Love Me Back (Amelia and Daniel) novel Chapter 9

Amelia froze for a moment, instinctively glancing at the door. No way, she thought—he should be at the hospital with his Porcelain Doll. Why would he come looking for her?

“Open up, Kitten Turner.”

A low, deep voice floated through the door, followed by two sharp knocks. “I know you’re in there. I had a word with the security guard—cost me a pack of cigarettes. He’s my eyes here.”

Amelia rolled her eyes and hopped over to the door on one foot. She cracked it open but didn’t let him in, her expression icy. “What do you want?”

Daniel knelt down and lifted her pant leg, inspecting her ankle. “Did you put on the ointment?”

“None of your business.” She tried to pull back her foot, but he simply scooped her up in his arms.

Irritated, Amelia raised her hand to smack him, but Daniel clicked his tongue. “Watch the face. Another hit and I’ll be disfigured.”

Her slender, fair fingers slid across his cheek, then landed with a loud smack against his neck.

Daniel shot her a look. “Hurt your hand, didn’t you?”

Honestly, it did sting a little—his neck was built like a brick wall—but Amelia wasn’t about to admit it. She struggled to break free.

Daniel gave her a gentle swat on the rear. “Settle down. If you fall and break that other leg, you’ll really be in trouble.”

“If it breaks, I’ll get a wheelchair. Still won’t need your help.”

At the mention of a wheelchair, Amelia’s anger bubbled up, hot and fierce. “Why don’t you go carry your first love? You’ve already carried her—don’t come near me!”

“She may have a wheelchair, but she never got this kind of treatment.”

Daniel opened the car door and set her in the passenger seat. Amelia used her good leg to kick at him. “Where are you taking me?”

He pinned down her restless leg, his voice teasing. “You’ve got plenty of strength when it comes to hitting and scratching me. But the second we’re in bed, you’re out of energy. Save some of that fight for later, would you? Give me a break.”

Grandma Edith suffered from dementia; sometimes she was lucid, sometimes not. It was always a toss-up.

A housekeeper rushed over with her medication, and Daniel called for the family doctor to check on her—and while he was at it, to look at Amelia’s ankle. The doctor said it was nothing serious, just needed a few days’ rest.

After her medicine, Grandma Edith was still a little muddled, eating dinner in a childlike way, dropping food everywhere. Amelia patiently tended to her, wiping her mouth and helping her eat.

When dinner was over and Daniel stepped outside for a cigarette, Grandma Edith leaned in close to Amelia and whispered conspiratorially, “Amelia, you need to give me great-grandchildren soon! I’ve set aside so many houses and shops for them—they’ll all be theirs one day!”

Amelia felt a bittersweet warmth in her chest. “Grandma, I’m not sure if I’ll ever have that chance.”

Ever since Violet’s return, everything she thought she had was suddenly uncertain.

“Why wouldn’t you have a chance? What’s wrong with my grandson?”