Read Abound in Love for Free Online Page B

Aunt Laura.”
    “No,
no, it’s isn’t Dalton’s fault.  I’m okay.”
    Dalton
frowned and crossed the threshold into the room.  “Let me have a look at that,”
he said.
    Laura
dove under the covers.  She felt a tug on the blankets and held them in a death
grip.  “I’m not getting out of this bed until the room is cleared.  And no one
gets a gander at my eye until I’ve had both my shower, and a strong cup of
coffee.”
    “What’s
a gander?” Krissy asked, as Dalton led her out of the room, chuckling.
    “Find a
dictionary and look it up,” he said, prompting the little girl to groan.
    “Uncle
Dalton, you always say that.  Can’t you just tell me?”
    “Nope.”
    When
Laura heard the sound of receding footsteps on the staircase, she finally
lowered her covers.  All clear.
    She
gathered her toiletries and clothing and dashed into the bathroom.  She really
needed a shower, or she suspected she might never wake up adequately to face
her day.
    After
waiting for what felt like an interminable amount of time for the hot water to
heat up, she stepped into the shower.  The spray of warm water against her
weary muscles felt delicious, but turned out to be short-lived.  When the water
suddenly turned icy cold, Laura let out a startled cry.
    To her
horror, she heard someone pounding on the door.  “Are you all right?  Did you
fall in the shower?  Open the door!”
    “Yes. 
No.  And absolutely not!” she called through chattering teeth.
    Oh, why
hadn’t Thomas told her Dalton was living with him?—even if the situation was
temporary.  Had she known, she would have stayed in a hotel.  Sure, it would
have been cost prohibitive, but how was she going to manage staying here, when
every time she set eyes on the man, she was reminded about her ridiculous crush
on him all those years ago?
    All
those years ago…
    Who was
she kidding?  She found him every bit as attractive today as she did when they
were kids. 
    Desperate
to rinse the shampoo out of her hair, Laura did several rapid turns under the
freezing cold water.  No amount of fiddling with the knobs altered the
temperature, and she hoped she wasn’t going to come down with a case of
pneumonia for her trouble.
    Finally,
in frustration, she shut off the water and dried off.  Her teeth were
chattering violently, and she could hardly steady her shaking hands enough to
comb through her hair.  When she finally dressed and joined the others
downstairs, she was still trembling from the cold.
    Dalton
gave her a sympathetic glance.  “You never want to be the last shower around
here.”
    “I
should have remembered,” Laura admitted.  As the youngest in the family, it had
been commonplace for her to end up showering under a stream of cold water.
    “Hey,
sis, are you all right?” Thomas asked from his place at the stove.  His eyes
widened.  “Wow, that eye looks bad.”
    “Dalton
did it,” Krissy announced.
    Laura
turned toward her niece.  “Honey, he didn’t mean to.”  She swiveled back toward
her brother.  “I don’t think I’m ever going to get used to you standing at that
stove.  And yes, I’ll be fine.  Provided the hypothermia doesn’t kill me.  Do
you need any help with anything?” she inquired, and when Thomas told her no,
she dropped onto the bench seating at the picnic table.  She still felt chilled
to the bone and couldn’t stop shaking.
    She
finally noticed Kenny, standing at the refrigerator.  “Hey, there, young man. 
I didn’t see you.  You’re so quiet over there.”
    “I’m
trying to decide what juice to have for breakfast.”
    “You
can’t go wrong with orange,” she told him.
    “You
could probably use a strong dose of Vitamin C yourself about now,” Dalton said
with a wince.  “And maybe even an ice pack.”  He came up beside her and studied
her black eye. 
    “Uncle
Dalton gave Aunt Laura a black eye,” Krissy announced.
    “ What ?”
a female voice demanded from the doorway.  “Laura,