by J. M. Madden
Garrett grinned. “No kid I know has been able to deny Taco’s charm.”
He reached for the two bags sitting beside him. “Your mama was a little put out you didn’t come back for these yesterday. There’s kids clothes and some she found of your sister’s for Lora. She said she didn’t expect them back. And here’s a couple pairs of boots.”
Chad took the plastic shopping bags and boots in one hand. “Okay. Tell her I’m sorry and thank you. I did forget to go back to the house.” He shrugged.
“Well, now that you’re feeling guilty, I’m supposed to invite you to dinner. Tomorrow night. Cheyenne’s coming with her crew.”
Wincing at the thought of the noise level in the house, he pursed his lips. “I’ll see what Lora says but don’t be surprised if it’s a no.”
Garrett nodded. “I told her the same thing but I can only get so much through to your mama, you know that. Think about it and let me know.”
Turning the ignition, his dad shifted the truck into gear and rattled down the drive.
Chad stared after the retreating vehicle until Flynn stepped beside him. “You look just like your dad.”
“Yeah, I get that a lot. If you get a chance to meet my brother, we look even more alike.”
Flynn snorted and walked away. Chad stared after him for a minute, wondering what Flynn’s point had been.
He walked the bags into the house. Lora stood at the sink, washing dishes. The ace bandage that had been wrapped around her arm was in a pile on the table.
“I don’t know if you should be using that arm yet. We can do the dishes.”
She glanced at him over her shoulder. “The hot water actually feels good on it.”
“Are you a steaming hot bath kind of person?”
Chad could have happily bitten his tongue off right then, but the words were out. Lora narrowed her eyes at him before giving a single nod. “I am. I love to soak in a hot bath after Mercy goes to sleep. It’s my treat after a long day.”
Chad filed that away. She would love the bathhouse then. He held the bags up. “My mom gathered some clothes up for Mercy. Just jeans and stuff that she can play and get dirty in. I think there might be some stuff in there for you, too. And boots.”
She dried her hands on a dishtowel hanging from the cupboard and turned for the bags. “She didn’t have to do that. I’ll give them back when we leave.”
“I don’t think she’s worried about it. My nieces and nephews are mostly bigger than Mercy so they’re not really needed.”
She struggled with the knot at the top of the bags and he could tell her sprain was bothering her. “Why don’t you let me rewrap that wrist? It’s only been a couple days since you hurt it.”
“Since Derek hurt it, you mean.”
He frowned at the bitterness he heard in her voice. “Yes.”
She settled into the chair, sighing. “Sorry I growled.”
He grabbed the pile of bandage and located the end, letting the rest hang and unravel. “You’re fine. I’d growl too if I were in your position. I’m glad you realize it’s not your fault. A lot of women that go through the abuse you did would believe it was their responsibility.”
She shook her head, sending her blond hair swaying. “No, I knew it wasn’t my fault pretty early. Although Rosalind has done her best to bury me under guilt. None of this was Derek’s fault, she said. It all came down on my head.”
Chad positioned another chair in front of her and motioned for her hand. “Well, I understand a mother supporting her child but that goes beyond normal. I wonder if she was brought up in the same kind of environment, or if Derek’s father did the same thing to her.”
Lora sighed. “I think she was. Just by some of the things they’ve said, I don’t think Derek’s father was much of a peach either. He died years ago, before I came on the scene. And that makes me feel sorry for her. But as soon as I hint at understanding, she swoops in for the kill.”
“That’s how predators are.”
Chad wrapped her wrist and fastened it with the Velcro end. He wanted to hold her soft hand for a few more seconds, but that would probably make her uncomfortable.
“Thanks, Chad.”
He forced a grin. “No problem.” He held out a piece of candy. “For being such a good patient.”
She looked at him askance, as if she didn’t know what to think. But she eventually smiled and took the piece. “Only because it’s a Starlight spearmint.”
Chuckling, he unwrapped his own piece.
“Is that a bottomless pocket or what?”
He wiggled his brows at her and leaned forward. “Maybe. Would you like to feel?”
She cocked her head as if considering. “I better not. My daughter is pretty quiet. I should see what she’s into.”
Gathering up the bags, she started down the hallway.
“Hey.”
She turned back to him.
“My mother wants us to come down for dinner tomorrow night. No answer right now, but maybe you can think about it? My sister Cheyenne will be there and her critters. Might be fun for Mercy.”
She nodded and slipped away.
Chad dried the dishes and put them back in the cupboards.
Rachel came into the kitchen, hair pulled back into her usual ponytail. “Did I hear a truck?”
“My dad stopped in for a minute. Hey, you up for a trek into town?”
Rachel nodded. “Of course.”
“Cool.” He grabbed the list Lora had made from the counter. “I need you to go to the grocery store.”
Her golden brown eyes widened and she looked a little worried. “Uh, okay. I can do that. Yes, sir.”
Chad almost grinned at her bewildered expression. He pulled a credit card from his wallet and handed it to her. “If you have problems using it have them call me.”
She nodded and folded the card and list, slipping it into her jeans pocket. “Can do.”
“Also, check out that drug store. Maybe you can pick up a few things Mercy can play with.”
Rachel nodded. “Of course. Anything else?”
Chad thought for a moment, but nothing occurred to him just then. “Keep your phone handy and try not to talk to a lot of people.” He crossed the room to the hook beside the front door and retrieved his keys. “No craziness.”
Grinning, Rachel took the keys. “I’ll be good, boss. No worries.”
And she was. Within a few hours she had returned, laden with groceries to fill the cupboards and fridge and enough toys that three six-year-olds would have a tough time playing with them all.
But the happiness on Mercy’s face was worth it. There was TV, if you could get the antennae zeroed in on something. It was kind of a waste of time to mess with, so she had to keep herself occupied. Rachel had also gotten a couple of board games, so they were all eventually roped into playing.
Chad wished he could take a group picture without their knowledge, because nobody at the office would ever believe that Harper had agreed to play a kid’s game. Or even Flynn, for that matter. They were both good men, but unapproachable and brusque at the best of times. When Mercy approached them with her eyes so big and hopeful, her sweet little voice pleading, they hadn’t been able to tell her no. Now they all sat around the kitchen table, taking direction from the girl as they worked around the Candyland board. She seemed to prefer to lean against Harper for some reason though. Maybe it was his gruff voice when he answered her or even just the fact that he was so much bigger than she was that she felt protected. For whatever reason, if there was a spare moment, she stayed with him.
It was the most relaxed he’d ever seen Lora. She was still leery of the men, but maybe the more she was around them, the more at ease she would be. When Mercy swept the board with a play, she even laughed with her, tugging on a hank of her hair.
It was one of the most enjoyable nights he could remember having himself.
When Mercy’s bedtime rolled around, they all seemed reluctant to go to their duties. Her
bright little disposition was a bit contagious. Hell, he’d even seen Harper’s lips tip up in a slight smile. Flynn hadn’t seemed so remote either.
That night he dreamt of ponies and little girls shaking him so that he could hop in and play a game. Death didn’t visit him until almost dawn, but when it did it arrived with a vengeance.
Dodd had just handed him his rifle again. Chad checked it over and went through the motions he knew he had to before the dream would end. They had the same conversation they’d had for years, and when the other man took off at a jog, Chad knew that nothing he said would change what was about to happen.
“Dodd, follow…”
…the footprints.
For seven years he’d never been able to finish that sentence. The pain that roared over him was the same every single time. It obliterated his sight and hearing. Knocked him unconscious for several long minutes.
Vaguely, Chad knew tears were leaking from the corners of his eyes, but the dream would not release him from its grip. He saw Dodd lying on the ground, his clear blue eyes staring at him in surprise. But he never blinked.
Chad fought to rouse, but he’d gone without sleep for too long. Even with the trauma the dreams brought, his body needed the relaxation.
The dream suddenly morphed into the blazing, screaming agony of singed nerve-endings reporting to his brain. Then the amputated foot tried to report in, and it slammed into a severed wall. He’d never felt such ungodly pain. Blinking in the glaring light, he realized he’d been moved to the hospital room and he was coming out of his morphine fog. Blindly, he groped for the pain pump beside him, but he couldn’t find it. When he cried out for help, nobody answered his call. He was left writhing with no relief from the agony.
A cool hand pressed to his brow, surprising him into stillness. Chad was afraid to move because he didn’t want the pain to come back. The hand brushed his short hair up away from his forehead, then settled back, the thumb stroking his eyebrows.
When he blinked his eyes open, he found Lora leaned over him, her hand the cool relief he felt on his head. As soon as he blinked up at her, she pulled away, folding her arms across her chest. There was just enough light in the room from the coming dawn that he could see the fear in her eyes.
“I called out your name, but you didn’t answer. I thought there was something wrong.”
Chad scrubbed his hands over his face, hoping she hadn’t seen the tears at his temples. It was embarrassing enough crying out in his sleep loud enough to rouse her. “I’m sorry I woke you.” He cleared his tight throat.
She shrugged her hunched shoulders. “I wasn’t actually asleep. Are you okay?”
He nodded his head and sat up, only then realizing the sheet was torqued around his hips. His legs were covered, though, which was an incredible relief. As off-balance as he was right then, he didn’t think he could take the horror he would see in her eyes if his legs were exposed. “I have…dreams.”
Dreams. Such a weak word for the terrors that haunted him.
He kicked his legs over the side and grabbed his discarded t-shirt, stretching it over his head. When he looked at Lora again, she was just dragging her eyes away from his chest.
Chad paused, shocked that she would even be interested after the show he’d just put on. He tugged the shirt smooth.
When he looked up again, she had disappeared.
Chapter Eight
LORA HURRIED NEXT door to the room she and Mercy shared, more shook than she wanted to be. When she’d heard the sound next door, she hadn’t known what it was, but she’d known she had to investigate. Nobody had answered her knock and the rustling inside had continued. When Chad had cried out, she’d pushed the door open and peeked inside.
The tall man thrashed on the bed as if demons were after him. Then he’d writhed as if in incredible pain, reaching out for help. She’d been in that kind of pain before, and nobody had helped her, but she was helpless to deny him comfort. Stepping forward, she’d rested her hand on his brow and crooned to him that everything would be okay. He’d kicked the sheets aside and his amputated left leg had caught her gaze, making her pause. He reached toward it as if it had just been injured. It didn’t look painful now, but the pain that had to have accompanied the injury was surely horrendous. It was no wonder he had dreams like this.
She’d tossed the sheet over his legs just as he stilled beneath her hand. She allowed her thumb to stroke his brow, fascinated at the smoothness of his skin. Her gaze had drifted down to rest on his pectorals. There was a smattering of dark hair across his chest, sweat soaked from the dreams, that led south beneath the rumpled sheet. But there was also a layer of scars down his side, older and not nearly as bad as his hand. She dragged her eyes back to his face. His lids were just fluttering open. She pulled her hand away and folded her arms. But when he sat up, abdominals flexing, she’d been unable to drag her gaze away before she’d been caught staring. Even now, it made her cheeks heat with embarrassment.
Lora rubbed the fingers of her right hand, remembering the feel of his soft skin. The thrill that had shot through her as she’d calmed him had been unlike anything she’d ever felt before.
When she’d been a girl, even into college, she’d dreamt hazy dreams of a man taking care of her simply because he loved her. Derek had nurtured that dream, then squashed it. But there was still the faintest hope that she could have a normal life. Even after the crap that had gone on, Chad made her yearn for things out of her reach.
Shaking her head at her ridiculous fancies, she crossed to her bag and dug out the romance novel she’d thrown in at the last minute. Another ridiculous waste of time, according to Derek, but once he’d been gone, she’d relished buying them.
Besides, they helped while away the hours she couldn’t sleep.
When Mercy woke an hour later, she made her breakfast. Chad came in from the front as she was spooning sausage gravy over bread and his eyes lit with happiness. Lora was struck by the change in him from just a few hours before.
There was a guarded look in his eyes, as if he felt he had exposed too much of himself to her. Lora found she didn’t like him feeling uncomfortable because of her, so she made an effort to be more pleasant than she had been.
“Can I ride Taco again?”
Chad’s gaze flashed up to hers in question and she nodded. “If you promise not to complain when we do some work tonight.”
Mercy scrunched up her little face. “Work?”
“You’re missing school right now. But I brought your reading book.”
Mercy looked a little put out until Chad pushed away from the table and said he was ready to go. Mercy raced to her room for her borrowed jeans and boots and was back within just a few minutes. She grabbed Chad’s damaged hand as they walked out of the house, and didn’t even seem to notice his hesitation.
Lora turned off the burner and covered the gravy so that the other guards could have some breakfast when they came around. Then, slipping on the borrowed boots, she followed after her daughter.
She was brushing Taco as if she were trying to get every speck of dust off his hide. Chad settled the saddle over the old guy and tightened the band around his belly, then put a bit and bridle on.
“I’m going to help you out for a little bit, but I think you’ll be able to control him today.”
Mercy’s movements paused and she looked up at Chad wide-eyed. “Really?”
He nodded and took the brush from her hand, then lifted her to the back of the pony. He strapped the little helmet onto her head. “Hang on now and we’re going to walk to the paddock in the back, okay?”
Mercy nodded and clutched the horn in front of her. Lora followed along behind, as excited as her daughter.
Chad let all three of them into the wood plank paddock in the back. The other horses were still in the stalls so it was empty. The paddock itself only stretched about fifty feet long and about twenty-five feet wide, not very big, but definitely big enough for a little girl and a pony.
>
Lora fastened the chain on the gate behind them and leaned against the rails, but Chad waved her over. “If you’re going to be riding, it won’t hurt you to know this either.”
He went over the steps for making the horse go and stop, and how to turn him left and right. It seemed fairly simple to Lora and Mercy seemed ready as well. Finally, they were ready to go. Chad walked along beside Mercy as he gave her instructions, but he eventually just stood in the middle of the space while they circled him.
Lora couldn’t believe how confident her child looked. The pony wasn’t very big, but he definitely made her feel taller.
They rode for about ten minutes before Chad walked over to lean against the fence with her. “I think we may have created a monster.”
Lora’s heart stalled in her chest at the affectionate possessiveness as he referred to her daughter and she could only nod.
“As long as you don’t mind, I’ll let her ride every day. It’ll give her a distraction for the time we’re here.”
She nodded again and pulled her sweater tighter around herself. “I would appreciate that. It’s obvious she loves it.”
Mercy completed another circle of the ring and turned the pony to go in the other direction.
“Mercy,” Chad called out. “If you click your tongue and kick him a little with your feet, he’ll move into a trot. Just hang onto the horn and if you feel like you’re sliding, pull back on the reins and tell him whoa!”
She grinned at them as she passed and did exactly as he told her. And almost immediately bounced out of the saddle to the ground.
Chad raced across the ring to help her up, but Mercy only giggled as he brushed her off. Lora knelt beside her, but Mercy didn’t want her attention. “Can I get back on? I’ll hold on better, I promise.”
Chad straightened her helmet, lifted her up onto Taco’s back again and she took off. This time she held on.
They watched Mercy ride for the better part of a half hour before Lora finally suggested they give the old pony a break. “You don’t want to wear him out,” she told her daughter.
Mercy’s eyes widened with alarm. “Oh no, I don’t want to do that.”
