stains on his shirt, his complexion was pale and he was leaning over the railing drawing in deep breaths.
“Dad?” she asked, alarmed. “Are you okay?”
Color flooded his cheeks.
“Dad, talk to me. What’s wrong?”
“With me? Nothing. It’s the girls. Both of them started complaining of headaches and looked glassy-eyed right after you left here this morning. I figured they didn’t get enough sleep last night, but your grandmother seems to think they both have the measles. She said you didn’t get them vaccinated.”
“That’s right—at the time the thinking was that the MMR vaccine might overwhelm an immature immune system, and there was even a theory it caused autism. I didn’t want to take the risk. How are they now?”
“They’re asleep, so I came out here for a couple of minutes.”
“You probably ought to shower and change your clothes,” she said, astounded by the obvious signs that he’d pitched in and helped. “I’ll go up and take over from Gram. I’m sure she could use a break, too. I wish you’d called me.”
“We agreed that the meeting at the bank was too important to be interrupted. Besides, we’ve both had plenty of experience with sick kids before. They weren’t in any danger,” he said defensively.
“I know that. Thanks for taking care of them.”
“Part of the job,” he said with a shrug. “You want to tell me how the meeting went?”
“I really want to check on the girls first.”
He nodded. “Of course you do. You need anything, holler.”
Inside, she was on her way upstairs when she met her grandmother coming down. “I’m so sorry you had to deal with all this. If I’d had any idea they’d even been exposed to measles, I wouldn’t have brought them down here to visit.”
“Pretty hard to keep children from getting sick when they’re around other kids. Tricky with two of them, especially. It’s a good thing your father was here. Did you see him?”
“He’s on the porch. I think seeing them sick rattled him more than he wants to let on.”
“No one wants to see someone they love in pain,” Gram said. “Your father’s no tougher than the rest of us on that score.”
“Well, as soon as I’ve looked in on the girls, I’ll come down and make you both some lunch or some tea, whatever you want.”
Upstairs, she changed quickly into shorts and a blouse, then slipped into Connor’s old room and noted the pile of dirty sheets beside the door. She’d take those downstairs with her and get them into the washer. Kneeling between the twin beds, she was able to put a hand on each girl’s forehead. They were feverish, but not burning up. For the moment, they seemed to be resting comfortably, oblivious to the itching that was bound to set in soon given the spreading rash on their skin.
“Love you, babies,” she whispered, then rose and picked up the sheets and took them down to the laundry room off the kitchen. Gram was sitting at the kitchen table with a cup of tea, Mick across from her with a beer.
“They okay?” her father asked, his gaze filled with real concern.
“Sound asleep,” she said. “How about lunch? Have either of you eaten?”
“I could eat a sandwich,” Mick replied. “Ma, what about you?”
“Maybe some of that potato soup I made yesterday,” she said. She started to stand up.
“Sit,” Abby ordered. “I can fix a sandwich and warm up some soup. Dad, you want soup, too?”
“Sounds good. What about you?”
“Jess and I ate a late breakfast at Sally’s after our meeting at the bank,” she said, deliberately keeping her back to them as she prepared the meal. She was hoping that would discourage more questions, but of course, it didn’t.
Once she’d served them, she sat at the table with her own cup of tea. “Okay, here’s where things stand,” she said, summarizing what had happened at the meeting.
Mick looked increasingly agitated. When she finished, he was on his feet and reaching for the phone. “I’ll put an end to this right now.”
Abby grabbed the phone from him. “No, Dad, leave it alone. Trace will get the bank to back off. They won’t foreclose.”
“And you’re willing to stick around here the way he wants you to?” he demanded.
“I’ll call my boss and work something out. A lot of what I do can be handled online and by phone or fax. Once Trace has had time to think about it, he’ll see how absurd he’s being.”
“Not if it’s his way of keeping you underfoot,” Gram said, her expression knowing.
“What are you talking about?” Mick asked.
“Oh, for goodness’ sakes, Mick, Trace always did have a soft spot for Abby. Surely you remember the way he was always hanging around here? It wasn’t just to play catch with Kevin and Connor, I can tell you that.” Her gaze met Abby’s. “Maybe his feelings for you ran deeper than you ever said, am I right? I always had the feeling something happened between the two of you before you took off for New York.”
Mick looked confused. “So what then? He’s blackmailing her into staying here?”
“Don’t make it sound ugly, Mick,” Gram chastised. “Men in love will do a lot of crazy things to get their way.”
“Trace is not in love with me,” Abby protested. “Come on, Gram, we’re focusing on the wrong thing here. All that matters is helping Jess keep the inn.”
Now it was Mick’s turn to give her a considering look. “If that’s the only thing that matters, then why not let me call Lawrence Riley? Is it because you’re happy with this turn of events?”
Abby frowned. “Of course I’m not happy with it, but I can handle it. I can handle Trace.”
“Doesn’t look that way from where I’m sitting,” Gram said, though she seemed surprisingly pleased about it. “If you handled that man all that well, he wouldn’t still be carrying a torch for you ten years later.”
“Will you stop it?” Abby pleaded. “I’m going upstairs to check on the girls. Then I’m going to call the office and tell them I’ll need to work from here for a few more days until I can get all this sorted out.”
She hadn’t gone far when she heard her father say, “Abby and Trace Riley? Why didn’t I know about that?”
“Because you weren’t around,” Gram replied. “And you never listened to half of what I told you, especially if it concerned your daughters’ love lives. If it had been up to you, none of them would have gone on a date before they hit thirty.”
“You say that as if it would have been a bad thing,” he grumbled.
