Linda Ford - Big Sky Daddy

Caleb’s heart went out to her. She had a difficult job to do, applying ointment and dressings to the wounds. It would be doubly difficult with Teddy watching. Maybe she regretted allowing Teddy to stay. “Teddy, it’s not too late to change your mind,” he said.

“No. I gotta do this. Big boys don’t let hard things stop them from doing what they have to.”

He narrowed his eyes at the boy. Where had Teddy heard those words? Had Caleb spoken them to his son? He didn’t remember doing so, but then a person can say a lot of things carelessly that a listener might take seriously. He’d best watch his words in the future. He didn’t want to make the boy feel he had to take on a load too big for his little shoulders.

Lilly gave the boy a gentle smile. “Then let’s get it done.”

“Is this when she cries?” Teddy’s voice was clogged with sadness.

She sat back to study him. “You don’t have to stay.”

He blinked back tears. “I can be brave.”

“Very well.”

Caleb sat behind the boy and held him close. “You won’t be alone.”

Lilly studied him. He wished he could read her expression. Did she see his care for Teddy and approve of it? Or was she able to see past all that to his pain and guilt? He was getting plumb foolish. Of course she couldn’t see anything of the sort.

She ducked her head and set to work. She screwed the lid off the jar and dipped her finger into a thick yellowish ointment and applied it to the first wound.

As expected, Blossom yipped.

Grub ambled over to investigate. He shoved his nose into Lilly’s neck as if to inform her she’d hurt the other dog. She elbowed him aside. “Grub, go lie down. Everything is just fine here.”

Grub padded back to his spot in the patch of sunlight pouring through the open door.

As Blossom whined, Teddy smoothed the fur on her head and whispered, “It’s okay, little one. We’re going to make you better.”

Lilly kept her attention on her task. She applied the ointment to many of the wounds, flinching when Blossom cried. Some of the cuts she left open to the air, and a few she wrapped with bandages. When she was done, she sat back. “That’s the best I can do for now. I’ll get her some of Ma’s tonic. But first, I’ll bring her water.”

Teddy looked at her with eager eyes. “I’ll take good care of her.”

“I know you will.” She shifted her gaze to Caleb. “I really think she needs to stay here a few days so I can watch for infection.”

Teddy let out a small cry. “She has to come with us.”

Lilly caught his hand. “Teddy, I promise I’ll take really good care of her for you.”

“No. No.” Teddy shook his head. “I’m not leaving her.” He turned to Caleb, his eyes wide. He plucked at Caleb’s shirt front. “Don’t make me leave her. Please, Papa.”

Lilly closed the ointment jar and tidied up the bandages. She took them back to the tack room and then stood at the doorway. “Caleb, may I speak to you in private? Teddy, will you watch Blossom carefully while I get her some water?”

Caleb took Teddy’s hands and waited for the boy to look him in the eye. “I’ll be right back. You hear?”

Teddy nodded. His eyes remained too large. His pulse beat frantically in the veins of his neck.

Caleb followed Lilly outside to the pump, where she already had a pail full of water.

She faced him. “I know this might seem presumptuous, but why not leave Teddy here? I can make sure Blossom doesn’t get infected and he can be with his dog.”

Caleb stared. This was what he wanted, wasn’t it? But he couldn’t leave Teddy alone.

Nor could he afford to lose his job by risking Ebner’s ire.

What was he to do?

* * *

Lilly almost choked the words of invitation out. Not because she didn’t welcome Teddy’s company or think it would do him good to be with his dog.

But because she knew it would inevitably mean seeing more of Caleb, and there was something about him that made her heart pull at its moorings. A dead wife. A son who, for whatever reason, needed crutches to walk. Yet rather than seeing a man wallowing in self-pity she’d seen numerous glimpses of a tenderhearted man. She’d seen it in the way he’d held Teddy as she ministered to the dog. She’d seen it in the way his eyes filled with concern that Teddy might be upset by watching her work. And she saw it now in the way his expression went from surprise to interest to doubt and finally to decision.

“I couldn’t leave him. He’s not been away from me since...”

She waited, but he didn’t seem about to explain further. “I understand. But the dog...”

He looked past her to the horizon. “Yes, the dog. It’ll upset him some to leave her.”

She nodded. But there was little more she could offer. “If you leave Teddy here, perhaps Ma and I could help with his leg.”

Interest flared in his eyes and then faded. “I’ve been to a dozen doctors and they’ve not helped.” Doubt and hope seemed to cling to his words.

“Do you mind telling me what happened? Is his leg broken?”

Caleb turned so she saw only his profile—he swallowed hard and sucked his lips in. “His ma was murdered.”

A gasp tore from her throat. “I’m sorry.”

He nodded but continued to stare at something far off. “I found two intruders. They came at me with guns. I used mine.” He sounded as if he were working hard to grate his voice from his throat. “When it was over they were dead. Amanda was already dead—murdered by the pair.”

“And Teddy?” she whispered, hardly able to take it in.

“Amanda must have seen the intruders coming and made him hide in the closet. When I found him, he’d been shot in the leg.”

“Oh, no.” Pain and sorrow twisted through her with such vengeance she couldn’t breathe. “How awful.” Caleb’s face contorted and she knew he was reliving the horror. The only comfort she could offer was the one thing Ma had taught her. Sometimes all a person could give another person in pain was presence and touch. She pressed her hand to his arm. “Caleb, I am so sorry. It’s too dreadful for words.”

A shudder shook him hard. He turned to face her, his eyes dark as a summer storm, his mouth a white line.

She too shuddered at the frank agony she saw.

“That’s not the worst part.” His voice was a hoarse whisper. “I’ll never know if I was the one who fired the shot that hurt him.”

She nodded, understanding this feeling of guilt must edge every thought, every glance at his son. What comfort could she offer him? Only the truth.

“You have no way of knowing it didn’t come from some other gun, either.”

He nodded, but she could tell the words had not gone farther than his ears.

“How long ago did all this happen?”

“Nine months. Almost ten.”

That long and the boy’s injury still remained? There had to be something wrong, likely an infection. One that long-standing was unusual and—she shuddered—usually life threatening.

“Has the wound not healed?”

“It’s healed, but he can’t use the leg. And I have no idea why. No doctor has been able to help me.” He told her about the many trips he and Teddy had taken to find help. “I have to get him to a doctor down east.” He stepped away as if he were already on his way. “I can’t leave him here. I need the job at the Caldwells in order to pay the special doctor.”

She nodded. She and Ma used only common sense and old-fashioned remedies, along with herbs and poultices. Surely a special doctor would have newer things to offer. But if the infection had gone to the bone...

She shivered. If she could do anything to help, she would. She opened her mouth to ask him to reconsider taking Teddy away for the night.