Lani's Makeshift Family Read online

  She could see Nick looked as if he cared for the twins, but they came as a complete package. And no matter how much she wanted a husband, Nick Hunter couldn’t fill that dream.

  After lunch, Lani set the dishes on the counter. Nick had slipped out of the back door and, as usual, she had no idea what he was doing. But why should she expect him to tell her? He had no reason to answer to her. Shutting her eyes, she pictured the four of them at the table. At times, they certainly looked as if they were a family. Then at other times, Nick drew an imaginary line between her and the girls. This afternoon they were back to being guests in his cabin.

  A while later, Lani tucked a blanket around Alexa. Now that she and Ana were better, Lani moved the girls back into the same room. Both fit in the crib, and she felt much better knowing they couldn’t climb out as easily as from a dresser drawer on the floor. At first, though, she’d hesitated, remembering seeing them for the first time in Russia.

  The orphanage had been filled with so many little darlings. Alexa had cried non-stop while Ana, in the same crib, lay so lackluster all the while staring at her sister. Now that they’d seemed to come “alive” like healthy, normal babies, Lani no longer worried about them sharing a crib.

  After blowing a kiss to both girls, she sat in the nearby rocker and told them a story. When she learned of their adoption, she’d planned to read them stories each nap time, but on this trip, she didn’t have any children’s books along. Smiling to herself, she wondered if Nick had any in his library. She doubted it since he never had children.

  After Ana dozed off, and Alexa looked calm enough that sleep would come soon, Lani tiptoed out of the room and shut the door. Once the dishes were washed and put away, Lani grabbed the black parka and went onto the porch. The sun’s rays penetrated through the tree’s branches like lasers from the sky. She loved being outside. She missed being able to jog each day since they were marooned here with the river in front and the mountain behind. Well, in all honesty, since the arrival of the girls, she hadn’t been able to jog much either. She decided to walk around the house for some exercise.

  When she came to the side of the cabin near the woodpile, she didn’t see Nick. He wasn’t in the back, so she continued on, thinking he must have gone into the woods.

  Lani walked through the back yard and followed a path around the side of the house. Near the side porch, she froze, her breath caught in her throat. Where the river curved in front of the property, water splashed across the wide expanse on its rapid course downstream. Nick stood near the riverbank, facing away from her. And across the river…her heart stopped for a second. “Nick!” she screamed.

  Nick turned so fast his foot slipped, sending him into the bed of the river. His angry curses filled the air.

  “Nick, move!” Lani couldn’t force herself to run forward, closer to the black bear that stood on hind legs on the opposite river bank. Childhood fears held her frozen on the spot.

  “What the hell is wrong with you?” Nick shouted.

  Lani saw the bear place a giant paw into the freezing river. “A bear, Nick!”

  The animal let out a growl that echoed through the woods. Lani’s heart pounded against her chest, and for a second, she couldn’t move. The bear had both paws in the water, but Nick remained flat on the ground. “Get up! Please…get up. Run!”

  “Calm down, Cabot! If you don’t bother a bear—”

  “He’s…coming closer!” She pointed frantically at the bear.

  “My foot is caught on a rock,” Nick yelled.

  “Oh no! You have to move!” She had to do something to chase it away. A noise! A loud noise would scare a bear. That’s what Daddy used to say. Grabbing a log, she swung it against the tree with a sharp thud. Splinters of bark flew into her face. Wiping her eyes, she watched the bear step further into the current.

  “Oh God!” Anxiously she scanned the area. What else could she do? The sparkle of metal near a clump of leaves caught her eye. Laying on the ground near Nick’s jacket was a rifle. She ran and picked it up. The weight shocked her, and she fumbled with it. The weapon swung to her side, and she held the stock with both hands.

  “Put that down, Cabot!”

  She swayed from the weight. Nick kept shouting something, his commands annoying her. She couldn’t concentrate. Balancing herself, she spread her feet apart.

  “Cabot, don’t!”

  Leaning her face closer to the rifle, she shut one eye and gazed down the barrel of the gun. The bear looked to be at the end of the rifle. That seemed right. Before she could think, her finger found the trigger and squeezed. The explosion cracked the air. The barrel of the gun jerked upward. The butt of the rifle slammed into Lani’s shoulder. An odd sensation seared down her arm, not exactly painful, but unexpected. She hurled backward, landing on the ground. Mud and leaves flew upward, spraying her in wet dirt. The rifle thudded at her side.

  “What the hell do you think you’re doing? You could have killed me!”

  Lani lifted her muddied hand to push the hairs from her eyes in time to see the bear scoop up a fish in its mouth and run—in the opposite direction. “I scared it away!”

  “You scared me—nearly to death!”

  Her hands shook so hard she could barely push herself to sit. It took all of her energy to breathe and force herself not to pass out. With a deep breath, she managed to grab a nearby branch and pull to stand. With the feeling of relief that the animal was gone, her muscles turned to rubber.

  “Come help me get this rock off my foot.”

  She glared at Nick. Why wasn’t he thanking her for saving his life? Even from this distance, she could see the scorn on his face and his constant wincing. She willed her legs to strengthen and bent to pick up the gun.

  “Don’t touch that!” Nick shouted. “You want to shoot off your damn foot?”

  “I was only going to move it.” She made a growling sound toward him that was probably louder than the damn bear could make.

  “Leave it and come help me before I freeze off my behind in this water.”

  She hesitated, but suddenly the thought of even holding a gun sent her muscles to quiver. This was the first time she’d ever held a real gun or rifle, let alone fired one. But she’d done it without thinking—for Nick.

  “Cabot, get over here!”

  Lani looked up.

  Nick pushed at the rocks near his foot as water splashed into his face.

  “Oh my, Nick, wait!” She ran forward but her foot slipped in the mud, sending her sliding into Nick’s arm.

  “Why don’t you just pick up that shotgun and put me out of my misery now?”

  “I slipped. That’s a shotgun?”

  He merely looked at her. Well, not in a good way.

  “Maybe you’d prefer a machine gun—”

  She yanked at Nick’s arm to pull him up.

  He cried out.

  The tone in his voice sent a stab to her heart. “You’re hurt!”

  “No kidding. Help me move this…rock.” He pushed at the rock as he spoke. Beads of perspiration dotted Nick’s forehead.

  The air was too cold for him to be sweating. Maybe it was from the river splashing him. But she could see the color draining from his cheeks like the water pouring downstream. With a grunt, Lani pushed at the rock. It didn’t budge. She looked up, scanning the other side of the river.

  “The damn bear is probably in Canada by now. Get me inside, Cabot…” Nick’s voice weakened.

  Lani’s eyes widened at the sight of his strength faltering. “Don’t you pass out on me, Nick Hunter!”

  “If you don’t get me inside…hell…”

  “Nick!” She pulled off her parka and bunched it under his head. As she lifted his shoulders, he yelled.

  “Something popped inside when…I fell.”

  He kept mumbling as Lani pushed at the rock. “Oh God, does it hurt?”

  Nick clucked his tongue. He managed a weak chuckle. “No, Cabot. I’m mumbling incoherently because I feel s
o good.”

  She bit her lip and grabbed a stick from the ground.

  “Are you going to put me out of my misery with that? Please.”

  Despite his sarcasm, she didn’t like the weakness of his voice. Forcing the stick under the rock she heaved, groaned, and summoned every ounce of adrenaline in her system until the rock budged. “Pull…out…now.”

  Nick cursed as his foot slid to the side.

  Lani flung the stick. It floated away on the current as she bent to help Nick. “Is your foot broken?”

  His lips curled into a snarl. “Not that I have x-ray vision, but I don’t think so.” He moved it slowly in a circle. Trying to stand, he groaned and fell back. Then he looked toward the water. “You know I could have used that stick for a crutch.”

  “Oh. Sorry. A natural instinct had me throw it away. Your foot must be broken. Oh…Lord. A break. A splint. We need to splint—”

  “It’s my chest—”

  “Chest? Chest…pain? You’re not having a heart attack?” She knew she sounded hysterical, but she couldn’t imagine what she’d do if Nick got that sick. She tried to remember what they did for heart attacks on all those medical shows on TV. Take an aspirin came to mind—but she didn’t have any.

  “Calm down, Cabot. I’m not going to keel over on you, my foot isn’t broken, nor am I having a heart attack. I’ll damn well bet a few ribs cracked when I landed on these rocks.”

  She held her hand out for him to take and he started to get up with a few groans.

  “Ribs? Sit back.” She nearly pushed him into the river as she tried to ease him back to the ground in her haste to protect him from further injury. A nurse she was not.

  “What the hell?” He coughed, and held his side as he did. Then he shut his eyes a few seconds while his hands eased free and fell to his side.

  She could see his strength fading more and more.

  “Don’t move, you might puncture a lung.”

  Nick stilled, and looked through squinted eyes.

  “At least don’t move, yet. Can you breathe all right?”

  He sucked in a breath, starting a fit of coughing. He shut his eyes, then opened one to glare. “You did that on purpose.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous. I wouldn’t hurt anyone on purpose.”

  He managed a grin. “Weren’t you the one who conked me on the head—”

  “Don’t start that! We need to get you inside. Any sharp pains, shortness of breath?”

  He shook his head.

  “But you said, you had—”

  “Look, Cabot. Just get me inside.”

  “You’re lying to me. About the pain. Right?”

  He shut his eyes for a few seconds then said, “Yes. I don’t want you to worry. Please just get me inside. If I’m gonna conk off, I don’t want it to be out here in the cold wetness. Okay?”

  Lani let out a sigh and didn’t care that Nick stared at her more. Gently, she snaked her arms behind his back.

  Her hair tickled Nick’s cheek. He felt as if he’d either pass out or lose his breakfast any second, but when she leaned so near, for a few seconds, he forgot his discomfort. He inhaled her scent and swallowed back the sour taste in his mouth. Her breath warmed his cheeks, and the short puffs sent heat radiating through him. He’d been freezing from the water, but between her breaths and her touch burning into his back, he wasn’t cold while she was near.

  She pulled on his shoulders. “Nick,” she groaned. “You’ve got to try and help me. On three, push yourself up, but hold onto me so you don’t put any pressure on your chest. Oh, wait!” She looked around and released her hold on him when she saw what she needed.

  With a stick, which she thought was a better fit as a crutch than the last one, she took him by the shoulders while he used the stick for leverage. “One, two…”

  Nick pulled onto Lani’s arm, and pain sent stars sparkling in front of his eyes. He wobbled, leaned on the stick and then stood without keeling back over. A wave of dizziness passed in his head. He shut his eyes then opened them in time to see Lani holding one arm across his chest and the other behind his back.

  “You didn’t wait for three,” she mumbled.

  ****

  Lani tucked the blanket around Nick. She’d taken a pair of scissors from the kitchen drawer and now cut strips from a sheet she’d found in the closet.

  Nick folded his hands behind his head despite the fact that it hurt like hell. He didn’t care at the moment as he watched her. If not for her, he’d be out hunting grouse. Babies needed protein. Although the freezer wasn’t empty, he didn’t know when the first snow would make hunting harder.

  Lani looked up. “Do you have to glare like that? And put your arms down before you hurt yourself more.”

  Nick forced a smile—and eased his arms down with a moan. “Why the hell did you try to shoot me?”

  She ripped the sheet with her hands. “I was trying to scare away the huge bear. Didn’t you see it?”

  “What I saw was an innocent bear, fishing for its dinner.”

  She hesitated. The singing of ripping material filled the silence of the room. Lani straightened her shoulders, reminding him of a defiant child.

  “But the bear was coming across—”

  “Bears are usually shy, unless provoked. They won’t bother you, if you don’t bother them first—like shooting at them.”

  She dropped the scissors and rested her hands on her hips.

  Nick smiled to himself, despite the soreness in his chest. It did feel better with his arms at his sides.

  “Then why did you have your rifle out there?”

  She obviously thought she made an ironclad point by the way her eyebrows rose. “Shotgun. Remember?”

  “How can you kill a bear with a shotgun? Don’t tiny balls come out of it?”

  Despite the pain, he laughed then had to press his arms against his sides. “Hurry up and bind up my chest, Cabot, if you’re going to make ridiculous statements like that.”

  She grabbed a piece of sheet and ripped with force.

  He could see the slight downward turn of her lips. Her ever-present smile had faded—and he missed it. Oh hell, she meant well, but what was she thinking? That bear wasn’t any threat. He knew that, but then…Lani hadn’t grown up coming to this cabin as he did. She was a self-confessed city girl. Of course, she couldn’t know about bears, and she did have that odd fear of the bear rug. A fraction of the pain in his heart eased at the thought of Lani trying to save his life—even if he hadn’t needed saving. He’d seen a side of her that he hadn’t seen before…bravery.

  He’d watched her take care of her girls with the inexperience of a new mother, but as a woman…she showed herself to be damned courageous. Guess she would have to be to adopt as a single parent. He’d give her a break. “Look, I was hunting for grouse or a pheasant. The girls might like it better than venison. That’s why I had a shotgun instead of a rifle.”

  Lani busied herself, rolling the sheet into a tight column. “Try to remain still,” she said as she touched the cloth bandage against Nick’s side.

  Her touch burned a wave of heat into his skin, despite the sheet. She paused, her face so near he could see tiny flecks of black in her eyes.

  “You mean…you weren’t out there to kill the bear?”

  Seeing her beet-red face, he felt like a louse. He didn’t like hurting her. “No, Lani. But thanks for trying to save my life,” he whispered.

  Brightness returned to her eyes and caused an extra beat from his heart. She ran her hand along his side.

  He pulled up the blanket and swallowed so deeply, he knew she could hear.

  Lani worked her hands around and around his chest. Stretching her arms behind his back, she pressed her breasts into his chest—apparently without a thought. He sure as hell was thinking. Thinks he shouldn’t be. Strands of her hair tickled against his cheek as she leaned forward.

  He inhaled and felt his body go numb. It was going to be difficult to get through L
ani Cabot playing nurse. “How the hell can I remain still with you poking under my armpits?”

  “Be quiet or I’ll make you do this yourself. Sit forward a bit.”

  He did and couldn’t hold back another groan. He held his words and watched Lani. Methodically, she undid the rolled strip around him, pulling snugly so that if he had broken a rib, her dressing would provide some support. His breathing became a conscious effort, but he didn’t worry that he’d punctured a lung. No, a physical injury wasn’t making him fight for air. The real cause was tickling his cheek with her hair.

  Nick forced a deep, slow breath before he died of lack of oxygen.

  ****

  “Let me just tape the end…of this,” Lani said, straining to reach behind Nick. When she pressed the tape onto the sheet, she felt the firm muscles of Nick’s back beneath it. Maybe she could have worked faster, but she wanted to get the wrap around Nick without any wrinkles. At least that’s what she told herself. But she didn’t really need to keep pressing the tape so long. She leaned back. “How does that feel?”

  Nick cocked an eyebrow. “Like an old lady’s corset.”

  “And how would you know how that feels?”

  “Okay, you got me. And no, I never wore my granny’s corset.” Nick laughed then sucked in a breath. “Man, that hurts.”

  “Maybe you better just lean back and rest. How’s your foot?”

  He wiggled his foot under the covers and only felt a slight twinge. “Good.”

  “Can I get you anything?”

  “Nope.”

  “I found this bell in the kitchen drawer. If you need me for anything…at all, just ring.”

  Nick stared. Actually, his glance traveled from her feet to her head. He ran his tongue across his lips. They must be dry.

  For a second, she thought something was wrong. “Nick, are you all right?”

  “Yeah.” He pulled himself onto his side.

  Lani hated watching him wince in pain with each movement. If only she could have taken him to the hospital. If only she hadn’t scared Nick instead of the bear. She paused by the doorway.

  Nick’s eyes closed.