“I’m on my way now to pick up Emma. I just wanted to ask you to check on Kim, will you? I’ll feel a lot better going off for a holiday if I know she’s okay.”
Tate frowned, going onto full alert. “What’s wrong with Kim? Why wouldn’t she be okay?”
“She’s sick. She started feeling bad at work yesterday and today she couldn’t even make it in. It’s the first time since I’ve known her that she’s missed a day of work. And since she doesn’t have any family nearby, and Emma and I are going to be out of town for a few days, I just want to know there’s someone here to check on her. I mean, I know she has other friends, but you know how stubborn she is. She would never ask for help. So maybe you could just go by and see if she needs anything?”
“Kim’s sick? What about the baby?”
“The baby wasn’t feeling well yesterday. Kim had to leave her with a neighbor who watches her when the day care center is closed or any other time Kim needs a babysitter.”
“Have you called Kim?”
“Of course. A couple of times. She assured me she was feeling better, but she sounded terrible. I offered to skip the lake house trip this weekend and help her out, but she wouldn’t even consider it.”
“I’ll check on her.”
“Thanks, Tate.”
Tate wasn’t sure how grateful Kim would be. She’d made it clear enough that she wan
ted him to stay out of her personal life from now on. But he’d promised Lynette, and now that he knew about it, he needed to reassure himself that Kim and Daryn were okay. And he didn’t want to simply call and ask; he needed to see them both for himself.
Chapter Ten
He should have called. Standing at Kim’s front door an hour after Lynette’s call, one finger poised over the doorbell button, Tate hesitated before announcing his presence. Should he turn around, drive away and call to ask if she needed or wanted him to visit? That would probably be the courteously correct procedure. Yet he knew what would happen if he did call. She would assure him she was fine, as she had Lynette, and then she would stubbornly struggle to deal with her problems on her own, as she always did.
Oh, she’d probably ask for help if it were important for Daryn, but she would request nothing for herself. She had learned not to depend on anyone else to be there for her even if she reached out.
So, knowing she would politely decline if he called to offer help, and knowing he wouldn’t be comfortable until he determined for himself that she was okay, and knowing the worst that could happen would be that she would turn him away—maybe with a firm request that he stay away afterward—he pushed the doorbell button.
It took so long for Kim to respond that he was beginning to think she wasn’t going to do so. But then he heard movement and heard Daryn crying, the sound growing louder as she neared the other side of the door. A curtain flicked, which probably meant that Kim had checked the identity of her caller. Did he only imagine hearing her groan when she saw him?
After a very brief pause, the door opened. Tate was shocked at the sight that met his eyes.
Kim was visibly ill. Pale, hollow-eyed, her hair disarrayed, her lips nearly colorless. Barefoot, wearing a wrinkled T-shirt and shorts, she stood somewhat unsteadily with the crying baby on her hip. Daryn wore a one-piece sleeper and while she, too, was more disheveled than usual, she looked more cranky than sick, at least to Tate’s inexperienced assessment.
“Hi, Tate,” Kim said, her voice hoarse. “I would ask you in, but I’ve got a little cold. I wouldn’t want you to get sick, too.”
“I think it’s more than a little cold. And I’m not here for a friendly visit, Kim. I’m here to help.”
She sighed. “Did Lynette call you?”
“Yes. She said you were ill, but I don’t think she knew how bad it really is or she’d have been here herself. Have you seen a doctor?”
“Yes. I’m to rest and drink fluids. I’ll be fine, Tate, I have three days to recover before I have to be back at work.”
Her throat must have been extremely painful; each word sounded as though it were forced through broken glass. Daryn wailed again, and Kim winced, a sign that her head was pounding in addition to her sore throat.
“Is anyone staying with you?” he asked, though he suspected he already knew the answer.
“I don’t need anyone, I’ll be— What are you doing?”
Without waiting for an invitation, Tate moved past her into the house. Kim whirled to glare at him, but the sudden movement must have made the room spin around her. She rocked on her feet.
Tate reached out quickly to relieve her of the disgruntled baby.
“Go lie down before you fall down,” he ordered her gruffly. Had it not been for Daryn, he would have been tempted to lift Kim off her feet and carry her to bed—but only to tuck her in tenderly and let her rest. “I’ll take care of Daryn while you get some sleep.”
“No, really, Tate, it would be better if you—”