It was cold. Her chill bumps even had chill bumps. But she was too miserable to get up and get something for the fever she was sure she had.
Going to her mom and dads’ place sounded good, but it would require moving. She could call her mom to come over. If she hadn’t dropped the phone already. Being babied by Holly Colter would make anyone feel better.
She tucked her hand back underneath her body and then turned to face the inside of the couch. She reached blindly for the blanket that lay over the back of the couch and pulled it down, drawing up her knees so she could huddle under it.
Oh bliss. She closed her eyes and immediately drifted off.
MAX Wilder pulled into his drive and turned off the windshield wipers. The snow was coming down harder, adding to the few inches already accumulated on the ground.
He got out, eager to see Callie again. He didn’t spend much time apart from her, but when Lauren had called, and he’d heard the quiet desperation in her voice, his single-minded goal had been to get to her as fast as possible. In retrospect, he should have taken Callie. It would have been good for Lauren to have Callie there. He hadn’t thought. He’d simply reacted and had done as he’d always done. Gone immediately to protect his family.
Only now his family went beyond Lauren. Their mother had passed just a few years earlier, leaving Max and Lauren alone. He’d always been fiercely protective of both his mom and his sister, and he’d been used to being a lone wolf. He was the protector. The provider. He didn’t depend on other people. His sister depended on him.
Now he had Callie. And he had the Colters. All of them. It was something he was still getting accustomed to. This whole idea of having a large, extended family. Not just any family, but one that was closely knit and fiercely loyal and would do anything, go to any lengths to protect their own. And he and Lauren were a part of that now.
As he mounted the front steps, he frowned. Usually Callie was at the door to meet him, even if he’d just taken a short trip into town for groceries. He’d grown accustomed to her enthusiastic greetings, and he loved the way she lit up when she saw him again.
He let himself in and opened his mouth to call out to her when he saw her on the couch in the living room. He smiled and put his suitcase down. On quiet feet, he walked to the sofa to stare down at her, curled into a ball, sound asleep.
It wasn’t like her to sleep in, but if he had to guess, she’d worked the night before in her brother’s bar. He wasn’t crazy about her doing it, but he didn’t say anything about it. Plus she only did so on the rare occasions when he was out of town and she stayed home.
He leaned down to kiss her temple but as soon as his lips touched her skin, he frowned and drew away. He put his hand to her forehead, cursing softly when he felt the dry heat radiating from her flesh.
She was sick.
And he’d left her alone.
He knelt by the couch and gently shook her. “Callie. Dolcezza, wake up.”
She grumbled softly in her sleep, and when she opened her eyes, they were dull. Her cheeks were flushed with fever and she blinked several times as if she were unaware of her surroundings.
Worry ate at his gut. She was his. Completely and utterly his. To love, to protect, and he’d left her alone because he’d been gutted by his sister’s plea for help. He should never have left Callie. She should have been with him every step of the way.
“Max,” she whispered. Then she smiled. A warm beautiful smile that made the very heart of him ache. “You’re home.”
He leaned forward to kiss her forehead. “Why didn’t you call me? I would have come home immediately. How long have you been sick?”
“Just last night,” she croaked. She broke off and rubbed her throat.
He frowned again because he didn’t like to see her in discomfort. “Hurt?”