“I’ll be fine. It’s easing already. Just give me a couple of minutes.”
Reese smiled faintly and set the glass aside to shake one of her pills from the bottle. “You can have all the time you want.” Kneeling on the bed, he eased a hand under her back and lifted her. “Come on, baby. Take your pill, and then Duncan and I will help you into your nightgown.”
Circling to her other side, Duncan waited until she’d swallowed the pill before slipping her nightgown over her head, and with Reese’s help, bundled her into it. “That’s my girl.”
Erin opened her eyes to slits. “When I get rid of this headache, I’m going to kick your ass.”
Easing her back down, Duncan smiled. “I know, baby.”
After Reese helped her roll to her side, a position she favored, and one that took pressure from her cracked rib, she sighed.
Duncan fought to hide his fear. “There, honey. Comfortable?”
Closing her eyes again, she smiled. “Hmm. Very. Thank you. Can I take a rain check on the massage?”
Becoming more alarmed that his wife turned down something she always enjoyed—something that always relaxed her—Duncan lifted his gaze to meet Reese’s concerned one.
“Of course.”
Reaching back to a nearby chair, he retrieved the soft blanket draped over it and covered her with it.
Reese edged closer, spooning her. “I’ll stay with her. I could use a couple hours of shut-eye.”
Nodding, Duncan silently closed the curtains, plunging the room into almost complete darkness.
Fingering the material, he heard the muffled footsteps of Jared walking into the room. Duncan turned to glance at him, careful to keep his voice low. “She hated the blinds we used to have in here.”
“They were ugly.”
Dropping the edge of the curtain, Duncan turned with a smile. “So you said.”
Jared circled the bed and lowered himself to a spot near her thighs. “Numerous times. But once I tumbled you into bed, you forgot all about them.”
“Sometimes you didn’t even notice them at all.” Raising himself to smile down at Erin, Reese pressed his lips to her shoulder before adjusting the blanket over it. “It took you months to find the ones you wanted, and when you did, we had to hang them right away.”
To Duncan’s relief, Erin’s smile seemed less forced. “Admit it. You like having room-darkening curtains. Think about how many mornings we got to sleep in. Of course, that was before William.”
Chuckling, Jared reached under the blanket to rub her feet. “Very true. Why don’t you get some sleep while Mom and the dads have him? They have enough bottles to last until tomorrow afternoon.”
Erin smiled again and slid a hand under her pillow. “I would love to sleep, but I have three husbands who won’t shut up.”
Relieved that she sounded more like herself, and noting that she’d begun to slur her words, Duncan bent to touch his lips to her forehead. “Point taken. Go to sleep, darlin’.”
He left the room and made his way to the kitchen, dropping into a chair.
The horror of the previous day played in his mind, tightening his stomach into painful knots.
Sick to his stomach at how close they’d come to losing her, Duncan braced his elbows on the table and dropped his head into his hands, wondering if he’d ever get the horrifying image out of his mind.
* * * *
Satisfied that his wife slept peacefully, and that Reese would watch over her while she did, Jared eased from the bed and went in search of Duncan.
His brother had been unusually quiet and thoughtful since the fire and the attack on Erin, and Jared couldn’t help but worry.
He found Duncan sitting at the kitchen table, his head in his hands and apparently lost in thought.
Reaching into the cupboard, he retrieved two coffee mugs and glanced back, wondering if his brother even realized he was even there.
He filled both cups, setting one in front of Duncan before lowering himself to the chair across from him.
Sitting up, Duncan wrapped his hand around the mug. “Is she asleep?”
“Yes. She should sleep for a couple of hours.”
“Good. She needs it.”
Jared inclined his head, waiting Duncan out, much the same way he did with Erin. “Boone texted me earlier. He and Chase are working on some preliminary plans to rebuild the store and want to go over them with us whenever we’re ready.”
Duncan nodded and took another sip of coffee. “Thank God that, other than some water damage, the warehouse is okay.”
“Boone and Chase want to help us clean that up, too. Of course, the dads are chomping at the bit to get started.”
Nodding again, Duncan stared down into his cup. “We’ll have to make sure Erin has someone with her. Although she would never admit it, handling the baby with that cracked rib hurts her.” Lifting his gaze to Jared’s, he smiled humorlessly. “Looks like we’ve got a lot of work to do.”