Madly Yours novel · Chapter 10 of 32

Chapter 10: Steam

I didn't look away.

I took the pad out of my old boss's hand and tore off a clean page.

I wrote on it in thick black letters.

TRY.

I held it up toward the box.

Allegra's smile went stiff.

Porter took his arm off her seat.

I folded the page, put it in my back pocket and picked up my tuning hammer.

My hands didn't shake until I was in the car.

That night Leland knocked on my door at ten with a glass of hot water and a jar of honey.

"Doctor's orders," he said.

I'd shown him the sheet from the Seattle ER a week ago.

Steam twice a day. Honey. Total rest for two weeks, then soft words only, a few at a time.

It had been eleven days.

He'd been counting.

"My bathroom has the better shower," he said. "Bring a towel. I'm not a pervert, it's medicinal."

I wrote on my pad and held it up.

Everybody who says that is a pervert.

"Medicinal pervert," he agreed. "Come on."

His bathroom was all grey stone, with a shower big enough to park a car in.

He turned it on as hot as it went and left the door open.

In two minutes the room was thick and white and warm.

He lifted me onto the long stone counter like I weighed nothing.

His hands stayed on my waist a second after I was sitting.

Then he let go and stirred honey into the water and handed it to me.

"Small sips. Breathe the steam. Don't try to talk."

He leaned on the counter next to my knee, in a white T-shirt, his hair already curling in the damp.

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