Snowbound Security. Beverly Long
Чтение книги онлайн.

Читать онлайн книгу Snowbound Security - Beverly Long страница 15

Название: Snowbound Security

Автор: Beverly Long

Издательство: HarperCollins

Жанр: Современные любовные романы

Серия:

isbn: 9781474078931

isbn:

СКАЧАТЬ real name, her real license, and even if she was halfway across the country, the risk was too great.

      It had taken her so many years to earn her degree, to find just the right job. And now that was over. She’d thought she was leaving it temporarily when she’d gotten the job at the daycare. Had never dreamed it would end this way.

      But maybe, just maybe, even if she couldn’t use her license, she could still provide some private care, maybe for someone who’d been in an accident or had a stroke. For someone who might be more concerned about her ability to help them versus her credentials.

      She would work it out. She had to.

      She would find a place for them to live, a place where Hannah could go to school, and a place where she could earn a living to support the two of them.

      There was no other choice.

      It started to snow when she was still twenty minutes from the cabin. Big fluffy flakes. She almost called out to Hannah, to wake up and see the snow. But then realized that the little girl would have plenty of opportunity if Rico was right. It was going to snow for hours, maybe even a full day.

      She couldn’t, quite frankly, imagine.

      By the time she pulled into the driveway of the cabin, the ground was already covered. She was grateful that they had made the drive in the daylight. A couple times, her back end had slipped just a little on the roads and if that had happened at night, it would have scared her to death.

      “Hey, sweetheart,” she said. “Time to wake up.”

      The little girl stretched in her seat, opened her eyes. And a big smile lit her face. “Laura, look at the snow,” she said. “Can I play in it?”

      “Of course,” Laura said. Behind her, Rico was turning into the lane. He’d kept a safe distance behind her, not hurrying her but not allowing cars between them. She was confident that his SUV had handled better than the Mustang.

      He beeped his horn at her and she looked in her rearview mirror. He motioned for her to pull into the detached garage that sat fifty yards away from the house. The big overhead door was already going up. She pulled in and he pulled in next to her.

      “Hannah, I’m going to carry you inside so your shoes don’t get wet. Once we get your new snow stuff on, including your boots, you can go outside and play.” She’d learned a great deal about small children in the nine weeks that she’d been working at the daycare. After a nap and usually a small snack, they were raring to go again, and if you didn’t give them something to do, it didn’t usually go well. There’d be pushing and shoving and a few tears. Here, because there weren’t any other kids, there’d probably just be a meltdown.

      And Rico might decide that he’d made one big mistake in offering up his home to them.

      Speaking of Rico, he was waiting outside the garage, leaning on his crutches, watching her. He had snowflakes in his dark hair and with his mirrored sunglasses, jeans and boots, he looked rugged and very male. But she needed to stop ogling and start doing the heavy lifting.

      “I’ll get the sacks,” she said. “That was our deal, that I’d do the things that you shouldn’t be doing. And be careful with your crutches in this snow. If you fall, it won’t be good.”

      He opened his mouth, then shut it. “Okay,” he said. “I’ll just wait for Lucky.” The dog was already out, draining his bladder on the roots of a tree in the middle of the yard.

      “Let me put Hannah inside first,” she said. “Then I’ll be back for the sacks.”

      They all got inside. Laura put Hannah on the couch. “I’m going outside to get the rest of the groceries. Just stay here, right here, where I can see you through the window. When I get back, we’ll put away the groceries and then get you dressed to play outside.”

      “I’ll watch her,” Rico said.

      She hesitated.

      “Really,” Rico said. “I’ve got this.”

      * * *

      How hard could it be? he thought.

      Relatively hard, because Laura was no more out the door before Hannah was off the couch. She grabbed her backpack and trotted back toward the bedroom.

      He followed her, wincing slightly. His ankle was sore from the driving. Laura was probably right. He better use his crutches for a while.

      By the time he got there, she had the backpack unzipped and was dumping it out onto the bed. There were some clothes, all in grays and dark blues, a few books, colored pencils and construction paper, and a big plastic sack full of trolls. There must have been six or seven of them.

      “You like trolls?” he said.

      “They’ve never seen snow.”

      He heard the front door open, thought that Laura was likely to come charging down the hallway with a shovel in her hand. “I’ve got her,” he called out. “She’s showing me her trolls.”

      “Okay,” she yelled back.

      “You know what you can do in snow,” he said.

      She shook her head.

      “You can build a snowman. Or a snow lady. Or a snow kid.”

      “A snow family,” she said, proving that she was tracking with the conversation.

      “A snow dog,” he said.

      She giggled. “A snow cat. With a big long tail. And mittens on his paws.” She clapped her hands together.

      She really was a cute kid.

      And when Laura came in five minutes later, after bringing everything in and putting away the groceries, he and Hannah were sitting on the floor, drawing said cat.

      “It’s a snow cat,” Hannah explained.

      “With a tail long enough to wrap around that apple tree?” Laura asked, examining the drawing.

      He’d been responsible for the tree. “Longest tail in the world,” explained Rico.

      “Of course,” she said. “Hannah, if you want to go outside and play, we probably need to get you dressed. It’s going to get dark in an hour or so and then you won’t be able to go outside.”

      Hannah reached for the sack that held her new outside clothes. She yanked everything out and tossed them in Rico’s direction. “Get me dressed,” she said.

      He glanced at Laura and could see the indecision cross her face. But then she nodded. Didn’t leave the room, but simply stayed by the doorway.

      He held up the snow pants and Hannah stepped into them. Then it was the new coat, the mittens, the hat. He removed the tags as he went. Finally, he put her boots on. She immediately started stomping around the room. “Let’s go,” she said.

      “I’ll take you, sweetheart,” Laura said. “Rico has a sore ankle.”

      “Did СКАЧАТЬ