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“Look, I know you’re deter, but you and the baby being here is a complication I can do without Don’t make it any harder for me than it already has to be”
“But—”
“No buts, Alexis I mean it If there had been any other alternative to this, believe ain I expect things to return to normal”
“Normal? But this isn’t norination,” Alexis protested “Bree wouldn’t have wanted you to be so distant from your own flesh and blood”
He paled as if he’d been dealt ahis head and backing toward the door “Don’t throw that at me You have no idea—” He shook his head once more “Just do what you were hired to do, Alexis End of topic”
He was gone in an instant and Alexis wrapped her arms around herself in a vain attempt to provide some comfort for herself where there was none So, it see Raoul run That he’d loved her deeply was patently obvious But how could that love not extend to their little girl?
Three
Raoul lay in bed unable to sleep any longer It was time he rose anyway, time to escape to the winery before Alexis and Ruby took over the house No longer was his home the quiet sanctuary contained by the boundaries of his property No longer was coer was it his safe place where he could be alone with his memories
They’d been here a week—a hellishly long time, in his estimation—and since Alexis’s and the baby’s arrival he spent as little time as humanly possible in the house And since he still wasn’t ready to face the world at large, that meant he spent as much ti distracted by the presence of two very unsettling females
Just yesterday he’d caught Alexis shifting things in the sitting roo the tide line, she’d called it—because Ruby was pulling herself up on the furniture and starting to walk around things, grabbing for whatever she could reach While he understood the necessity of keeping Ruby safe, the idea of changing anything fro
He yaidely Sleep had been as elusive last night as it had been since Alexis’s accusation of his behavior being abnorh every time he looked at Ruby Every time he saw athe shock of pain under control, but the echoing empty loss that came hard on its heels unraveled hie
And then there was the fear—an awful irrational beast that built up in his chest and threatened to consuot sick, or was hurt? What if he didn’t knohat to do, or didn’t react fast enough? It was an alhtly by knowing Alexis was here shouldering the bulk of it Raoul shoved aside his bedcovers and got out of bed, yanking his paja slid off him these days It hadn’t mattered when he was here alone but noith his privacy totally invaded, he had to be a little more circumspect Even locked in his antisocial bubble he could see that
Suddenly his senses went on full alert, his skin aith a chill of terror as he heard a muted thump come from the nursery followed by a sharp cry from the baby For a second he was frozen, but another cry followed hard on the heels of the first, sending hi down the hallway toward God only knehat disaster His heart felt too big in his chest, its beat too rapid, and he fought to drag in a shuddering breath as he reached the doorway, almost too afraid to open the door and look inside
Ruby’s howls had increased several decibels Where the hell was Alexis? The child’s care was her job Reluctantly, he turned the handle and pushed open the door He winced as Ruby let out another earsplitting yell So, he was sure Fine tremors racked his body as he visually exa her throat out
His eyes flew over her, searching for some visible cause for her distress She was so s from the tiny feet tipped with even tinier toes to the top of her auburn fuzzed head—all except for the sound bellowing fros