by Connie Mann
Buzz came out to stand beside him, spit off to the side. “Surprised your mama let that woman stay the night under her roof.”
Why was it that every time the man opened his mouth these days, Cole wanted to punch it closed? “She took ill, was in no condition to drive.”
“Her own fault she ate too many berries. Dang fool woman.”
And how did Buzz know that, exactly? Cole clenched his teeth. He wasn’t convinced it was the berries, but he wasn’t getting into that with Buzz, either. “Need you to give Leon Daughtry a hand with the tractor today. It’s running rough, and he’s coming by to take a look.”
Buzz spit again, looked him in the eye. “I have other things to do today.”
Cole straightened and sighed inwardly. Buzz had made snide remarks and argued since the day Cole had come home. It had only been a matter of time before the hostility came to a head. Apparently, today was that day. Cole pushed his Stetson farther back on his head and met the other man’s look head-on. “I am obviously not my father, a fact you remind me of often enough. But Ma asked me to run the place, like it or not. You can do what I ask, or you can pack your things. Your choice.”
Cole kept his gaze steady. Finally Buzz gave a short nod and walked away. “Hank is probably spinning in his grave, the way you’re running this place into the ground.”
Cole let him go and shook his head. Did Buzz know Hank had mortgaged the place to the hilt and borrowed from Blackwell to pay for his medical procedures—after he’d cancelled his health insurance? No way was he explaining a single word of that to Buzz. His father’s best friend might have a heart of gold, at least according to Cole’s mother, but right now he was nothing but a huge pain in Cole’s backside.
Cole heard the tractor fire up and turned to go. One battle won today. Only ninety-nine more to go.
Eve rushed into the ICU waiting area, determined to find Celia and apologize. Given how alone Celia seemed, Eve figured the young woman had been abandoned by enough people in her life. Eve didn’t intend to be another. She scanned the room, but it was empty. She walked to the nurses’ station and asked about Celia.
“She went with the baby to her room.”
“You mean Glory is out of the ICU?”
“They moved her to room 126.”
“Oh, thank you so much.” Eve hurried down the winding corridors, finally arriving at the right room. She tapped lightly on the door and poked her head in. “Celia?”
The young mother jerked awake from where she’d been sleeping in a chair beside her daughter’s crib. “Go away.”
Eve tiptoed into the room and took a moment to glance at Glory. She looked so tiny in the big crib, but her skin was definitely less blue. She breathed a quiet prayer of thanks and turned to Glory’s angry mother. “Please, Celia, let me explain, OK?”
Celia studied her and finally gave one jerky nod.
“I didn’t blow you off, truly. I was standing by my car when you called, and before I could get in, my stomach cramped up like it’s never done in my life, and I spent the rest of the night fighting all kinds of intestinal ugliness.”
Celia jumped up. “Then why are you bringing your germs here? Go, get out. Now!”
Eve’s heart dropped to her stomach. Oh, sweet Jesus, she hadn’t even thought about being contagious. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. Please, step outside and tell me what you were going to last night.”
Instead of answering, Celia made frantic flapping motions with her hands. Eve understood and slipped out of the room. She stood in the hallway, her head against the concrete blocks, and silently berated her own stupidity. How could she have been so focused on explaining herself that she’d not given a single thought to Glory’s health and what horror she could inadvertently be bringing her? A silent tear slipped down her cheek, and she angrily swiped it away. Please God, don’t let me have made this sweet baby even more sick.
Eve wasn’t sure how long she stood there, beating herself up, before the door to Glory’s room eased open and Celia slipped out.
Her hair was tangled and matted, and her clothes looked like she’d been wearing them for days.
“I’m sorry—” Eve began, but Celia just shook her head.
“You were sick. Fine. Whatever. But if you made Glory worse . . .” Her voice was thick with tears, but she swallowed hard and her expression darkened. “You say you want to help people, but you need to think before you do stupid stuff.”
Eve wanted to defend herself, but she couldn’t. Celia was absolutely right. “What did you want to tell me yesterday, Celia?”
Desperation filled the young mother’s eyes. “Dr. Stern said my well tested just fine. But then they did a test on Glory and found nitrates in her system.”
Eve’s mind raced with possibilities. If the well water tested in the acceptable range, the nitrates had to come from somewhere else. “Since they ruled out a heart issue as the cause of her blue baby syndrome, I would expect them to find nitrates in little Glory’s system. Too many nitrates can cause it, especially since little ones can’t process them like adults.”
“Yes, but then this lady from the department of children and families showed up and started asking all these questions, like she thought I somehow made Glory sick on purpose.” Her voice rose. “What kind of crazy person would do that? How can they think I hurt my baby?” She burst into tears, and Eve wanted to pull her close, but decided she’d better not, just in case she really was contagious. Instead, she rubbed Celia’s back while she cried.
After a few minutes, Celia pulled back and wiped her eyes.
“I don’t believe for a second that you tried to hurt your baby, Celia. No way. But it’s possible you gave her something contaminated without knowing it. You feed her formula, right? Nothing else?”
“Yes, I tried to nurse her for a while, but then I ran out of milk. But I’d never hurt her.”
Eve wrote down the name of the formula Celia had been using, but before she could ask more questions, Celia looked up and down the hallway, as though making sure they were alone. She leaned closer and said, “I don’t know if it matters, and maybe he has a really good reason and maybe not, but I’ve seen Buzz Casey riding a horse from Sutton’s Ranch out past our place and over by Blackwell Farms, lots of times. He’s always alone, and it’s always really late at night when he goes by.”
“Do you think he did something to your well? Did you see him do anything?”
“I don’t know if he did or not. But one time, I saw him riding up and then he disappeared for a while before I saw him again. He could have easily come onto our property and done something.”
“You were up late with Glory?”
“Yeah, babies don’t sleep too much at night.”
Eve smiled. “Thank you for telling me this. I’ll see what I can find out.” She paused. “Would you like me to stop by your place and pick up some clothes, or food, or anything for you?”
“No thanks. I’m good.”
“I’m glad Glory is out of the ICU.”
“Me, too.”
Eve’s phone buzzed. “Excuse me.” She waited until Celia went back inside the room before she answered. “Hey, Sasha, what’s up?” As she spoke, she started walking back toward the entrance to the hospital.
“Where did you spend the night?”
The blunt question raised all of Eve’s hackles. “I’m sorry. Since when do I answer to you?”
Sasha sighed. “We went over this the other night, Eve. We stick together until we figure out what’s going on. So where were you? We were all worried sick. I lost track of the number of times I tried to call you.”
Eve grimaced. She hadn’t even glanced at her missed calls this morning; all her focus had been trained on Cole. And Celia. “Sorry. I really wasn’t trying to worry anyone. I was out at Sutton Ranch and came down with the worst food poisoning I’ve ever had in my life. I couldn’t go anywhere. I ended up sleeping in a guest room.”
Sasha hesitated, and Eve knew she was fi
ghting the urge to lecture. Instead, Sasha asked, “Are you feeling better now?”
“Much. I stopped by the hospital, but I’m thinking that was a mistake. If this is somehow the flu and not food poisoning, I don’t want to risk anyone getting it, especially Mama. Or baby Glory.”
“How is little Glory?”
“She’s out of the ICU, and her color is starting to get better, so that’s a relief. How is Mama?”
“She’s holding her own. Her color is getting better, too, and the infection around the port is starting to clear up. Hopefully, she’ll be able to go home soon. Pop is with her.”
“Is Blaze OK?”
“As far as I know. Why? What’s going on?”
“Do you know this boy who picks her up for school?”
“Boy? What boy?”
Eve sighed. “I’ll take that as a no.”
“I thought you were taking her to school.”
“Nope. She says she has a ride.”
“Not liking this. Jesse and I will check on it.”
“I’ll see what I can find out, too.”
“So, do you want to go for a boat ride tomorrow evening? I thought maybe you could invite Cole, too.”
“I don’t want you playing matchmaker, Sash.”
“Who said anything about that? It’s just that he’s part of this investigation, right, and we don’t really know him at all.”
“You don’t fib any better than I do, sis.”
Sasha sighed. “Right. So, truth. Yes, we do want to get to know him, know if he’s good people or not. And you could use a man in your life.”
“I’m only here for a little while, Sasha. I don’t have time for a relationship.”
“Who said anything about a relationship? I’m thinking mild flirtation, maybe a few dates, that kind of thing. You need to get out more, Eve.”
“I do get out. All the time. My calendar is always booked.”
Sasha snorted. “Picketing some poor farmer or business is not what I’m talking about.”
“Hey, shared interests and all that. Don’t knock it.”
“So how about it? Boating tomorrow night? You’ll invite Cole?”
Eve thought it over. She didn’t have the same love for the water that Sasha and Jesse did, but a ride out in the evening sounded lovely. She hadn’t done that in too many years to think about. “You’ll invite Blaze, too? We can find out more about her mystery man.”
“I’ll take care of it. Are you coming home?”
“Heading that way. Be there soon.”
The whole way back to the marina, her thoughts drifted to Cole and the way he stroked and murmured to the animals in his care. She shook her head. Obviously Sasha had a point. She clearly needed to get out more.
Chapter 13
When Eve got home, she stopped by the bait shop to say hello to Sasha and Jesse, let them see that she was in fact fine. Bella came up and pranced in greeting, so she spent a few minutes giving her some love, too.
Jesse looked up after ringing up Safe Harbor Marina mugs for a family of tourists. Eve wandered over, picked one up. “These are new. They look great.”
“Blaze’s idea,” Sasha said. “She designed them in one of her classes, too.”
Eve looked from Sasha to Jesse. “I’m impressed.”
“You don’t look too bad,” Jesse commented.
“Stop, you’ll make my head swell with your compliments.”
He grinned and wrapped an arm around Sasha when she slipped in next to him. “Glad you’re OK. Any idea what caused it?”
“Either something I ate—which could possibly be too many blueberries—or I had the twenty-four-hour stomach flu.” Since she was trying to stop making premature accusations, she didn’t mention the possibility of contamination, since Cole was still checking on that.
“Who had blueberries?”
“Cole showed me his vegetable fields, too. They’re growing enough to sell to some local restaurants.”
Jesse nodded. “Smart to diversify and add some cash crops besides just the cattle.”
“What’s his mother like? She still lives on the ranch, right?”
“She’s lovely, and was very welcoming having a stranger show up on her doorstep and end up staying overnight.”
Jesse nodded, and Eve raised an eyebrow. “The captains have anything to say about Alice?”
Jesse rubbed a hand over his face, expression serious. “They say Hank was a harsh man and that she seemed to fade into the background behind him. Whether there was more to it than that, no one has said.”
“She said Cole has had a hard life, and he needs me on his side.” The words slipped out, and Eve instantly wanted to call them back.
Sasha leaned against the counter, crossed her arms, and grinned. “Interesting. And why did she say that, exactly?”
Eve couldn’t meet her eyes. Anything else she said would be taken all wrong. And besides, she wasn’t ready to talk about Cole and the strange feelings he stirred up in her. They were too new, too unsettling.
She shrugged and headed back to the house, her mind jumping from Cole to baby Glory and back again. While she tried to think, she fixed sandwiches and brought them back to the bait shop for Sasha and Jesse. She spent the next few hours organizing inventory, her mind still spinning. She was staring off into space when the screen door banged open and made her jump. Blaze clomped inside in her black boots. Bella woofed a greeting and got petted and rubbed behind the ears.
“Heard you spent the night with Cole Sutton.”
“Actually, I spent the night at the Sutton ranch. And where did you hear that?”
Blaze looked from Eve to Sasha to Jesse. “Isn’t that what I just said? Kids at school were talking about it. Someone saw your car parked there all night.”
Eve rolled her eyes. “Gotta love the Safe Harbor grapevine. Actually, I either ate too many blueberries or had the twenty-four-hour flu, and I was too sick to drive home.”
“You sure someone didn’t poison the berries?”
Eve froze at the blunt question. She had to remember Blaze was frighteningly smart. “Cole’s looking into every possibility.” She kept her eyes on Blaze and ignored Sasha’s start of surprise.
Blaze nodded. “I’d be looking for poison. Just saying.” She grabbed a pack of chips off the counter and headed for the door. “I have homework. Are you making supper tonight, Eve?”
“Sure. I’ll be up in a little while to figure out our options.”
Blaze stopped, one hand on the screen door. “How’s Mama Rosa today? Is Pop with her?”
Sasha smiled. “She’s getting stronger every day. She’s not dehydrated anymore and the infection is clearing up, so things are looking up. She’ll be home soon.”
Blaze rolled her eyes. “When will you stop treating me like I’m five, already?”
The door banged shut and Sasha grimaced. “I so want her to be able to be a kid, to protect her from the hard stuff.”
Jesse put his hands on her shoulders. “I think she’s proven over and over that she’s one smart cookie. We need to give her credit for that, and for being stronger than she looks.”
“She shouldn’t have to be; that’s what I’m saying.”
Eve walked over, gave her sister a hug. “I get it. I want to make it easier for her, too. But she’s more like us than we want to admit: tough and independent and with a big chip on her shoulder.”
“Right. No more babying. Got it.”
“I’ll call the hospital. See you guys in the morning.”
“Don’t forget to ask Cole about tomorrow,” Sasha called after her.
Right. As though she’d be able to think about much else.
After she and Blaze ate a simple spaghetti dinner, Eve left Blaze to clean up while she marched out to the marina. She gathered her courage and dialed Cole’s number.
“Sutton Ranch.” He sounded tired.
“Hi, it’s Eve Jackson.”
“How are you feeling, Eve Jackson?
”
“Much better, thanks. So, um, I was wondering if you were busy tomorrow night? Sasha and Jesse want to go for a boat ride after supper, and they invited you, too.”
The silence went on long enough that Eve wished she’d never said anything. “Never mind, if you’re busy or whatever, it doesn’t matter—”
“I’d love to go. Thanks for the invite. Just give me details.”
She did, and then there was another awkward pause. She had no idea what to say next. When would she stop stammering like an idiot around him?
“I’ll see you tomorrow night, Eve. I’m looking forward to it.”
After he disconnected, Eve stood there with the phone in her hand, grinning like an idiot for way too long. She finally shook her head and dialed the hospital. “Dr. Stern, please.”
“I’m sorry, but Dr. Stern is making rounds. Would you like me to transfer you to his voice mail so you can leave a message?”
After Eve agreed and the call was transferred, she said, “Dr. Stern, this is Eve Jackson. Celia said her well came back with acceptable nitrate levels, but that you found nitrates in Glory’s system. Cole Sutton is having his ranch wells tested, but I’m asking if you’d please have the health department test those at Blackwell Farms, too, because of their proximity to Celia’s cottage. Thank you so much.”
Eve stayed up way too late in her slant-roofed bedroom, hoping Dr. Stern would call her back, but he never did. About ten o’clock, she tried to call Cat, but her sister didn’t answer. Eve still wasn’t sure what was going on in Cat’s life, but all of the possibilities scared her. Had Cat gotten into trouble with drugs? She didn’t even want to think it, but that would explain her gaunt features and nervousness. Of course, that could be from something else, too. Still, the fact that Cat didn’t want anyone to know was the part that really worried her.
She tossed her phone on the bed and used its hot spot to get an Internet signal for her laptop. Maybe she should get Internet installed. Blaze probably needed it for school, and it would be cheaper than a hotspot.
But for tonight, she researched food poisoning and reactions to blueberries, and the latter clearly said that eating too many could result in the runs. So she could rule out a simple blueberry overdose at least.
