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ensure they stayed warm. He grabbed his jeans, socks, and shirt and eased from the bedroom and down the hall to his. He would shower and change clothes. Thank goodness they had butane for the hot water heater and the stove. He didn’t cotton to a cold shower just yet. He might have to settle for them soon enough if their guest stayed around for long. When had he started thinking of her staying around?
    Probably when she’d fallen asleep lying across his body, he thought to himself. She had trusted him enough to do that. It humbled him. He quickly dressed after drying off from his shower and hurried downstairs to start the generator. He needed to check on the horses and help the men break up the ice, but he wanted to see Jeni once more before he walked out into the cold morning.
    She lay just as he had left her, still snuggled up on top of Brady’s chest. Her head lay right over his heart. Could she hear it beat? Did it calm her? Make her feel safe? Brock smiled and backed out of the room. He wouldn’t wake them up. Brady could keep their woman warm and sleeping. He would take care of the rest for today. Then, if nothing changed, he would have his time tomorrow.
    Brock wrestled into his coat, hat, and gloves and pulled open the door to have several inches of snow come tumbling into the room. Ah, hell. He huffed out a breath and grabbed the shovel they kept by the door to shovel a path towards the stables. He used it now to shovel the snow off of the kitchen floor. Then he wiped up the resulting water with several towels. It looked like it was going to be one of those days.
    The radio in the stables warned of another bout of snow later that afternoon. They predicted another ten to twelve inches of snow with it. The wind wouldn’t be quite as rowdy, but more snow they didn’t need.
    He checked in with the ranch hands and helped fork out hay and break up the water troughs again. He shoveled another path back towards the house and called it a morning. He would have another go at it later that afternoon. He hoped Jeni was feeling better today, and they didn’t have another round of high temps to tamp down.
    When he opened the kitchen door, the welcoming whiff of coffee greeted him. He breathed it in and stomped off the snow at the back step before he walked inside. Brady stood over the stove wearing his coat and cooking breakfast. The sight drew a deep chuckle from his chest. He couldn’t figure out why since they had done this at least a dozen times in the past, but something had changed. It had to be Jeni.
    “What’s so damn funny?” Brady groused.
    “Nothing. How is Jeni doing?”
    “Doing okay, I think. She’s still coughing, but she isn’t wheezing like before. I made her take two more pills and drink another glass of juice. I’m not exactly in her good graces right now.” He smiled nonetheless.
    “We got more snow coming in the afternoon. Supposed to clear off tomorrow, though, so we should be able to head to town the day after.”
    “Why’d you have to go and screw up a perfectly happy day?” Brady slammed the pan on the stove.
    “Hey, you get another day. Quit your griping.” Brock snuck a piece of bacon and hurried out of the kitchen calling behind him. “I’m going to check on her. Be back down in a little while.”
    He took the stairs two at a time and eased into the bedroom, expecting her to be sound asleep. Instead, she sat on the side of the bed wearing one of his brother’s button-down shirts, a pair of socks, and nothing else. It covered her to mid-thigh. Her head jerked up when he walked into the room.
    “How are you feeling today?”
    “Good, actually. I’m not coughing as much.” She smiled a shy smile, and then dropped her eyes.
    “Brady is cooking breakfast. Looks like bacon and eggs and toast. You feel hungry?” he asked.
    “A little.” She continued to look at the floor, or her socked feet. He couldn’t tell which.
    “You need something on your bottom half if you’re not