* * *
After a quick nap, Jessica powdered her chin until it looked passably normal, then donned jeans and a long sleeved T-shirt. Once her hair was up in its usual ponytail, she peeked out Mary's bedroom door.
Mary saw her and smiled. "Good morning, sunshine."
Jessica smiled at the familiar phrase. "Mornin'."
"Come on over here and get something to eat. You still look a little peaked. Did Clint keep you up all night?"
The smile she tried so hard to maintain faded.
Sympathy showed on Mary's face. "Come on over and sit down. Clint's doing pretty well this morning. His fever is still there, but he's at least lucid. You'll need to work on his arm after you eat. I've already fed him and he kept it down, which is always a good sign."
Mary's words rattled on, and when the woman paused in expectation, Jessica squeezed out a breathy, "Okay." But all she could think about was having to face Clint again.
Mary seemed to understand Jessica's need for silence. She left her to her breakfast and retreated to her bedroom.
Jessica ate the scrambled eggs and toast with Mary's plum jam as slowly as her conscience would allow. When she took the last bite, she rose, put her plate in the sink, and retrieved the supplies. She crept into his room, relieved to see Clint lying on his back, light snores rumbling up from his chest. Please, God, let him stay asleep.
She carried the little chair closer and wedged it between the bed and small stand where the porcelain bowl of boiled water sat cooling. Delicately, she lifted his injured arm into her lap. In his sleep he looked younger, more at peace, even after such a restless night. She took a moment to appreciate the chiseled planes and hollows of his features. His dark stubble had already grown in thick, adding to his rugged good looks, and a lock of sun-streaked hair lay over one eye, tangling with long black lashes any woman would die for. Unable to stop herself, she pushed the errant strand from his eye and back into his hairline.
The movement startled him awake. His eyes opened, found hers and stilled. The air fairly crackled with electricity. Clint stared at her in a way she didn't understand, literally drinking in the sight of her. She felt mesmerized by it, pulled in like a beckoning at the crest of a waterfall.