by Carol Finch
“Now, then,” Doc Wilson said, easing Nate onto the examination table. “Let’s check your chest first.”
Katy prayed nonstop while the physician examined Nate’s ribs. She thanked the Lord that Nate wasn’t paralyzed, but she asked for no broken ribs.
“Two broken ribs,” the doctor confirmed.
She supposed that particular prayer had come too late.
While the doctor wrapped up Nate’s ribs, Katy stepped from the room so Nate could be de-pantsed. She knew undressing was bound to hurt, what with his leg swelling by the minute. Sure enough, she heard Nate yelp a moment later.
Finally, the doctor wheeled Nate into the hall. “Severe strain,” he told Katy. “I’ve given him pain medication, and it’ll probably make him dopey. He’s going to be extremely uncomfortable for a few days, whether he’s sitting up or lying down. I want him off his feet for the rest of the week.”
“Done,” Katy affirmed.
“I don’t have a week to lie around,” Nate grumbled, jaws clenched against the pain.
“Of course you do,” Doc Wilson assured him. “The tendons and ligaments around your knee need time to heal. I’ll call the pharmacy and tell them you’re on your way over to pick up a prescription and a wheelchair. They won’t close up until you have your medication.”
“Thanks, Doc Wilson,” Katy said gratefully.
The physician stared pensively at Nate. “You say you fell while painting a house?”
“The eighth house in his community goodwill program,” Katy interjected quickly. “Not to mention the donations to the school and library. With our Good Samaritan out of commission, I guess the rest of us will have to take up the slack.”
Doc Wilson’s gray brows shot up, then he glanced speculatively at Nate. “I didn’t realize—”
“Most folks haven’t a clue how much Nate has done for this community,” Katy interrupted. Might as well campaign every chance she got. “Some folks around here are spreading negative gossip about Nate, but I have seen him in action. We need more Nate Channings in this town.”
Doc Wilson pursed his lips and regarded Katy as she eased Nate into the back seat. “You’re looking well, young lady. Glad to see it.”
“Thanks, Doc. I’m happy you noticed. More of the Nate Channing magic at work. He gave me back my misplaced confidence.”
“So I noticed.”
When Katy drove off, Nate shifted on the seat. “Am I running for public office or something? You sounded like a campaign manager singing my praises.”
“Did I?” she said innocently. “I guess I have a tendency to yammer when I’m nervous. Seeing you banged up makes me excessively nervous.”
Katy glanced in the rearview mirror to see that Nate had his eyes closed. There was noticeable tension in the lines bracketing his flattened lips. Apparently, the sample tablets of pain medication the doctor crammed down Nate’s throat had yet to take effect.
Five minutes later, Katy glanced back to check on Nate. He had slumped against the seat, his head lolled back. Good, she hoped he didn’t remember being jarred while she drove. She hoped he slept through the rest of the trip and didn’t feel all the bumps on the gravel road that led to his house.
After Katy picked up the prescription and wheelchair, she headed out of town. Nate didn’t make a peep, just lay there with his arm wedged protectively against his side, his breathing shallow. Katy slid off the seat and hurried to the door to notify Fuzz and Mary Jane. With Fuzz’s assistance, they propped Nate in the wheelchair and rolled him up the sidewalk. His head rolled against his shoulder, his eyelids drooped at half-mast.
He looked like hell, Katy was sorry to say.
“I’ve got his bed turned down,” Mary Jane said while she held open the door. “Maybe I should stay overnight.”
“I’ll be here with him,” Katy insisted. “You’ll have to listen to him grouse and complain about being bedridden all day tomorrow. Might as well start your combat duty in the war zone on a good night’s sleep.”
“This should be loads of fun,” Fuzz said, shaking his head. “The man doesn’t know the meaning of inactivity. I think this might be a good time for me to take a long road trip to California or Florida. Nate is going to be hell to live with until he’s back on his feet.”
“You’d leave him in this condition?” Katy asked as she wheeled Nate into his room.
“Of course not, I was just yakety-yakking.” Fuzz smiled fondly at the invalid. “I’ve gotten pretty attached to this man. Wouldn’t think of bailing out on him after all he’s done for me.”
A true and loyal friend, Katy mused. At least there were several folks around here who cared about Nate.
As soon as she and Fuzz maneuvered Nate into bed, Katy grabbed the phone to check in with Tammy. “Can you manage staying by yourself tonight?” Katy asked. “Normally I wouldn’t leave you home alone, but I need to stay with Nate.”
“I’ll be fine,” Tammy insisted. “I’m sixteen, you know.”
“That’s what worries me. Wild parties, boys ransacking the house, and Lord knows what all,” she teased.
“Right, we’ll party all night, soon as I finish studying for the mid-semester biology test.”
Assured that Tammy had plenty to keep her occupied, Katy called Chad Parker.
“Is Nate going to be okay?” Chad asked without preamble.
“Nothing broken that won’t mend,” Katy reported. “But Nate will be out of commission for at least a week.”
“Jake is taking this badly,” Chad confided quietly. “He’s been sitting here, staring at the wall. He feels responsible. He’s ashamed of his father, but this is the real kicker. Jake really looks up to Nate, ya know?”
“I know, Chad. Put Jake on the phone.”
“’Lo.”
“Jake, Nate is going to be fine after a week of R and R,” Katy announced. “But he asked if you would be in charge of making certain all the jobs at the construction site are completed each evening after the work crews leave.”
“He wants me to be in charge after what my old man did?” His voice cracked.
Katy crossed her fingers and lied. At the moment, Nate didn’t know where he was, but she was certain he would allow Katy to speak for him and ensure that Jake knew Nate didn’t hold the kid responsible. “Yes, he did, Jake,” Katy confirmed. “Nate is confident that you can handle the responsibility. When he’s feeling better, you and the other guys can stop in to see him. I’ll call tomorrow night so you can report on the progress.”
“Tell him that I’m really sorry,” Jake murmured. “I won’t let Nate down, none of us will. Whatever Nate wants done, we’ll do it.”
“He appreciates that, Jake. Now, get to your homework. You know Nate wants to see an improvement in those grades.”
“I’ll do the best I can,” Jake promised.
Katy smiled. “That’s all Nate will ask of anyone. He expects nothing more, but he doesn’t want you to settle for less.”
When Katy contacted Millie Kendrick, the old woman howled in dismay. Clearly, Millie was fond of her nephew, though she delighted in pretending to be a tough old bird. Nate was right about her. Millie was a tenderhearted softy. She insisted on visiting Nate the following day, and Katy promised to drive her out during lunch hour.
Emotionally exhausted, Katy plopped into the chair and stared at Nate’s wan face. He looked as vulnerable as she had ever seen him. She knew Nate hated vulnerability and hid it as best he could as a teenager. Now he was trying to hide the fact that he was disappointed in this stubborn town that refused to accept him.
Folks had written him off as No-Account Nate years earlier and refused to alter an opinion formed years ago. Nate had desperately needed guidance back then, and he desperately needed acceptance now. He offered the kind of encouragement to his young charges that he hadn’t received. He was the positive influence in the boys’ lives, an influence he hadn’t had. Katy knew that Nate was giving the boys what he had needed but never received.
Katy wished with all her heart that Nate would see her as his salvation, his much-needed moral support, because she was compelled to help him however she could.
Tears clouded Katy’s eyes as she impulsively reached over to take Nate’s hand. “Maybe you never tried to be my hero, Nate, but you always were,” she whispered. “You most definitely are now…. Please let me be yours, too.”
Chapter Twelve
Nate groaned drowsily as he drifted to a higher level of consciousness. God, he felt crummy. Somebody had sneaked in to stuff his mouth full of cotton. His skull was pinging like a tuning fork. His vision was blurry, and he was hopelessly disoriented in the surrounding darkness.
Was he in a hospital? He blinked, then squinted to see if light glistened off metal safety bars at the end of the bed. No bars on the bed, he realized. Glancing sideways he recognized the familiar shape of the armoire that held his bedroom television. Home. That was a relief. He didn’t know how he had gotten here. Those drugs that Doc Wilson had stuffed in his mouth were worse than a knockout punch.
Katy must have driven him home and called on Fuzz to lug him into bed. Katy…Nate smiled faintly, remembering how she had charged over from the library like a one-woman cavalry to handle the situation. She had taken command better than a field general during the crisis. She may have all but shriveled up for a few years, but she was back in top form now. When the chips were down, Katy Bates came through, damning torpedoes and sailing full-steam ahead.
Nate wondered if she knew he’d always wanted to be her hero and felt he had never quite measured up. He certainly didn’t now, because he was flat on his back, unable to get up and every square inch of his body hurt like hell.
All Nate had going for him as a kid was his good looks, but his father had a way of screwing that up for him with a few skin-splitting blows. Things hadn’t improved until the old man got hauled off to jail for drug possession, assault and battery, resisting arrest and…Jake couldn’t recall what other charges had been piled on. Whatever they were, his old man had committed them at least once or twice in his life.
Nate tried to shift position and felt as if someone had thrust a dagger into his rib cage. Must be Lester Brown’s voodoo, Nate thought sourly. The old cuss was probably lounging in his recently painted house, sipping suds and poking pins in a doll that had Nate’s name attached to it. Well, phooey on Lester. Nate was going to get better, just to spite the bastard.
The first thing Nate needed to do was wash the cotton from his mouth so he could swallow. He clutched his throbbing ribs and tried to sit up. Excruciating pain forced him back down. The painkillers had worn off and every movement was torture.
“Nate?” Katy’s voice whispered across the dark room. “Are you awake?”
“Either that or I’m dead. I can’t tell which. Why are you here?”
She appeared above him like an angel bending down from heaven. “Because you need me. Where else would I be?”
“I needed you to catch the ladder before it crashed into the tree,” he grumbled.
“Hmm. Are we a little cranky?” she teased softly.
“We really need a drink and some of those pain pills. I’ve decided to be a weakling and take all the pills the doctor will allow.”
“Hurting?” she asked worriedly.
“That’s one way to put it,” Nate grumped.
Katy limped into the bathroom to fill a glass, and Nate cursed under his breath. She had survived a serious car crash that left her in the hospital for surgery and months of physical therapy. He had plowed into a tree and he was whining about it. He was being a big baby, but damn it, he hurt all over, and he had a trillion duties to perform this week. He had never been incapacitated in his life—except for those few days when a lightning bolt nearly fried him to the metal spire of an oil rig in New Mexico. He’d dropped twelve feet to the ground, just in the nick of time.
“Here you go,” Katy said, handing him the glass of water.
“Thanks,” he murmured.
“You’re welcome…Nate? Before you drift off to sleep, I have to tell you something.”
“I hope it isn’t more bad news. I’m not my charming self at the moment.”
“You are always your charming self, even at your worst,” she insisted.
Katy squatted down beside his bed, careful not to jar him and inflict more pain. “I’ve wanted to tell you what I learned the year after you left town sixteen years ago. I’ve tried to find the right moment, but there isn’t one.”
Nate frowned when her thick lashes fluttered down, and she stared at her hands. “So tell me before those pills kick in and I drift into never-never land,” he requested.
She glanced up to meet his gaze. “You were set up that night, Nate. It was my father who paid Sonny Brown to plant drugs in the pocket of your jacket.”
The news stole the breath clean out of his lungs. Nate had never questioned what had happened, just figured Sonny had gotten scared and stuffed his stash of illegal substances in Nate’s pocket before Sheriff Havern pulled them over for an unannounced vehicle safety inspection. Nate had waited for Sonny to speak up, but the kid had let Nate take the rap, and Fuzz Havern had whisked him out of town before Nate could defend himself….
Nate suddenly remembered something Millie Kendrick had said to him the first day he returned to town. She had made a remark he hadn’t understood, and he hadn’t pressed her because he was in a flaming rush to speak to Katy at the library.
What he did to you wasn’t fair, not fair at all. Tried to tell him so, I did. But the old fool wouldn’t listen to me, Millie had told Nate.
Obviously, Millie knew that Dave Bates had framed Nate, all because of his interest in Katy. And Fuzz must have suspected the judge had resorted to underhanded tactics to remove Nate from Katy’s life. Fuzz had implied that he had decided to use an alternative plan of dealing with Nate without sending him in front of the judge. Fuzz knew he couldn’t fight the all-powerful Judge Bates and win, but Fuzz could depend on Bud Thurston to take Nate under his wing. Nate wondered if Fuzz had promised Judge Bates that Nate would have no further communication with Katy. Probably.
That was why Fuzz had insisted that Nate break all ties with his hometown, for fear Judge Bates would find a way to put Nate in prison.
“Nate.” Katy sniffed and swiped at the tears dribbling down her cheeks. “What happened to you was my fault. It was all because of me, Nate. I didn’t learn the truth until I overheard my father talking to Sonny Brown on the back steps late one night a year later. Sonny had been paid to set you up, and then he blackmailed my father to keep silent. But Dad bided his time until Sonny screwed up, then he handed down a stiff sentence.
“If I had known where you were, how to contact you back then—”
Nate pressed his forefinger to her trembling lips to shush her. Emotion tumbled through Nate. Learning of the betrayal, combined with his frustration, the pain caused by his injuries and his futile attempts to win over this town, sent his spirits nose-diving to rock bottom. Why the hell had he even tried to come back? Why had he tried to win the respect of these people? Talk about hopeless causes!
Damn it, he hadn’t wanted to buy respect and friendship in his hometown by announcing that he owned Sunrise Oil and had returned to provide better job opportunities and increased salaries. He had wanted to earn acceptance by making positive contributions to the community. That’s why he kept his donations to the town a secret.
Well, he needn’t have bothered. He was never going to earn credibility here. His arrest sixteen years ago had sealed his fate in the eyes of the folks in Coyote Flats.
The high-and-mighty Judge Bates had seen to it that Nate was labeled as a worthless hoodlum. Damn the man! Because of Dave Bates, Nate had been whisked out of town, and Katy’s life had become a living hell. Nate wasn’t sure he would ever forget what the judge had done to him, but Nate would never, ever forgive the man for what he had done to Katy. If not for that incident Nate would have been ar
ound to protect Katy, even if the judge refused to let the bad boy of Coyote Flats near her.
God, he had been at the mercy of a snobbish, corrupt man who was determined that his will would be done! Nate despised everything Dave Bates stood for, despised him for making it impossible to change the past!
“I guess I have your dear old daddy to thank for my inability to make a new start in my hometown,” Nate said, his voice rumbling with bitterness, anger and pain. “In the eyes of folks here, I’ll never be anything except the belligerent kid with bad breeding, the kid who wasn’t good enough for sweet Katy Bates. Once a loser, always a loser.”
“That’s not true,” Katy insisted.
Nate laid his head against the headboard and stared grimly into the darkness. “Not true? Try to convince people around here of that. But then, you’ve already tried, haven’t you? I know because I’ve heard you defending me, for all the good it does.”
“Given time, they’ll come around,” she tried to assure him.
“Let’s face it, honey, folks around here are never going to see me for what I have become, only what I was. That’s why my community service projects meet with suspicion. People are waiting for the other shoe to drop, waiting for Lester’s predictions to come true. He’s got the whole damned town convinced that I’m dealing drugs because, thanks to your father’s manipulation and Sonny’s betrayal, I was pegged as a drug dealer when I was spirited out of town. And worse, Lester is accusing the boys of being part of my gang, and he claims Millie’s house is a drop-off and pickup point for drug trafficking.
“Damn,” Nate muttered bitterly. “I’ve really got to hand it to your dad. He sure as hell knew how to ruin my life and never give me a chance to live down past mistakes, didn’t he?”
“Nate, stop it,” Katy cried. “That’s all in the past. I’m dreadfully sorry about what my dad did, but you can’t let him win. Just stop—”
“No, you stop it, Katy,” Nate cut in harshly. Pain throbbed through his weary body and anger took hold of his tongue. Nate did the unforgivable, he lashed out at Katy—something he swore he would never do. “It’s time for a reality check here. I’m never going to be good enough for you, so why kid myself. I am sure as hell not going to drag you down into the slums with me. I’m not going to let this damned town think I’ve cast some evil spell on you in order to take control of your money and set up the American version of the drug cartel in Colombia, right here in Coyote Flats!”