that thought, she fell promptly asleep.
Holly was in the depths of sleep when the screams started, so deeply asleep, in fact, that she almost ignored them. One part of her brain urged her to respond, but she felt drugged, glued to the mattress.
But then she remembered it was Anna who was screaming.
Fighting desperate weariness, she opened one eye and saw moonlight streaming through an unfamiliar window. For a frantic moment she panicked. Where was she?
It came in a flash and she sat up, her heart thudding as she threw back the bedclothes. Shivering in the sudden cold—it was winter here, after all—she switched on her bedside lamp, shivered again when her feet met icy floorboards. Regrettably, Outback homes did not have central heating.
But there was no time to hunt for a warm dressing gown. Anna’s screams had risen several decibels and she’d wake everybody in the outlying cottages. Holly dashed from her room and down the passage to the children’s room.
Gray was already there. In the dark, Holly could see him sitting on the edge of Anna’s bed, trying to calm her.
‘Shh, Anna,’ he was murmuring as he drew the little girl into his arms. ‘You’re okay, baby. Shh.’
Anna continued to scream.
Holly stepped closer and, although she couldn’t see Gray’s face, she sensed how helpless he felt. Poor man. She knew he was horrified by his daughter’s terror, and tonight he was probably also worried that the screams would alarm everyone within hearing range.
Gently, Holly leaned closer and stroked Anna’s hair and her soft cheek. ‘Hey, Anna,’ she said in her most soothing voice. ‘It’s okay, honey. You’ve had another nasty nightmare, but it’s all over now. You’re okay. I’m here with you, and Daddy’s here, too.’
To her relief, the screams began to subside, reducing in time to shuddering sobs.
Beside her, Holly heard Gray’s heavy sigh.
‘It might be best if I take her back to my bed,’ she offered, knowing the strange environment would make it harder for Anna to settle back to sleep this time.
Gray didn’t hesitate. ‘Okay. Thanks. Let me carry her for you.’
Holly nodded, then went over to Josh’s bed. ‘Are you okay, champ?’
‘Yeah,’ the boy murmured sleepily.
‘I’m taking Anna through to my room, okay?’
‘Okay.’
Holly gave him a reassuring hug, loving the scent of baby powder on his skin. She tucked the duvet more closely around him, then went with Gray, down the cold passage to her room. She was shivering as she climbed into bed again—was too cold, in fact, to worry about the intimacy of having Gray Kidman in a T-shirt and striped pyjama bottoms in her bedroom.
At least Anna was calmer now. She blinked in the lamplight as Gray lowered her into bed beside her.
His arms brushed Holly’s arms, electrifying her, leaving her nerve endings jangling as he straightened once more and stood beside the bed.
When Holly looked up, she saw tortured darkness in his eyes.
‘Anna’s all right now,’ she told him.
‘But is she?’ he whispered, unable to hide his anxiety. ‘Are you sure?’
‘Yes, Gray. She’ll be fine. I’m sure.’
The mattress dipped as he sank onto the side of Holly’s bed and she could see his hand shaking as he stroked Anna’s hair. ‘I’m so sorry, baby.’
He spoke in a tight voice, as if he was somehow responsible for Anna’s distress. Holly had read somewhere that parenting was mostly about guilt. Looking at Gray, she could believe it.
She wanted to reassure him that he was doing a great job with his kids, but she couldn’t talk about it now in front of Anna.
‘You’re going to sleep now, aren’t you, Anna?’ she said instead as the child snuggled close.
Eyes closed, Anna nodded against Holly’s shoulder.
Even though the little girl was calm again, Gray continued to sit there, watching her. Holly realised she was holding her breath. He was so close she could almost feel his body heat, and he looked so impossibly gorgeous in the lamplight, so dark and manly and—
Holly caught the tropical scents of his cologne as he leaned forward and kissed his daughter.
‘Goodnight, poppet.’
His blue eyes gleamed as he smiled sadly at Holly. ‘Thank you,’ he whispered. ‘You’re wonderful, Holly. Thank you so much.’
And then, before she recognised quite what was happening, he kissed her cheek.
Her entire body flared like a freshly struck match.
Gray’s kiss was no more than a friendly glancing brush, but it was positioned very close to the corner of her mouth, and her libido seemed to have developed a mind of its own, creating all kinds of pleasurable expectations.
Gray straightened and stood. ‘Is there anything else I can do for you? Anything you want?’
Oh, man. Holly might have laughed if she wasn’t so stunned. She might have answered if she wasn’t too breathless to speak. Thank heavens Anna was there, preventing her from saying anything reckless.
‘I…I’m fine,’ she managed, eventually. ‘Anna and I will…um…both be fine now. Thank you.’
Gray stood again, looking down at them, his eyes dark once again and serious. ‘Goodnight, then.’ He cracked a tiny, crooked, utterly gorgeous smile. ‘I hope you both sleep well.’
Holly couldn’t reply, could merely nod as she watched him leave her room—watched his shiny dark hair, his broad shoulders, his perfect butt and his long legs disappear through her doorway.
‘Josh?’ Gray whispered into the darkness.
He heard the rustle of bedclothes and a sleepy voice.
‘Is that you, Dad?’
‘Yeah. I came back to make sure you’re okay.’
Light spilling through the doorway from the hall showed his small son curled on his side, with the bedclothes tucked up to his chin, his longish dark hair framing his soft, fresh cheeks.
The boy was only six—so little—and yet there were times when Gray thought he caught glimpses of the man his son would one day become.
Cautiously, he sat on the edge of the bed, and the small mound beneath the bedclothes wriggled to make room for him. ‘It’s pretty scary when Anna screams like that, isn’t it?’
Josh nodded solemnly. ‘But she’s getting better.’ He sounded surprisingly grown-up. ‘Holly says it’ll stop eventually.’
‘I’m sure Holly’s right.’ Gray was thinking of a conversation in New York when Holly had talked about his children and their grief. Ever since then, he’d felt guilty that he’d shied away from raising the subject of Chelsea’s death with them.
If he took Holly’s advice and talked about it more, he might be able to save Anna from her nightmares. Holly was in there now with Anna, soothing her, doing everything she could to help his daughter to feel safe…to heal.
But in a few weeks Holly would be gone, and it would be up to him. And for all he knew, Josh might need his help, too. At the moment the boy seemed to be coping just fine, but how much pain had he kept bottled up?
‘Josh, I’ve never thanked you,’ Gray began unsteadily, and already, just thinking about what he wanted to say made his eyes sting and his throat choke up. ‘I’ve never thanked you for ringing the ambulance for your mom—’
He