Page 80 of Miss Understanding

“She’s at home. Sick in bed.”

“What? Since when?” We’d just emailed one another yesterday about my flight confirmation. Had she been sick all week long?

“She’s been barely sleeping all week, between both jobs and school.”

Although Chloe wasn’t laying the blame at my feet, I was busy doing it for her. All the guilt. All the blame for having Kendall work so many hours. “Can I follow you to your place to check on her?”

She assessed me for a moment before agreeing. “Yeah. I’m driving in her Civic.”

I followed Chloe down the freeway to Torrance, where we pulled into the parking lot of a garden-style apartment building. It wasn’t fancy, but it looked safe with its well-lit parking lot, and cameras mounted on the entryways.

She led me up the stairs to the third floor. As soon as I stepped into the small studio apartment, I spotted Kendall’s petite figure huddled up on a twin bed in the corner of the room. I didn’t hesitate in kneeling down by her side and stroking her hair.

“It’s me. How are you feeling?”

I put the back of my hand to her forehead, immediately feeling the heat.

She stirred under my touch. “Not good. When Almanzo got a fever, they put him in a tub of ice, but I don’t think I want to do that.”

I glanced up at Chloe who came from the bathroom with a wet washcloth in her hand. She shrugged at Kendall’s incoherent rambling. “She was binge watching Little House on the Prairie on her laptop all day.”

“Do you have a thermometer? We should take her temperature.”

Chloe put the cool washcloth on Kendall’s head. “We don’t, unfortunately.”

“Have you been throwing up?” I asked Kendall.

“No. I’m stuffy. Achy. Cold.”

“We should get you to the doctor to see if you have the flu.” But it was after three o’clock in the morning. That would mean the ER. At this time of night, it was a crapshoot as to how quickly she’d be seen. Suddenly, I was struck with an idea.

“My neighbor is a doctor. I’ll take her to my house, and he can come over.”

Chloe pursed her lips in thought. “He’ll come over at this hour?”

“Lucas is a friend.” Not to mention, he owed me a favor. I wasn’t above cashing it in if it was for Kendall’s well-being.

Hoping to put her at ease, I took out my phone. “If you give me your number, I’ll send you a text message to let you know what he says.”

“You promise you’ll take care of her? No work?”

What kind of monster did she think I was? The thought of the answer made me sick to my stomach. “I promise.”

* * *

Lucas owed me for help with his messy divorce, which was why he was willing to come by at three thirty in the morning. The man was accustomed to making house calls at all hours, so he came in looking crisp and professional in a button-down shirt, slacks, and with his bag full of items.

I led him up to the master bedroom where I’d tucked Kendall into my bed.

Her eyes fluttered open to his soft, soothing voice saying her name. I watched her take in his movie-star good looks, bouncing her gaze from me back to him. “You’re definitely not Doc Baker.”

He chuckled. “Afraid not. But thankfully, we have better medicine these days than they did in Walnut Grove.”

She gave him a smile. “Probably for the best as I’m fresh out of chickens to give you for your services.”

He looked at me with a grin. “She’s adorable.”

Yes, she was. And first thing tomorrow I was binging on Little House on the Prairie simply because it bothered me to learn Lucas knew the reference and I didn’t.