Queen (22 page)

"Still nothing," she said. "It happened, and because of you I survived it."

She fidgeted beneath his gaze, unable to get past the fire in his eyes, uncertain whether it had come from anger or something else. She looked down at her nearly nude body, aware for the first time of their intimate surroundings and the fact that if she dropped her arms and inhaled, the towel would be at her feet.

"It seems I forgot my gown."

Cody walked to his closet, pulled down a white, full-length terry-cloth robe, and held it open, waiting for her to come in.

Queen smiled, a little embarrassed but aware that what had happened today had changed what lay between them.

She slid her arms in the robe, then turned her back to him, letting the towel she'd been wearing drop to the floor at her feet as she wrapped the voluminous folds around her instead.

Cody tried not to look at the towel at her feet, tried not to imagine what lay beneath his robe, and turned her around to face him, fussing with the tie as he would if he were dressing one of his sons.

"Here, let me," he said, and looped the ends of the belt, pulling them gently but firmly to hold the oversize folds in place. Her hair, still damp from her shower, was caught in the neck of the robe. He lifted it out and let it fall loosely across her shoulders, where the thick terry could absorb the rest of the moisture.

"I'll be downstairs if you need me," he said, and left her alone in his room.

Hours later Cody was still on his easy chair, sitting in the dark in front of the fireplace, staring blindly into the flames, trying not to relive the events of the past few hours yet unable to let them go.

A sound on the stairs startled him and sent him bolting out of his chair. In seconds he was in the hallway, thinking it was one of the boys, afraid that they would awaken Queen. The last thing he expected to see was her standing on the stairs, her arms wrapped around her middle as if in pain, still wearing his robe.

"Honey… are you all right?"

His gentle voice was her undoing. Her chin trembled. The tears she'd been fighting all night came without warning. The explanation she'd planned to use was lost in the sob that came up her throat. She shook her head.

Cody didn't stop to ask. In seconds he'd crossed the space between them and lifted her from the steps and into his arms. The moment he touched her, her body went limp and she started to shake.

Queen wrapped her arms around his shoulders and buried her face against his neck. She had no strength, no knowledge of how to fight the terror. And then Cody's arms tightened around her, and she splayed her hand across his chest, feeling the power beneath it and the steady, reassuring rhythm of his heartbeat, and knew that this was a man she could lean on. No longer did she have to be the strong one in the family. No longer would everyone look to Queen to fix what couldn't be fixed. Cody Bonner protected what was his. For tonight, Queen needed to let herself believe that that included her.

"I couldn't sleep," she said, and tried to stop the tears. "I kept seeing spiders… and hearing his laughter… and his screams of rage. I don't know how to make it stop."

"Sssh. I do, baby. I know how. Thanks to my repeated trips to the base shrink, I'm a damned expert. Just let it go. There's no one but me to see you cry, and I swear to God, if it matters to you so much, I'll never tell that it happened."

The gentleness in his voice and the depth of his understanding undid her. The sobs she'd been denying wrenched out of her as Cody wrapped her in his arms.

"I thought I was going to die."

Her plaintive cry was nearly his undoing. He rocked her in his arms. "I know, darling. I swear to God, I know. I've been there, remember?"

It was that connection and his understanding that made everything else okay.

He carried her to the couch, sat down with her still in his arms, and then pulled her across his lap, cradling her head against his shoulder, burying his lips over and over m the tangle of her curls against his face, planting tiny, gentle kisses she never felt.

He held, and rocked, and promised. And when the sobs had finally disappeared and the trembling in her body had lessened to a single, occasional shudder, her lids drooped, and her body relaxed, and she slept, held in Cody's arms, revered in his heart.

Sometime during the night the snow had stopped. When morning broke, the world outside was covered in a new, undisturbed blanket of white. Towering pines stood tall, their stately limbs covered in dollops of vanilla ice, weighted low to the ground. Bare branches on leafless trees were coated with more of the same in careful and pristine perfection. The day awaited.

Queen rolled over and then came awake suddenly, wondering how she'd gotten to bed, remembering where she'd fallen asleep. She smiled and stretched, then groaned when sore muscles and aching joints protested.

"She's awake!"

Queen heard the whisper outside her door and grinned. She sat up, plumped her pillows behind her, and reached for the hairbrush on her bedside table. It would seem she was about to have guests.

"No, she's not. She just turned over, you goof!"

"I'm not a goof. You're a goof."

Queen smothered a grin as she crawled out of bed. She reached for Cody's robe, wrapped it around her, and went to the door.

"Hi, guys," she said as she looked down at the two boys framed in the doorway.

The argument they'd been enjoying died in the middle of a sentence. Last night's fear slid back on their faces as Will and J.J. looked up into their beloved Queenie's face and saw the results of Virgil Stratton's damage.

"Well, aren't you going to come in?" she asked.

They flew into her arms.

"We were so worried!" they shouted in unison, and then J.J. pointed toward her face.

"Does it hurt?" he asked.

She nodded. "But not much."

Will's hand slid into hers as she ushered them toward her bed. With little urging they joined her as she crawled back beneath the warmth of the covers, using the headboard for a backrest.

With a boy beneath each arm, their heads resting on her stomach, Queen began to reassure them and calm their fears.

"That man was mean… really mean," J.J. announced, and patted Queen's leg.

"Yes, he was, J.J. But he's gone. He can't hurt anyone ever again."

"Daddy killed him. I heard the sheriff talking," Will said.

Queen frowned, hearing the horror in the child's voice and uncertain how to explain without making it worse. She wasn't sure Cody had even wanted the boys to know the intricate details of her rescue. Obviously the decision had been taken out of his hands by what they'd overheard. She sighed. It was to be expected. Last night had been hell.

"Your daddy saved my life," Queen said softly, and ruffled Will's dark hair, burying her nose in its thick, soft texture. She thought how much like their father they were. "The man was trying to hurt us. Your daddy was just defending himself… and me. Do you understand?"

Both boys nodded in relief, accepting her word as gospel. Will sighed and wrapped his arms around Queen's waist.

"We made you breakfast in bed," Will said, suddenly remembering why they'd come upstairs in the first place.

"I helped," J.J. added.

"Then bring it on," Queen said, glad of the change of subject. "I'm starving."

"You won't be when you see what they made," Donny said, grinning from the doorway.

Queen looked up at the man/boy, who was looking more like his father every day, and smiled. "Oh, yes, I will," she said, defending the younger boys' instant objections and silencing the impending argument before it erupted.

The phone rang downstairs, and Donny rolled his eyes. "Not again," he said.

"What?"

"It's like this, Aunt Queenie. You made the news. Everyone in Snow Gap has been calling to see how you are… and wish you well."

"You're kidding!"

"Why are you so surprised?" Donny asked. "Everyone likes you a lot, even us."

"Thanks… I think," she said, and tossed a pillow at him to hide her pleasure at the words. And then she thought for a minute, trying to remember what day it was. "Why aren't you guys in school?"

"Can't get there. Or the bus can't get here. Whichever. There's too much snow."

"Yeah," J.J. said as he bounced out of her bed. "And after we feed you, we get to go out and play in it. Dad said."

"Then feed me! I'd hate to be the cause of postponing so much fun."

Her room cleared, but her vision did not. She had a sudden attack of fresh tears as she sat and absorbed the news. She'd spent her entire life in Cradle Creek, and in that time less than half a dozen people had ever cared what happened to her. And of those who had, three of them had been family.

"Well, well," she said quietly, and laid her head back on the pillow behind her, letting the tears seep out from beneath her lashes as she contemplated the news. "I had to survive Virgil Stratton to find out I'm loved. It makes almost dying worthwhile."

"Nothing would have been worth that," Cody said as he entered the room and dropped a handful of messages into her lap for her to read later. "Nothing would have been worth losing you, lady."

He bent down and kissed the corner of her mouth, then straightened as he heard the boys coming up the stairs, not giving her time to react to the embarrassment of facing him after last night's emotional outburst.

"Prepare yourself," he warned.

It was impossible. She hadn't gotten over the kiss when the boys burst into the room. Will had the tray laden with food, J.J. was carrying a glass of milk in one hand and a glass of juice in the other.

Her eyes widened at the dripping culinary disaster. But she managed not to laugh and made decent inroads into the plate of toast, peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches, slightly burned, slightly cold, but still warm from the love with which it had been prepared.

The next morning Queen was allowed out of bed. She got downstairs in time to listen to the boys' moans of regret that the snow plow had gotten through. School was in session.

Cody had the boys firmly in hand, unrelenting in his efforts to give her space and recovery time. She smiled as he ushered them out the door and down to the bus stop, calmly ignoring their comments, reassuring them that he'd be here with Queen when they got home.

Yet. as she watched the four march off the deck and down the short driveway, she knew another problem lay ahead of her. She had yet to face Cody and the consequences of her feelings.

The sleeves of her oversize blue sweater, one of Cody's cast-offs, were too long. She turned up the cuffs and then absently shoved them up
her arms. But she wouldn't have traded it for a new one with a better fit. Today she needed to be as close to Cody Bonner as possible, and inside his old clothes was a good place to start. She ran her hands across the soft, faded fabric of her blue jeans, then unsnapped the top button to ease the strain across a sore spot on her hip. Comfort, not style, was the order of the day.

She heard a commotion outside and hobbled toward the living room, taking possession of Cody's favorite chair before he returned, snuggling into its overstuffed depths, careful not to bump anything sore.

"Come on in," she heard Cody say, and realized with a start that someone else was coming in with him. But the shock of who it was and what they were carrying was more than she'd been prepared for.

"Surprise!" Mrs. Eller said, and hurried over to Queen, planting a swift kiss on her cheek before dumping an armload of presents in her lap.

Queen was speechless. She and Mrs. Eller had passed many enjoyable conversations in her craft shop, but the fact that she'd actually come to see her was more than she could comprehend.

Abel Miller was next, carrying two potted plants. He stood in the center of the room with a silly grin on his face, waiting for someone to unload him.

"The one with the posies is from all of us at the department," he said, bouncing the pink chrysanthemums in one hand. "The ivy thing is from the guys down at the firehouse. You met some of them the other night—the paramedics, remember?"

Queen nodded. How could she forget?

"And don't think this is all," Mrs. Eller said. "I know for a fact that several people will be here off and on during the next few days with food. You don't need to be trying to feed this brood until you're feeling back to par."

"I don't know what to say," Queen said, trying not to cry.

"That's a first," Cody said, teasing her into laughter instead of tears.

"I never imagined… I didn't think… No one ever…" Queen bit her lip. Her chin quivered. She was unable to continue. All she could do was stare up at the assembly while the tears finally slid down her face.

Abel Miller shoved his hat to the back of his head and cleared his throat before he spoke, unwilling to let anyone see how moved he was by her joy. "I don't know why you didn't expect this. You've become a heroine to all of Snow Gap. You survived a real ordeal, little girl. And we're all real glad that you did."

"Well, open your stuff," Mrs. Miller said. "That's why we brought them."

"I need help," she whispered, and picked up the first package with shaky fingers.

"You've got it," Cody said as he knelt at her side and began sorting through the presents. And then he added softly, so that no one else could hear, "And I need you, lady. Don't you ever forget it."

His hand brushed across her fingers as he handed her the first gift. It could have been an accident. It could have been nothing more than a friendly touch. But Abel Miller saw past the action to the emotion and knew that the sister who wasn't really a sister had come into her own..

The streets of Snow Gap were busy. The small motels and bed-and-breakfasts were booked into spring. The "snowbirds," the nickname the locals applied to the people who came to party and ski, were in rare form, spending money like crazy just for the pleasure of sliding down mountains on pieces of waxed and polished wood. It was b crazy but lucrative business, and it was what kept Snow Gap from dying out like so many other small towns across the United States.