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By the time Kathy and Adelaide came back downstairs, the bodies were gone, but the doctor still hadn’t come. Maybe this frontier outpost didn’t even have a doctor. Kathy went into the kitchen and found a couple more towels to replace the blood-soaked one inside Luke’s shirt.
But when she tried to remove the towel, she found it stuck to the wound. At least Luke wasn’t sweating and shivering anymore. Kathy sent Adelaide upstairs to find some more blankets as she checked the wound. She breathed a sigh of relief when she found the bleeding had stopped.
As she poked and prodded around Luke’s chest to check the extent of the damage, she nearly jumped out of her skin when he opened his eyes and smiled at her.
“Just what do you think you’re doing, missy?” he asked in a hoarse whisper.
Kathy pressed her hand to her breast. “You scared the daylights out of me, Luke.”
“That’s just my idea of a little joke,” he explained. “But you still haven’t told me what you’re doing pawing around inside my clothes.” He slid his eyes right and left. “And in a public place, too. Where are we?”
“We’re at Mary’s,” Kathy told him. “There was a gun fight. You were shot in the shoulder. Don’t you remember?”
Luke pressed his eyes closed. “I remember. And Max and Annabel? They’re....”
“They’re dead,” Kathy told him.
“Where’s Adelaide?” Luke asked.
“She’s just gone upstairs to find me some blankets for you,” Kathy replied. “I told her the news. Now I’m just trying to keep her busy to take her mind off of it.”
“Okay.” Luke sighed. “I’m sorry your wedding day was ruined. We tried to make it nice for ya.”
The unshed tears fell onto Kathy’s cheeks. “You did. You all made it the best wedding any girl could hope for. I’m so grateful to all of you for your kind attentions. It was everything I ever dreamed my wedding would be.” She burst into wrenching sobs.
Luke studied her with a frown on his face.
“And you must be distraught, too,” Kathy wailed. “Your own brother and sister-in-law! Being shot must be pleasant compared to that!”
Luke pursed his lips. “I can’t say it’s pleasant, but it is better than thinking about Max and Annabel by a long way. But I’m not worried about myself. This shoulder will heal in time. I’m only concerned about Adelaide.”
“I know!” Kathy cried. “She’s all alone now.”
“She’s not alone,” Luke declared. “She’ll come and live with me. I’m her family now.” He cocked an eyebrow at Kathy. “I know it’s not exactly what you signed up for, but it’s the way it is now. I hope you won’t feel too upset about it. I’m her uncle, and her dead father was my brother. She’ll come with me. That’s my last word on the subject.”
“I’m not upset about it at all,” Kathy cried. “I told Adelaide the same thing. I just want to give her a home that’s as loving and comfortable as the one she lost.”
Luke reached out with his good hand and Kathy took it in her own. “That’s my girl. Come here.” He pulled her down on the sofa next to him. “How are you doing with all this? You weren’t too frightened by the fight, were you?”
Kathy couldn’t hold back her tears anymore. Her face twisted up in sobs. Luke let go of her hand, put his hand behind her neck, and drew her down onto his chest. She bumped his shoulder in the process, and he grunted in pain, but he held her to him as she cried. He patted her on the back of the neck, but he didn’t try to comfort her.
She cried until she heard Adelaide’s steps on the stairs. She sat up as Adelaide entered the room. Tears glistened on Luke’s cheeks. Adelaide came over to the sofa with a pile of blankets in her hands.
Adelaide stared at Luke and Kathy together. “Uncle Luke? Are you all right?”
“I’m fine, darlin’,” he told her. “I’m just having a little rest here on the sofa before we head home.”
“Home?” Adelaide shot a glance toward the door of the house.
“That’s right,” Luke replied. “I guess your papa’s wagon is still parked outside. We’ll head back to the farm.”
“But you have to wait here to see the doctor,” Kathy reminded him.
Luke groaned as he hoisted himself off the sofa. “I don’t need a doctor. I’m fine. I’ll thank you just to tie this arm up and help me to the wagon, and then we’ll get out of here.”
With difficulty, he stood up and teetered across the room. In the end, he had to lean on Kathy again. Not a single person showed his face. The house stood bleak and silent all around them.
“Where is everyone?” Kathy asked.
“They’ve probably all gone home,” Luke suggested. “No one wants to disturb us after...what happened.”
“What about the lady who lives in this house?” Kathy asked. “Won’t she want to come back?”
“Mary?” Luke asked. “She’s over at the hotel. Annabel arranged for her to spend the night there. She didn’t know how long the party would go, and she didn’t want Mary put out by people hanging around. She also didn’t know how long it would take for you to get ready to go. She thought you might even want to spend the night here before you went home to the farm.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t do that,” Kathy remarked.
“She just wanted to make sure,” Luke replied. “That’s Annabel, always thinking of everyone but herself. She just wanted to make sure you had the choice if you wanted it. She wanted you to be as comfortable as possible with whatever you decided to do.”
Kathy didn’t want to talk about Annabel anymore, especially not in front of Adelaide, so she didn’t answer. They lurched out onto the front porch. Luke propped himself against the railing while he caught his breath. The same young man leaned against the same post on the other side of the porch.
“Say, Tom,” Luke greeted him. “Would you be kind enough to go upstairs and bring Kathy’s trunks down to the wagon? I appreciate it. Then we’ll head home.”
“Sure thing.” The young man disappeared into the house.
The wagon Max and Luke hid behind during the gun fight still stood in front of the church. Its two horses shifted from one foot to the other in their harnesses and rested their back legs. Kathy thought they must be getting tired from standing so long. But then she remembered that all the events of the day, from her first meeting with the brothers in the train station to this heart-breaking departure, only took a few hours.
