The Naughty List Bundle - Kylie Adams [254]
Jordan felt thunderstruck, and at that moment, he almost hated himself.
With renewed purpose, he stood. “I can carry her out to the Bronco. Morgan—”
“I’ll call it in,” Morgan said before Jordan could finish. He smiled at the little girl and smoothed a large hand over her head. “Can you find some shoes and a jacket for you and your brother?”
She peeked between her fingers, then nodded.
“Good girl.”
Georgia smiled an absent thanks at Morgan. “Hang on, Mom. We’ll have you there in no time.”
Jordan knelt beside her and added his own arm to support her mother. “Why don’t you get her coat and shoes for her? I’ll do this.”
Georgia hesitated, her eyes on her mother’s face. “Her lungs are weak from emphysema. Sometimes, if she over-does it, she needs the oxygen so we always keep it handy. She knows—” Her voice broke and frustrated tears filled her eyes. Angrily, she swiped them away. “She knows that any kind of illness for her is serious. But…she never complains.”
Jordan watched her struggle to pull herself together. He covered her hand on the oxygen mask and asked, “Are you all right?”
Lips tightly pressed together, she nodded, then pushed to her feet. She found her mother’s slippers beneath the bed. When she started looking around the room, Jordan changed his mind on the coat.
“Let’s just wrap her in a blanket. It’ll be easier for her, and the hospital will put her in a gown when she gets there anyway.” Jordan didn’t say it out loud, but judging by the difficulty her mother had breathing, he thought she might have pneumonia. With his own brother being a doctor, he’d seen enough cases of it. Plus her skin was pale and dry and too warm, indicating a high fever.
Georgia took a deep breath and wrapped her mother in a pretty quilt. Jordan saw the tears glisten in her eyes again and knew he’d made a horrible mistake.
IT HADN’T taken long for them to be on their way. With the combined efforts of Morgan and Jordan, things had just fallen into place. They were obviously men accustomed to taking charge. Georgia didn’t know how she felt about that, but she did know she was glad not to be alone.
Lisa and Adam were buckled into the front seat with Morgan, thoroughly distracted from any worries as Morgan let them play with his radio and turn on his lights. It amazed her that a man so large, so commanding, could summon up such a gentle tone for children. Right now, as he smiled at Adam, he looked like a big pushover, when her first impression of him would never have allowed for such a possibility.
He’d already spoken with the hospital and they were ready and waiting for them to arrive. The flashing lights, which amused her kids, were necessary; Morgan drove well past the speed limit. But at this time of night, the streets were almost clear of traffic.
“It’s usually about an hour’s drive to the hospital.” Jordan watched her closely as he spoke, but then, he’d hardly taken his gaze off her since she’d first noticed him at the bar. “At least from our house. But I’d say you’re fifteen minutes closer, and with Morgan driving and no cars on the road, it shouldn’t take much longer.”
Georgia realized he was trying to put her at ease. She appreciated his efforts. Morgan’s, too. The kids, after their initial bout of shyness and upset, had taken to him with hardly any reserve. He had an easy way about him that would naturally draw kids.
She had a feeling Jordan would be the same when he wasn’t busy tending to her mother’s care. She’d seen how he’d looked at her children, the softness in his eyes. He was a man of contradictions—harsh one minute, soft the next. Always strong and confident.
At the moment, with her knees shaking and her heart beating too fast, she resented his strength even as she relied on it. She had to be strong. And she never wanted to depend on another man for anything.
They sat in the back, her mother