Page 54 of Bryson

"I just cost you Park Place."

"What?" His eyes zeroed in on the board game where his mind had wandered away from. "That's not possible. You cheated."

"And you will never know, my friend. Pay up."

"There's no way--"

"You're a very sore loser," she said loftily. Stretching her feet out, she arched her back where the throbbing had started. She was going to have to get up soon and do some walking around.

His eyes sharpened as he stared at her. "What's wrong?" he asked tensely.

"Nothing. Just--" She rubbed her back. "It's nothing."

Pushing away the table with the board game, he edged closer to her. "Turn around," he ordered. Without waiting for her to do his bidding, he clamped his hands on her shoulders and turned her so that her back was facing him.

"You've been rubbing the small of your back since this morning. Christ, woman! Are you intent on sending me to an early grave? If you're hurting, I want to know."

"You're being melodramatic. Oh." She gasped when he lifted her sweater and pressed down on the sore muscles of her back. "It's just a small strain."

"Don't speak," he told her grimly. "And don't move." Rising, he went to get the oil and a heated washcloth.

"It's normal--"

"You're still speaking," he said grimly as he came back into the room and sat behind her. Taking her sweater off, he started with the washcloth, rubbing in a circular motion, until her muscles started to relax. Next, he poured oil in the middle of his palm and massaged it into her skin. She purred in satisfaction, closing her eyes as the strain on her back slowly evaporated.

"That feels really good."

"And the babe?" His constant fear with this bitter storm was that she was going to face complications with no way of him getting her to the hospital. He was dying for the storm to abate, but the aftermath was what he was fearing the most. There was going to be massive flooding, and the roads were going to be icy. With a storm of this magnitude, it was going to take days for everything to get back to normal.

"We're both doing very well." She sent him a glance over her shoulder. "You're worried."

"A little bit." He washed his hands and put the stuff away. "The last time we had a storm like this, I was ten years old, and it was devastating. The flooding was the worst." He drew her into his arms and tried to put away his worry. "We lost several heads of cattle, four horses, and a few cottages were flooded beyondrepair. My dad was very difficult to live with, more so than usual," he added wryly.

"And what kind of problems do you envision?" She was so attuned to his moods, she knew he was trying to pass it off as something light, to set her mind at rest. "And before you try and sugarcoat it for my benefit, bear in mind that I can tell when you're lying."

"Really?" he asked teasingly, bending to kiss her upturned face.

"Yes. Now spill."

"If you insist," he said with a sigh. His arms came around her swollen waist, and he started to massage her belly slowly. "Mostly flooding. If history proves right, it's going to be massive. We will lose livestock; there's no way around it. But that's not my main concern. It's you," he told her bluntly. "I'm beating myself up for not taking you to the hospital and having you stay there."

"I would have said no."

"Not if I dragged you there." He grinned at the look she gave him. "You're small and I'm a lot bigger," he reminded her.

"The only way you could have gotten me to stay in the hospital was if you were staying with me."

"I figured as much." He bent to kiss the back of her neck. "I've been praying earnestly. I've never prayed so hard in my entire life. I'm scared, darling," he admitted shakily. "If anything should happen to you--"

"Nothing will happen."

"If anything should happen to you--" He pressed on as if she had not spoken and turned her to face him. "I persuaded you to stay. I would have done anything to keep you here, and if--"

"Shh." She placed a long, elegant finger vertically over his lips. "I'm scared too. When you went out yesterday in the middle of the storm, I was so scared that I had to go downstairs and take comfort from your mother, of all people. I'm scared that your horse is going to throw you, that one of those big machines is going to crush you. But you know what?"

"What?" he asked huskily.

"I made a deal with God."