After Kyle’s abrupt escape, Mack gave Molly a quizzical look that made her giggle. “Guess Kyle’s ready for me to go. He’s not exactly subtle with his hints.”
Nodding her head in agreement, she thought ruefully that Kyle would be pushing her out the door as soon as he’d gotten rid of Mack.
Mack studied her with frank appraisal. “It’s a shame you couldn’t talk him into going to the party. He spends too much time up here by himself. Not that I want you to take him back to Texas permanently, of course,” he added. “I’m too selfish to want to give him up—for my sake, as well as for Jewel’s.”
“When did you lose your son?” she asked tentatively, wondering if she already knew.
He confirmed what she had guessed. “Almost nine months now. He was in the same explosion as Kyle. It was tough for all of us,” he said, lowering his voice, “but Kyle’s having a difficult time dealing with the guilt of surviving when Tommy didn’t make it. Jewel and I are doing our best to convince him that we don’t blame him, and that he shouldn’t blame himself, but…well, it’s been hard.”
Molly reached out impulsively across the distance between the sofa and the recliner to lay a hand on Mack’s arm. “I’m so very sorry.”
He blinked a couple of times, then cleared his throat, set his tea mug on the coffee table and reached into his shirt pocket. “Want to see a picture of my boy? I always carry it.”
“I’d love to see it.”
Even though it had been encased in plastic, the snap shot was battered from much handling. Molly’s throat tightened as she studied it.
Kyle looked so much younger in the photo, though it probably hadn’t been much more than a year since it had been taken. He was smiling self-consciously for the camera, but he looked happy. Healthy. He stood beside a grinning young man with windblown sandy hair and Mack’s kind gray eyes. The scenery spreading behind them was local, so they must have been on one of those visits home Mack had mentioned.
Her voice was husky when she returned the photograph. “He was a very handsome man. Like his father.”
“I like this young lady, Kyle,” Mack said, sliding the much-treasured photo back into his pocket. “A smart man wouldn’t let her get away too easily.”
Kyle scowled as he entered the room, holding two clean casserole dishes. “Tell Jewel I said thanks for the food, and that I’ll be down to see her in a few days. And thanks for coming by, Mack. It’s always good to see you.”
Mack stood and held out his hand to Molly, who had risen when he did. “It was real nice to meet you, Miss Molly. Maybe we’ll have a chance to visit again someday.”
She smiled at him, liking him immensely. “Maybe we will,” she said, though they both knew it was unlikely. She doubted that she would have any reason to visit Kyle again after she left today.
It made her sad to think she would never see him again—so she decided to be optimistic, instead. After all, there was still a chance—however slim—that he would change his mind about attending the party.
Kyle escorted his friend to the front door, stepping out to chat for a few more minutes on the front porch. Molly couldn’t hear what they were saying, nor did she try to listen in.
Meeting Mack had made her feel a little better about Kyle, in some ways. Kyle had seemed so alone before; she was glad to know he had someone nearby who cared about him. And whom he obviously cared about in return. Despite his gruffness, he hadn’t been able to completely hide his fondness for Mack McDooley.
She understood a little better now why Kyle was so grim. Not only had he been seriously injured and forced to leave his chosen career, but he’d lost his best friend at the same time. It was no wonder he was angry with life in general just now.
Yet he had chosen to settle near his friend’s parents, so he hadn’t been able to cut himself off entirely from other people. Obviously, it had been a beneficial arrangement for all of them.
“I like him,” she said when Kyle came back inside and the sound of Mack’s car engine faded into the distance.
“He’s a good man,” Kyle said simply. “And his wife really is a jewel.”
“You were close to their son.” It wasn’t a question, but her tone invited him to tell her about his friend if he wanted to.
Kyle picked up the mug Mack had left on the coffee table. “He was the closest I ever came to having a brother.”
She swallowed, a little surprised he’d opened up even that much to her. “I’m sorry you lost him.”
He was silent for a long moment, perhaps to make sure his voice was uninflected when he said, “So am I.”
Without looking at her again, he carried the mug into the kitchen.
Remembering the two smiling friends in the photograph, Molly didn’t try to follow him immediately. The sizable lump in her throat made it doubtful that she’d have been able to speak steadily just then, herself.
Kyle wasn’t in any hurry to return to the living room where Molly waited. Though he was usually able to hold his emotions tightly reined around other people, seeing her looking at that photograph of him and Tommy with such sadness on her face had triggered his own grief again. He’d been able to push it back down, but it had taken a massive effort. He needed a few minutes to make sure the emotional barriers were firmly back in place before he rejoined her.
Before he could decide whether enough time had passed, she came to him.
“Is there anything I can do?” she asked, standing in the doorway watching him too intently for comfort.
Though he was well aware she wasn’t talking about housework, he shook his head. “I’ve got everything cleared away in here. But thanks, anyway.”
She bit her lower lip, and he found himself aching to smooth the faint marks her teeth left. With his own lips. Which only went to show, he thought in disgust, that he wasn’t nearly as much in control of himself as he had hoped. Standing here wanting to kiss Molly Walker? Apparently he had temporarily lost his mind.
He had the odd sensation that the air was slowly escaping the room, leaving it hard for him to breathe. He tugged at the neckline of his gray sweatshirt. Glancing toward the windows, he cleared his throat. “Morning’s slipping away.”
She looked at her watch, then nodded slowly. “I suppose I should get on the road. It’s a long drive back to the ranch.”
“Too far for you to be making the trip by yourself,” he grumbled, genuinely concerned at the thought of her making that long drive alone. But what the hell was he supposed to do about it?
“I’ll be all right. I’ve got a car charger for my cell phone in case the battery goes dead, and a credit card for gas and expenses. My car’s in good shape, and the tires are brand-new. The only thing that doesn’t work is the radio, and I’ve got plenty of CDs.”
CDs and a credit card, and she thought she was prepared for anything. Hell.
“Call your brother as soon as you get a cell phone signal,” he ordered her. “Let him keep track of your progress this time.”
She nodded. “I will. Kyle—”
He braced for the question he knew was coming.
“Won’t you please reconsider coming to the party? It would only be for a few hours, and it would mean a lot to my parents. It would mean a lot to me, too,” she added softly, her eyes so dark with emotion they were almost emerald.
It was more difficult to say it each time, but he managed to get the words out. “No, Molly. I can’t.”
“You can’t stay up here brooding forever. Even Mack thinks it would be good for you to get away for a few days.”
Not for the first time, it occurred to him that she was either the most courageous or most foolhardy woman he’d ever met. Didn’t she know that wounded strays were likely to lash out at anyone who reached out to them? If she had cornered him like this only a couple of months earlier, she’d have been lucky to escape unscathed.
Fortunately, he’d recovered somewhat since then— both physically and emotionally—so he simply gave her a cool look and said, “I know best what’s good for me.”
Her lips twisted into a little smile that looked very sad. “I’m sure you believe that.”
She’d always had a tender heart. He remembered how easily she had cried as a child—rarely for herself, that he remembered, but usually when someone else had been hurt or upset. Now she’d apparently decided that he deserved her sympathy. He could almost feel his male ego shriveling in response to the pity he was afraid he saw in her eyes.
But, because she was Molly, he couldn’t be angry with her. Anyone else, maybe—but not her. “I’ll help you carry your bags, out,” he offered, his tone uncharacteristically gentle.
She seemed to give herself a little shake. “I only have one. I can handle it.”
He remained where he was when she turned to go collect her things. She would be on her way very shortly. And then his life could get back to normal. And he was not sitting up here “brooding,” he assured himself with a touch of defiance. He stayed busy. He worked out, he did repairs on the house, he read and researched possible paths for his future.
He had offers—Mack was urging him rather persistently to join him in the rental business, for example. Or he could go back to school on the military’s tab, studying anything that interested him.
Maybe he had gotten a raw deal, but he wasn’t brooding and he didn’t need her to rescue him. It was bad enough that Mack and Jewel fretted over him so much, a situation he tolerated only because he knew they needed to do so.
No, he had enough people in his life for now. Molly had plenty of others to cater to her—her parents, her brother and his family, all those aunts, uncles and cousins he remembered, the other foster boys who had probably all stayed close to the Walker family.
She probably had a boyfriend. A lover, he corrected himself, belatedly remembering her age. At least one, considering the way she looked. Hell, guys were probably lined up at her door.
It must have been a new experience for her to have to drive across two and a half states to practically beg a man to visit her.
Her green overnight bag was slung over her shoulder, and her car keys were in her hand. She was going. And the fact that his first instinct was to throw himself in front of the door to bar her way was proof that she wasn’t leaving too soon.
“You’ll be careful?” He tried to speak brusquely, but he wasn’t sure he was entirely successful.
“I’ll be careful.” She moistened her lips, then held out a hand to him. “I wrote down all the numbers at the ranch and my own cell number. Our e-mail address is on here, too. Maybe you could call or drop us a line sometime—just to let us know how you’re doing.”
“You sent me all that information when you invited me to the party the first time.” But he took the folded sheet of paper, anyway, since she had gone to the trouble of writing it all out for him.
“Just hang on to the list.” She smiled faintly. “Maybe you’ll decide you want to use it someday.”
“Maybe I will.” He supposed anything was possible. Maybe someday when he was in peak shape again, more certain of his future, better able to face his past—both recent and distant—maybe he’d get a yen to visit the ranch.
Or maybe not.
“It was good to see you again, Molly,” he said awkwardly, feeling the need to send her off on a positive note. “Say hello to Shane for me—and tell your parents I wish them a happy anniversary.”
“I will.” She hesitated a moment, and then she moved toward him. He was startled when she gave him a quick, firm hug, her head nestling naturally into his shoulder, the overnight bag bumping his hip. “Take care of yourself, Kyle.”
His arms rose reflexively to encircle her. He knew she came from a family of huggers, and that despite his arguments to the contrary, she still considered him a member of her family. Yet as hard as he struggled to think of her that way, his long-deprived body still reacted very strongly to having a soft, curvy, sweet-smelling woman pressed closely against it.
He released her and stepped back a bit too quickly before he embarrassed himself. The jolt of pain through his leg in response to the jerky movement helped rouse him out of the mental paralysis her unexpected hug had sent him into. “You’d better get going,” he said, his voice husky, his arms itching to reach for her again. “You’ve got a long drive ahead.”
Back to her real life, he added silently. Back to the men who were whole in body and spirit and who were probably waiting to offer her anything she wanted. Everything she deserved.
Her eyes seemed unnaturally bright when she turned away. Kyle’s chest felt as though someone were still squeezing him—this time in a grip tight enough to hurt.
Molly paused for a moment at the door, her hand on the knob, and then she squared her shoulders and stepped outside without another word. The door closed firmly behind her.
Kyle let the curse that had been building inside him escape in a sibilant hiss that seemed to echo in the sudden silence inside his house. He turned abruptly toward the kitchen. Maybe a cup of tea would ease the tightness in his chest and throat. After that, he would—
A sharp crack came from outside the front door, simultaneously accompanied by a startled cry. Moving faster than he had in the past eight months, Kyle ran for the door and threw it open.
Molly lay sprawled on the front porch. Her overnight bag had tumbled to the ground, and one of her shoes lay beside it. Her right leg was twisted painfully beneath her, the foot stuck in a hole created when a rotten board had given way beneath her weight.
Her face was utterly colorless, making her white skin stand out in sharp contrast to her fiery hair. She looked up at him through a film of tears she was doing her best to hold back. “I think my leg is broken.”
Molly sat on a paper-covered medical examination table, her bandaged right foot stuck out in front of her. She wore a thin cotton hospital gown over her under-garments. She doubted that her jeans would fit over the Velcro-fastened walking brace that now covered her right leg halfway up to the knee.
She was fortunate that there had been no broken bones, though her ankle was badly sprained. Her lower leg was swollen and her bare toes looked almost purple beneath the brace. She had the strangest feeling that she should be in pain. She could actually feel a distant throbbing, but it seemed almost disconnected from her body.
So did her injured foot, for that matter. She gazed at it in fascination as it appeared to float at the end of her leg. “Wow.”
“What’s wrong?” Kyle had been hovering nearby, watching her with a deeply concerned frown, but he moved closer when she spoke. “Are you hurting?”
“No. I just feel strange.” She gave him a smile. He had such pretty eyes. “You’re sweet to worry about me.”
His expression turned suddenly wry. “You’re floating on pain pills. Why do I get the feeling you have a low tolerance for medications?”
She heard herself giggle, though she tried to suppress it. “That’s why I tried to tell everyone I didn’t need any pain meds, though no one would listen. Shane says I can get high on aspirin. He says it’s a good thing I’ve never wanted to experiment with drugs or booze, since I’d probably be a real cheap drunk.”
“Sounds like you need to listen to your brother.”
“I’m sure he would agree with you. Is it cold in here to you?”
“Here.” He reached for the thin white blanket that lay behind her on the exam table and wrapped it around her. “Is that better?”
“Um-hmm.” She snuggled into the blanket’s warmth, wishing she could nestle so comfortably into Kyle’s arms. She would bet he radiated heat—but she wasn’t quite high enough to throw away all remnants of her common sense.
“The nurse should be back to release you soon, so we can get out of here.”
He looked as though it couldn’t be soon enough to suit him. Kyle seemed to have a pathological aversion to medical facilities. She suspected he had spent far too much time in them during the past nine months.
“Am I supposed to wear this gown out of here?” she asked, only marginally concerned. “I don’t think I can get my jeans on over this cast thingy.”
“I’m taking care of that.”
Someone tapped tentatively on the door.
“Come in,” Molly sang out, looking expectantly that way.
The door opened and Mack McDooley entered, along with a tiny, silver-haired woman who had to be his wife. The woman carried a bulging shopping bag in her arms.
“Mack!” Molly greeted him with genuine, if drug-enhanced, pleasure. “What are you doing here?”
“Kyle called us from a hospital pay phone. I’m sorry you were hurt. How are you doing now?”
“It’s my fault,” Kyle muttered grimly, before she could answer. “I knew there were rotten boards on the porch but I forgot to warn her about them.”
Molly sighed gustily. “Will you stop blaming yourself? I slipped on a wet spot and my foot went through a board. It wasn’t your fault, Kyle. It’s wasn’t anyone’s fault. Just an accident.”
“Molly,” Mack said quickly, cutting off the argument Kyle looked prepared to make, “I’d like you to meet my wife, Jewel. Honey, this is Kyle’s friend, Molly Walker.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Molly. Mack told me all about his visit with you this morning. He was quite taken with you.” Jewel spoke in a rich, slow Southern drawl that wrapped around Molly like another warm blanket. “I’m sorry we had to meet under these circumstances. I’ve brought you something to wear out of the hospital.”
“That was so sweet of you.” What a nice lady, Molly thought, beaming at Kyle’s friends. What a nice couple. Heck, everyone around here was nice, judging from how well she had been treated since Kyle brought her in.
“They gave her something for pain,” Kyle explained quietly to the McDooleys. “She’s kind of out of it.”
“I am not,” she protested, turning to him so quickly she would have tipped over if he hadn’t steadied her. And then she ruined her indignant denial by giggling again.
“Why don’t you and I step outside, Kyle, and Jewel can help Molly get dressed.”
Kyle nodded in response to Mack’s suggestion, though he lingered a bit longer at Molly’s side. “You’ll be okay?”
She rolled her eyes. “I don’t need you to help me get dressed, if that’s what you mean.”
His slight flush amused her again. Muttering something she didn’t quite catch, he stepped outside with Mack, letting the door swing shut behind them.
Molly shook her head. “The way he’s carried on, you’d think I’d done major damage to myself rather than just tearing a ligament in my ankle.”
Jewel set the bag on a chair and reached into it. “He’s feeling bad about you being hurt at his house. It must have scared him half to death when you fell.”
“I think he was more scared than I was,” Molly confided, remembering how Kyle’s hands had trembled when he had helped her up and assisted her to her car. She had tried to be brave, as much for his sake as for her own, but she hadn’t been able to suppress the occasional gasp of pain. Each time she’d moaned, he had gone a shade paler.
The drive down the mountain to the nearest medical facility had been accomplished at breakneck speed, making her worry that neither of them would arrive in one piece. When they’d reached the hospital, Kyle had told her to remain in the car while he’d dashed inside to fetch someone with a wheelchair. He had then proceeded to snap orders at everyone who had come near her—orderlies, nurses and doctors alike—until someone had sent him out of the room while she was treated. He hadn’t been allowed back in until they’d finished with her.
Jewel held up a pair of wide-legged gray fleece pants with hot pink piping and a drawstring waistband. “I figured a drawstring would help them fit better if I guessed your size wrong from Kyle’s description of you. The wide legs should fit over your brace without any problems.”
“They’re perfect,” Molly exclaimed, though she couldn’t help wondering how Kyle had described her. “They look very comfortable.”
Smiling, Jewel pulled another garment out of the bag, this one a long-sleeved hot pink T-shirt that matched the piping down the sides of the pants. “I didn’t know if you’d torn your blouse when you fell, so I bought the whole set. Kyle neglected to mention that you’re a redhead, but fortunately, this color will look fine on you. There’s another set in the bag, in navy with a lime-green shirt.”
“This was so sweet of you.” Molly was aware that she was overusing the word sweet, but it seemed to be fixed firmly in her medication-clouded brain. “I’ll reimburse you for the clothes, of course.”
“Kyle’s taking care of that.”
As she allowed Jewel to help her into the clothes, Molly decided that she would argue with Kyle about that later. He was already paying the medical bills, assuring her that his homeowner’s insurance would cover them. He shouldn’t feel that he had to buy her clothes, too.
The sporty outfit fit very well. Molly felt much better once she was fully dressed and could set the drafty hospital gown aside. A nurse came in, had her sign some papers, then bustled out again, promising to be right back with a pair of crutches.
Molly sighed. “I’m beginning to wonder if I’m ever going to get out of here.”
Jewel patted her arm sympathetically. “That’s the thing about hospitals. They run on their own time.”
Looking down at her injured leg again, Molly groaned.
“Is your leg hurting, hon?”
“Not really. I was just thinking about what a mess I’ve gotten myself into this time. I have to call my brother, and he’s going to chew me out for being here at all, much less doing something stupid like spraining my ankle. I’m not sure I can drive in this brace thing, so I don’t know how I’m getting back to Texas. And I’ve caused poor Kyle so much trouble already, nagging him to attend a party he said all along he didn’t want to go to.”
Jewel’s hand tightened bracingly on Molly’s arm. “Now, don’t you be fretting about Kyle. You were right to invite him to that party, and if he knew what was best for him, he’d go. As for spraining your ankle, surely no one would blame you for that.”
“You haven’t met my brother.”
After a quick, sharp rap of warning, Kyle came back into the room, followed closely by Mack. Kyle nodded in approval when he saw Molly’s comfortable and practical outfit. “Thanks, Jewel. I know you’d come through.”
“It was my pleasure.” Giving Molly’s arm a final, friendly pat, Jewel moved away to allow Kyle to take her place. “The nurse is bringing crutches so Molly can leave. I think you should both come to our house. It’s past lunchtime and I’m sure everyone is hungry.”
“I’m hungry!” Molly placed a hand on her stomach.
Jewel nodded as if everything were settled. “Mack and I will go get lunch started. You two follow as soon as you can get away from here.”
“Looks like we have our orders,” Kyle murmured when the older couple had left the room.
“They’re so sweet.” The medication was making Molly drowsy. She blinked heavy eyelids and leaned against Kyle’s shoulder for support. After only a moment, his arm went around her.
She knew he was simply steadying her. A friendly, platonic gesture—but it felt good to be held by him, anyway.
Carrying a pair of metal crutches and pushing a wheelchair, the nurse returned. “You can ride out in this, then use the crutches when you get home.”
Molly wrinkled her nose as she studied the wheelchair. “I’d rather walk out on my own, thank you.”
“Get in the wheelchair,” Kyle murmured. “You’ll likely spend the next few weeks on those crutches. You’ll be plenty ready to get rid of them as soon as you can.”
The memories mirrored in his eyes showed her he knew exactly how important it was for her to assert her independence again. She wondered how long he had been on crutches. She knew he must have hated every minute that he had been incapacitated.
This, she thought with a sigh, was not at all the way she would have chosen to bond with him.