“It’s good for her,” Jeanne Louise said quietly, her concentration on the girl. A headache had begun to descend on Livy shortly after they’d arrived and she’d been working to mask it ever since.
“Yeah.” She sensed his glancing her way and tried to appear normal, but knew she’d failed when he asked with concern, “Are you all right?”
Jeanne Louise gave a nod, not looking his way.
“You’re pale and pinched. You’re masking her pain again, aren’t you?” he asked and she could hear the frown in his voice.
Sighing, she nodded reluctantly.
“How long?” Paul asked.
Jeanne Louise hesitated, but then admitted, “A headache started to develop shortly after we got here.”
Paul cursed. “You mean you’ve been masking her pain for the last hour and a half?”
Jeanne Louise wrinkled her nose. Was that all it had been? It felt like three hours. First they’d played video games and such, then they’d eaten, then Livy had rushed off to play with the other children. An hour and a half? God.
“You should have said something,” Paul said, sounding cross.
“She was having fun,” Jeanne Louise said helplessly. “I suspect she hasn’t done that for a while.”
“No, she hasn’t,” he agreed solemnly. “Still . . .”
She heard him sigh, and then sensed him standing and moving away. A moment later she saw him approach Livy and speak to her, then urge her back toward the table.
“I know you were having fun, sweetheart. But we can come back another day. We have to go home now. It’s getting late,” Paul was saying as he led his daughter back to Jeanne Louise. Once at the table, he quickly pulled out his wallet to pay the bill, then lifted Livy up with one arm under her bottom and glanced to Jeanne Louise. “She can sleep on the way home.”
She nodded with relief and made the child sleep. Livy sagged against her father, her head dropping to rest on his shoulder. Jeanne Louise stayed in her thoughts long enough to allow the girl’s endorphins to do their work, and then slipped out. The immediate absence of pain was like a vacuum after suffering it for so long, and Jeanne Louise swayed in her seat. Paul immediately stepped closer and grasped her upper arm to steady her with his free hand.
“Are you all right?” he asked with concern.
Jeanne Louise took a deep breath and nodded, wincing when it made the dull ache that remained in her head increase a bit. She now had a headache of her own, probably from her constant tension while fighting Livy’s pain, she supposed. The nanos would take care of it quickly enough, she told herself as she stood up. “I’m fine. Shall we?”
Paul walked her out, his hand on her arm the entire way. Jeanne Louise didn’t think it was because he feared her fleeing at this point, so supposed she must look as drained and pained as she felt. The fact that he was eyeing her with concern, as if expecting her to suddenly keel over at any moment, seemed to back that up.
Once at the car, Jeanne Louise opened the back door for him and slipped into Livy’s mind to keep her from waking up as he settled her in the backseat and did up her seat belt. She was glad to slip back out a moment later as he straightened and closed the door.
Jeanne Louise started to open her own door then, but Paul stopped her by placing his hands on her shoulders and beginning to massage the tense muscles there. It brought a groan from her and she let her eyes close and her head loll as the tension slowly eased from her muscles.
“Thank you,” she murmured after a moment, and then blinked her eyes open and peered at him with surprise when he released her neck to cup her face.
“No. Thank you,” he said firmly, meeting her gaze. “I know it causes you pain to help her. And I do appreciate it. She would too if she knew.” Paul closed his own eyes briefly, then let out a slow breath and opened them again to say, “Livy hasn’t been this happy in a while. Thank you for that.”
Jeanne Louise smiled weakly and raised her hands to cover and squeeze his, saying simply, “You’re welcome.”
He nodded, and then bent to press a kiss to her forehead before releasing her and opening the front passenger door for her. Jeanne Louise slid in and did up her seat belt as he walked around to the driver’s side.
They were both silent on the ride back to the house. Jeanne Louise had no idea what Paul was thinking, but her own mind was taken up with thoughts of him. She’d earned his gratitude. It was a start, but she wasn’t sure if it was a good start or not. She didn’t want his gratitude. They couldn’t be equal partners if he felt he owed her something. Jeanne Louise wanted him to want her, to want to be with her, to enjoy her company. Not to think of her as someone he owed a debt to. Unfortunately, the situation wasn’t lending itself to that.
She was frowning over that when they turned onto his street. Jeanne Louise glanced along the row of houses and then sucked in a breath as she spotted two dark SUVs parked in front of Paul’s house.
“Pull in here,” she barked at once and Paul glanced at her with surprise.
“What?”
“Do it,” Jeanne Louise hissed and wished for the first time that she could just slip into his thoughts and take control of him to make him do it. Fortunately, something of her urgency made him obey and he pulled into the driveway she’d indicated.
“What is it?” Paul asked, his gaze sliding to his neighbor’s house as he braked the car in their driveway.