Lucas by Kelli Ann Morgan Read Free Book Online Page B

Cough. Liam’s
cough was getting worse by the minute.
    Lucy broke contact to
look at the man who’d become like a father to her.
    Something’s wrong.
    His heavily lidded eyes
shone like glass.
    “Your father left,”
Liam said simply. “I thought I...I would give him some time to blow off steam,
but...but he never came back. I didn’t believe he would deprive his children of
their grandfather.” His face grew increasingly red and his skin had developed a
tight sheen. “I was...wrong,” he whispered.
    “Liam?”
    Knock. Knock.
    The back door opened
and a dozen ranch hands came in, collected a bowl of vittles, and with nary a
tip of their hats, retreated to the bunkhouse to eat their hot meal. She
wondered why it had taken them so long to come in after they’d returned, but
guessed after being out in the weather, they’d all had to change.
    She looked back at
Liam. “What exactly happened out there?” she demanded.
    “It’s nothing, Lucy.
I’m just more tired than I thought. Don’t you worry none.” He grabbed the glass
she’d brought over earlier and guzzled the rest of it down as if it contained
something a little more spirited.
    She shot a questioning
glance at Lucas.
    “We lost the water
tower. He didn’t get hurt, but he was caught up in the runoff and drenched in
the icy water.”
    “I’m fine. I think I’ll
just go sit in my favorite chair and read for a spell.” Liam pushed himself out
of his wooden seat and pulled one of the already lit lanterns from the
collection of lights overhead and started for the living area.
    He only got a few steps
before he collapsed onto the floor. The lantern shattered and one of the small
floor rugs caught fire. Lucas picked up the woven carpet and beat the edges
together until the flames had been extinguished.
    “Liam!” Lucy screamed
as she rushed to him, knelt down at his side, and shook his shoulders as well
as she could from her position. She lifted his head and patted his face. “Liam.
Wake up.”
    Cough. Cough. Cough.
    She put a hand against
Liam’s forehead. “He’s burning up.”
    He moaned, but didn’t
appear able to lift his head on his own.
    Lucas picked Lucy up by
the shoulders and set her aside, then crouched down, gathered his grandfather
into his arms, and headed for the door.
    “What are you doing?”
Her breathing grew ragged, her heart raced. “What are you doing?” she demanded
again as she followed him out into the near blizzard of a storm.
    Lucas pushed through
the gate at the front of the house where grass normally grew. He laid Liam on
the ground and began to scoop snow on top of him. He covered his arms, his
neck, his head, everywhere but his face.
    “Stop it!” she screamed
as she pulled hard at his arm and shoulder.
    “Ahhhhh!” Lucas cried
out in pain, startling her enough that she took a step back from him.
    “Please stop,” she
pleaded. What else could she say?
    Please, God, make him
stop.
    “Go back in the house!”
Lucas demanded loud enough to be heard above the deafening wind, but he
continued to cover his grandfather until he was completely buried in the cold,
packed snow.
    Once Lucas stood up and
backed away from Liam, she rushed toward him, but Lucas grabbed her and pulled
her into his embrace. She pounded against him and writhed as if her life, or
Liam’s, depended on it.
    “Shhhhh,” he whispered
against her hair, causing a stream of melting snow to trail the back of her
head and down her neck.
    She shivered.
    “We have to break the
fever. This is the fastest way I know.” His lips touched the top of her head
with a comforting kiss.
    His words made sense,
but it took a moment before she could allow herself to relax against this
stranger who had come into their lives in a whirlwind. It pained her to see
Liam this way.
    “Let’s get you inside
by the warmth of the hearth fire and I will sit with him for as long as it
takes. You’ll need to keep the fire stoked,” he instructed, “and be ready with
warm