In the kitchen, she grabbed a bottle of chilly water and wet a dish towel under the cold tap. She stopped long enough to lean against the counter and catch her breath. She’d been there less than a day, and already things were out of control. Her life was out of control everywhere, it seemed. She felt like the walls were closing in.
She paused to take a deep breath, pressing the wet cloth to her own face, and letting her breath out slowly. She returned to the bedroom to find that Ronan was sound asleep. Maeve hesitated, unsure if she should let him sleep or try to wake him.
Looking over him, he looked fine. He seemed like his color was beginning to return to his face, so she decided to let him be for a while and just check on him. She placed the cold cloth across his forehead and left the water for him in case he woke up before she came back in.
In the meantime, she went upstairs. It was pretty much in order up there, needing only some dusting and a light sweep. She took a moment to appreciate the library that sat to one side, pausing to look out the large double doors that led out onto a balcony.
She noted they were locked, but she didn’t see a key around to open them. She finished up her work and retrieved a book from the shelves to occupy her time while she waited on Ronan to feel better and went back downstairs to check on him.
It was a relief to hear him stirring as she descended the staircase to find him coming out of the bedroom and into the living room with the kitchen towel in one hand and an empty bottle in the other.
“More water?” she asked.
“Yes, please,” he said with a sheepish smile, handing her the empty bottle.
“Do you feel better?”
“Yes. I don’t know what happened. I was putting more wood on the fire and just suddenly felt lightheaded. That’s all I remember until just now. How did I get back inside?”
“You walked back in, with a bit of help. You don’t remember coming inside?”
“No. Not at all.”
She handed him another bottle of water and nodded. “I’m guessing you just got too hot and passed out.”
“Some Alpha I am,” he laughed.
“I won’t tell anyone. Though you might want to see a doctor to just make sure it’s nothing more than a little too much sun.”
“I’ll be fine. I have a great nurse.”
“Hardly a nurse.”
“Maybe you should be,” he said.
Maeve thought about this and shrugged, “Maybe I should.”
It was the first time she’d considered such a thing. In all honesty, she’d always felt there was more she could do than just be an Omega, but she’d never really thought about what it was she actually wanted to do because it never seemed possible.
Now, she realized that anything was possible.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Ronan
Ronan was more than a little disturbed about passing out in the yard. It was weak. What kind of Alpha passed out in the middle of yard work? Had he gotten so damned soft in the city that he couldn’t handle a bit of sun?
Of course, he couldn’t complain about the care he’d received afterward. It was obvious that Maeve was a caretaker by nature, but not the sort that should be relegated to cooking and cleaning. She was much more than that, and he wanted her to be what she was capable of being.
He realized he had already come to think of her as a permanent fixture in his life, and he wasn’t sure that he liked that. He had a lot on his plate, but she just seemed so perfect for him, and he’d somehow imprinted on her without meaning to do it. He’d always thought that was a choice, but in their case, it had seemed to just happen.
“What are you thinking about?” she asked, coming up behind him on the balcony.
“Just looking over the place.”
“I see you found the key to this door,” she said, glancing back at the French doors that led out of the library.
“Found? It was in the desk. The lock is a precaution for what can come in, not what can go out.”
Her eyebrows shot up as she digested his comment. She was, no doubt, wondering what it meant, but it was too much to explain—at least right now. Plus, it wasn’t really his story to tell. He was sure it would come up at some point when she met the other wives.
The thought shot through him like a bullet. Had he really just lumped her in with his brothers’ wives? This was all so fast.
“I see,” she said, looking over the large yard that ran behind the house and ended in the woods.
To the right, you could see the lake and the man-made beach where he had taken care of the deer. He had gone back earlier and shoveled up the remains and binned them, putting them out by the shed until he could dispose of them a bit better.