Her Oklahoma Rancher. Brenda Minton

Of course He was. She hadn’t abandoned her faith. Sometimes she felt it had abandoned her. From inside the apartment she could hear crying. She had to go in. Had to face Ethan and make a plan.

      “Here we go,” she said.

      Kylie pushed the door open and Eve entered ahead of her. Ethan was in the bathroom, and Sierra sat on the sofa holding Tori away from her. Tori was crying. Sierra wasn’t far from it.

      Eve bit down on her bottom lip to fight the laughter that bubbled up.

      “Don’t you dare laugh,” Sierra warned. “Seriously, don’t.”

      “You’re definitely not on the island alone,” Kylie chuckled.

      No, Eve wasn’t alone. But she did feel a little like she’d stepped back into the world and realized that, once again, everything had changed.

      * * *

      Sprawled out on the sofa, Ethan looked up at the woman looming over him. Okay, she wasn’t looming. Peering with disgust, her nose wrinkled, her eyes reflecting...humor?

      “It isn’t funny.” He ground the words out and closed his eyes as another wave of nausea hit.

      “You have to get him out of here,” the roommate with the auburn hair spoke from behind Eve. “Seriously, he’s contaminating the entire place. We’ll all be sick.”

      “What do you expect me to do with him?” Eve shot back. She turned her chair a bit.

      He opened his eyes and saw that her friend had picked up Tori and was settling her in Eve’s lap. Maybe he hadn’t planned to get sick but he couldn’t help seeing the benefits. Eve holding Tori close while she surveyed what had to be his less than pleasing appearance.

      The roommate gave a disgusted groan.

      “Drag him out by his feet. I don’t care what you do with him. Just get him out.”

      “Calm down,” Kylie ordered. “We’ll take him to Jack’s. If we confine him to the upstairs, no one else will catch it.”

      “I’m sure we’re already exposed,” Eve reasoned.

      “Bleach,” Sierra said. “Spray him down with bleach. Spray the couch with bleach.”

      Eve started to laugh. The sound took him by surprise, even if he didn’t appreciate it at that particular moment.

      “Who knew you were a germaphobe?” she told her friend.

      “I’m not. I just enjoy good health and want to keep it that way. Could you please, please get him out of here?” She shoved the trash can at him and walked away.

      Moments later he could hear water running in the kitchen.

      “We need a plan,” Eve said.

      “Right now?” Ethan asked. “I’m sure this is only a twenty-four-hour thing. I just need to find a place to let it run its course.”

      “Tori?” she spoke softly.

      “You can do this, Eve.”

      “What if she gets sick, too?”

      “She’s always been healthy,” he assured her. “I’m always healthy.”

      “Yeah, until now. Should I call someone? Your mom? She could come up and take care of you.”

      “I’m thirty-one years old, not three. I can take care of myself. And if you meant to ask my mom to come up and take care of Tori, no. Just no. She’s busy with the ranch and with the guesthouse.”

      “I know.”

      He shot her a look. “Call your mom and ask for help.”

      “No fair.”

      “Maybe not, but I don’t think you realize how much you’ve hurt them by pushing them out of your life.”

      She opened her mouth and he knew she meant to deny the accusation but then she didn’t. Instead she glanced away but not before he saw a flicker of pain in her eyes.

      “I’m sorry,” he said.

      “You’re not the one who has to apologize.”

      He would have said more but another wave of nausea hit. She backed away from him, clearly trying to distance herself from whatever virus had him in its grip.

      “Do you think you can make it to Jack’s?” Kylie West asked after a few minutes. “I called Isaac and he’s unlocking the back door. You can go upstairs and we’ll quarantine you in a room with a bathroom.”

      “I can make it,” he said. “I could even rent a room if there’s one available. I don’t want to make anyone else sick.”

      “I’m sure it’s too late for that!” the redheaded roommate yelled from some distant part of the house.

      Eve laughed. “This is almost worth it if it means getting under Sierra’s skin.”

      “Yeah, I did this just for your pleasure.” Ethan sat up. Tori grinned at him, that perfect toothless smile of hers that made him realize she was worth the trouble. This might not have been his plan, raising a child, finding Eve, but Tori was worth it. She deserved everything he could give her.

      He made eye contact with his former fiancée. Tori deserved Eve. She deserved her love. She deserved her presence in her life.

      “There are things you need to know.” He got the words out, past a wave of nausea. “Man, this is terrible. I haven’t had a virus like this in years. It makes me feel like I’m in grade school all over again.”

      “If it makes you feel better, you don’t look like you’re in grade school. You have a little gray.” Eve touched her hair above her ear.

      “Yeah, well, I’m a little older than I was the last time I saw you.”

      Her smile dissolved. “What do I need to know about Tori? Although it might have been helpful if you’d given me this advice yesterday. When you took off and left her with me.”

      He reached for the bottle of water the unsympathetic roommate had left on the table before she escaped. He presumed it was meant for him. She’d also left crackers.

      “So?”

      “There are diapers, wipes and food in my car. And a can of formula. I usually keep a bottle of water at night. It’s to help wean her from nightly feedings. Or so my mom told me.”

      “This is temporary, Ethan. I’ll help you until you can get back on your feet. But then you have to leave. I can’t do this. I...” She looked down at the little girl sitting securely on her lap. Her heart was breaking. He could see it in her expression, as if she was shattered on the inside and no longer believed in her own abilities. But looking around, everything he’d seen, she was accomplished. She had survived and rebuilt her life.

      Or so it appeared. Appearances could be deceiving, he knew. His little sister had suffered throughout high school, bullied and beat down by others because of a birthmark on her face. They hadn’t known until it was almost too late.

      Eve’s words made him consider letting her off the hook. He could walk away, pretend she didn’t matter to him or to Tori. That would make things easier. He could go to court and tell the judge that he would be the sole provider for Tori and hope for the best.

      Nowhere in his plans had he ever seen himself in this role, as a single parent. For that reason, Eve didn’t get a pass. She didn’t get to wash her hands of this and pretend it didn’t affect her.

      “You can do this,” he assured her.

      She didn’t look convinced. She looked frightened. And that wasn’t the Eve he’d always known. His Evie had been fearless. She’d been the kind of person who took on anyone and anything. Man, he’d missed her. He’d missed her presence more