Читать книгу The Soldier's Redemption - Lee Tobin McClain - Страница 15

Chapter Three

Late Sunday afternoon, Finn settled into his recliner and put his legs up. He clicked on a baseball game and tried to stop thinking.

It didn’t work.

He kept going back to those bruises on Kayla’s arms, the defensive secrecy in her eyes. All of it pretty much advertised a victim of abuse.

If that were the case, he was in trouble. His primary responsibility was to the veterans here, and some angry guy coming in to drag Kayla away would up the potential for violence among a group of men who’d seen too much of it.

That was bad.

But worse, he was starting to feel responsible for Kayla and the boy. They were plucky but basically defenseless. They needed protection.

If he sent them away, he’d be putting them at risk.

His phone buzzed, a welcome break from his worries. He clicked to answer. “Gallagher.”

“Somethin’ curious just happened.” It was Long John’s voice.

Finn settled back into his chair. “What’s that, buddy?” Unlike Willie, Long John had no family, and with his Agent Orange–induced Parkinson’s, he couldn’t get out a lot. He tended to call Finn with reports of a herd of elk, or an upcoming storm, or a recommendation about caring for one of the dogs.

It was fine, good, even. Finn didn’t have much family himself, none here in Colorado, and providing a listening ear to lonely vets gave him a sense of purpose.

Long John cleared his throat. “That Kayla is mighty interested in you.”

“What do you mean?” For just a second, he thought Long John meant romantic interest, but then he realized that wasn’t likely to be the case. Kayla was young, pretty and preoccupied with her own problems. She wouldn’t want to hook up with someone like him. Long John was probably just creating drama out of boredom.

“She came over for a little chat,” Long John said. “Talked about the weather a bit and then got right into questions about you.”

“What kind of questions?”

“Where’d you serve. How active are you in the local chapter. How many of your military buddies come around. Did you ever do anything with the Eighty-second on the national level. That kind of stuff.”

“Weird.” Especially since she’d seemed to have an aversion to all things military.

“Not sure what to make of it,” Long John said. “She’s a real nice gal, but still. All kinds of people trying to take advantage. Thought you should know.”

“Thanks.” He chatted to the older man for a few more minutes and then ended the call.

Restless now, he strode out onto his porch. The plot thickened around Kayla. If she’d been treated badly by someone, why would she now be seeking information about Finn? Was she still attached to her abuser? Was he making her gather information for some reason?

As he sat down on the porch steps to rub his leg—today was a bad day—he saw Kayla sitting with Penny at the picnic table beside Penny’s house. Talking intently.

More information gathering?

Leo played nearby, some engrossing five-year-old game involving rocks and a lot of shouting. Kid needed a playmate. They should invite the pastor’s little girls up here.

Except thinking of the widowed pastor hanging around Kayla rubbed him the wrong way.

And why should any of that matter to him? Impatient with himself, he got down on the ground and started pulling up the weeds that were getting out of control around the foundation of his place, like everywhere else on the ranch. Kayla wasn’t his concern. She was here on a temporary pass. And even if they did give her the full-time job—which he still questioned—he didn’t need to get involved in how she ran her life and raised her kid.

Penny stood and waved to him. “I’ll be inside, doing some paperwork, if anybody needs me,” she called.

He stood, gave her a thumbs-up and watched her walk inside. That was how they ran the place, spelling each other, letting each other know what they were doing. It’d be quiet on a Sunday, but they liked for at least one of them to be on call, phone on, ready to help as needed.

From the garden area just behind him, he heard a thump, a wail—“Mommy!”—and then the sound of crying. Leo. Finn spun and went to the boy, who was kneeling on the ground where Finn had been digging. His hand was bleeding and his face wet with tears.

Finn beckoned to Kayla, who’d jumped up from the picnic table, and then knelt awkwardly beside the little boy. “Hey, son, what happened?”

Leo cringed away, his eyebrows drawing together, and cried harder.

“Leo!” Kayla arrived, sank down and drew Leo into her arms. “Oh, no, honey, what happened?”

“It hurts!” Leo clutched his bloody hand to his chest.

“Let me see.”

The little boy held up his hand to show her, but the sight of it made him wail louder. “I’m bleeding!”

Kayla leaned in and examined the wound, and Finn did, too. Fortunately, it didn’t look too serious. The bleeding was already stopping. “Looks like he might have cut it on the weed digger. Is that what happened, buddy?”

The boy nodded, still gulping and gasping.

“I have bandages and antibiotic cream inside, if you want to bring him in.” He knew better than to offer to carry the boy. Only a mother would do at a time like this.

Kayla got to her feet and swung Leo up into her arms. “Come on. Let’s fix you up.”

There was a buzzing sound, and Finn felt for his phone.

“It’s mine,” Kayla said. “I’ll get it later.”

“You can sit in there.” Finn indicated the kitchen. “I’ll grab the stuff.”

Moments later, he was back downstairs with every size of Band-Aid in his cupboard and three different types of medical ointment.

Kayla had Leo sitting on the edge of the sink and was rinsing his hand.

Leo howled like he was being tortured.

“I know, honey, it hurts, but we have to clean it. There. Now it’ll start feeling better.” She wrapped a paper towel around the boy’s hand and lifted him easily from the sink to a kitchen chair.

She’d been right. She was stronger than she looked, because Leo wasn’t small.

“Let’s see,” Finn said, giving the little boy a reassuring smile.

Leo shrank away and held his hand against his chest.

“I won’t touch it. I just want to look.” To Kayla he added, “I have first-aid training from the service. But it’s probably fine. Your call.”

“Let Mr. Finn look, honey. Let’s count one-two-three and then do the hard thing. Ready?”

Leo looked up, leaned into her and nodded. “Okay.”

Together, they counted. “One, two, three.” And then Leo squeezed his eyes shut and held out his hand.

Finn studied the small hand, the superficial cut across two fingers. He opened his mouth to reassure Kayla and Leo.

And then memory crashed in.

He’d put a Band-Aid on Derek’s hand, not long before the accident. He’d cuddled the boy to his chest as he held the little hand—just like Leo’s—in his own larger one. Carefully squeezed the antibiotic on the small scrape, added a superhero Band-Aid and wiped his son’s tears.

“It looks fine,” he said to Kayla through a suddenly tight throat. “You go ahead and dress it.” He shoved the materials at her, limped over to the window and looked out, trying to compose himself.

Normally, he kept a lid on his emotions about his son. Especially his son. Deirdre, yes, he grieved losing her, but she was an adult and she’d made a lot of bad choices that had contributed to her death.

His son had been an innocent victim.

“There. All fixed!” Kayla’s voice was perky and upbeat. “You keep that Band-Aid on, now. Don’t go showing that cut to your friends. It’s a big one.”

“It is big,” Leo said, his voice steadying. “I was brave, wasn’t I, Mommy?”

Finn turned back in time to see her hug him. “You were super brave. Good job.”

Leo came over to Finn and, from a safe distance, held up his hand. “See? It was a really big cut!”

“It sure was,” Finn said and then cleared the roughness out of his throat. “Sorry I don’t have any fun Band-Aids. Not many kids come around here.”

And there was a good reason for that. Having little boys around would tear him apart.

Change the subject. “You want to watch TV for a few minutes, buddy? I need to talk to your mom.”

Leo’s head jerked around to look at Kayla. “Can I, Mom?”

She hesitated. “I guess, for a few minutes. If we can find a decent show.” She looked at Finn pointedly. “I actually don’t allow him to watch much TV.”

“Sorry.” He headed into the living room and clicked the TV on, found a cartoonish-looking show that he remembered his son liking and looked at Kayla. “This okay?”

She squinted at the TV. “Yeah. Sure.”

Her phone buzzed again, but she ignored it.

In the kitchen, she looked at him with two vertical lines between her eyebrows. “What’s up?”

“Why’d you grill Long John about me?” he asked her abruptly.

* * *

At the sharp question from Finn, Kayla’s mind reeled. “What do you mean?” she asked, buying time.

She knew exactly what he meant.

Long John must have gotten on the phone the moment she’d left his cabin. And wasn’t that just like a soldier, to report anything and everything to his military buddies.

They’re friends, an inner voice reminded her. She’d just met Long John, while Finn had probably known him for months if not years.

Finn let out a sigh. “Long John let me know you were asking all kinds of questions about me. I wondered why.”

She studied him for signs of out-of-control anger and saw none. In which case, the best defense was a good offense. “You have a problem with me checking my employer’s references the same way you and Penny are checking mine?” she bluffed.

He looked at her for a moment. “No. That’s not a problem. It’s just that some of your questions seemed pointed. All about my military service.”

“That’s part of your background,” she said.

Finn shook his head. “I’m just not comfortable with having you here if you have any sort of attitude toward the military,” he said. “The veterans are the most important thing to us, and believe it or not, they’re sensitive. Especially the ones we get here. I don’t need a worker who’s cringing away from them or, on the other hand, overly curious.”

She nodded. “That makes sense.” She should have known this wouldn’t work. It was too perfect.

The thought of going back on the road filled her with anxiety, though. Her supply of money was dwindling, and so was Leo’s patience.

This place was perfect for Leo.

She tried to hang on to the pastor’s words from this morning. What was the verse? I know the plans I have for you...

God has a plan for us.

She straightened her spine. “We’ll get our things together tonight and move on tomorrow.”

Her phone buzzed for about the twentieth time. Impatient, she pulled it out. She read through the texts from her friend Janice, back in Arkansas, her anxiety growing.

Don’t come back under any circumstances.

He tore up your place.

He’s raving that he’s going to find you.

Get a PFA, fast.

She sank into a kitchen chair, her hand pressed to her mouth, her heart pounding. What was she going to do now?

“Listen, Kayla, I didn’t mean you had to leave this minute,” Finn said. “You can stay out the week, like we discussed. We can even help you figure out your next step. I just don’t think...” He paused.

There was a brisk knock at the screen door, and then Penny walked in. “I called the last reference, and they raved about you,” she said to Kayla. “So as far as I’m concerned, you’re hired.”

Kayla glanced up at Finn in time to see his forehead wrinkle. “Temporarily,” he said.

“Long-term, as far as I’m concerned.” Penny gave him an even stare.

“We need to talk,” he said to Penny.

“All right.” She put a bunch of paper in front of Kayla. “Start signing,” she said. “Look for the Xs.”

Finn and Penny went out onto the porch, and she heard the low, intense sound of an argument.

From the living room, she heard Leo laughing at the television.

Finn didn’t want to hire her. That was clear, and it wasn’t only because she’d been nosy. Something else about her bothered him.

Which was fine, because he kind of bothered her, too. She didn’t think he was dangerous himself, but he was clearly linked up to the veteran old boys’ network. If Mitch started yelling at one of his meetings about how they were missing, the word could get out. Paratroopers were intensely loyal and they helped each other out, and a missing child would definitely be the type of thing that would stir up their interest and sympathy.

She needed to be farther away, but for now, the protection offered by the ranch was probably the safest alternative for Leo. A week, two, even a month here would give her breathing room.

Or maybe Mitch’s rage would burn out. Although it hadn’t in the year since the divorce he’d fought every inch of the way.

Finn didn’t want her here, but she was used to that. She’d grown up in a home where she wasn’t wanted.

And Penny had seemed to intuit some of her issues when Kayla had probed about Finn and the ranch during a lull before the church service. She’d said something about men, how women needed to stick together. Penny was on her side.

She could deal with Finn. She didn’t need his approval or his smiles.

And she didn’t want to depend on anyone. But here, she could work hard, pull her weight.

Finn and Penny came back in. Finn’s jaw jutted out. Penny looked calm.

“You can have the job,” Finn said.

“However long you want it,” Penny added, glancing over at Finn.

Kayla drew in a deep breath, looking at them. “Thank you.”

Then, her insides quivering, she picked up the pen and started signing.