Chapter 34
Vin made his way down the couple stairs outd of his and Buck's bunkhouse, navigating the descent on his crutches.
Kaylee hurried forward to his side.
"I'm good," Vin assured her as he got his feet on level ground. He made his way to Ezra's truck and frowned as she had to open the passenger door for him. "Be better when I can do things for myself," he muttered.
Kaylee gave his arm a squeeze. "You're doing lots for yourself, Vin."
"Sure," Buck's voice rang out as he approached the truck. "You goin' to tell her I had to give you a sponge bath?" Buck asked with a grin.
Vin narrowed his eyes at Buck and Buck looked at him innocently. "Needed help getting into the shower," Vin grumbled. "Wasn't a sponge bath."
Buck chuckled and took Vin's crutches, handing them over to Kaylee to hold.
"I had my shorts on," Vin added defensively.
Buck helped him up into the tall truck. "Wouldn't have helped you if you didn't."
Buck shut the passenger side door on him before Vin could say anything more. He leaned back in his seat while Kaylee opened the back door to the four door truck and stowed Vin's crutches inside. He rubbed at his aching knee absently, stopping when Kaylee got in the truck and looked at the movement with concern.
"Just a little stiff this morning," he told her.
Kaylee's brow stayed creased, but she turned on the truck and started pulling out.
"Sorry you had to give me a ride after only a couple days home," Vin said. "Surgeon didn't have any other appointments open until next month." And this appointment was at his office in a town closer to Denver, two hours away.
Kaylee glanced at him, surprise showing in her green eyes. "I don't mind," she said sincerely. "I'm happy I can take you."
Vin sighed and leaned back. "I'll be a lot happier when I can do things myself."
"When Buck doesn't have to shower you?" she asked, her lips twitching.
Vin narrowed his eyes at her. Kaylee let out a snort of laughter.
"Stop it," Vin said mildly.
Kaylee pressed her lips together so hard they turned white, but a squeak of laughter escaped.
"It ain't funny," Vin said.
Kaylee's shoulders shook. She kept her eyes forward, but another snort of laughter made it out. "You're right," she said, her voice strangled with suppressed laughter. "Nothing funny about Buck as your nurse."
Vin let out a sigh, hoping she would let it go.
"Maybe you should get him a little nurse's hat to wear," she said, giggles finally escaping.
"He makes a hell of a lot better nurse than Chris," Vin said.
Kaylee darted a look at him. Vin felt his own lips tugged toward a smile.
"He never got you stoned," Kaylee agreed.
Vin thought back to his fuzzy memories of the poker tournament when Chris had made sure he had ample amounts of alcohol and pain pills. "Definitely better than Chris," Vin said, finally grinning.
Kaylee turned her attention back to the gravel driveway in front of them, her face relaxed in a smile, no trace of the tension she had been carrying in Vegas.
Vin hoped it would last. Maybe she had been telling the truth and she had just needed to send money back home to fix past mistakes, that everything was fine. Everything in him wanted to protect her, to make sure she wasn't in any trouble.
They drove past Chris' house, down the winding driveway. As they followed the downhill slope, a big truck approached them, coming up the drive.
Kaylee steered Vin's truck to the side as the other pick up pulled up alongside them. Chris rolled his window down and looked between Kaylee and Vin.
"You two up to something?" he asked.
Vin ignored the barely veiled suspicion. He knew Chris hadn't missed that Kaylee was hiding something, none of them had. And it was true he was the one person who knew some of what she was keeping from Ezra.
Josiah leaned forward to see around Chris and greeted them with a more amiable good morning.
"Vin has his appointment with the surgeon today," Kaylee said. "To see how bad his ACL is torn and see when they can schedule surgery."
Chris grunted his response. "You got room for another?" he asked.
"You want to come with?" Vin asked.
"Be good to hear what the surgeon says," Chris said. "Be there if it ain't what you want to hear."
Vin had thought of that possibility more times than he could count. Every night, lying in bed, waiting for sleep to come, as he wondered what his life would be if his knee couldn't be repaired. If he was done rodeoing. Would he stay behind every summer with Rain and her grandpa while the rest traveled the circuit?
"Get in," Vin said.
Chris said something to Josiah and Josiah nodded, moving over to the driver's seat.
Chris got out and stood next to the driver's side door of Vin's truck. Kaylee looked down at him.
Chris raised his eyebrows. Kaylee raised hers.
"I'll drive," he said.
Kaylee didn't move immediately and Vin waited to see if one of them would push it. The tension between them had only ramped up since returning home. Vin wasn't sure if it was Kaylee throwing up more defenses or Chris' protective nature driving it, but he wasn't exactly looking forward to a two hour drive to the appointment with both of them in the truck together.
Kaylee finally opened the door and hopped down. She got in the back and slid into the middle seat.
Chris got in the truck. Vin saw Kaylee's wary look at him, Chris' appraisal of her that stopped just short of suspicion. And if you didn't know the man, you wouldn't read the concern that was lying beneath that look. Vin silently sent Chris a look telling him to temper his glare. Chris made a visible attempt and shifted the truck into gear, pulling forward.
"More leg room up front," Chris said, his voice rough. "Thanks."
Vin glanced back at Kaylee, her mouth twisted to the side in concern as she looked cautiously at Chris.
Vin knew how protective Chris was of those close to him. It was no secret he would lay down his life for Buck, for Mary, for any of them. Vin looked out his window to keep Larabee from seeing the look on his face. The humor he knew he couldn't suppress when he realized Chris would do the same thing, even for Ezra. He suspected neither Ezra or Chris would be too appreciative of that fact becoming common knowledge. At some point, the stern bull rider and cynical gambler had become brothers. And recently, Chris had apparently decided Kaylee fell under his jurisdiction to protect.
"You want to get lunch while we're in Denver?" Kaylee asked Vin.
"Yeah," Vin said, letting her interrupt his thoughts. She smiled warmly at him with one more nervous look toward Chris and Vin couldn't help but smile back, in spite of the concerns he still carried for her. "Wherever you want."
Vin glanced between the two of them. Chris' glare fixed on the road ahead and Kaylee's darting glances up toward Chris. He let out a sigh and settled back in his seat for the long ride to the surgeon's office.
#
Ezra poured feed into the last bull's dish. He looked at the sun, then at his watch, wondering how close to Denver Kaylee and Vin were. He knew Kaylee had offered to drive Vin to his first meeting with the surgeon out of guilt as much as her friendship. He wished she would stop blaming herself for an injury that wasn't that uncommon in the rodeo.
Barney trotted along at his side and Ezra looked down at the dog. "Do you think you could do a better job of convincing her?" he asked.
The dog's tongue lolled out of his mouth and his tail wagged hard enough to make his body wriggle with it.
The first round of the day's work done, Ezra headed back to the house for breakfast. The one thing he missed while at home was the leisurely mornings the months on the road afforded. He smiled as he thought how easily Kaylee had fit into his home. Like the heart he hadn't realized his home had been lacking. She was an early riser whether on the road or at the ranch. Having her alongside while he did chores the last two days had made the days pass quickly. Having her sitting across the table from him, coaxing laughter from him with her commentary of the day had brought an easy peace to the evenings.
He was surprised to see JD's SUV, the vehicle he left behind when he and Buck traveled for the summer, parked in front of his house.
"If you are here for relationship advice, Mrs. Wells would advise you to go elsewhere," Ezra said.
"What?" JD asked. "Oh, no. Nothin' like that. I needed to talk to Kaylee."
"She's taking Mr. Tanner to his medical appointment today."
"Oh," JD said. He frowned and Ezra could nearly hear the wheels turning in his head.
"Can I be of assistance?" Ezra asked, hoping he wouldn't regret the offer.
JD's eyes brightened with hope and Ezra felt something akin to dread at the look on his face.
Ezra opened his door and let the younger man in.
Ezra hung his hat on a hook and toed off his boots. He made his way to the kitchen, seeing an egg bake sitting on the counter with a note.
Sorry to miss breakfast with you. Love you tons!
Ezra folded the note in half and stuck it on the side of the fridge, tucked out of plain view, smiling to himself.
He turned back to his unexpected guest.
"Coffee?" he asked.
JD nodded and Ezra dished him up the still warm breakfast casserole with it.
"So tell me, what were you hoping my wife could assist you with?" Ezra asked. He silently begged that it not be help looking for an engagement ring for Casey. He had no desire to lock horns with Nettie Wells again if word got back to her that Ezra was JD's resource for advice again.
"I think I should ask Casey to move in with me," JD said.
Ezra nearly spit his coffee out. "You…what?" he asked, trying to compose himself.
JD set his fork aside without taking a bite of food. "Chris wasn't much help with patching things up with Casey."
"I don't doubt that," Ezra agreed.
"And your advice got me into worse trouble," JD said.
"I didn't offer any advice," Ezra reminded him.
"So I thought doing nothin' didn't work. And proposin' didn't work. So maybe I need to do something in the middle. And since Kaylee's friends with her, I thought she could help me figure out how to ask."
"And you think asking her to move in without benefit of a ring would be the ideal solution?" Ezra asked. "I can only imagine the accolades it would earn you from her grandmother."
"What?" JD asked.
"Mrs. Wells would castrate you," Ezra said blandly.
JD paled.
"You need to change course," Ezra said.
"That's the whole problem!" JD exclaimed in frustration. "I don't have a course!"
Ezra leaned his elbows on the counter, brow furrowing. He didn't have anything to offer JD in the way of help and he was surprised how much that fact bothered him. The truth was, Ezra had never had a course with any woman, other than to avoid commitments or entanglements. Kaylee had somehow driven him entirely off that course.
"Maybe you don't need to be on any mapped out course," Ezra said.
"What?" JD asked.
"What do you really want?" Ezra asked.
JD's brows knit. "To let Casey know that I…that I love her."
Ezra nodded. "That seems reasonable."
"So how do I do that?" JD asked. "As soon as I start talking, I start thinking of all the things I want to say, but don't know how, and I get tangled up. And if Buck's not there to help me, I'm gonna really blow it."
Ezra tried to keep a serious face. "Yes, I don't think requiring Mr. Wilmington's presence is a formula for a lasting relationship."
"So how do I tell her?" JD asked, frustration clear.
Ezra poured himself a cup of coffee before turning back to JD. "Maybe you shouldn't use words."
"What d'you mean?"
Ezra took a sip of the steaming liquid. "Is there something you could give her that would show her how you feel?"
JD's face grew serious, looking down at his untouched plate of food. Then his head snapped up. "Jewelry?" he asked.
Ezra felt a measure of relief. "That would be perfect."
JD looked like he was feeling hope for the first time. "I have some things from my mom. They're real special to me, just like Casey is."
Ezra nodded. This hadn't been difficult.
"My mom's ring—"
Ezra swallowed his coffee quickly and cut him off. "Not a ring," he said.
JD looked confused, then nodded in understanding. "My grandma had a necklace. She lived with me and my mom. When she died, I felt lost. Then I lost my mom and thought I'd never be whole again. Until I met Casey."
"That's a lovely sentiment. And I'm sure the necklace would be meaningful and is a lovely piece."
"It is," JD said, his face bright with enthusiasm.
Ezra smiled, taking a long drink of his coffee.
"And it matches the ring!"
Ezra nearly choked on his coffee. Clearing his throat, he shook his head. "I wouldn't mention the ring to Casey," he said.
#
Kaylee looked around the waiting room. Vin had gone back into his appointment at least an hour ago and she had already flipped through every magazine in the waiting room. Chris sat in one of the uncomfortable chairs, legs stretched out in front of him, hat over his eyes.
She got up and moved to a table that held a small replica of a human leg. She poked at the tendons and ligaments that ran alongside the knee, wondering which one was the ACL, the one Vin would be getting repaired. The small model fell apart with a clatter and Kaylee scrambled to grab at the pieces.
"Sorry," she said, her voice ringing out as loud as the pieces clattering to the table in the silent waiting room. She shot an apologetic glance to the receptionist, feeling her cheeks flame with heat. She tried to put the pieces pack on the stand quickly, but dropped them again.
"Sit down," came Chris' voice.
Kaylee looked over at him. He hadn't moved from his position. With another apology to the receptionist, Kaylee piled the pieces together on the table and hurried back to her chair. She perched on the edge of the seat, her fingers drumming on her jeans clad legs.
Chris used a finger to lift the brim of his hat and look over at her. "It's only been fifteen minutes. You gonna be this wound the entire time?"
Kaylee blinked at him. She looked at the clock on the wall. He was right. The wait had felt interminable.
She took a long breath and told herself to settle down, to stop fidgeting.
Chris lowered his hat again and settled in more comfortably.
She told herself to sit still. To not think about what the surgeon may be saying to Vin.
Her foot started tapping as she thought of Vin losing any use of his knee.
"Do you think he'll blame me?" she asked Chris, the words out before she could catch them.
Again, Chris lifted his hat. His brow furrowed. "What would Ezra have to blame you for?"
Everything, Kaylee thought immediately. But that hadn't been who she was talking about, so she didn't need to share that with Chris. She redirected him to slightly safer—though just as guilt-ridenn—ground
"Vin," she clarified. "If his knee is wrecked. If he can't compete anymore. Or what if—what if he can't even ride anymore?" her panic built the speed and volume of her words. "If he loses everything he loves doing, do you think he'll blame me?"
Chris stared at her.
"He should," Kaylee said, agreeing with the look he was giving her. She blew out another breath and curled her hands into fists, looking down at them. "You're right. It's my fault and there's no reason he shouldn't blame me."
"When in the hell did I say that?"
Kaylee bit her lip. She gave him a sympathetic look, trying to look like she wasn't about to cry. "It's ok. Really. I appreciate you being honest with me."
"I never—"
Kaylee sniffled and Chris reared back.
"Stop that," he said, sounding alarmed.
"I'm sorry," Kaylee said, her apology watery through the tears that threatened.
"Oh hell," Chris said. He stood and crossed to the counter, grabbed the box of tissue and set it in Kaylee's lap as he took his seat again. "Stop crying," he commanded.
"Sorry," Kaylee said again, but the tears moved closer to the edge.
This time it was Chris' turn to blow out a sigh. "Listen," he said, his voice gentler than Kaylee knew he was capable of. "You need to stop blaming yourself. Vin landed wrong. He busted his knee."
Kaylee nodded, she had heard it before. From Vin. From Ezra. Buck and Nathan had tried to convince her.
"What were you supposed to do different?" Chris asked. "Daintily pick him up off his horse and set him gently on the ground? Hold the steer for him?"
The absurdity of the comment and the image it provoked had her looking at him. She saw a hint—just a faint shadow—of humor in his eyes and felt her lips threaten to twitch.
"It happened. Happens to a lot of bulldoggers."
Kaylee nodded slightly, trying to believe what he was saying.
"You take the blame for this injury, does that mean you start takin' credit for his wins?" Chris asked bluntly.
"No!" Kaylee said, looking horrified at the thought. "Of course not." She paused and let what he was saying sink in.
Chris gave her one last look and then settled back into his chair, legs outstretched again, hat down over his face.
"Hey, Chris," Kaylee said.
"Hmm?" he asked from beneath his hat.
"Thanks," Kaylee said.
Chris responded with a grunt. Kaylee settled back into her own chair, looking up at the clock again, wondering how much longer they would have to wait for news about Vin's knee.
#
Chris wondered if Kaylee ever stopped moving. He could hear her moving again. Up pacing the waiting room. He kept his eyes closed, his hat something of a shield from the noise and perpetual motion. He had seen Ezra sit completely still, except for the slight movement of a hand to discard and claim new cards, for an hour or more at a poker table. How Ezra and Kaylee had ended up together was something he didn't know he'd ever figure out. But then, there was a lot about Ezra he had no real desire to figure out.
"Vin?"
Kaylee's voice broke the pattern of restless sounds of her movement. Chris pushed his hat back. He rose as Vin came out the door that led to the exam rooms.
"What'd the doctor say?" Kaylee asked. Chris stilled, waiting to hear what Vin said.
"Said as far as ACLs go, I lucked out. Should be fixed and strong enough to compete on it again by spring."
With a relieved cry, Kaylee wrapped her arms around Vin's neck, nearly unbalancing him on his crutches. Chris watched Vin steady himself, lifting one hand to return the embrace. Vin's face gentling at the tight squeeze from Kaylee and her obvious care for him. And then a different look crossed the Vin's face. Just for a second. So quickly, Chris was sure he imagined it. Longing.
Kaylee disentangled herself from Vin and Vin gave her an easy smile. "Told you I'd be fine."
"I'm so glad," Kaylee said sincerely.
"You ready to head out, Cowboy?" Vin asked, getting his crutches securely beneath him again.
"Ready," Chris said. He shook off whatever he thought he had seen. "Could use that lunch you two were talkin' about getting earlier."
He held the door for Kaylee, relieved to see her face clear of the earlier guilt and worry. Vin made it through on his crutches, no sign of anything but relief himself. Chris shook his head. It had been a long morning. He knew Vin better than that. Still, wouldn't hurt to keep an eye on things more than he had been.
#