“Oh, there he is, under the cushion.”
He set her down and drew out the scruffiest stuffed dog he’d ever seen. It only had one eye, and it looked like one of the ears had been chewed on.
“Ziggy! Need Ziggy!” she said in a high voice.
He put Ziggy in her bag, then picked her back up.
“No, don’t wanna go to school,” she mumbled.
His tension eased. She was obviously having a dream.
“Please, Gran. Can I stay home today? Got a calculus test and math is the worst. All the numbers.”
He had to smile at that as he carried her out to the backroom. Setting her down, he kept one hand on her so she didn’t slide off the bench as he hastily put on his coat and boots.
Then he lifted her again.
“Atticus?” she said in a small voice.
“Yeah, baby?”
“Thanks for taking care of me. You’re the best.”
If only that were the truth. He’d been a jerk to her. But he could try to make up for it now. He’d take care of her, get her healthy, and send her home.
Should be easy, right?
Chapter Four
Easy, huh? Yeah, right.
After carrying her to his place, he’d left her in the spare bedroom to put her pajamas on while he found some cold medicine.
Walking back into the bedroom, he found Lucie lying sideways on the bed with only one leg in her bottoms. Thankfully, she’d managed to get her top on and a pair of panties.
“Okay, let’s get you into bed, all right?”
“Can’t move, too tired,” she grumbled as he carefully rolled her over and pulled her pajama bottoms up. Damn, her skin was smooth. He tucked her in under the covers.
“I have some cold medicine for you.” He held up the packet of pills.
“Don’t want them.” She screwed her nose up. Shit, that was cute.
“It will help you feel better.”
“Do you have some candy?”
“Candy?” Why would she want candy?
“I need something sweet afterward.”
Giving her a stern look, he sat on the bed, facing her. He’d bought the cabin furnished, which was the only reason there was a bed in here.
“Little girl, are you asking me to bribe you to take your medicine?” he asked sternly.
She gave him a pleading look. “Don’t you know the saying?”
“What saying?”
“About a spoonful of sugar helping the medicine go down.”
“In case you didn’t notice, I’m no Mary Poppins.”
She looked him over and grinned. “No? That’s disappointing.”
“Brat,” he muttered. “Take your medicine. No candy.”
“Not even a marshmallow?” she whined.
“I don’t have any.”
“But how do you drink your hot chocolate without marshmallows?” she asked, looking confused.
“I don’t drink hot chocolate.”
She gasped. “Who doesn’t drink hot chocolate?”
“I don’t really eat sweet things.”
Another gasp. Then her eyes filled with tears. “You didn’t like my snickerdoodles?”
Oh, fuck.
“Um, no.”
“That’s why you returned them. What about the chocolate chip cookies?”
Crap. A tear dripped down her cheek, making him feel panicky. He’d never been able to handle Gemma’s tears, and it seemed the same was true with Lucie.
“Rocky took the chocolate chip cookies,” he admitted.
“And the muffins? Did you throw them all out?”
“The muffins were good,” he admitted.
She sniffled.
“Don’t cry,” he told her gruffly. “I liked the muffins and the banana bread.”
“You’re just saying that.”
“Little girl, do I seem like the type who says things that aren’t true?”
“No, you’re honest even when it’s not very polite.”
He grimaced. He deserved that.
“Sorry I forced my baking on you.”
“Lucie,” he grasped hold of her hand, squeezing it gently. “You have nothing to apologize for. Now, time for your medicine.” He held up the pills.
“I don’t like taking them,” she grumbled.
“Well, I don’t have any liquid medicine or suppositories,” he told her.
“Nobody is sticking anything in my butt,” she protested.
“Well, that’s a shame since I only have a rectal thermometer.”
She gave him a suspicious look, and he grinned. He couldn’t help but tease her.
Concern filled him as her eyes went wide, and her mouth dropped open.
“What? What is it?” he asked her, rubbing his cheek. Did he have something on his face?
“You smiled. I’ve never seen you smile.”
He’d smiled before, hadn’t he?
“I didn’t think you knew how.”
He rolled his eyes. “Come on, open up. If you’re a good girl, I’ll turn on the television for you.”
“I wanna watch Mary Poppins.”
“We’ll see what’s showing.”
“Sometimes cold medicine makes me loopy,” she warned.
“I’ll cope.”
With a sigh, she opened her mouth and stuck out her tongue. All right, seemed like he was giving her the medicine. He put the pills on her tongue, then handed her some water.
“I’m going to make you some soup.”
“Okie dokie.”
He stood and turned on the television.
“Atticus?”
“Yeah?”
“Thank you.”
Unsurprisingly, Mary Poppins wasn’t playing on the television, but he managed to find her some show about two teenage girls who liked to babysit that she seemed happy with. He heated up some soup, then carried it in to where she was half-reclining against some pillows.
She turned a wide grin on him. “Atticus! Atti-cus! Atty-batty! My Atti-Atti.”
She hadn’t been kidding about the cold medicine making her loopy. She was grinning wildly. He didn’t like the glassy look in her eyes. While the soup cooled, he might take her temperature.
Setting the soup down, he put the back of his hand on her forehead. Shit. She was burning up.
“Aw, did you make me soup? I love soup.”
“Just heated it up.”
“That’s so nice. You’re so nice. I take back every bad thing I thought about you. Your nickname shouldn’t be Sir Grouch-a-lot, it should be Sir Nice-a-lot.”
Jesus help him.
“I’m going to get a thermometer. Don’t touch that soup.”
When he returned a few minutes later, she was fanning her tongue with her hand, and tears were running down her cheeks. “Soup. Hot.”
“I told you not to touch the soup.” He grabbed her water and held it up so she could drink.
“Sorry.” She sniffled. “Wanted to try it. I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay. Did you burn your mouth?”
“Little bit.” She looked so miserable and sympathy filled him. He picked up the thermometer and put the tip in her ear.