Big Sky Daddy. Linda Ford
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I said.”
She laughed. “I expect he takes in everything you say and do.”
Caleb nodded, smiling at his son, filling with pure pleasure. With a jolt he realized he’d been so focused on getting help for Teddy’s injured leg he had almost forgotten the joy that came from simply spending time with him. He opened his mouth, about to thank Lilly, for he knew it was because of her calmness in dealing with Teddy and Blossom that some of his tension had disappeared.
He closed his mouth again. How could he possibly hope to explain this feeling?
He studied Lilly out of the corner of his eye. She bent over Blossom, murmuring encouragement to the dog. She touched Teddy’s head to encourage him as well. Grub pressed to her side.
It hit him like a sledgehammer.
This was a woman made for giving and receiving love. Not that he should care. But for her sake he was glad he would only be there one day, lest she begin to care for him more than she should. He did not want to think he would bring sorrow or heartache into her life, as he’d done to others’.
He could list a whole lot of times people had been hurt because of him. Most of the events he hadn’t thought of until after Amanda’s murder, and then the memory of them had returned with a vengeance, as if to reprimand him for having forgotten them.
The time he lied about taking eggs to one of Ma’s customers, instead having broken them while chasing a gopher. The customer had berated Ma publicly and Ma had gone home crying.
Then there was the time at school when he’d pulled a chair out when his friend Toby had gone to sit down and Toby had banged his head. Caleb had laughed until he realized Toby had taken a long time to bounce up again.
He would not continue to list his guilty deeds. Suffice it to say Caleb knew he was bad news to those who happened to have the misfortune of hanging around him.
He’d be extra careful while at the Bells so they wouldn’t pay a price for helping him. Though it was Teddy they meant to help.
* * *
Blossom lapped the water a few times and then ignored it.
“That’s a real good start.” Lilly patted Teddy on the head and pushed to her feet. “I’ll go to the house and get Ma’s tonic.” She had only made it to the barn door when Rose came out of the house and trotted toward them, carrying a dish. “Pa told us about the injured dog. I made that gruel you like.”
She handed Lilly the dish and the bottle of tonic. Her look blared a challenge.
Lilly knew exactly what she was wondering. Why is a Caldwell cowboy here and why are you helping him? She backed up so Rose could step into the barn.
“Rose, you remember Caleb Craig and his son, Teddy?”
Rose snorted so softly Lilly hoped she was the only one to hear it. “The Caldwell cowboy from town. I’m not likely to forget.” Her piercing look said, But it seems you are.
Caleb set Teddy behind him and got to his feet to face Lilly and Rose. “Sorry to intrude on your fight about the Caldwells, but we found this dog and my son instantly claimed him. Your sister kindly offered to help.”
Rose met his gaze. Neither of them blinked as Lilly held her breath, wondering who would relent first.
Caleb spoke again. “She’s even offered to let us stay the night so Blossom here can rest.”
Oh, no. Now Rose would blurt out how much she disliked the Caldwells.
Rose blinked. “Blossom?”
“The dog.”
“Overnight?” She glared at Lilly.
Lilly smiled, not at all deterred by her sister’s shock. Rose would soon realize that Teddy and Blossom needed their help.
Caleb shifted his gaze to Lilly and gave her a smile full of gratitude. “Your sister is very generous.” Beyond the smile, Lilly glimpsed an ocean’s depth of sorrow.
She couldn’t look away. This man had every reason in the world to have a furrowed forehead. She shivered at the thought of everything that had happened to him.
If it had been possible, she would have applied one of Ma’s healing balms to this man’s heart.
“Oh, fine,” Rose grumbled, and moved toward Blossom and Teddy. “So this is the dog you found.”
“She’s mine,” Teddy said.
“Then I’d say she is very fortunate.”
Lilly smiled. Rose might have been one to fight and sputter, but she didn’t have an unkind bone in her body.
Caleb looked at the thin mixture Rose had made—oats cooked with meat broth—and shuddered. “I sure hope you mean that for Blossom.”
The twins laughed, though Rose did so with more abandon than Lilly, as if enjoying his suspicion.
“Yes, it’s for the dog,” Lilly murmured and knelt beside Teddy. Together they managed to get Blossom to lick up some of the concoction. Then she uncapped the tonic. “Teddy, I need to give her these drops. Think you can help?”
He nodded eagerly.
“That’s good. You hold her head while I put the drops in her mouth.”
Teddy did as instructed and Blossom swallowed the drops and drank more water. Wearily, the dog closed her eyes.
Teddy glanced from the dog to Lilly to Caleb and then did it again.
“Papa?”
“What is it?”
“Wasn’t that stuff supposed to make her better? She’s still just lying here.”
Lilly touched Teddy’s head and smiled at him, her heart brimming with sorrow and tenderness at his question. How many times had this child been promised something would make him better and then been disappointed? She pushed her lips together as Caleb’s words echoed in her head. The treatments the poor boy had endured. And his father along with him.
“Healing takes time. It can’t be rushed.”
Teddy gave Lilly a look of frank admiration. “You sure do know a lot about taking care of sick animals.”
Rose laughed again. “She’s had lots of experience. When we lived in town she rescued all sorts of dogs, cats, birds, chickens and even mice, and she nursed them. We were ten when we moved to this farm and she’s collected all sorts of critters since.”
“Like what?”
“Well, she raises sheep and pigs. People bring her animals that are doing poorly. Mostly she fixes them up and sends them back home, but sometimes we keep them. That’s how we got our horse, and we have a motley collection of cats she’s rescued. You should see this place at milking time. Say, I think you will. Lilly, when are you bringing in the cows?”
Ignoring the reminder of chores to be done, Lilly glowered at her sister. “Rose, please don’t tell them everything you know about me.”
Rose’s smile widened. “Only the interesting stuff.”
Lilly gave her a hard look. “That would be everything.”
Rose opened her mouth as if to argue and instead burst out laughing. “You almost had me that time. One of these days you are going to convince me with that deadpan way of yours.” Her expression grew thoughtful. “Maybe our first pa was a gambler. You might have learned that from him.”
Lilly shook her head. “You’ve had him be everything from a wild horse wrangler to a traveling preacher. And now a gambler.”
“I’m just curious, you know?”
“No, I don’t. Seems to me what’s in the past is best left in the past.” They had loving parents in