Fragile Hearts (Poplar Falls #4) - Amber Kelly Page 0,65
are huddled and shivering. I turn the heat on full blast, and I aim the vents toward them.
Walker looks at me. “That came out of nowhere. They weren’t calling for bad weather tonight. It was supposed to start tomorrow evening.”
“It was moving fast. It’ll blow over soon,” I assume.
Ten minutes later, the rain stops, and the sky clears.
I open the door and walk back to Elle’s door.
“Switch with me, sweetheart,” I tell her, and I help her out and into the front with Walker.
She scoots across the bench seat to him, and he wraps her in his arm before he pulls out of the parking lot.
I pull Bellamy’s back into me, and I wrap both arms around her to warm her.
“Better?” I ask in her ear.
“I want doughnuts.”
That’s her answer, and it tells me all I need to know. She’s good. And I’m getting her doughnuts.
I ask Walker if he knows of any doughnut shops open anywhere. He drives us all the way to Aurora to Winchell’s Doughnut House, which is open twenty-four seven. The girls don’t want to go inside because they are soaking wet, so I go in and buy two-dozen assorted doughnuts and four cups of coffee.
When we make it back to Poplar Falls, Walker drives us to town and drops us at my SUV. Bellamy climbs in with her Winchell’s box.
I start the ignition and get the heat going. Then, I head toward her house. When we make it to Stoney Ridge, she doesn’t move to get out. She just waits for me to do or say something. I reach and take the box from her, and I set it on the dash. Then, I chuckle, and she turns to me in surprise.
I wipe the powdered sugar from the corner of her mouth with my thumb, and then I bring it to my mouth and suck it off.
Her eyes widen as she watches me. Then, she darts up and wraps her arms around my neck. I pull her in close, and my mouth finds hers. Her kiss is urgent and needy as the stress exits her body, and desire takes its place. I know I can’t satisfy her in my truck in front of her parents’ home. I want to. I want to watch her splinter as I give her what she needs. Instead, I kiss her hard. Then, I pull away and kiss her nose and her eyes and her forehead as I caress her back.
She sighs as she leans back and opens her eyes. “I’m sorry about the freak-out. I don’t know where it comes from, but lightning is one thing I don’t do. Give me five feet of snow any day over a heat-seeking, cracking electrical current.”
“Being afraid is nothing to be sorry about. We all have our triggers. I bet studying environmental science contributed to this fear.”
“Yep. You should have seen the videos they showed us. Lightning striking a fuel hauler while they were driving down the road or entering someone’s bay windows and flowing through the oven before zapping them as they removed a pan. It also causes forest fires that spread beyond control. It’s awful. Plus, I was traumatized by a fire lightning caused at my grandparents’ when I was a little girl.”
She starts to explain when the porch light clicks on. I know that Winston was waiting for her, and he saw the minute we pulled in. He has been giving us a little more alone time each time I drop her off.
“I guess that’s my cue.” She stops her story short.
I jump out to open her door, and I grab the box before leading her to the front door. Winston raises an eyebrow at her drowned appearance.
“The bottom fell out on us, Poppy,” she says.
“I can see that.”
“I’m going to take a shower.” She turns to me. “Thank you, Doc.”
“Sweet dreams, sweetheart,” I tell her before she disappears.
The door shuts behind her, and Winston turns back to me.
“Appreciate you getting her home safe again, Brandt.”
I don’t answer. I just hand him the box.
He reads the name on the top, and he grins hugely.
“Good man, Brandt,” he says sincerely. “You’re a good man.”
Bellamy
I spend most of Saturday in bed with a cold. Momma made me homemade chicken soup and kept bringing me ginger ale and medication. I know I’m technically an adult, but when I don’t feel well, all I want is my momma. Her presence alone makes me feel better.