Chapter 1 – Off to a Rough Start

I opened my eyes and for the first time I knew where I was – the bedroom that Doralice and me occupied in our house. It wasn't the first time I'd opened my eyes in a while – just the first time I recognized my surroundings. I tried to roll over, and the pain hit me like I'd been caught underneath a cattle stampede.

"Don't, Bart – let me help you."

What a joy it was to hear that voice – no matter how much pain I was in. "Doralice?" It came out as a raspy-voiced whisper, but at least it was audible.

"You're awake!"

"Don't usually talk if I'm not."

"Oh, Bart . . . you don't know how I've waited to hear you say something."

Doralice helped me turn sideways in bed, and I got to see her beautiful face since . . . I don't know when. She looked tired. "Been here long?"

"Almost two weeks."

Two weeks? Had I been . . . I couldn't have been . . . two weeks? "I've been here . . . "

"Dr. Petry had you for almost five days before he'd let them move you. You been here since then."

"Unconscious?"

"No, not all the time. You'd open your eyes and lay there, just lookin' at nothin'. But when I talked, you didn't answer. Today's the first time . . . " I saw a tear slide down her cheek, and I tried to reach up and wipe it away . . . again, that awful pain. She wiped it off with the back of her hand while she told me, "Don't. The bullet got your lung pretty good. Simon's had you on laudanum all this time, just so you could heal some before you started tryin' to move around."

"No wonder." It tasted like pigs had been rootin' around in my mouth.

She figured out pretty quick what I meant. "Promise me you won't try to move by yourself and I'll get you some tea. And don't even ask about coffee; the answers no."

"Honey."

"In the tea? Sure."

I watched her walk out of the room and then closed my eyes. When I opened them again she was just sittin' back down, with what looked like a cup in her hands. "Let me set this down and I'll see if I can prop up your head a little."

Two pillows later and I was better able to drink. Doralice held the cup to my lips and it wasn't bad; anything tasted better than laudanum. I got almost the full cup down before I ran out of steam. "That's good," she murmured, and put the cup down on the floor. "Better now?"

"Yeah," I told her, and then thought of somethin' else. "Bret?"

"He's still here, staying at the house, I mean. He's been a big help, lookin' after you. He rode out to the ranch today to see Beauregard and Ben, but he'll be back later."

"How long is he . . . ?"

"Gonna stay? As long as it takes, he says. Ginny's on a case in Kansas that could take a while, and Bret's not goin' anywhere."

"Sorry."

"Sorry? For what? There's nothin' for you to be sorry about."

"No wedding."

"We'll get there. When you got shot I thought I'd lost my groom. The wedding will wait."

"Love you."

She leaned over the bed and kissed my cheek. "I love you too. You close your eyes and get some more sleep. I'll be here when you wake up."

I was exhausted, and hadn't been awake and talking more than fifteen or twenty minutes. So I closed my eyes and waited for sleep to come. It didn't take long.

XXXXXXXX

Doralice lied to me; she wasn't at my bedside when I opened my eyes the next time. There was another face there, one I'd known a lot longer, if less intimately. Brother Bret. I'd recognize those dimples anywhere.

"I heard a rumor that you'd woken up. Welcome back, little brother."

"Hey."

"How's the pain?"

I wasn't about to drink any more of that foul-tasting stuff that Simon called medicine, so I lied. "Not bad."

"Really not bad, or the laudanum just tastes awful?"

I almost laughed, which would have hurt somethin' awful. My brother knew me too well. I made an ugly face, instead.

Bret did the laughing for me. "That's what I thought. Wish you'd take some, anyway. It'd help with the pain."

"Alright, but just a swallow." One swallow turned into two, then three, but that was all I could handle. "Water," I gasped, and Bret pulled a glass of water from nowhere. When I was done I had one more question. "Where's Doralice?"

"Went down to do somethin' for Maude. I expect her back anytime."

"You the substitute nurse?"

"One of 'em, anyway."

"Too much for just you two?'

"Sorta. Simon wanted somebody here with you all the time."

Simon. Bret had called Doctor Petry Simon. I wondered if that meant the old animosity was a thing of the past, where it belonged. "Simon? Not Doctor Petry?"

My brother looked sheepish and shook his head. "Nope. That was all over the night he took the bullet outta your lung. It's hard to stay at odds with somebody that saves your brother's life. Besides, Simon and Althea were a long time ago."

Bret was right about that. Years ago he'd been attracted to Althea Taylor and was flirting with the idea of marriage – until Althea and Simon fell in love with each other, right under Bret's nose. It was ages before he'd even refer to the two of them by name, but it sounded like he'd finally gotten past all that. Of course, the presence of Ginny Malone in his life had a lot to do with that, too. Speaking of which . . .

"You and Ginny?"

"We're fine, if that's what you're askin'. Ginny's in Wichita ridin' herd on some kinda bank robbery ring, and I had no desire to get involved, for once. Besides, I promised Pappy I'd come stay for a while. I didn't know my little brother was gonna try to get married."

"Try?" I guess I sounded a little offended, because Bret was quick to settle me down.

"Easy, Brother Bart. Nobody's sayin' you didn't want to. But Simon says it's gonna be a while before you're fit enough to reschedule the weddin'. That's all I meant."

I heard the front door open and brightened immediately. "Doralice?" My voice still wasn't much stronger than a raspy murmur, probably from breathing through my mouth because of the injured lung. But she must have heard me because she answered right away.

"I'm here, darlin'. I brought you a visitor. She wanted to see you awake for herself." The two best lookin' blondes in my life entered the room, one after the other, and I'm not sure whose smile was bigger, mother or daughter. Doralice hung back and let Maude come to my bedside first; even Bret backed off to that force of nature.

"Next time give 'em the money." Maude boomed that big laugh of hers and gave me a kiss before continuing. "You gave us all quite a scare, Mr. Maverick. And before we could even get you into the family. Hello, Bret," and she planted another kiss on my brother. No one could ever accuse Maude of being shy. Then she turned back to me and got inordinately quiet before taking hold of my right hand. "Thank you for savin' my baby girl. Again. I can't ever tell you how much that means to me." I saw a tear in Maude's eye that threatened to spill over.

"I love you, too, Maudie," I struggled to tell her. "Sorry to leave you short-handed."

"Don't you worry about that, honey. You just take your time and get well. My Doralice seems to think you'll make a decent husband." I got one more kiss and a quick hand squeeze, and she was gone.

"Didn't wanna wear you out," Doralice explained.

I know better than that. Maude didn't want that tear to be seen.