the weight of what she’d done settled between them. “I’m sorry.”
“No, I mean, why didn’t you call the police? You were in danger. Why didn’t you call for real help?”
“I did call for help. I called you because I knew you would get to me faster. You’re always telling me to call you if I need anything, and I’m sorry I’m always depending on you—”
“You can depend on me. I wouldn’t let a storm keep me from you.” He turned to her with hurt in his eyes. “I prayed for you. I didn’t know what I was doing, but I needed help. If anything happened to you…”
Lauren stared at him. He’d prayed—prayed to the God he believed didn’t care about him. He’d asked for help instead of thinking he could handle everything on his own.
“And the weirdest thing was that someone was helping me. Helping you.”
She rested her hand on his arm. “What are you saying?”
“I’m saying that God helped me. I know it sounds ridiculous, but I know what I felt.
I was afraid I would lose you, but something was telling me you’d be okay.
And I have this…” He pressed his eyes closed.
“I don’t know what it is, but I can’t even look at you without wondering… ” He paused and stared at the fire.
“Wondering what?” she asked. Zach was on the verge of something huge, and she had to tread carefully.
His shoulders sank, and he inhaled a deep breath. “I don’t know what love is,” he confessed.
Lauren froze. Zach was talking about God and love, and she might as well have been standing on the edge of a cliff again. Her heart constricted as she waited for him to say something.
“But I was afraid I’d lost you, and I can’t let that happen. I can’t screw up again. There’s too much at stake.”
She rested her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. “You’re not losing me.”
He shifted to kneel beside her and lifted her from the floor.
“What are you doing?” she asked, grabbing onto him.
He moved her to the couch before picking up the blanket and pillow from the floor. “You need to sleep.”
The thick blanket draped over her, warming her to the core. “I guess you can’t get home because of the storm.”
He motioned for her to lift her head before putting the pillow behind her head. “The snow is already over the bumper on your car, so you’re stuck with me for a while.”
Zach lay on his back on the floor by the fireplace. He rested one arm behind his head and the other over his abdomen. “Good night, angel.”
“Good night, Zach.”
They’d have plenty to talk about in the morning, but for now she’d savor the peace they’d found by the firelight.