Four Flames for Angela

He walked down the hall to his room and saw the light was still on in River’s room. He knocked softly on the door. “Todd doing okay?”

“He was sound asleep. I tucked the covers around him and made sure the puppies were okay. I’ll get up early and make sure they get out before they wake him up,” River said, gazing out the window.

“Good plan. I’m not sure I would have thought about it.” Rock ran his hand through his hair.

“I heard you take Angie down to the library. Was she having trouble sleeping?”

“Yeah. I showed her the books the girls brought over, and she was busy reading when I left.” Rock leaned against the door jamb.

“Have you looked at any of those books?” River asked, walking back over to the chair in the corner of his room.

“No. You and Hunter put that box away while Sawyer and I did something else that day.”

“Some of those books are hot! I mean sexy fucking hot. I didn’t know the girls read stuff like that.”

“Sounds like I need to look at some of them,” Rock said in amazement.

“Yeah. There’s a few with polyamorous relationships in them. It would be good if she read a few of those,” River said with a smile.

“I didn’t even look at the book I handed her. I wonder if it was one of those? I hope she doesn’t think I picked one of those on purpose. Now I definitely need to look at the books they sent. We better call it a night. Especially if we have to take the puppies out early. I’m heading for a cold shower. You?” Rock walked to the door and turned to look at his brother.

“Already been there. Yep. I think we’ve found her, brother. Only time will tell.” River sat on the side of his bed.

“Good night.” Rock closed the door and went to his own room.

Chapter Ten

Angela slept later than she had in a long time the next day. She’d fallen asleep reading in the library, and the sun was shining brightly in the windows when she woke up. She sat up and looked around for a clock. How late was it? The puppies need to be walked, and Todd should have been up by now. They were lucky there was no school today due to teachers’ work day or something, so she didn’t have to worry about that.

She listened and the house was still quiet. Maybe it wasn’t as late as she thought. She picked up her book and started to take it back to where she’d found it when a voice said, “If you want to finish that, you can take it with you.”

“River! You startled me.” Angie took a deep breath and turned to see him leaning against the door jamb, looking way too yummy.

“I just came in from walking the dogs and thought I’d check on you. Todd is having breakfast in the nook with Hunter and Sawyer if you want to join them.”

“Great. I need to get my robe first,” Angie said, looking down at the long T-shirt she was wearing.

River pulled one arm from behind him and held out the robe they had loaned her last night. “Oh, thank you,” Angie said, taking it from him and pulling it on. “Where’s Rock?”

“He’s finding a cleaning crew to work on your house. After we’ve all eaten we’ll head over there and see what needs to be done.” River helped her with the robe and leaned down to brush a kiss over her lips. He took her hand and led her to where Todd was sitting with Sawyer and Hunter.

“Morning, Angie,” Todd said, barely looking up from his waffles. He stuffed another bite in his mouth and grabbed a drink of milk. “Look, Angie, waffles and they didn’t come from the toaster.”

“I see that. You’re a lucky little boy.” Angie walked over and ruff

led his hair before sitting in the chair River pulled out for her.

Hunter got up and walked into the kitchen. “Coffee, juice, or milk? Butter, syrup, or jam?”

Angie started to get up when River put on hand on her shoulder. “He’s got this, just relax.”

She eased back down and smiled when Hunter set a cup of coffee and a glass of juice in front of her. It felt nice being waited on. No one ever took care of her. She took care of everyone.

After breakfast, Angie went upstairs to dress and gather up their things. She was surprised to find that someone had tidied up Todd’s room, and all his things were in his duffle. She turned to see Todd beaming in the doorway. “Did I do good?”

“You did all this?” Angie asked and pulled Todd in for a hug. “Good job!” She let him go and held her hand out so he could high-five her.

River was standing behind him. “He had a little help, didn’t you, buddy?”