Daddy Bear (Montana Daddies 1)

She studied him, taking him in. “You look tired. You should get some sleep.” She looked carefully around. “Did you sleep in that armchair all night? That doesn’t look comfortable.”

He grimaced. “It’s not. But there is only one bed and I needed to check on you in the night. The sofa’s not much comfier anyway.”

“It’s morning?” He’d sat in that chair all night just to care for her? When had anyone ever done something so selfless for her? And here she was complaining over him shining a light in her eyes.

What a selfish brat she was being.

“You stayed up all night to look after me? You didn’t have to do that.”

He frowned slightly. “You have a concussion, Ellie. You’ve been vomiting. You need to see a doctor.” He sighed. “Unfortunately, snow’s still coming down. Once it eases up, I’ll go check on the state of the road but it could be a few more days until we can safely leave. Afraid I don’t know enough about head injuries to ensure I’m doing the right thing.”

“Thank you,” she told him sincerely. “I’ve never had someone take care of me before.”

He looked surprised. “Surely your parents did when you were ill?”

“Maybe when I was younger.” She didn’t want him feeling sorry for her. “I feel better now. Why don’t you get some sleep? I could sit in the chair while you use the bed.”

His eyes widened. “You want to sit the chair while I sleep?”

“Umm. Yes.” Why was that so shocking? She tried to sit, to show him she was fine, and agony shot through her head with a ferocity that stole her breath. She took shallow breaths, trying to control the pain and nausea.

“Easy, little girl.” He eased her down on the bed. “Lie back down. Jesus, you are in no condition to be moving around like that. What were you thinking?”

“Sick,” she managed to croak out.

He slid a supporting arm around her back, helping her sit even as he grabbed a bowl from the nightstand and held it under her mouth. Her stomach clenched and let go and she found herself vomiting in front of him for the second time in twenty-four hours. Not that there was much to come up except for the water she’d just had. She’d already vomited up her meagre breakfast from yesterday. When she thought her stomach had finally calmed down, she slumped back against him. He laid her down gently and took the bowl into the bathroom. She heard the toilet flush and some water run. He came back with the bowl, setting it on the floor. Then he reached for the sippy cup on the nightstand.

“I can drink out of a glass,” she told him dryly.

“That would involve sitting you up and I want you to lie as still as possible.” He held the sippy cup up to her mouth. She reached up to grab hold of it and he gave her a firm look. “Stay under the covers and keep warm.”

She gulped down some water, a little embarrassed by the fact that she enjoyed him caring for her like this. It felt amazing to have this big man look after her. He didn’t even know her. And didn’t that say something sad about her life that she’d had more care and attention from a stranger than she ever had from her own family?

“Thank you,” she murmured as he pulled the cup away.

“Good girl,” he told her warmly. “We need to keep your liquids up. I don’t like that you have nothing in your tummy to throw up. Don’t want you getting dehydrated. You’re such a little thing.”

“I’m tougher than I look,” she told him. “Really, I am.”

He gave her a disbelieving look. “Right. It’s still pretty early. Why don’t you just close your eyes and go off to sleep.”

“You’ll be here when I wake up?” Worry bit at her.

“I’ll be right here. I promise.”

* * *

“What story do you want? I can read you a chapter from To Kill a Mockingbird or One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest?”

Bear was looking through the small pile of books in the bookshelf. He’d moved the screen back so she could see him. She’d spent all yesterday sleeping on and off and she was feeling much better. However, today he still wasn’t letting her out of bed and since he was very rarely out of her sight, she hadn’t had a chance to get up and check whether she could move around on her own.

“There’s also The Adventures of Winnie the Pooh and a big book filled with fairy tales. What’s your favorite fairy tale?”

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t know? What was your favorite story as a kid?”

“I don’t know.” She couldn’t remember being read to much as a child.