From the Heart

head. I have to, she reminded herself. Always finish what you start—isn’t that Kasey’s first rule? I came todo a job, and the job has to be done. I gave him my love without strings, and I have to follow through. Oh, God, she thought and hugged herself tighter. How I hate to hurt. What a coward I am.
    Pressing a hand against her temple, she walked into the bath to search out her aspirin. It’ll help the headache, she decided, if nothing else. As she reached for a cup, she heard a sound from Alison’s room. Frowning, Kasey paused to listen.
    It was quiet and muffled, but the sound of weeping was unmistakable. Kasey set down the aspirin bottle and went next door. Alison was bundled under the blankets, sobbing into her pillow. Everything but the child fled from Kasey’s mind.
    “Alison.” She sat on the edge of the bed and touched the tangled blond hair. “What’s wrong?”
    “I had a nightmare.” She threw her arms around Kasey’s neck and clung. “It was horrible. There were spiders everywhere.” She burrowed deeper as Kasey’s arms came around her. “Crawling all over the bed.”
    “Spiders.” Kasey squeezed and stroked. “Terrible. Nobody should have to handle them alone. Why didn’t you call me?”
    Alison could hear the steady beat of Kasey’s heart under her ear and felt the comfort. “Grandmother says it’s rude to disturb someone when they’re sleeping.”
    Kasey controlled a swift, powerful wave of fury and kept her hands gentle. “Not if you have a nightmare. I used to yell like crazy when I had them.”
    “Did you really?” Alison lifted her face. “Have nightmares, I mean.”
    “The worst. Pop used to say it was the price of a creative imagination. He made me almost proud of them.” She brushed the hair away from Alison’s cheeks. “One more thing,” she added. “You could never disturb me, Alison.”
    With a sigh, Alison laid her head back on Kasey’s breast. “They were big spiders. Black ones.”
    “They’re gone now. You should try kangaroos. Thinking about kangaroos is much better than thinking about spiders.”
    “Kangaroos?” She could hear the sleepy smile in the child’s voice.
    “Absolutely. Snuggle down.” When Alison obeyed, Kasey slipped into bed beside her.
    “Are you going to stay with me?” Her voice was small and amazed.
    “For a little while.” She drew the child against her and felt warm. “About those kangaroos.”
    “Kasey.”
    “ Hmm? ” She looked down to find Alison’s solemn brown eyes on her.
    “I love you.”
    Here it was, Kasey realized. Without condition, without demand. Pure love. Until that moment she hadn’t known just how much she had needed it. “I love you, Alison. Close your eyes.”
    Jordan stood in the doorway and looked down on the two sleeping figures. Alison’s head rested in the crook of Kasey’s shoulder. He had lost track of the time as he stood there, captivated by the picture they made. Each was turned into the other as if they had found something they had been looking for.
    They both belong to me, he thought, surprised by the warmth that flooded through him. They had both loved him, and he had been blind to it. Now that he knew, what was his next move? Love wasn’t as simple as Kasey had told him. He thought about the way they had looked at him—Alison, stunned and hoping; Kasey, exposed and frightened. Walking over to the bed, he watched them sleep.
    Bending over, he moved Alison gently. She stirred once and then was still, deep in a child’s sleep. Carefully he lifted Kasey into his arms. She murmured something, wrapped her arms around his neck and settled into his shoulder. There was something in the trust of the gesture which aroused him more than a planned seduction. He turned to carry her through the connecting doors. Kasey’s eyes opened slowly to stare at him.
    “Jordan?” She was disoriented, and her voice was thick with sleep.
    “Kasey.” He kissed her brow. How could she go from innocent to striking by merely opening her eyes?
    “What are you doing?”
    “Trying to decide whether to take you to your room ormine.” He paused at the doorway of her room. “Why were you in Alison’s bed?”
    “Spiders.” Kasey remembered and tried to clear her head.
    “I beg your pardon?”
    “She had a nightmare.” She sighed. Kasey had never been one to wake up on a bounce. “What were you doing in there?”
    “I’ve started to look in on her at night. Something I should have been doing