Special Delivery. Laura Browning

negotiate that pisshole of a road Holly and Tyler lived on. Besides, it was an excuse to see Holly again. And how pathetic was that? He’d hardly been able to carry on a conversation with her between her wariness and his klutziness with women.

      As he drove down the rutted lane, one thought nagged. How did Holly plan to get out if she went into labor? He hadn’t considered it before, but now he had a better idea just how bad their circumstances were.

      Tyler opened the front door as soon as the truck stopped. When he saw who it was, he grinned.

      “Hi, Lieutenant!”

      Jake grimaced. Holly sure didn’t need reminders he was a cop. It seemed obvious to him if she’d run, her protective order hadn’t done much. “Just call me Jake, Tyler.”

      “What’re you doin’ here?”

      “Doc Owens asked me to bring this box of food. Don’t you have school today?”

      Tyler grinned from ear to ear. “Teacher workday. Come on in.”

      When he stepped inside, he noticed the chill and glanced over to the cold woodstove. His eyes went to Holly. She sat on a stool at the kitchen sink, up to her elbows in suds. When she saw him, she stopped and dried her hands nervously on the towel she’d slung over her shoulder. Her belly might be poking out, but her arms and hands were still delicate.

      Her mouth twitched into something he guessed was a smile, but he knew it fell short of the mark. Not a warm welcome. He had to fight the urge to fidget as he cast around for something to say that wouldn’t sound like he was a complete idiot.

      Her wary gaze went to the box in his arms. “What’s that?” Her chin tilted.

      “A box of food.”

      Her face suffused with color and then went very pale. “We don’t need charity, Lieutenant Allred. As I told you the other night, we’re fine.”

      Jake’s eyes narrowed as he set the box on the small kitchen table with a definite thud. It was one thing to be proud when you had just yourself to worry about. That wasn’t the case here. “It’s not charity, Miss Morgan. Call it being neighborly. It’s what we do around here. Doc Owens sent the food over. For some reason, she seems concerned because she believes she’s put you on bed rest.” He stared at where she sat.

      Now the color flooded her cheeks in a guilty blush. Tyler came into the room. “Holly,” he interjected into the tense silence. “There’s no more wood to bring in for the stove. It’s gone.”

      For just a moment, Jake thought he saw her chin tremble. Then she bit her lower lip. Neither Holly nor her brother was in any shape to chop wood. Tyler wasn’t big enough to wield an ax, and she was supposed to be in bed. How the hell had they gotten along until now?

      Jake sighed and admitted he’d been looking for an excuse to hang around. Now he had it. Forget skiing. He stripped off his coat and pushed up the sleeves of his sweater.

      “What are you doing?” Holly’s eyes widened.

      “What needs doin’.” He pointed at her. “You go lie down like Doc says.” He pointed at Tyler. “You show me where the axe is. I’ll chop wood while you finish the dishes for your sister.”

      “Look, you can’t just walk in here and…” Holly’s protest trickled off after one look at him. She swallowed. “All right. Thanks.”

      He’d expected more of a fight, but then she looked tired.

      Tyler handed him the axe a few moments later out on the dilapidated front porch. “Uh, Jake?”

      “Yeah, kid.”

      “I have to go into town. I’m doing some odd jobs for the Tarpleys. They give us food and a little bit of money.”

      Jake paused. “Is that where you were coming from when I gave you a lift Saturday?”

      “Yeah. I’d just started. Holly…well, Doc said she can’t work. She does some stuff from the house, but it’s not full-time or anything. I thought I could help out. She’s awful worried about money. She thinks I don’t know, but I see her at night trying to figure how to make it work. Sometimes…sometimes she cries.”

      The boy was so serious for someone so young. “What time you supposed to be at Tarpley’s?”

      “Noon, but it takes a while to walk.”

      “No walking. I’ll run you into town when I go. In the meantime, I’ll chop wood, and you do those dishes. Your sister’s supposed to be lying down ’cause Doc’s afraid the baby’s trying to come too soon.”

      “It’s a girl,” Tyler confided. “Holly wants to name her Noelle, ’cause she’s supposed to be here right around Christmas.”

      Jake’s mouth quirked into a lopsided smile. Holly and Noelle. “That’s cool.”

      “Yeah. That’s Holly. Or it was. She used to be so happy all the time. I kinda miss the way things used to be.”

      Jake struggled to imagine the serious young woman he’d met as someone who was happy all the time, but then circumstances could change folks. Look at Jenny and Evan…and him. Jake ruffled Tyler’s hair, trying to reassure the kid. “Well, I guess she has a lot on her mind getting ready for a baby and all. Maybe we can make her smile again. What do you say?”

      Tyler grinned. “That’d be great. I’ll go finish the dishes, then help bring the wood in.”

      “Can you get a fire started?”

      “Yeah. Holly showed me how. Mine aren’t as good as hers, though. She says I’m too impatient.”

      Jake laughed. From what he had seen of Holly, she didn’t strike him as the patient sort, but then he was sure he wasn’t seeing her at her best. As he split the oak logs and stacked them, he pictured her. Along with her almost Madonna-like face was a stubborn, pointed little chin. Other than the baby bump—hell, mountain—she was thin, with long arms and legs and narrow shoulders that gave her a fragile air. Her breasts…he stopped there and swallowed. Whoa, boy. Pregnant. About to be a mother any minute. Better not to think on those lines.

      Tyler joined him in a few minutes. Together the two of them stacked plenty of wood on the covered porch. Jake watched Tyler build the fire, giving him a few tips. He glanced away and found Holly observing, her brows drawn together.

      He spoke to Tyler. “Do you need to clean up before I run you into town?”

      The boy glanced at the dirt on his shirt. “Yeah. I’ll be back in a minute.”

      An awkward silence fell. Jake stood near the stove, feeling like the Jolly Green Giant in the small house.

      “Why are you doing this?” Holly asked at last, wary and just a little defensive.

      Somehow he doubted she wanted to know he was attracted. He wasn’t sure he wanted to know. He spread his hands. “You need the help, and I like your brother.”

      For just an instant, he saw the first trace of humor flash across her face. “Just not me,” she commented.

      Heat flooded his cheeks. “That wasn’t…what I meant,” he sputtered.

      “It’s okay, Mr.…I mean Lieutenant Allred. I haven’t been at my best.”

      “Jake,” he corrected. “Call me Jake.”

      “Would you like a glass of tea before you go? You must be thirsty after all that work. There’s some in the fridge.”

      A peace offering. “Yeah. I’ll get it.”

      Jake opened the refrigerator. Christ. There wasn’t enough food in there to feed a gnat, but he didn’t say a word. It would humiliate her, and heaven knew she was a prickly thing. He took the tea pitcher, grabbed one of the clean glasses from the dish drainer, and poured before putting the pitcher inside.