Loving Her (Mitchell Family Series BK9) Read online

  Loving Her

  A Mitchell Family Series Book 9

  Told by, Tyler and Miranda Mitchell

  Written By: Jennifer Foor

  Copyright © 2013 Jennifer Foor

  All Rights Reserved

  Cover Art By : Wicked Cool Designs – Robin Harper

  This book is a written act of fiction. Any places, characters, or similarities are purely coincidence. If certain places or characters are referenced it is for entertainment purposes only. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. This book is not allowed to be offered for sale, discounted, or free on any sites other than Kobo, IBook’s, Amazon and Barnes and Noble. This book may only be distributed by Jennifer Foor, the owner and Author of this series.

  Check out the other books by Jennifer Foor

  (Contemporary Romance)

  Letting Go - A Mitchell Family Series Book One

  Folding Hearts – A Mitchell Family Series Book Two

  Raging Love – A Mitchell Family Series Book Three

  Risking Fate – A Mitchell Family Series Book Four

  Wrapping Up – A Mitchell Family Series Novella 4.5

  Wanting More – A Mitchell Series Book Five

  Saving Us – A Mitchell Family Series Book Six

  Blinding Trust – A Mitchell Family Series Book Seven

  Losing Him – A Mitchell Family Series Book Eight

  Hope’s Chance (Contemporary Romance)

  Hustle Me (A Bank Shot Romance)

  Hustle Him (A Bank Shot Romance)

  Diary of a Male Maid

  Twinsequences

  Repair Me (Contemporary Erotica)

  Replace Me (Contemporary Erotica)

  Coming Soon

  Gray Love (Contemporary Romance)

  Beta Readers for The Mitchell Family Series

  Kayla Kennedy, Emma Clifton, Kristy Davidson, Catherine Roberts, Lara Petterson ,

  Jennifer Harried, Mechelle Lovell Jackson,Margo Lomeli, Amy Haigler, Karrie Stewart,

  Erica Willis, Sarah Thompson, Kim Eckley,

  Kim Person, Milasy Mugnolo and Stephanie Horning, Lisa Hentz

  Web Design and Marketing by: Amy Haigler

  Acknowledgements:

  Thanks to my kick-ass street team, Foor Players. I love and appreciate you so much! Thanks for everything you do for me and my books

  The Big Tittie Committee

  Emily Snow

  Michelle Valentine

  Holly Malgieri (iloveindiebooks.com)

  Michelle Leighton for guidance and advice

  Thanks to all of my new friends on my FB, Twitter and Goodreads.

  Author: Amanda Bennett, Author: Elizabeth Buchanan

  I adore you and your magical words

  Thank you for spreading the word and all of the support you give.

  Thanks to all of my other Independent Author Friends. (you know who you are)

  Thank you to my new street team, Foor Players.

  Thank you to all the book bloggers out there spreading the word for me and others who write.

  Rockstars of Romance (Milasy and Lisa), iloveindiebooks,

  Book Bitches, Maryse Book Blog, Shh Mom’s reading, Into the night Reviews, Word, Kindlehooked, , Totally Booked, Word, Reading is my time out, Stick Girl Book Reviews, Wolfels World of Books, Dirty Books and Dirty Boys

  Book Broads, Book Studs, Books Books Books, Reality Bites Books, Naughty Mafia, Smutty Book Whores Obesession, Smexy Girl Book Blog, Just Booked Blog, Book Crazy, BookFri-ends,

  Submit and Devour, Three Girls and a Book Obsession, The Whispering Pages Book Blog, All Is Read With Lexipat, Lit Slave, Six Chicks and Their Love For Books, Zee Books Blog,

  Evette Ashby Sexy Girl Reads, Risque Romance Reads, Nicely Phrased,

  Books Coffee and Wine,

  S&M Book Obsessions – I love these dirty girls!!

  What to read after fifty shades – Summer Daniels

  The Mullet Ninjas

  Everyone who has made this series the success that it is. I am forever grateful. Thanks to my family and my faith. With them, all things are possible.

  Thank you to everyone who has read and made this series such a success. I am grateful beyond belief.

  Chapter 1

  Tyler

  Family.

  It’s what makes life worth living, and memories so valuable. For me, it’s everything. If someone were to take them away from me I’d lose my will to keep going.

  I’ve been blessed, even when I didn’t deserve it, with three kids and a beautiful wife. After almost eleven years, I’m still the happiest man on the planet.

  With that being said, my life is just as chaotic as it was before Miranda and I got together. Having twin boys and a daughter that thinks she’s a teenager will do that. On most days, like today, we wake up to bickering, or screaming. Whether it be the boys torturing Izzy, or her taping them to the kitchen chairs, something is going to happen.

  That’s why we knew something was wrong with Izzy when we woke up to two little boys standing over our bed like stalkers.

  I wiped the sleep out of my eyes before being able to focus on what they were doing. They liked to work together to cause mischief. Unaware that something was wrong, I had to assume that’s why they were in our room. “Hey guys. What’s up? Ain’t there some cartoons you want to watch?”

  “Izzy won’t get up,” Jax announced from the other side of the bed.

  “She got sunburned,” Jake added.

  Miranda and I sat up and looked at one another. I started getting up, realizing she was probably still naked under the covers. We’d waited like little criminals until the kids went to bed so that we could have some alone time. It was hard to come by, so we had to look for ways around getting caught.

  “I’m sure she’s just teasing you. Come on, let’s go see if we can wake up the hair monster.” They called her that when she first woke in the morning, because her hair was always crazy. She hated it. On most days I think she hated them.

  “Tell her to make sure that room is cleaned before she goes outside,” Miranda announced from the bedroom as I walked down the hall to our daughter’s room.

  They were right to worry. As I got close to her bed I could see the color change in her skin, not to mention the fact that she was covered in sweat. I knelt down beside her bed and put my hand on hers. She was still.

  I shook her. “Iz, wake up, sleepy head.”

  She didn’t move.

  My heart started pounding out of worry. This wasn’t normal.

  I felt her head and she was burning up, almost too hot to touch, so I ripped off her covers, immediately realizing that I needed to get her fever down.

  “MIRANDA!” I screamed for her, beginning to freak out about our daughter’s condition.

  Miranda met me in the hallway. She immediately saw that something was very wrong. “Call 9-1-1,” she yelled to the boys.

  We rushed her into the bathroom, and I sat her down in the tub while Miranda turned on the cold water. As her nightgown started to get wet, we saw her barely open her eyes. “Hurts,” she said in a faint whisper.

  “What is happenin’ to her, Ty?”

  I shook my head and kept holding on to our daughter. “I don’t know.” We were petrified. It was that moment of impact when you realize that something terrible could be happening and you can’t do anything to stop it.

  The more the tub filled, the more her body began to shake. “Wha
t if we break the fever too fast? That’s dangerous, too. She could have a seizure.”

  “She’s got to be cooled down. You didn’t feel her skin. Baby, she’s burning up.”

  Miranda was starting to cry, and as much as I wanted to comfort my wife, I was also fighting back my emotions while holding my daughter.

  We kneeled there, on the bathroom floor, trying to talk to Izzy. It’d been a while before the sirens came wailing down the dirt lane. Miranda jumped up and ran out to meet them.

  Since the bathroom was small, only suitable for two people at a time, I carried a lethargic Iz out to the living room and lay her on the couch, not giving a damn about the upholstery. My life, my heart, and my soul was lying on that couch. She needed to feel safe and comfortable.

  The paramedics took her vitals and started getting her hooked up to take to the ambulance. Miranda was already a mess, while the boys stood there amazed at what they were witnessing.

  My mother came frantically running into the house in a thin nightgown. She was full of concern and almost lost her footing when she saw they were working on Iz. She walked over and held onto Miranda, clinging to her, offering some sort of support.

  The paramedics couldn’t tell us anything, just that her vitals were low and they had to take her in. I knew Miranda wouldn’t be able to drive, and thankfully Conner came rushing into the house. He looked at me and I looked at him, knowing he’d be strong enough to get us there.

  I didn’t fight my wife when she wanted to ride with Izzy. It was the best place for her, since I had to get myself calmed down enough to be able to stay strong.

  It was all happening so fast, as if it were a terrible dream.

  More than anything, I wished it was. I wished that my beautiful little girl wasn’t being carted off to the hospital, clinging to life.

  There was no time to explain what had happened, because the paramedics were loading her up. Miranda grabbed her purse and ran out to go with them. My mother had both boys by the shoulder. She nodded when I looked to her to make sure she was okay to watch them. “Just go, Ty. Bring our sweet girl home, you hear me?”

  The bond that she shared with Izzy was so special. It didn’t matter that she wasn’t my biological daughter. To me, she was. I was the first person to see her pretty little face being born, and from that day on, everything changed.

  Conner and I ran towards his truck and jumped in, following the ambulance closer than the law allowed. I didn’t give a shit about being yelled at, or him getting a ticket. My daughter’s life was on the line and nothing was more important than that.

  The long ride did little for my worrying, thinking the worst as we drove, and had no idea what was happening in the vehicle in front of us.

  “What happened?”

  I shook my head and looked out the window. “I don’t know. The boys came in and said she wouldn’t wake up. I found her in bed, burning up. We tried to bring down the fever, but she still wasn’t responsive, not the way she should have been. Did you see her skin? It was all red and she was hot as Hell.”

  “Was she sick last night?” I couldn’t look at Conner as he was talking. It was too hard to keep my composure when my emotions were going awry. I needed to be holding her hand and letting her know that her daddy wasn’t going to leave her side.

  When we pulled into the hospital, I jumped out and was inside before the ambulance had unloaded. The triage nurse wouldn’t let me into the back until they had checked in Iz. I knew Miranda was with her, but not knowing what was going on was gut-wrenching.

  I waited, impatiently, bitching the whole time, in hopes that they would let me through to keep the peace. Finally, after Conner had parked and come inside, they allowed me back to her room.

  Miranda looked like she’d been crying the whole time, while nurses were taking new vitals and preparing Iz for an I.V.

  “What do we know?”

  Miranda shook her head and I pulled her into my arms, kissing the top of her head. “I don’t know. I guess they have to do tests. She’s never been sick like this. Somethin’s really wrong, Ty,” she whispered.

  I held her tight and watched the nurses working on our daughter. Izzy remained unresponsive to questions. Her eyes were barely able to open and the redness, even after a freezing bath, hadn’t gone away. The monitor displayed that her fever was one hundred and five.

  A doctor came in right away. He talked to the nurses and did a thorough examination of our daughter. He ordered a bunch of tests and then started up on the questions.

  Was she allergic to anything?

  Did she have a history of high fevers?

  Had we traveled out of the country?

  How long were the symptoms apparent?

  Is anyone else suffering from the same symptoms?

  The list went on and on, and when he was done we had nothing to go on.

  Upon changing her clothes, we all looked in shock when they lifted her to pull on her gown. Her back was covered in ticks, at least twenty of them, protruding from her skin, swollen, with bulls-eyes around each one.

  The nurse got the doctor tools and they stripped Izzy down, starting on her back and removing them one at a time. They started to pump her with medication to bring down the fever.

  After a good hour, they’d removed seventy-two ticks off of our daughter in total. They’d found so many more than what was on her back. She was eleven and didn’t need supervision in the bathtub. The child was starting to develop and wanted privacy. She’d never mentioned ticks to us, but a few marks were apparent on her stomach, showing us that she’d removed some herself.

  They found some under her arms, in her ears and even in her private parts. The child had been covered in them.

  Due to their sudden discovery, they started treatment with antibiotics for Lyme’s disease. Within a few hours, her fever had come down and she was starting to be able to talk more.

  Because it was so soon, the doctor doubted that the test would show up positive for Lyme’s, but he assured us that it was definitely the culprit.

  We stayed there with our daughter, reminding her that everything was going to be okay.

  By nightfall we were sure the treatment was working and that our daughter was going to be coming home and back to her normal spunky self in no time. We were confident and trusted the doctor with her life, because that is what we are taught to do. Putting the faith in a caretaker is what reassures us and allows us to be supportive.

  Unfortunately, after two days, Izzy’s symptoms continued to show up. Her fever would come back and they would fight it. Her skin would get red and she’d become lethargic and unresponsive again.

  When the doctor called in resources we realized we were dealing with something more serious. Our daughter didn’t have Lyme’s disease, and whatever it was, it was slowly killing her.

  Chapter 2

  Miranda

  I swore it had to be a nightmare. There was no way that this could be happening to our healthy little girl. She hadn’t acted sick, or anything that would have led to this outcome.

  A mother’s biggest fear is losing one of her children. From the very moment when you discover something is wrong, all you want to do is take whatever they’re suffering from away. You begin to pray, to plead silently in your mind, to whoever will listen.

  Having Bella changed my life. She’d made me want to be a better person, a mother, and even a wife.

  When panic sets in, you almost lose awareness of anything else that could be going on. I knew the boys were somewhere around, but I didn’t remember seeing them. All I was focused on was my daughter, lying in that freezing cold tub, with red skin. She was so still and unresponsive. The more we tried to get her to speak, the more worried we became when it didn’t happen.

  I knew I was shaking, imagining the thought of this being so serious. With three kids, we were always passing colds back and forth to one another. That was nothing new. This, however, was different. This was like nothing I’d ever seen before.

>   In a matter of hours our bubbly daughter had become so ill. She needed to get to a hospital and I feared that her life depended on it.

  Normally, when I saw Ty’s mom just storming in the house I’d get a little irritated. She had a habit of doing that.

  Except when I saw her running in with that frightened look across her face, I knew she was going through the same emotions that I was. That motherly instinct was there and all she knew how to do was protect the people that she loved.

  She’d seen the paramedics pulling up and probably heard the sirens. I can’t imagine what she must have thought was going on.

  I watched the men swiftly grabbing her and putting her on the stretcher to carry her out to the ambulance. Ty was there, watching in disbelief, like someone had stabbed him in the heart.

  I wanted to run to him; to cry against his chest and hold onto hope through the comfort of being close to him, but I couldn’t. I had to stay close to Bella.

  Before I knew it, we were pulling away from the farm. I watched out of the tiny glass doors as the dirt road got smaller and further away.

  My brother’s truck appeared, and I knew he’d grabbed Ty and was following us to the hospital. With the paramedics still taking her vitals, I leaned over and whispered in her ear, “Momma’s here, Bella. You’re goin’ to be okay, sweetie. Just rest.”

  I didn’t want her to rest, in fear that she wasn’t going to wake up. I know it was horrible to think that, but to look at her, to see her so unresponsive, I couldn’t bring myself to accept that she was going to be fine. I knew whatever was happening was serious.

  The paramedic turned to me and smiled as he listened to her pulse. When he removed his fingers and jotted down her results, I sat there, waiting for some sign of hope. “Do you have any idea what’s happenin’ to her?”

  “No, ma’am. I’ve seen children with fevers react differently. Does she suffer from any other kind of illness? Is anyone in your family sick?”

  I shook my head. “No. I’ve never seen this in my life.”