“How’s your headache?” he asked quietly.
“Much better,” she sighed, her breath warring with his as he hovered over her.
“Glad to hear it,” he mumbled against her skin as his lips moved down to graze her neck.
Just then, a loud rap sounded on the door. John called out, “Lou! Are you in there?”
Lou whispered frantically, “Oh, God!” She shoved against his chest. “Get out!” she said vehemently against his ear.
“Where am I going to go, Lou?” he whispered back. “He’s outside the door.”
She shoved at him again. “Go out the other door.”
“He’ll hear me if I do that.”
Lou grabbed the covers and threw them over him, tossing a few pillows haphazardly around him as well. She picked her T-shirt up and slid it back over her head.
John rapped on the door again. “Lou!” he called out.
“Yeah,” she answered weakly.
“Can I come in?” John asked.
“I really don’t feel like…” Lou started as she heard the doorknob turn, “…company,” she finished as he peeked his red head around the door.
“Are you okay?” he asked, his brows drawn together. “You look a little peaked.”
“Yeah,” she responded, her voice shaky. “I just had a headache so I took a nap.” She wiped the sleep from her eyes with the tips of her fingers.
“You have company. Elizabeth Patton is downstairs and wants to see you and Brody. Have you seen him?” A slow, sneaky smile spread across John’s face.
“What does Elizabeth Patton want?” she asked absently. “Never mind,” she waved off his further comments. “I’ll go downstairs and see. I’m sure Brody’s around somewhere.”
“Oh….” John smiled broadly. “When you find him, tell him he might want to cover his toes next time he’s hiding under your covers.”
Lou gasped as she looked toward the foot of the bed. Sure enough, Brody’s feet were sticking out from under the covers. Lou picked up a pillow and lifted it to fling it at John’s head. It hit the closed door instead as John slipped through it and shut it tightly. She heard his laughter all the way down the hall.
Brody uncovered his head and laughed out loud. “No one ever accused that boy of being stupid,” he said as he stood up. Lou tossed a pillow at him, too. He ducked and caught her around the middle, pulling her close to him. He kissed her quickly on the lips and walked into her bathroom. He ran her brush through his hair and said, “You want to fix your ponytail and meet me downstairs in a minute?”
She just nodded a response, tucking her head into his neck as he pulled her close one more time. He kissed her cheek, still smiling, before he walked out of the room.
Lou walked down the stairs and entered the kitchen to find Elizabeth sitting at the kitchen table quietly. Brody stood at the sink, pouring sweet tea into Mason jar glasses. Lou took a glass from Brody’s hand as he held it out. He handed one to Elizabeth as well. Elizabeth stood as Lou walked close.
“My dad wanted to come and see the new foal that was born to Lucky Lady. I wanted to drop by and be sure Sarah’s okay. We were all worried about her last night,” Elizabeth said. “Sarah and my daughter go to the same school.”
Lou indicated she should sit by pointing to the kitchen chairs around the table. Then she took a chair on the opposite side.
“She’s doing just fine. She left this morning for a short vacation with Jeb and Sadie,” Brody replied. He reached to touch his eye. “She actually fared a lot better than I did. She won’t have any lasting scars,” he said. He looked out the screen door. “I’m going to go out and talk to Mr. Patton. Be right back.” He nodded at them both.
A pregnant pause filled the space in the room. “Well,” Elizabeth said slowly, taking a deep breath. “I just wanted to see if she was all right. You guys sure gave us a scare last night. Never had that kind of drama at a school dance before.”
Lou reached over and covered Elizabeth’s nervous hand with hers. “I appreciate what you did, Elizabeth.” She squeezed her hand before releasing it. “I hear you called the police right before you called me.” Lou’s eyes filled with unshed tears. “I appreciate all you did.”
“It’s Brody you should thank. He fought like a madman.”
Lou’s eyebrows drew together.
Liz nodded. “Really.” She covered her heart with a hand. “I’ve known Brody for a lot of years but I’ve never seen him like that. He’s always been strong and powerful but I’ve never seen him fight before. Ever. He went after that man like he was fighting for his own life.”