Brett. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to see what the man had done to Chelsea’s house. Make sure he hadn’t made it worse instead of better. Or left her any surprises.
He was glad Chelsea was driving. The pain pills had made him groggy, but he roused himself once they got to her house. Brett’s car was nowhere in sight.
“I’ll only be a minute. I need to make sure they can’t get out of the back office for the night.”
“Are you not planning on coming back here tonight?” There’d only been the one night she’d stayed. Was she going to repeat that?
“I need to take care of you.”
“I’ll be fine, but if you feel the need to play nursemaid, we should probably bring the animals to our place for the night. Who knows what kind of trouble they’ll get into alone?”
Our place. How would she interpret that? His and Jordan’s? Or all three of them? Yeah, he liked that thought.
As soon as they got inside, Bandit started barking. Jordan rushed over and patted the dog over the baby gate. Chelsea got food ready for them in the kitchen.
“I might as well feed them all now. That way, I won’t have to bring as much with me.”
“Good idea.” It might not be a bad idea for him to get some dog and cat food for his house, since they seemed to spend almost as much time there as here.
Once the animals had been taken care of, Chelsea rushed up the stairs, calling back, “I’m going to get some clothes to change into. Be down in a sec.”
This would be a good time to look around and make sure Brett hadn’t done any damage. Mostly, it looked like he’d stripped the wallpaper off. He’d also left a note on the kitchen counter, anchored by the broken hammer, saying he’d run to the store to get more wallpaper stripper. Chelsea had scribbled a note underneath his, saying she had the animals, not to worry, and to lock up when he left.
“I’m all ready,” Chelsea said a few minutes later as she ran down the stairs. It was good to see color in her cheeks again. “Jordan, we need to put the kitties in their carrier.”
The drive back was normal with Jordan chattering on, this time to the dog and kittens. When they finally managed to get them all in the house, Theo was exhausted. The trauma with the tree had wiped him out. Or maybe it was the pain medicine. Either way, he needed to get horizontal.
“If you don’t mind, pixie, I’m going to rest my leg for a bit. If you’re hungry, there are some leftovers in the fridge you can nuke in the microwave.”
“Aren’t you hungry? You didn’t have any lunch either.”
Slumping onto the couch, he shook his head. “Not sure I have the energy to eat anything right now.”
Chelsea set down the cat carrier and rushed next to him. “Can I get you anything?”
Reaching for her head, he pulled her down for a kiss. “That’s always nice. Maybe keep Jordan and the menagerie in the playroom for a bit, if you don’t mind.”
“Of course. Of course. You get some rest. I’ll be here if you need me.”
They all scurried off into Jordan’s playroom, then as his eyes were sealing shut, she rushed back in and deposited a bag of ice wrapped in a towel onto his leg.
“The doctor said you need to ice it. Hopefully, that will help.”
Drawing her close again, he gave her another kiss. This one longer and deeper. “That will help.”
Before she stood, she returned the kiss with even more passion. Now, she was getting the picture.
Chapter fourteen
Chelseatiptoeddownstairsaftershe’d put Jordan in bed, not wanting to disturb Theo if he was asleep. During the afternoon and early evening, he’d dozed off and on, mostly due to the painkillers. He was trying to be stoic, but a fully grown pine tree had fallen on his leg.
As she crept toward the kitchen, she glanced his way. A crooked grin spread lazily across his face.
“Thanks for putting her down. Don’t know if I could climb those stairs. The leg’s throbbing now.”
“Let me get you some more ice.” She scurried into the kitchen, filled the bag she’d been using with ice, and rewrapped it in the towel. Once it was on his leg, she said, “I’m going to tidy up the kitchen. Do you need anything else?”
“Don’t worry about the mess. We can clean it up later.”
