“If I feel worse in three days, you’ll be having my funeral,” Nate said.
Drake hauled Nate up out of the chair and helped him stand. He pulled Nate’s arm over his shoulder. “If you’re able, let’s get it done so you can rest.”
With Drake’s support, Nate wobbled along until they got to the stairs. He stopped and stared at the steps. “Lordy, do I have to climb those?”
Drake pulled him forward. “Come on, we’ll go slow.”
Sarah followed close behind them. “Think how good it’ll be to settle into a nice, soft bed.”
“Magic words,” Nate said and grabbed the stair rail to help propel himself upward while Drake lent his help.
In Nate’s room, Drake and Grandpa helped Nate undress while the women looked in on Joe across the hall. When they returned with Storm at their heels, Nate lay in bed and looked almost asleep. He opened his eyes when they entered.
Drake said, “Unless you need me here, I might as well go on home. You coming, Pearl?”
“Yes, I think both patients will be fine now, though they’ll both have some pain.” She took Sarah’s hand and said, “I’ve left salve, tonic and herbs for more tea for Nate, and herbs and a tonic for Joe. You know what to do about their food and how to care for them as well as I do, but you’ve only to send for me and I’ll come right away. Would you like us to take Cindy and Luke with us?”
Sarah looked at Nate, saw the brief shake of his head. She sighed, happiness spiraling through her. He wanted her children here with him.
“Grandpa, is it all right if they stay?”
“You know it is. Like having younguns around again. Takes years off my age.”
Sarah hugged him. “Thank you. They can help keep Joe entertained. There’s that big playroom upstairs plus the yard if they need to be rowdy or noisy.”
Pearl nodded. “I’ll send Javier back with clothes for you and the children.”
“Please remember Cindy’s doll,” Sarah asked. “She sleeps with her every night.”
“I’ll remember. I’ll send some books and the checker set to help entertain Joe.”
“Your bunch coming for dinner after church tomorrow?” Grandpa asked.
Drake looked at Pearl and she nodded. “Only long enough for the kids to pester you while I check on the patients.” She gave him a hug and kissed his cheek. “They love coming here, but you’ll have your hands full without our crowd.”
“I like having family near. Matter of fact, Lex and Belle will be back home next week with their two. Rosilee’s opening their house and airing it Wednesday or Thursday. ‘Course, they won’t stay long, but it’ll be nice to see them again. Have to have a family celebration for all of us while they’re here.”
Nate’s eyelids closed. They popped open, then dropped closed again. Sarah shooed everyone from his room, then checked on Joe. She sent Storm home with Pearl and Drake. Joe slept soundly, thanks to the laudanum, and Fiona sat by his side.
She smiled when Sarah came in. “This one’s sound asleep. I told Polly to feed your other two and let Emily put them to bed. I hope you don’t mind.”
“Oh, Fiona, thank you. Can you stay with Joe while I slip up and say goodnight to them? The excitement has probably left them exhausted but keyed up.”
“Now, dearie, I’ll be staying with this one a bit. Emily promised to come in at one to relieve me. I’ll toddle off to bed then and sleep like a rock, I’ll bet. I always do.” She made a shooing motion with her hands. “You get yourself some sleep. I expect you’ll also be checking on Nate. If Joe needs you, I’ll hurry ‘round for you.”
“Thank you. I don’t know how I could manage without you.”
“It’s my pleasure to be able to help you after all you’ve done for me, though I’m sorry that it’s such a sad thing has given me the opportunity. Don’t you be worrying yourself at all. Polly’s older and needed in the kitchen, but Emily and I can take turns with this boyo as long as needed. Himself won’t complain when a little dust collects if it’s for his family’s sake.”
Sarah hurried to check on Luke and Cindy. She thanked Emily for helping and the woman said good night. The children were already in bed, but tears ran down Cindy’s cheeks.
“I need my dolly,” she sobbed.
“Javier is bringing her to you. He’ll be here soon.”
“Are Joe and Nate gonna be all right?” Luke asked.
“Yes, but it will take some time before they’ll feel well. They’re both asleep now, but tomorrow you can talk to them.”
Each youngster lay in a separate child-sized bed. Sarah tucked the cover around Luke, then turned to Cindy. Tears ran down her cheeks and she hiccuped a sob. Sarah dried her face.
“As soon as Javier brings your dolly, I’ll bring her to you.” Sarah pulled a large rag doll from a shelf. “Why, look here, this nice soft baby looks lonely. She’s probably been hoping a pretty little girl would come along and cuddle her. She’ll keep you company until your dolly comes.” She snuggled the soft toy beside Cindy.“
Placated, Cindy sniffled but curled against the doll.
“You’ll leave a light, won’t you?” Luke asked.
“Of course. And you remember where Joe and Nate are sleeping. I’ll be in one of those rooms if you need me.”
Sarah lowered the wick of the wall lamp so it cast a soft glow across the room. Soon both children slept. Creeping quietly down the hall and stairs, she left a trail of wall lights shedding soft light.
She returned to Nate’s room. He slept, so she moved an upholstered armchair near his bed and sat down. The terror of the day left her exhausted, but she wanted to be near Nate.
Gabe peeked in and set a supper tray on her lap. “Polly figured you’d rather eat up here.”
She lifted the napkin and inhaled. “I wouldn’t have thought I could eat a bite, but this smells heavenly."
“Brought some things Joe might want from his stepfather’s bag. Picture of a woman we thought might be his mother. I left it all in Uncle Rob’s study for you to look at before you show it to Joe.”
“Thanks for all your help. You saved Nate and Joe.”
“No, I helped Nate save Joe, but he would have found a way without me.”
“Oh, Gabe, he couldn’t have gotten up that ledge without you. He told me how you saved him, how you had to pull his dead weight because he was too weak to help. I can never thank you enough. Without you, both Nate and Joe would have shared Ingles’ fate.”
Gabe looked embarrassed and changed the subject. “Reckon I can sit with him tonight if you like.”
Sarah assessed him. His lanky frame sagged in fatigue. The skin near his eyes was pinched. Though tall and broad as the other Kincaid men, she thought even baby Parker could wrestle this one to the ground tonight. She wondered how he even made it up the stairs, much less carrying her tray of food.
“No, you need rest as much as he does. I’ll stay. Fiona’s with Joe. I’m so nervous from all that happened, I couldn’t sleep a wink.”
“Then guess there’s no use both of us staying awake. If I don’t sleep about three days into next week, I’ll see you tomorrow.” He closed the door softly as he left.
Surprised at her hunger, she wolfed down everything on the tray. The food supplied an energy boost and she settled down to watch Nate sleep.
Sarah thanked God for sparing Joe and Nate. Knowing how close they’d come to death left her trembling. She had some extra time now to be with the man she loved. Almost losing him forced her to acknowledge a new facet of her love for him. He mustn’t leave her and the children. Could she convince him to stay with her?
Chapter Sixteen
Nate shifted uncomfortably and moved higher on the pillows piled at his back. Damn, his strength refused to return. He chafed at being in a sick bed for the past couple of days, but lacked the energy to do more than cross the room.
Tapping at his door alerted him to a visitor before Monk stepped into the room.
“Hello, Nate,” Mo
nk said. “You look better ‘n yesterday.”
“Feel like I been pulled through a keyhole. You come alone?” Nate asked. When Monk and Hargrove had visited Sunday afternoon, Hargrove strutted about making a nuisance of himself until Nate fought the urge to yell and throw something at him.
“Yeah, Hargrove’s at the hotel. Sarah said I could come on up by myself.”
He speared his good friend with a stare and raised an eyebrow. “You calling her Sarah now?”
Monk nodded and smiled. “She insisted. She’s fixing your lunch tray. Nice girl. Roxie’d be real proud of her.”
Nate figured Roxie would be mad as hell if she knew what he’d been up to with her daughter. At least Sarah had used the pessary that time at her school, but she could be pregnant from the first time in his bedroom at the ranch. What would happen to her if he’d planted a baby and then had to leave or the sheriff hauled him off to jail? For one thing, he’d never even see his firstborn.
Damn, he’d made a mess of everything so far. At least he’d gotten Joe off that ledge before it gave way. For once in his life he’d done the right thing and it paid off. Maybe it made up for a few of his mistakes along the way.
He snapped from his reveries and decided to get on with his rat killing while he had Monk alone. “I’ve been searching for a way to call this off, Monk.”
“Figured as much. How you going to get Hargrove off the scent? He’s been out signing folks up right and left. You being a hero and all, folks are way too trusting.”
“Damnation. Help me, Monk,” he pleaded. “I’m looking for a way out of this. You know I’ll make it up to you later.”
“Nothing to make up. We’re friends, aren’t we? Besides, I promised your folks I’d look after you. Haven’t done too good a job, but I tried.”
“You’ve done as well as I’d let you.” Not a man used to apologizing, Nate took a deep breath and spoke fast. “You were right back at the hotel in Memphis. I never should have started this with Sarah or the Kincaids, shouldn’t have involved Hargrove for sure. I’ve been scouring my brain thinking of ways to call it off and keep Hargrove from sicking the law on us.”
“Glad to hear that, Nate.” Monk met his gaze. “Your folks treated me like a son. Roxie did, too, after her and Cal hooked up. Would have made ‘em all real proud if you settled here with Sarah.”
Nate leaned back and closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Don’t know if I can pull it off.” He exhaled and lowered his hand, then met Monk’s gaze.
Monk stared at him as if something worried him. “Sure be good if you can. Just let me know what you need from me.”
Nate watched Monk step to the end window with a view of the town. The heavy green damask draperies were tied back and allowed light to filter through a hanging of ivory lace panels. Monk parted the curtains and stared out. Something bothered him and he’d eventually spit it out. Long ago Nate learned there was no hurrying him. The worse the news, the longer it took to tell.
Four years’ difference in their ages never divided their friendship. They were as much brothers as if by blood, though Monk had repeatedly refused any claim on Cal’s saloon. Nate guessed he’d made it clear to Roxie, too, or she would have left part of it to Monk.
Nate was only nine when his folks found Monk begging outside a saloon and took him into their home. After suffering miscarriages through the years, Nate’s mom died with her newborn baby three years after Monk joined their family. Cal sank into his own misery and left Monk and Nate mostly to their own amusements while he became depressed and cynical.
When Cal met Roxie on a chance stop at the saloon she ran in Pipers Hollow, he came back talking of no one else. He walked differently, smiled more, a man reborn. Monk had been off on some fool errand, but Cal dragged Nate down to that wide spot in a Tennessee road to meet Roxie while Cal convinced her to join up with him at The Lucky Times Palace.
Not that Nate blamed Cal so much now. Knowing Sarah had put all that in a different perspective. A smile from her rosebud lips or a sparkle in her lavender blue eyes lifted his spirits. If he lost her, he wouldn’t be fit company for anyone.
More often than not over the last few years he and Monk had traveled together. Nate avoided St. Louis after he and Cal quarreled, but Monk checked in every few months while Nate waited somewhere else. Since their teens they’d talked of having their own saloon in New Orleans. Monk must be pretty mad at him for messing up that dream.
Monk stood at the window a few minutes, then turned back to face Nate. “Nice town. Wouldn’t mind settling here myself.”
The admission surprised Nate. “Nothing I’d like more, but I think it’s too late for both of us.”
“Maybe not, maybe you can come up with a way. You’re good at planning.”
Monk paced the room, then stopped beside the bed. “Didn’t want to be worrisome with you laid up and all, but there’s things you need to know and I got to tell you like it is.”
He dropped into the chair beside Nate’s bed. “Banker fellow, that Dorfmeyer, has been talking against you to folks. Mad as a hornet ‘cause people are calling you a hero. Says he’s sent off inquiries on all of us.”
“We used clean names. Won’t be anything on you or me.”
The thought struck Nate. “Hargrove always uses his real name. Damn, if Dorfmeyer’s nosing around hits the right spot, Hargrove could sink us before I have a chance to row this boat to shore.”
Monk hunched, elbows on his knees. “Banker says he contacted the railroad people.”
Hell, that would do it. “Did he?”
Monk shrugged. “Hargrove blustered around and got the telegraph operator to admit the banker hadn’t sent any wires. Reckon Dorfmeyer wrote letters, though. Can’t say I blame a banker being cautious, but he’s a mean son of a gun.”
“Pompous ass. Thanks for filling me in.” He looked at his friend. Something still worried him. “What else is it?”
“Something else I didn’t tell you.”
“Yeah, what?” Nate asked. It must be bad if Monk hesitated.
“Hargrove.” Monk spit out the name as if it were a curse word. “After he got out of jail back in Chicago, he told me he’d meet me at the train station. I collected my stuff and waited there for him. When he showed up, he was all agitated, excited like. His hands were skinned up and he was in a big hurry to leave.”
Nate sank back against his pillows. “Any idea why?”
“All he’d say was he’d taught his wife a good lesson this time. Made me sick to my stomach. If I hadn’t already told him about the deal, I would have got shut of him then and there.”
“So, you think he beat her up again?”
“Yeah. Don’t know what else.” Monk whirled to face him. “I tell you, I wish I’d never found that man again. He’s not like you and me. He’s plain old scum. Never has a kind thought for anyone, not even his family, only for himself.”
Surprised to hear easygoing Monk speak so vehemently against anyone, Nate agreed. He’d hated Hargrove more each time he saw him. “I’d like to get shed of him and call a halt to this whole mess.”
Monk nodded. “Hope we can.”
He sat up and his efforts sent the room spinning in his brain. Refusing to give in, he swung his legs over the side of the bed. “Damn, weak as a newborn. Doc says I have to stay here another few days. Hell, can’t afford to waste my time in a sickbed with Dorfmeyer and Hargrove working at one another like two roosters at a cockfight.”
“Looks to me like you got no choice. I seen dead people look livelier than you do. What’re you trying and I’ll help?”
Nate shook his head and was immediately sorry. “Got to do this on my own. Walk a bit now and then, get back some strength.” Using the chair to help pull himself up, he winced at the pain when he put his weight on his injured leg. He felt blood ooze and looked down at the bandage’s fresh red stain.
“Hellfire and damnation, can’t even pee without a fuss.” He stepped behind a screen t
o the commode chair and used it, then limped back to bed and sank against the pillows. “I tell you, it’s humiliating to be this feeble.”
He heard glass and china rattle against a metal tray. Sarah must be bringing his meal and one to Joe across the hall.
Monk grinned, “Leastwise you get good care from the prettiest nurse in the country.”
***
A couple of days later, Sarah mulled over her latest problem while she made a late night check on Luke and Cindy in the third floor playroom. Luke slept with his boots lined up beside the bed and tomorrow’s clothes ready on a chair. Both Cindy’s dolly and the large rag doll were nestled with her beneath the cover.
Sarah planted a soft kiss on each sleeping child. How dear they were to her. Luck certainly smiled on her the day she found them and Joe. In spite of her niggling worry, she gave thanks for her blessings as she tiptoed downstairs to the second floor and looked in on Joe.
Such a good boy, he hardly ever complained and needed the laudanum only at night now. Storm had made him crutches and Pearl had padded their arm rest tops. Soon Joe would be hobbling everywhere, no longer imprisoned in his room by his broken limb.
Thinking him asleep, she leaned over and kissed his cheek. His eyelashes fluttered open and he smiled a drowsy grin. A soft sigh escaped him, then he dropped back into slumber. With a sigh of her own, she left the room, letting the door stand ajar in case he called out during the night.
She tapped softly on Nate’s door, then stepped into his room. He sat up in bed playing solitaire.
“I thought you’d be asleep by now.” She couldn’t resist stopping by anyway for a chance to see him when no one else might observe her.
He met her gaze. “Same goes for you. I’ve spent so much time resting the past five days I can’t sleep at night. As many times as you’ve run up and down the stairs, though, I’d think you’d be run ragged.”
“I’ve sat down a lot, too. If I were teaching, I’d be standing all day.”
Most Unsuitable Husband Page 24