Murky Pond

by T. L. Haddix

  “Ainsley, I didn’t mean to fall asleep yesterday. I’m so sorry. It won’t happen again.”

  The look she sent him was puzzled at first, then she rolled her eyes. “Oh, for crying out loud. Don’t make me chase after you with a rake.” And she walked away shaking her head, clearly done with the subject as she muttered about wringing his stubborn neck.

  Word came from various Campbells and their kin throughout the morning, keeping him apprised of Easton’s condition. By noon, some of the hard knot of worry Warren had been carrying was starting to melt or at least morph into a different kind of concern.

  Easton had gone back into surgery late yesterday evening to repair the orbital socket around his eye, as well as to set the bones in his hand. As it was his dominant hand and the damage was extensive, there was a growing fear within the family that he might not regain use of it, at least not enough to pass the state-police physical.

  That concern was a heavy weight for everyone. Easton, who was on heavy-duty painkillers, was still unaware of the extent of the damage. Given that he’d been set on becoming a state trooper since he was small and he’d geared his entire education toward such, there was a very real worry in the family as to what the news would do to him emotionally.

  “With any luck, the kid will never have to worry about that. His hand will heal up nicely, and he’ll be back on track,” Warren told Rocky as he checked his legs, part of their daily grooming process.

  The horse snorted as if he understood, then lifted his head and gave the quiet horse equivalent of a joyful squeal as Lily walked into the barn.

  “There’s my big guy. Are you getting brushed down?” She grabbed Rocky’s halter and held on as he rubbed his nose over her hair, then dipped his head to nudge her pockets. “What, you think there’s something in there for you?”

  “He’s ever hopeful,” Warren said, sending her a smile. “Want to groom him?”

  She wrinkled her nose and grinned as she held her hand out for the brush. “What do you think?”

  Warren handed it over and stood back, studying her as she worked. “You look better today.”

  “I slept last night, surprisingly. You look fairly well-rested yourself.”

  “I was asleep by nine, and I don’t think I moved until the clock went off.” He glanced over his shoulder at the distant sound of a vehicle coming up the driveway, then walked to the door. “Hey, there’s Cal with the trailer.”

  When he’d awakened his brother after giving Lily the news about Easton’s assault, Caleb had insisted on them leaving the trailer at his place. “You won’t have room for it at the hospital. Go on up, and I’ll bring it up this weekend. We were thinking about driving up for a day anyhow to do some shopping.”

  Warren had protested, but his brother wouldn’t hear any argument, so they’d ended up leaving it.

  He looked back at Lily, not wanting to leave her. It was the first time he’d seen her today, and he wanted to stick around.

  She smiled at him as if reading his mind. “You have a really good family, did I mention that? You’d best go meet them. Rocky and I are fine. I’ll finish up here and then come say hi.”

  Left with no choice if he didn’t want to look silly, Warren went. Ainsley and Ben’s sister Emma had met Caleb and Brooke by the time Warren got to the parking area outside the main barn, and Ben was on his way down from the house.

  “Hey, you,” Brooke said as Warren walked up. “We were just catching up.”

  He hugged her and left his arm around her shoulders as they talked. Ben was perfectly cordial until Lily joined them a few minutes later. As Warren watched, the gleam he’d come to recognize as pure Campbell mischief flashed in the other man’s eyes, and Warren gave an internal groan, sending up a fervent wish to anyone listening that whatever Ben was going to say didn’t put Warren in the doghouse with Lily.

  “Caleb, is it as hard to get good help down your way these days as it is here?”

  “Well, it can be difficult,” Caleb said, taking the question seriously. He looked at Warren. “I didn’t know you were having problems finding workers.”

  “We aren’t.” Warren crossed his arms and covered his mouth with his hand, watching with glee as Ainsley narrowed her eyes at Ben.

  “Oh, but we are,” Ben argued. “We have this girl that just started not even a couple of weeks ago, and do you know, I found her sleeping on the job yesterday? With a man,” he said in a low voice. “And my elderly father was with me at the time. Why, the shock could have given him a heart attack.”

  “Ben Campbell!” Ainsley scolded, lightly smacking his arm. “Don’t you even start.”

  “What? I’m not the one who was napping.”

  “Oh come on, that’s not fair.” Lily’s scowl was every bit as impressive as the ones her father could work up when he was aggravated. “And you make it sound like we were naked and lounging about after an orgy when instead we were fully clothed and exhausted on the couch in the office.”

  Shuddering, Ben shook his head and held his hands up to stop her. “Don’t say that kind of thing. I’m liable to have a heart attack.”

  “Never mind what Daddy’s going to say when he hears that you referred to him as elderly,” Emma drawled as Caleb and Brooke chuckled. “He’ll chase you around this farm with a switch.”

  Ben was grinning, but he shook his head. “It’s scandalous, I tell you. Back when we were growing up, something like that happened, a man was liable to get a shotgun and a preacher lined up.”

  “Daddy!” Red-faced, Lily narrowed her eyes. “I—you—ooh!”

  Wrapping her in a bear hug, Ben sighed and rocked her back and forth. “Do you know, I’ve been called ‘Daddy’ more in the last few days than I’ve been in years? At least since she was ten and decided she was too old to call me that. It’s how I know I’m in trouble.” He winked at Warren.

  Caleb and Brooke were laughing outright as Warren shook his head. “I went in to check on her, sat down for two minutes, and I was out.”

  “Yes, and he apologized all over himself this morning,” Ainsley said, pinching Ben’s ribs. “Even though he’s perfectly aware he has nothing to be sorry for.” She turned to Brooke and Caleb. “Will you two stay for lunch? Everyone would love to see you, and it’s the least we can do for having you bring the trailer back.”

  Brooke inclined her head. “We’d love to. Thank you.”

  As they went inside, Warren watched Lily. She was still giving Ben the stink-eye from time to time, and he grinned, knowing that sooner or later, she’d find a way to pay her father back for what he’d done. The payback would probably be diabolical, and it almost certainly would be worthy of popcorn.

  The entire family tended to play jokes on each other, and it made them fun—and dangerous—to be around. He thought a lot of the Campbells and their kin, and he’d be lost without them. Warren exhaled lightly as he thought about the phone call he’d taken not long before Caleb and Brooke had arrived. The man who was trying to lure him to Arizona, Duke Leonard, was pressing for an answer.

  Warren didn’t blame him; he’d meant to call Monday to let the man know he’d made his decision. Duke had simply saved him the trouble of picking up the phone.

  One way or another, the choice had been made. Time would be the judge of whether or not Warren’s decision was a sound one. He hoped he could live with whatever the results ended up being, and God help him if he’d chosen wrong.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Lily was ready to strangle her father and throw him in the pool for what he’d said in front of Warren’s brother and sister-in-law. She was going to have to have a talk with her mother if he kept up his little sallies because the zings he was getting in were setting her nerves on edge. If he ended up scaring Warren off, she didn’t know what she’d do.

  They’d just finished eating when Rachel and Lee came in. Lee’s face was
grim and stern, something clearly amiss.

  “They caught the second man,” he said before anyone could ask. “He’s in custody.”

  A heavy pause descended on the room as glances were exchanged and the words sank in.

  Owen sighed. “I guess we can’t get to him where he is.”

  Lips compressed, Lee shook his head once. “He’s being moved to Ashland to the jail so that he’s safe. There’s too much outrage in Hazard right now. And it’s probably for the best because if I could get my hands on him…”

  Lee was a state trooper, stationed at the Hazard post. Though he was Easton’s stepfather and he and Rachel had only been married a couple of years, he was as close to Easton as if he were his father.

  Rachel pressed against his side. “We have to let that go. I don’t want to, but we have to.”

  He touched her face with a gentle hand, but his voice was a hard growl. “I can’t let it go. Excuse me.”

  As he stalked from the room, Rachel looked at Sawyer, Emma’s son-in-law who was a retired state trooper and Lee’s mentor. “Can you go to him?”

  He was already on his feet. “You sit down and get some food.” He stopped briefly to give her a hug, and then he followed Lee.

  “He’ll come around,” Sarah said as Rachel sat beside her. “How’s our boy?”

  A tiny smile lifted the corners of Rachel’s mouth. “John and Zanny are with him now. He’s talking up a storm, and not a bit of it makes sense, thanks to the pain meds he’s on. He did have a request, however.” She looked at Lily. “He wants to see you and Warren.”

  Lily blinked and touched her chest. “Me? And Warren?” She’d been itching to get in to see Easton, but so far, they’d not gotten the all-clear from his doctor for regular visitors.

  Rachel nodded. “He said he has to speak to you, and he wants Warren there to talk some sense into you. Do you mind going down to see him?”

  “Of course not,” Lily said, standing. “I’ll go get cleaned up right now. Warren?”

  “I’ll do the same and pick you up in what, twenty minutes?”

  “Sounds good. Thank you.” She stopped on her way around the table to hug Rachel, who looked fragile in a way Lily had never before seen from her aunt. “You know you don’t have to ask if I’d go to him.”

  Rachel touched her face. “I know, and I appreciate how you’ve been patient until now. I know you’ve been wanting to get to him. Just keep in mind, whatever he says, it’s probably the drugs.”

  Lily pursed her lips. “Oh, boy. That sounds… interesting.”

  To her surprise, Rachel laughed, albeit quietly. “I hope you still think so after you see him.”

  As she got showered and into clean clothes, Lily wondered what in the world Easton could possibly have to talk to her about that he thought Warren should be there for. She thought back to the time they’d spent with Agatha in Europe, and she frowned as she tried to remember whether or not she’d said anything to Easton about Warren.

  “I might have given something away,” she muttered as she got her shoes on and headed for the front of the house.

  While in Europe, she’d been aggravated with Warren on more than one occasion as he’d tried persistently to get in touch with her, her ire driven by her desperate loneliness and the sadness at knowing she’d lost him. It was entirely possible she’d mouthed off and revealed too much. And Easton was very, very intuitive to people’s moods and emotions, almost to the point of having some paranormal abilities.

  She sighed and went down the steps to where Warren was waiting in his truck. “Guess we’ll find out.”

  “Ready for this?” he asked as they drove to town.

  “I hope so.” She knew the extent of Easton’s injuries, and she had an idea of what to expect, but… “I’m scared to death that I’ll take one look at him and break down, and that’ll upset him so much it will hurt him more.”

  “That’s a legitimate concern, but you’ll be fine. I have faith.” The look he sent her was warm. “Any idea what he wants to talk to you about?”

  Lily tucked her hair behind her ear. “Nope. No clue.” She wasn’t about to mention what she suspected. “Sorry to cut into your weekend.”

  “Yeah, I had such big plans too,” he drawled. “I was going to go home and cut the grass, then I was thinking about getting really ambitious and cleaning out the pool.”

  “The pool? Our pool?”

  He slowly shook his head. “My pool. I splurged. It’s huge. The clear spot in the side yard beside the bedroom? It wasn’t good for growing anything, and it’s surrounded by trees with one sunny spot in the middle so… pool. Come check it out if you’re curious.”

  Oh, she was curious, all right. She was so intrigued that if they’d not been going to Easton, she’d insist Warren turn around and take her there. Okay, she’d consider it, she told herself. She was too big of a chicken to ask him to take her to his house.

  “I might do that someday,” she told him, throwing in a saucy wink with her grin to keep things light. But inside, she couldn’t help but wonder if she ever did show up, if she’d have the courage to strip down and dive in. She also couldn’t get the picture of Warren skinny-dipping in the moonlight on a steamy, humid summer night out of her head, and she gave an inward sigh as she cursed the man for putting it there.

  Forty minutes later, all thoughts of Warren and the pool had fled. Sitting beside Easton on the bed, she knew her mouth was open with shock, but she couldn’t believe what she’d heard.

  “Sweetie, I’m sorry, but can you repeat that?”

  Easton, bruised and battered but in much more cheerful spirits than she’d expected, sighed. “I said we need to talk about your baby.”

  John, their uncle, was smiling with amusement. “Lily Jane Campbell, tsk tsk. Easton told us what you did.”

  “I don’t… what did I do?” She glanced at Warren, who was watching them with bemusement. “Preacher?”

  Easton held up his left hand, index finger pointing. “That’s me.”

  “Um, yes, it’s your nickname,” Lily said patiently. “But what’s this about a baby? And why is Warren here again?”

  “To talk some sense into you. He’s the only one who can. You had a baby and you gave it away, and you need to go get it back. Warren, make her go get it back. It’s in Italy. She knows where.”

  Stunned, Lily stared at Easton, then at Warren. “A baby?” she squeaked.

  “You gave our child away?” Warren asked with a grin, then whistled low. “Lily, I expected better of you.”

  “Ohhhhhh, wow,” Easton said, his voice hushed, his words slow, as he stared at Warren with his good eye. “It was your baby? I knew something was going on. Lily, you did that to Warren? For shame.”

  Unsure of how in the world to react, much less proceed, she searched for words. She finally settled on saying, “Easton, I’ve never been pregnant, much less had a baby.”

  He blew out a long, long breath. “That’s wrong, Lil. You were pregnant forever and a day. We were in Italy, in that city with all the water? And we had to stay there for months and months and months. I hate boats, did you know?” he asked Warren. “All that wobbling and bobbing makes me puke.”

  John was openly laughing at them, albeit quietly. “What did she do with the baby, Easton? Tell her, and maybe she’ll remember.”

  Easton nodded even as he winced. “That nodding hurts my head. Don’t do it. She gave it to a farmer and his wife,” he said to Warren, apparently giving up on talking to Lily for the time being. “She traded it for a chicken.”

  Lily closed her eyes and pressed her fingers against the spot between her eyebrows. “If I thought you knew what you were saying, I’d have to add a lump or two to your bumps.”

  The sweet smile she adored in Easton spread across his face, although it was a bit ragged thanks to his injuries. “You wou
ldn’t do that to me.”

  She touched his uninjured hand. “No, I wouldn’t.”

  Warren cleared his throat. “So she traded a baby—our baby—for a chicken? I just want to make sure I understand.”

  Easton saluted him. “She did. It was a scrawny chicken too. Made more noise than the kid.”

  “Oh, for the love of… what did we do with this chicken?” Lily shook her head, feeling as if she might cry if she let herself laugh.

  Affronted, Easton stared at her like he thought she had two heads. “We ate it! What do you think we did? It wasn’t even that good.”

  The pronouncement was too much for Warren, who let out a snort and then a long laugh. “Oh, dear God. You ate the chicken. How are we supposed to get our baby back now?” He couldn’t stand up straight for laughing, and he sank down to his haunches, holding on to the side of the bed as amusement won out.

  “Easton Michael Boyd, I adore you.” Lily stared at him, her lips quivering. “So you think I need to go back and get the baby?”

  He patted her on the head, his movements somewhat clumsy. “Good girl. Yes. Warren will go with you to make sure you get the right kid. It’s probably walking around by now and stuff. The farmer and his wife were nice, but they’re not Campbells, Lily. That baby needs a Campbell. What if it’s… special?” He lowered his voice to a whisper on the last word.

  Warren finally straightened, wiping his eyes as he grinned at Easton. “I promise you, we’ll go get the baby. You have my word.”

  Easton sat back with a sigh, all his energy seeming to drain away. “Good. I can stop worrying now. I know you wouldn’t lie to me.”

  They stayed for a few more minutes, but it was clear Easton was ready for sleep. John got up to walk them out, his face somber.

  “He’s been worrying about the damned chicken and the baby since they got his pain meds mostly straightened out this morning,” he told them in the hall. “Everyone in the family who’s been in and even a couple of the nurses got to hear the sad story. I’m sorry I laughed so hard. There’s a lot of stress on us all right now. I hope you weren’t offended.”