Dragan's Redemption Book One of the Manor at Echo Lake Trilogy by Kelly Ilebode

echo through the whole house. Still without saying a word, he slid the thermometer under her tongue while taking her pulse again.  After waiting a few minutes, he gazed at the mercury frowning.  Sitting on the edge of the bed , he thought fully looked at her while Amira stared up at him.
    “Are you always so serious , Dragan ?”
    “The world is a serious place , Amira .”
    “Oh, I don’t know.  There is a secret to all of this you know.”
    Dragan stared at her for a moment before sig h ing.  He could feel another Amira-ism coming on.  A light smile softened his lips . “P lease tell me the secret, I know you want to.”
    Laying her head back, she looked up at the ceiling lower ing her voice.  “The secret is that you find the rainbow within the cloud.”
    “Really?  It is as simple as that to you ? ”
    “Yes . ”
    Dragan was overwhelmed with the feeling of irritation that arose from him at her statement.  “Could you really be that naïve?”
    “It’s true!!!”
    “Amira, life is not that easy.  Just because you have had it easy doesn’t mean that the rest of the world has.”
    Amira leaned back as if struck.  “Is that what you think?  That I have had it easy?   Just because I choose to look at life from a different perspective does not mean it has been easy , Dr. Reynolds.  I know what I know!  Whether you like it or not, I know for a fact that God has put a rainbow in every cloud.  Have you never found yours?”
    Dragan’s fingers absently smoothed the bed sheet .   He was learning quickly with her that whenever she called him Dr. Reynolds, she was getting angry .  He was surprised at her reaction to his comment.  Obviously, he had touched a nerve with her , and if he were honest, she had touched a nerve within him.
    “No, I haven’t ….found the rainbow.”
    “Then you, my dear, must be the rai nbow in someone else’s cloud. ”   Cocking her head to one side , she smiled weakly.  “ You are a rainbow you know.  Right here, with me.  I am not well, and I am sure you have bazillion better things to do , but you are staying with me because you think I am sick.”
    “No , Amira, I am staying with you because I know that you are sick.  You have a temp of 102 , and I am trying to figure out what exactly to do with you.”
    Amira was shocked her temperature was so high.  Dragan saw the worry in her eyes.  “Amira, is t here something more going on that you are not telling?”
    Shaking her head, she felt guilty at the blatant lie.
    “Look, I am going to finish making your tea, then run home and pick up a few things and will come back to check on you.”
    “You really don’t need to , Dragan .”
    “I know I don’t, but I want to.”
    Amira’s face flushed as he continued to look at her.
    “Stop looking at me that way.”
    “What way?”
    “I don’t know, like you are trying to get in my head or something.”
    Her comment made him smile.
    “That’s because I am.”  Bending over he kissed her softly on the lips , then with a sharp command to Shadow, walked out l eaving her staring after him with wide eyes as the wolf happily guarded over her.

CHAPTER 10
    “Welcome home , Dr. Reynolds.”
    “Thank you , James.”
    Dragan hurried through the living room to his office just off the hallway with James following obediently.
    “Is everything ok ay, Sir ? ”
    “ I stopped over at Amira ’s on my way home and found that she is not feeling well.  Would you please ask the c hef to pack a basket with some soup and whatever he feels needs to go with it please.”
    “Of course, right away.”
    “Tell him to keep it to light broth.  She has a temperature , and I am not sure how her stomach will tolerate something heavy, but the woman needs to have something in her system.”
    Nodding his head , James hurried to the kitchen.  His boss had changed since meeting Amira, and the change was very visible.  At first he thought that he was the only one to notice, but when