LuvReading, I know you like the old west M7 the best so I've been trying so hard to finish up this chapter. :)
Thanks to everyone who has been reading this story and leaving encouraging reviews, favorites, and follows. I appreciate you so much!
Chapter 23
"You'll be ok," Vin said.
Lucy nodded, wanting to believe his words.
"And Chris will keep you safe," he said. He sounded like he was forcing the words out. "He's a good man."
Lucy glanced over at Chris, loading the wagon with supplies with Buck and Josiah.
"He is," she whispered under her breath.
"Do you need anything?" Vin asked.
Lucy hesitated. The thought of saying goodbye to her brother, yet again, made her heart squeeze painfully. She started to shake her head, then felt tears welling.
"Just you," she said.
"Aww, Luce," Vin sighed. He moved slightly before he caught himself and gave her the space she needed since living with Eli Joe.
Lucy sniffed softly. "I don't like worrying about you. Knowing he's coming," she said.
"I know," Vin said. "I don't like sendin' you away." His jaw tightened. "It should be me keepin' an eye on you. Keepin' you safe."
Lucy could read the guilt and self-recrimination across his face as he said that. She tentatively reached out a hand and took his hand in hers. She squeezed his fingers. It had always been them against the world, for as long as she could remember.
"If there was any other way, you know I'd keep you close. You know that, right?" Vin asked.
Lucy tightened her hold on his hand.
"You…" Chris came around the side of the wagon. He turned his head and coughed. It sounded rougher than it had earlier. "You about ready?" Chris asked her.
Lucy immediately dropped Vin's hand, not wanting to keep Chris waiting on her. "I'm ready," she said, not wanting to test his patience.
Vin frowned, but stepped back.
"We won't be comin' out to the ranch," he said. "Not gonna risk leadin' anyone to Lucy."
Chris nodded once in understanding.
Lucy let Chris help her up to the seat on the wagon. She looked down at Vin, he was watching her with a drawn expression. He hooked his thumbs into his gunbelt and stepped back from the wagon.
Chris got up and took the reins. Lucy turned in the seat to watch Vin. She gave him a small wave.
She turned forward again and settled into the seat.
"Sorry you can't stay with your brother," Chris said, keeping his eyes forward.
Lucy tried to hold back the little sigh that escaped as she thought about leaving Vin to face whoever Eli Joe might bring with him. She looked at Chris to see if he disapproved of her attachment to Vin. Chris' face didn't show any emotion.
"I don't mind being at the ranch," she said honestly. "I like it there," she said, then winced, hoping that wasn't too forward.
Chris looked over at her words.
"I prefer the ranch to being in town," she confessed.
Some of the tension eased from Chris and his face softened. "So do I," he said.
His shoulders started to move with a cough and he turned away from her, the cough racking his body.
Lucy wanted to ask if he was ok, but also knew how much that had annoyed Eli Joe, when he felt he was being questioned.
Lucy and Chris rode the rest of the way to the ranch in silence, Lucy removing Soot from his basket and putting him on her lap for the ride. He batted at a ruffle on her blouse. Chris chuckled and Lucy smiled at him, until the chuckle turned into a cough.
When they reached the ranch, Chris got down. He helped Lucy down and Lucy tried to hide her concern at the coarse sound of his breathing.
"Gonna take care of the horses," Chris said.
Lucy deposited the kitten in his basket. "I can help," she said, hoping it wasn't going to annoy him if she went to the barn with him. But he looked exhausted.
Chris gave a single nod. He started to unhitch the wagon and Lucy moved quickly to help him. When the shafts were on the ground, she went to the horse's head and led the gelding into the barn. Chris walked his stallion behind her. They unharnessed the horses in silence and Lucy hurried to take a bucket to the outdoor pump and get water for them while Chris got them grain.
She could hear him coughing again as he worked and she tried to move faster, splashing some water on her skirt. She got the horses watered, and went back to the wagon to unhitch Gal from the back. She tended her mare while Chris forked hay into each stall.
They worked together unloading the wagon, bringing the packages into the house, Chris bringing feed bags to the barn before he brought the last of the dry goods to the house and added them to what was on the table.
"I just need to clear some space, then I can fix supper," Lucy said. She bit her lip. Would he want supper immediately?
Chris shook his head. "Gonna call it a day. You want help with this?"
Lucy shook her head quickly. "I can do it," she said.
Chris nodded and started toward his room. He didn't say anything about the cough, or how tired he was. Just told her goodnight and went down the short hall. She heard his door click shut.
Lucy stood in the kitchen, looking after him, wishing she knew how to help him. His cough sounded bad. His voice sounded like his throat was starting to ache.
She would make some chicken broth. They had brought back three chickens in a crate. She would clean the kitchen then see about butchering one of them so it could be boiled tomorrow.
Lucy worked quickly. In spite of her concern for Chris, she settled into her task, feeling the pressure of being around so many people in town start to fall away. By the time she was putting the groceries away in the pantry, she was humming quietly to herself.
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Chris coughed again. The cough was more of a nuisance than anything. He hoped it'd be better by morning. He needed to ride out and see how the herd had fared during the week in town.
He rolled over with a groan. He was exhausted. More than the day warranted. From the kitchen came the sounds of Lucy working. He heard something else and stilled, listening.
Quiet humming barely made it to his room, and Chris strained to hear.
It was the sound quiet domesticity, something that had been absent in Chris' life for years.
He listened to Lucy until his eyes fell closed to the sound of her.
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Vin stood in the street watching Chris and Lucy in the wagon until they were out of town and he lost sight of them.
The weight on his shoulders threatened to bow them.
There was a light touch on his back and Vin looked over to see Mary standing beside him.
"Don't like lettin' her go."
"I can imagine," she said.
Vin kept watching the road out of town even though his sister was long gone.
"Why don't you come join me for supper?" Mary asked. When Vin started to shake his head, knowing he was in no shape for company, she cut him off. "I made a ham and biscuits. It's too much for just me to eat."
Vin relented, glad he wasn't going to have to go sit in the noise of the saloon or, worse, alone in the silence of his wagon.
Mary motioned him into a chair in her small kitchen above the newspaper office. She poured him a cup of coffee and brought the meal to the table.
Vin wrapped his hands around the mug, his thoughts not on Mary or the meal she was placing on the table.
"Lucy is fortunate to have a brother like you," Mary said.
A small huff of bitter laughter escaped Vin before he caught it. "She would be fortunate if I could figure out how to take care of her better than sending her off. Leaving her behind. I ain't done nothin' right by her."
"I don't agree," Mary said in that forthright way of hers. She held his eyes. "You've sacrificed for her. Keeping her near you would be easy for you. You're doing the very thing you don't want to do."
Vin started shaking his head. "Chris is doin' everything for her. Things I should be doing." He couldn't move past that. Seeing Chris buy Lucy everything Vin hadn't noticed she needed. Chris by her side to protect her while Vin was forced to stay away to keep Eli Joe from finding her. Chris seeing when Lucy was getting jumpy while Vin was too focused on his own worries about Eli Joe to notice as quickly.
Mary didn't answer right away. "I've felt that way," she finally said quietly. "When Billy visits and I hear about his grandmother helping him with his schoolwork. And both his grandparents attending his school's poetry recitation when it should be me in the front row applauding him. Knowing someone else is tucking him in at night…" her voice trailed off.
Vin moved his hand to cover hers. She didn't pull away, instead turning her hand over to clasp his hand in hers. Her skin was soft under Vin's rough hand. She didn't lower her eyes bashfully or say anything coy. Vin didn't want to let go. Mary didn't ask him to.
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Lucy studied Chris' closed bedroom door. The morning sun was casting a golden glow in the kitchen, long after the time Chris was usually out in the barn doing chores.
Lucy pressed her lips together. She had heard his cough during the night, growing progressively rougher. She wasn't sure if she should check on him. She took a hesitant step towards his door, then stopped. She chewed on the inside of her cheek.
The door opened then, and Lucy jumped back.
Chris stood there, one hand on the door frame like it was holding him up. His face was flushed, his eyes glassy with fever.
"Mornin'," he said, then turned his head into his arm as coughs racked his body.
Lucy backed up a few steps to give him space to make it to the kitchen. He stopped at the kitchen table, bent over the back of the chair, catching his breath.
"Should you…should you be up?" she asked.
"Gotta get the chores taken care of," he said, his voice raspy. Even from her distance, Lucy could hear the wheeze with every breath he took.
"I can do the chores," she said. She bit her lip, hoping he would take her up on her offer. The thought of him stumbling his way out the door to the barn made her nervous. There had been one time Eli Joe had tried to tend to things in the barn after a full evening of drinking. He had staggered along until he passed out just outside the barn. It had started raining and Lucy had struggled to drag him back to the cabin through the mud.
Chris shook his head. He coughed again, then straightened slightly and went to the door. He stopped at the door to catch his breath and started to slide down.
Lucy moved forward instinctively, catching him with one arm over her shoulders. She grunted slightly as she took the bulk of his weight.
"I'm fine," he grumbled.
"Please let me do the chores," she said. "I've had to drag Eli Joe in from the barn when he passed out more than once. It would be easier to get you back to bed while you're still upright."
Chris looked at her then, his glassy eyes narrowing at her words.
"I mean…you can do whatever you think is best," she said. She was aware of how close she was to him, with his body right next to hers, his arm over her. There wouldn't be a way to pull away fast enough if he got angry. But for the first time, she didn't feel the urge to duck away.
"That pig expected you to drag his carcass to bed when he passed out drunk?" Chris rasped.
"It was better when he was passed out than if he stayed awake after drinking," Lucy assured him. It was apparently the wrong assurance, judging by the way Chris's jaw clenched.
"The more you say about that man, the more I can't wait to face him."
Lucy tried to hold back a tremble at the thought of Chris facing off against Eli Joe. For the first time, the thought of anything happening to Chris when Eli Joe and the others showed up made her stomach clench the same way it did when she thought of Vin going up against the gang.
"I don't want you to ever meet up with him," Lucy said, the worry twisting into a sickening knot.
Chris looked down at her. Lucy didn't know what had possessed her to say that, to argue with him. She bit her lip. He was warm against her side. She felt Chris shift away from her, trying to take some of his weight off her.
"I'm good now," he said.
The way he was wheezing made Lucy doubt that, but she didn't stop him from moving away, standing on his own feet, even as she stayed near enough to help if he needed.
Chris kept a hand on the wall to keep himself upright. He pulled his long black coat from the hook near the door.
Lucy debated finishing getting his breakfast ready, or going with him. The way he coughed, leaning on the door frame again to catch his breath after made up her mind. She took her own duster from the hook and slipped it on against the morning chill, falling in step with him. She glanced at him to see if he looked annoyed at her presence.
He didn't say anything, so Lucy went to the barn with him. She took a pail and went to the outdoor pump to start on watering the horses in their stalls. The rest of the herd would have access down at the pond.
She kept an eye on Chris, the way he looked weaker and weaker as he brought grain to each of the horses. She set the water pail aside quickly when she saw him going toward the loft.
"I'll get it," she said quickly. She hurried up the ladder and forked the hay down before Chris could argue. But one look at him made it clear he didn't have the energy to argue. He forked the hay to the stalls while Lucy finished watering the animals.
She knew he usually cleaned the stalls before breakfast and fervently hoped he wouldn't try to do that this morning.
Without comment, Chris set aside the pitchfork. He waited for Lucy before heading toward the small house.
Lucy finally let out a breath when they made it back inside. Chris coughed again, this time his face turning purple, then nearly blue.
He gasped for breath when the fit passed, bent over the table, hands braced on the tabletop to keep himself upright.
Lucy hovered nearby, her own chest tightening.
Chris finally straightened, he blinked and took a staggering step. Lucy rushed forward and again caught him by slipping under his arm, taking what weight she could.
"Sorry," Chris muttered, leaning heavily on her.
Lucy didn't know what to say. Confusion mixed with the worry. The thought of a husband apologizing for using his wife was too foreign.
She let out a small breath of relief when he started moving back toward his room.
He was breathing heavily by the time they made it, an awkward shuffle with Lucy bearing a good portion of his weight.
He nearly collapsed onto the bed, his eyes closing while his feet were still on the floor.
Familiar with the routine of putting a nearly unconscious man to bed, Lucy pulled off Chris' boots, ignoring his weak protest that he could manage. He got his legs into bed and she pulled the blankets over him. The worry knotting her stomach wasn't part of the routine she had had with Eli Joe, though. Wanting to take care of him and not just doing it out of obligation or fear.
Chris coughed again, a spasm of coughs that seemed never ending and Lucy bit her lip with worry.
"I'm fine," he said when he finally caught his breath and saw her still standing over him.
"I'll get you some tea," she said.
She had seen the tea he had purchased in town the day before and hurried for it, pulling the tea kettle to the front of the stove to heat. She could hear his coughs as she steeped the tea leaves and added a generous amount of honey.
Bringing it back to his room, she hesitated when he didn't open his eyes. She carefully set the hot mug on the table next to his bed.
"Thanks," he mumbled without opening his eyes.
Lucy didn't push him to take a drink, as much as she knew he needed the liquid. She left the room quietly.
She knew Chris mucked out the stalls every morning. Worried he would try to do that today and completely collapse, she hurried back to the barn. She had been the one who cleaned the barn for the couple mounts Eli Joe had—and whatever horses they were housing of his gang when they came around—but it had been a couple months and her muscles protested by the end of the chore.
She knew she was going to have to saddle one of the mounts and check on the herd later, they had been on their own for the week she and Chris had been in town, but she needed to check on Chris again.
She hurried back up to the house, listening as soon as she came through the door for his cough.
He looked even worse than when she had left him. He didn't open his eyes at her approach.
She tentatively reached out a hand and placed it on his forehead. He was warmer than she had expected. He moved restlessly and Lucy withdrew her hand.
He needed a cool rag to bring his fever down. A poultice to draw the congestion from his chest, and some broth.
"I'll be right back," she said. "I'm going to make some things to help you feel better."
Chris coughed in response and stirred feverishly.
The worry twisting the knot grew and Lucy forced herself to stay calm. He would be ok. She would make sure he was ok. The sight of the man who had seemed to be invincible overtaken by illness wasn't reassuring.
She had ended up butchering the chicken the night before so she could simmer the meat overnight for a broth. She got a mug and ladled that in first. She set it aside to cool slightly. Going to the pantry she pulled out an onion, garlic cloves and ground mustard, wrinkling her nose as the scents mixed.
It didn't take long to mash together the ingredients to make a warm poultice. She carried the pot along with the mug of broth and a towel back to Chris' room.
He coughed, his entire body jerking with the force of it.
She set her supplies on the bedside table, then wavered. Chris coughed again and she drew a breath.
"Mr. Larabee—Chris," she said. "I have something to help your cough." She tentatively reached a hand towards the covers that barely covered him anymore with the way he had been tossing.
She reached for the buttons of the shirt he had worn to bed. "I—I'm sorry," she said, her own cheeks heating as she started the necessary task of unbuttoning the shirt.
Chris barely stirred, his breathing a rough wheeze, eyes closed, skin dry and fevered.
When she had his chest exposed, she took the thick mixture and scooped some from the pot with her fingers. She hesitated again then began to spread the poultice over his chest. The intimacy of being in his room, removing his shirt, had her fingers shaking.
His movements stilled slightly at her touch. She focused on the task. "This—this will help your cough," she said, his muscles firm under her fingers. She kept her eyes only on what she was doing, not letting them stray toward his face for fear he might open his eyes.
She was relieved when she finished the task and cleaned her fingers on the towel before laying it over the mixture on Chris' chest. But she could still feel the burn of his skin across her fingertips. She pulled his sheet back up over him, willing her thoughts back under control as she quickly pulled her hands away from him and the strength that radiated from him even when he was laid flat.
"I have some broth," she said, though he wasn't giving any sign of hearing her.
She took the spoon from the mug and held it to his lips. He didn't respond to it, so she dribbled it into his mouth the best he could, pulling the spoon away when he swallowed. She repeated the process until he had swallowed nearly half the broth.
Chris stirred, but didn't open his eyes.
Lucy took the mug and pot back to the kitchen. She set them near the sink and washed her hands of the garlic and onion smell.
Her hands trembled and she willed them to stop. The combination of the fear for Chris' condition and being so close to him overwhelmed her. She sucked in a breath, held it, let it out slowly. Then again. And again, until her hands were steady and she had her emotions under control. She had to keep it together. Chris needed her. And she needed him.
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