Lone Heart Pass (20 page)

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

Thatcher
April 2

T
HATCHER
HAD
NEVER
had so much attention in his life. He tried pulling away, thinking he'd just hop out of the hospital and catch a ride back to Crossroads. Only the vampire in white wanted blood. And the tall nurse, with an evil glint in her left eye, kept telling him he'd have to have shots. Then there was the chubby woman in an old wool suit. She kept asking him where his mother was, as if it was his job to keep up with Sunny Jones.

Finally, Mr. Norton showed up. Thatcher had never been so happy to see the principal.

Mr. Norton managed to calm everyone down. He said that Thatcher's mother was on vacation and would be flying in soon, but the boy needed attention now and he was sure that the law required a minor, even without consent of parents, to receive emergency care. As a representative of the school district, he was fully prepared to authorize consent for care, if needed.

Thatcher didn't understand half of what they were talking about, but he got the shots and the bandage while Mr. Norton told them all about how the boy was a real hero, facing gunfire to save a sheriff's life.

Thatcher didn't want to tell them all that it didn't exactly happen that way, but he'd had enough painkillers to decide Mr. Norton's account of the afternoon sounded better than his.

When the staff finally moved on to the next screamer a few curtains away, he asked Mr. Norton, “Any chance Kristi came with you?”

Norton smiled a kind of smile that said he could read Thatcher's thoughts. “She wanted to, but I wasn't sure what shape you were in. She was upset that you were shot. When I left, she said she planned to make you a poster.”

Great! Just what I need, a poster.

Thatcher tried not to look too disappointed that she wasn't outside the door waiting. “We're friends.”

The principal probably knew that he'd looked at Kristi's bra that night her blouse was wet. Thatcher was about to confess to all his wicked thoughts when Mr. Norton spoke up.

“She told me you two eat lunch together.” Mr. Norton sat down on the bed. “She said you are one of the brightest, funniest boys she's ever talked to. Is that true?”

Thatcher shook his head. “No. Half the time she's so smart I don't even know what she's talking about.”

“Well, son, she is a grade ahead of you.”

“It's more than that, Mr. Norton. I've figured out that girls talk about and worry over things that guys don't even think about.”

“You're telling me. I live with three of them.”

He couldn't believe he was sitting there talking to the principal of the school, as if they were just regular people. If he'd owned a cell phone, he would have taken a picture. The principal even offered to take Thatcher's truck to the one-eleven turn-off where it could be picked up later. Thatcher knew the old piece of junk would be as safe there as it would sitting in the school parking lot.

“Kristi tells me you've been staying out at Lone Heart Ranch while your mom has been gone. That true?”

“Yep. I've been helping out some. We're working on a chicken coop that looks like a castle. I drew it up and Charley Collins showed me how to make it happen.”

“Tell me about it,” the principal said.

Thatcher started talking. He knew Mr. Norton was just trying to get his mind off being shot, but he didn't care. For once, he was talking about something he understood.

Mr. Norton told him the design sounded great and he should think about being an architect.

Thatcher said he'd give it some thought, but coroner and law enforcement were still on the table. Leaning back, he closed his eyes. The sounds around him made any hope of sleep impossible. People talking, carts rolling, machines beeping. This would be the last place anyone would think of coming to rest.

Lauren Brigman rushed in. She hugged him so hard he thought about asking for another X-ray. Finally, she let go and patted him.

She sat beside him and asked him to tell her every detail. “I have to write it down for Pop. He'll want to know what you saw when he wakes up.”

Thatcher tried to tell her everything in order, just like he'd told the highway patrolman who rode with him in the ambulance and the cop who came in after they finished doctoring up his leg.

“I'd been out at the Breaks picking up a few baby chicks for Charley's daughter, Lillie. I was on my way back to the Lone Heart Ranch when I came up on the cruiser. It was crossways in the road and for a second I thought the sheriff was just making sure I would stop. Then I saw the windshield out and the tires all flat. I pulled up and was counting the bullet holes in the doors when I saw something by the road.”

Thatcher didn't want to tell Lauren the next detail. He knew she'd cry. But she was waiting.

“The sheriff was down on the dirt with his arms spread out. Blood was everywhere. When I knelt over him, he looked up at me and said, almost calm-like, ‘Get out of here, fast.'

“I figured he was out of his head, so I wrapped the arm that wasn't bloody around my neck and started pulling him up. I told him I wasn't leaving without him. We were almost to my pickup when we heard gunfire. I grabbed his duty belt at his waist and we ran to my truck with him dragging one leg and leaving a trail of blood behind him.” He took a breath. “Your dad's real heavy but I made up my mind I wasn't leaving him. Not out in the dirt looking like roadkill.”

She stopped writing and looked up. He saw the thank-you in her light blue eyes; she didn't have to say a word.

Thatcher straightened, knowing he'd done the right thing. “There wasn't time to get him inside the cab. Bullets were popping all around us. I just helped him into the bed, jumped in and hit the gas.”

“You saved his life,” she whispered.

Thatcher watched her. “You're not going to hug me again, are you?”

“No.” She smiled. “When Pop gets out of surgery, he'll want to know if you saw anyone or anything.”

He shook his head. “It all happened so fast I didn't have time to look around. All I could think about was getting the sheriff help and getting us both out of the line of fire.”

Lauren put down her notes and said she had to get back to the waiting room to be near her father, but Thatcher could see the tears she was fighting to hold in. Mr. Norton must have seen them, too, because he walked with her to the door.

Thatcher leaned back, thinking how tired he felt. As if he'd run the twelve miles to school and then turned around and run home. He watched them talking, wondering how Mr. Norton knew the right words to say. They must teach that in principal school.

Finally, she turned back and smiled at him. “Take care of that wound, Thatcher.”

“One of the nurses already threatened me if I didn't keep it clean. Keep me up on how the sheriff's doing, would you?”

She nodded. “I'll find a way.”

“I'm heading out of here tonight. Wish the sheriff was going home, too.” He looked at the principal. “Any chance you could cover up that cage of chicks I got in my truck? It's supposed to get cold tonight and I'd hate to disappoint Lillie by bringing home frozen chicks.”

Mr. Norton said he had a blanket in his car.

Lauren tugged off her Texas Tech jacket and tossed it on Thatcher's bed. “If it's getting colder, you might need this. Wear it home. I'll pick it up later.”

When Lauren disappeared, Mr. Norton did, too. A few minutes later he was back with a file of papers and a box of supplies. “You ready to get out of here? I'll drive you to Lone Heart Ranch. I'll get the truck for you later.”

“You bet.” He pulled on the Tech jacket.

A guy in white showed up with a wheelchair. Apparently, this was just a “fix them up” room and not a “let them rest” room. Which was fine with Thatcher. This was his first visit to a hospital, and he decided it would also be his last. If you weren't hurting when you went in, you would be by the time you got out.

The evil-eyed nurse was back, rattling off orders. Thatcher didn't even bother to listen. He didn't plan on following any rules.

They tried to hand him crutches, but Thatcher only took one. No telling how much two would cost.

“I can hop out,” he said, even if he was feeling sleepy.

Mr. Norton told him he'd have to ride in the wheelchair. It was standard procedure. Whatever that meant.

Thatcher zipped the jacket. It looked just like the one he'd seen Tim wear. They must issue them to anyone who went to Tech. He felt smarter just wearing it.

As he was rolled out into the waiting room, Thatcher noticed all kinds of cops. Highway patrolmen, city police, sheriffs. It looked like a convention for everyone who wore a badge.

As Thatcher's wheelchair moved through the crowd, they cleared a path for him, and then they did something strange. They all stood. Some nodded or smiled at him. A few patted him on the back. But they all looked at him straight, as if they were really seeing him.

Mr. Norton leaned down and whispered, “They are paying their respects. You saved one of their own. Now every policeman and sheriff around will know who you are.”

Great, Thatcher thought. All he needed was a hundred guardian cops. This one good deed he'd done would ruin any chance he had of living life on the wrong side of the law. Not that he'd considered it, but the option now seemed to be off the table.

He might as well figure out what it took to be a sheriff because he seemed destined to walk the straight and narrow.

Looking straight ahead, he didn't know what to do. Waving as though he was on a float didn't seem right, and neither did ignoring the lineup of badges. He settled on looking sick. The worse he looked the less likely they were to hug him.

At the end of the line, by the front doors, he spotted Charley Collins. The tall cowboy stood, hat in hand, waiting.

Just as he knew Charley would, he took charge. He thanked Mr. Norton for calling him and said, “Let's go home, That. You've had a long day.”

They stepped outside to flashing lights. Then, like a curtain closing, they were surrounded by lawmen. The line of uniforms stretched all the way to Charley's pickup, which was parked illegally in front the emergency room. No reporter had a chance of getting close.

As Charley pulled out, a Lubbock sheriff's department cruiser was in front of him leading the way, and two highway patrol cars were behind them. They stayed with the truck, lights flashing, until it turned off at Lone Heart.

Thatcher relaxed in the familiar feel of the pickup. As he watched the light blinking ahead of them, he drifted in and out of sleep. What happened on the back road only hours ago seemed more like a dream now.

Charley didn't say a word until he opened the door to help Thatcher out. Then he said, “You did the right thing, son. I'm proud of you.”

That meant more to Thatcher than anything anyone had ever said to him. Charley was someone he looked up to.

As Thatcher limped inside, he admitted, “I was too scared to think of anything else to do.”

Charley laughed. “I think I would have been, too.”

As they moved inside, Jubilee and Lillie were waiting with hugs.

Thatcher protested, but not too hard.

When Lillie kept patting on him, he said, “I went out to the Breaks to pick up some baby chicks for you, Flower, but Mr. Norton has them now.”

“He'll bring them over tomorrow,” Charley yelled from the kitchen. “He said Kristi wants to come by and check on you.”

Thatcher was tired and hurting, but the thought of Kristi hugging him cheered him up. Since he hadn't started this boyfriend/girlfriend thing, he had no idea how long it would last, but while it did he planned to collect as many hugs as he could.

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

Jubilee
April 2

“H
OW
IS
HE
?”
Jubilee whispered to Charley when Thatcher went in the bathroom to change.

Charley leaned on the counter a few inches away from her. “He's tired. Probably all the adrenaline and painkillers. Norton told me the nurse said he'd sleep solid tonight, but tomorrow he'll be in pain. They gave him some pills if he needs them.”

“He won't take them.”

“I know. Norton said he never even cried.” Charley grinned. “Says he cusses worse then anyone he's ever heard. The kid is more worried about the sheriff than himself.”

Thatcher came out of the bathroom in boxer shorts and a T-shirt. “I'm not wearing those pajamas,” he mumbled, “and I don't usually wear underwear, but I will since you left them out.”

“Good.” Jubilee smiled at the kid. She'd expected him to be grouchy as a bear. “I drove to town to buy what I thought you'd need. You're going to stay put for a few days and rest.”

“I heard it all at the hospital. The chubby nurse said she'd come out and sit on me if I didn't stay off my leg.” He let Lillie help him with his covers. She tucked him in as if he was one of her dolls.

“You are in my hospital, That,” Lillie said. “I will take care of you.”

“That's fine, Flower.”

The little girl put her fists on her hips. “You got to do what I say. I'm the princess doctor.”

“Great. I take one bullet and now I have to mind someone wearing Tinker Bell pajamas.”

She tucked one of her stuffed ponies beside him.

Jubilee broke into the conversation while she still could. “Would you like some supper, or milk and cookies?”

He leaned against the pillow. “No, thanks. I just want to go to sleep. It seems about thirty hours have gone by since I stepped out of school this afternoon.”

Charley turned off the living room lights, leaving only one small lamp on next to Thatcher's couch of a bed. “If you wake up in the night, you yell before you get up. No matter what you need, you call me. That leg may hurt when you put any weight on it.”

“Don't think there is much chance of me waking up. I feel like I could crash right here for a week.” Thatcher sounded almost asleep. “Wake me when there's news on the sheriff.”

“I will.”

Lillie crawled up on the chest next to his bed and said she'd tell him a story even though his eyes were already closed.

Charley motioned for Jubilee to follow him out to the porch. The night was cool. They left the door open so they could see Thatcher.

The moment they were alone, she moved into Charley's arms. “He's all right,” she whispered. “I've been so worried.”

Charley's cheek touched hers as he whispered, “I'm not so sure about the sheriff. He's got some complications. Lauren texted me to make sure Thatcher got home all right and said it looked like they were in for a long night. I should have been with him.”

“But...”

“He asked me once if I'd go along as backup and I told him I would. If he'd have called, I would have been with him.”

She felt her blood chill. “You might have been killed, Charley.”

“Or, I might have been able to help.”

Jubilee moved closer to Charley. She couldn't seem to pull away. The thought that he might have been hurt circled in her mind. Over the weeks they'd become a team. She depended on him. “Promise me you won't go out there, Charley.”

“I can't lie to you.” His muscles tightened as if he expected a blow. “If I'm needed, I'll go. Someone out there may have shot the sheriff on purpose.”

She could feel his anger as he added, “They shot at our Thatcher.”

For a long while they simply held each other. She could almost hear the words they weren't saying. She didn't want him to go, but she admired him, too.

Finally, they relaxed and talked about what might need to be done. For Thatcher. To protect the ranch. If the sheriff needed Charley to help.

With him pressed against her side, as if the porch were too tiny for them to stand apart, she knew whatever had to be done could be done.

She told him about how the van that had delivered Destiny's twins showed up again right after he left. Any hope that her sister would be leaving had vanished when the cook and nanny climbed out along with the yoga teacher. They'd marched into the house like troops going to war.

“Apparently, Mason couldn't stand the thought of his dear wife suffering here on the ranch. He agreed to send help if she'd just consider coming back to him.”

Charley was surprised that Mason wanted the spoiled, self-centered woman back but there seemed little reason when it came to love.

“I joined the cause and promised her I'd try to survive here without her, but I'm afraid she's not finished mapping out my life for me yet.

“The staff will make it complicated here, but Destiny said the nanny and cook cried to come help with the twins and Mason gave in there, too.

“I gave her staff bedrooms, then left, saying I needed to take the babysitters home. Lillie and I went shopping after dropping off the teenagers. Destiny didn't miss me—she's in her element now. She has troops to boss around.”

“Good. Stay here,” Charley whispered as he nuzzled against Jubilee's neck. “I love the way you smell.”

She pushed him away, then laughed when he protested and pulled her back against him. “I'm not finished,” he muttered as he kissed the spot just below her ear.

Jubilee giggled, needing this playful interaction as much as he did. They'd both had a stressful day, she told herself. They needed to relax a little.

But she knew it was more even if she didn't want to admit that just maybe she needed this man as she'd never needed anyone.

After one gentle kiss, he turned her so that her back was against his chest. His arms circled her, cocooning her. They were both aware of Lillie's voice drifting from inside. This was not the time or place to take what they were doing further.

Jubilee smiled, guessing when that time came, she'd be the one advancing.

He told her about the talk in the emergency room. If whoever shot at the sheriff recognized Thatcher, they might come after him, thinking he had seen something. A man willing to shoot a sheriff wouldn't hesitate to kill a witness.

She didn't want to think about it, but Charley was right; they needed to be ready. “Should we leave?”

“That would be a nightmare, with all the people treating your house like a bed-and-breakfast and the horses who need special care, and all the work I need to be doing. Plus, I doubt I'd feel safer anywhere else. The sheriff's office in Lubbock said they'll leave a cruiser at our gate for a few days.” He just held her for a while, then added, “We're safer here than on the run.”

She agreed. “We stay.”

“We stay.” He slid his hand across her middle. Feeling her soft flannel shirt, brushing the bottom of her breasts. “The only one who leaves will be Lillie. I'll call the grandparents and see if they can watch over her for a few nights. Then we prepare just in case unwanted company drops by.”

“I locked Levy's rifles in the attic,” she admitted. “Do you think we need to get them down?”

“Yes. We get them loaded and ready tomorrow. I'll put them all up high so only you or I can reach them. Any stranger passing under the gate will be met with someone with a rifle. I'll hire a few men who can cover guard duty when the Lubbock deputies aren't at the gate.”

“It's going to cost.”

Charley was silent for a while, then added, “Don't worry about it. We've got enough.”

She didn't know if he meant they had enough left over or he planned to spend money they'd need later. Right now she didn't care. The most important thing was protecting Thatcher.

She leaned a few inches and looked inside. The lamp put a soft glow over the corner. Lillie was telling Thatcher a story about a pink pony who loved to cook. As she talked, she patted on his arm. Thatcher didn't seem to mind. He looked sound asleep.

“Don't tell That we're taking extra precautions,” Jubilee whispered to Charley. “He wouldn't want to be any trouble.”

“Mr. Norton and I already agreed on that. I'll watch over him here and a highway patrolman will be at the school when or if he goes. Until they figure out who did this, we've got to assume he could be in danger. There'll be a patrol circling by the school and our gate several times a day. If there is anyone watching the ranch, they'll see.”

Jubilee realized this trouble wasn't over. She crossed her arms over Charley's, holding on to him as he held her.

Charley kept his voice low, but his hand spread out once more over her shirt and his finger slowly brushed just beneath her breasts as if he knew what the light touch was doing to her. “You know, several of the lawmen suggested we lock Thatcher up for his own safety. I had to explain that he's a free-range kid. To him, being locked up would be worse than being shot.”

“We need to get Destiny out of here,” she said as she closed her eyes and leaned against his shoulder. If they didn't pull apart she wouldn't be able to follow any conversation. He was telling her too much nonverbally and she loved all she was feeling.

“I agree.” Charley pushed a loose strand of her hair back behind her ear. “I'll call Mason tomorrow and have a talk with him.”

“She won't go. She told me it's her duty as my big sister to get me out of this going-nowhere place.”

“Do you feel that way here?” he whispered against her ear as his hand reached her side, just beneath the flannel shirt and tugged it aside. He let his fingers almost cover her breast with a touch so light she almost begged for more.

“No,” she answered. “I feel like we're building something.”

He pulled slowly away and faced her. “We'd better call it a night.”

Jubilee hadn't realized how out of breath she was. How warm.

In the low light she caught his smile and knew that he felt the same. By stopping, she wasn't sure if he was taking his time starting something or planning to torture her to death.

She rested her forehead on his shoulder for a second. “And to think I worried about being bored out here on the farm.”

“Ranch,” he whispered as he opened the screen door. “It's a ranch.”

She laughed and stepped away. “You better get Lillie to sleep.”

“You're staying here tonight?” He seemed to be trying too hard to keep it casual.

“I'll sleep in your bed tonight, but I'm not sleeping with you.” If he'd just been torturing her with his touch, she could play the same game.

“I understand.” His blue gaze seemed to be accepting the challenge.

She moved inside before he had time to say more.

Twenty minutes later when he came to bed, she was already under the covers, pretending to be asleep.

She could hear him moving about, trying to be quiet as he tugged off his boots and carefully lay atop the covers.

“Good night,” he finally whispered.

She didn't move. What they were doing was dangerous for both of them. He'd told her a dozen times he didn't want a woman in his life, and she'd told him she wasn't any good at relationships. They'd just end up hurting each other.

However, the memory of the kiss they'd shared in the passage kept drifting through her mind. The best kiss ever. In her brain she knew it was a kiss they should never talk about or ever revisit, yet in her heart a part of her wanted it to be a beginning kiss. Something to build on.

Just before she drifted into sleep, she thought she felt him slide his hand over her back from her hair to her hip. Through the blanket she couldn't tell if it was a caress or if he was simply checking to make sure she was covered.

The memory of his stolen touches on the porch drifted across her mind and she smiled. A caress, she thought. One last caress before they both slept.

He was on top of the covers and she was beneath and that was the way it would stay.

But something was newborn inside her tonight. She knew, for the first time in her life, that she was cherished. His gentle touch. His light kisses. His loving caress. All told her he was taking his time, maybe learning to love for the first time.