Page 164 of Her Boss, Her Rancher: Sunrise On The Ranch

Sienna seemed confused about all of it, but her cough wasn’t as bad as before and her breathing seemed much better. It was time to go.

Jared helped dress the baby in warm clothes and then tossed Bella her jacket. “Put this on. Mommy doesn’t need to get sick, too.”

Jared picked up Sienna. “You ready?”

“Yes, let’s get her checked out.”

Outside, as they approached her car, a light rain started to fall. Jared put his hand out for her keys.

“You can’t drive,” she said.

“I’m driving, Bella. You need to get in the back seat and see to your daughter. There isn’t time to argue. It’s raining and, besides, I know where I’m going. I’ll get us there faster.”

She stared at him.

“Safely.”

He’d read her mind. But, honestly, her nerves were too jumpy for her to drive anyway. She dumped the keys into his hands. “Okay. Let’s go.”

Jared paced back and forth outside the triage room. Bella was in there with Sienna and he wanted so much to be with them. He wanted to comfort Bella and to keep her calm—well, as calm as she could be with her daughter in the hospital.

His phone rang and he took it out and answered quickly. The hospital waiting area was quiet and he didn’t want to disturb the silence. “Yep,” he whispered.

“It’s Coop. How’s the baby?”

“She’s in with the doctor now. Lauren saved the day, I think. Bella didn’t know what to do and neither did I. But the steam seemed to work. Sienna’s breathing was pretty good by the time we got here. Good thing, too. Bella was frantic.”

“I can imagine. That sweet baby is all she has.”

Jared took exception to that. Shehadhim. Only he’d never told her. He’d never said the things nearest to his heart. That she’d helped him overcome his trust issues. That she was all the woman he would ever want in his life. That he was a goner when it came to Bella Reid.

He loved her.

Grateful he was alone in the waiting room, he grinned like a silly fool just thinking how hard he’d fallen for her. And how, because of her, everything else in his life seemed to fall into place, too. He had to tell Bella he loved her. But now wasn’t the time. She was distraught over her daughter’s illness, and he couldn’t blame her. Sienna was a special kid.

“Hey, you still there?”

“I’m here, Coop.”

“It was all I could do to keep Lauren from running out in the middle of the night to meet you at the hospital. Will you talk to her? Assure her about Sienna?”

“Sure, no problem.”

“Hi, Jared,” Lauren said. “Nurse Lauren needs to know how the patient is doing.”

“Well, Nurse Lauren, according to the initial diagnosis, you were right. Sienna has croup. Bella is in with her now.”

“They’ll give her something to reduce the swelling in her throat. She’ll probably stay overnight, just because of her age and the late hour. I would’ve met you there, but Cooper is being overprotective of me right now.”

“As he should be.”

“I’m glad you were there with her, Jared. Bella must’ve been so scared.”

“Yeah, she was.” So was he. But she’d turned to him for help and the significance of that pumped him up.

The exam room door opened and Bella walked out. “I gotta go, Lauren. Thanks again.”

“Of course. Give the baby a hug for me.”