A Kiss for Cade (19 page)

Chapter Twenty-Two

W
ithin the hour Zoe heard Sawyer warning Perry Drake to keep his distance. Standing in the street in front of the jail, Perry called out, “Zoe! Do you need an extra hand?”

Leaving Ida, Zoe stepped outside. She should have known Perry would be one of the first to offer his help. “Thanks for coming. It’s Bruce and Ida. Cade brought them in earlier.”

He smiled. “I’ve missed you at the dance the past Saturday nights.”

“Thank you. I’ve missed going.” Which wasn’t exactly true, but Perry was a nice man and she didn’t want to hurt his feelings.

The concern in the banker’s eyes was so typical of him. She glanced toward Cade, who leaned now in the doorway, watching the conversation. The curiosity in his eyes pleased her. She sidestepped along the side of the building, moving the banker farther away from the open doorway.

“I left the bank as soon as I heard,” Perry said.

Before she could respond, Cade stepped outside, motioning to her. “Zoe, Ida needs you.”

She was certain he was only trying to break up the conversation. What had gotten into him? Years ago he and Perry had been school-mates. She graciously stepped back, saying, “Excuse me, Perry. Ida requires my attention.”

He detained her. “Tell me what I can do.”

“Find Doc. We’ll need him as soon as he can get here.”

“Of course. I’ll go right away.”

Perry gave her hand an affectionate squeeze, and Zoe watched disapproval cross Cade’s face.

“I’m concerned about you,” Perry said. “Should you be around the illness?”

“I nursed John and Addy and didn’t catch the fever.”

Other than a lack of sleep and worries about a pile of ironing big enough to choke a horse, she was fine. Perry left, and she returned to the sick. Ida was sleeping soundly, just as Zoe had left her. Frowning, she turned to Cade. “I thought you said Ida needed me.”

It irked her that he refused to look at her.

“Looked to me like she needed you.”

Snatching up a water bucket, she walked out of the jail as a buggy rumbled to a stop at the hitching post.

“Uh-oh,” Sawyer sang out. “Looks like we got another one. Make room!”

Zoe turned around and marched back in, pulling the remaining blanket from the shelf outside the cell.

Seth Brighton came through the doorway carrying Bonnie, his face ashen. “Somebody’s got to help her. She’s talkin’ out of her head.”

Zoe motioned to Cade. “Shove the desk aside to make room for another pallet.” It was going to be a long night.

Around sundown, Zoe heard the beleaguered posse ride in. Sawyer’s voice filtered into the jail as he yelled for the men to ride on.

“What’s wrong?” Roy Baker called.

“The whole town’s come down with fever!” Sawyer shouted.

The whole town? Zoe shook her head. If they weren’t careful, Sawyer would incite mass hysteria. She turned. “Cade?”

Cade rose to his feet. “I’ll have a word with him.”

Bruce moaned, twisting on his pallet.

Cade opened the door and left the room. Gracie entered a moment later carrying a large tray of food.

“Gracie, you’re a godsend,” Zoe said gratefully.

“It’s nothing. Just chicken broth for the sick and beef stew for the healthy.”

“You shouldn’t be here. We don’t know for certain what we’re fighting.”

“Nonsense. I want to help.” Gracie set down the tray, glancing at the patients. “Maybe if we get a little broth into their stomachs, they would feel better.” When Gracie picked up a spoon, Zoe stopped her. “Go outside. Cade and I will do it.”

“Law, I’m as capable as anybody—”

“Outside!” Zoe ordered.

Gracie rattled on and unloaded the tray. “I’ve checked on the children, and they’re fine. Stopped by the store just before I came, and Brody had everything under control. They can spend the night with me. That’ll be one worry off your mind.”

“That won’t be necessary. I’ll be going back to the store in a little while.” She was relieved when Cade came back from talking to Sawyer.

“Are you sure? I’d enjoy their company.”

“It would be helpful if you’d feed them supper, but I want them with me.”

Gracie left, and Zoe rubbed her temples. “We’re going to have a mess on our hands if this thing spreads.” She poured a cup of hot tea, glanced at Seth kneeling by his wife’s pallet, and lowered her voice. “By the way, you were rude to Perry.”

“I thought you said there was nothing between you two,” Cade whispered back.

“There isn’t. We’re just friends.”

“That’s not what he thinks.”

“How do you know what he thinks?”

“I’m a man.”

Her lips thinned. Yes, he certainly was a man. She couldn’t argue with that. But watching him minister to Bruce allowed her to see a side of him she’d forgotten existed. A strong compulsion came over her to reach out and touch him… She gave herself a mental shake. He was also a man who acted like a jealous suitor but wanted no kindred responsibility.

She spooned warm tea into Ida’s mouth, and then knelt on Bonnie’s other side. She felt the woman’s forehead. “Your temperature is still quite high.”

“My children…I have to take care of my children…”

“You can’t take care of the kids, Bonnie. You can barely lift your head,” Seth argued.

Rising, Zoe said gently, “Seth, you need to go home and get some rest. We’ll send someone for you if there’s any change.”

“Maybe I’d better. I’ve got chores to do.” Seth leaned down and kissed his wife. “I’ll be back first thing in the morning.”

Later, Zoe sat against the outside of the building, tipping her chin up and closing her eyes as she ate cold stew. Her back hurt, and she had a blinding headache. “I need to check on the children.”

Cade poured a cup of coffee and handed it to her. “You should have let Gracie take them for the night.”

Sighing, she lifted the back of her hair to let her neck catch the faint breeze. “I want them with me for as long as possible.”

“There’s no reason you can’t go home and stay there. I’ll take care of things here.”

“You’ll need help now that there are three sick people. I’ll go see about the children and then come back.” She pretended not to see his indignant frown. “What?”

“I’m their uncle. I’ll go.”

“For now, I’m their caregiver. You stay here, and I’ll check on them—”

“Fine. If you get sick, I can’t run your store.”

Nor can you iron,
she thought resentfully, remembering the bushel basket of ironing waiting for her in the kitchen. It wouldn’t keep until the Evanses and Bonnie Brighton got better. The bank payment was due next week. Besides, it wouldn’t do any good to protest. The look in his eyes promised an argument.

He pitched the remains of his coffee to the ground. “It’s settled. I’ll stay, and you’ll go home. If we can keep the outbreak contained, the crisis should be over in a few days.”

“You two argue over the silliest things,” Sawyer butted in, stepping out of the shadows and spitting a stream of tobacco juice. “You go, I go. What difference does it make who goes?”

“Why don’t you go, Sawyer?” Cade said. “Come back in the morning if you want to help.”

Zoe guessed the man took the hint, because he abruptly left in a huff.

Bone tired, she watched Cade study the rim of his cup. Sympathy washed over her when she noticed lines of weariness around his eyes. If he’d thought his visit to Winterborn would be brief and uncomplicated, he was mistaken. Of course, he could leave. Would he? Or would he have the gumption to stick it out until the sickness subsided?

Chapter Twenty-Three

Z
oe was outside hanging laundry early Tuesday morning when Cade rounded the corner. She quickly looked away as he stripped off his shirt and began to wash up at the rain barrel. She tried to focus on her work, but her gaze kept straying in his direction.

“Who’s watching the patients?” she asked.

“They’re all asleep. I thought I’d bring over the dirty sheets and clean up.”

She pinned a pair of overalls to the line, feigning indifference to his state of undress, yet she was anything but oblivious to him. Water ran off his chest, trickling through the mat of curly dark hair. Muscles flexed in his bare arms. She saw the power of the man rather than the boy she had loved so fiercely long ago. He’d changed in so many ways that at times she wasn’t sure she’d ever really known him.

When he caught her gawking, her cheeks turned hot. Ducking behind a row of billowing sheets, she reminded herself she was thirty-two years old, not one of Winterborn’s dewy-eyed schoolgirls hoping to win a man’s attention. Susan and Judy were a disgrace. They were downright shameful in their pursuit of him. Were he to change his ways and decide to take a wife, he could marry either girl and have a mother for Addy’s children in the time it took to say “Which one?”

She stuck a clothespin between her teeth and leaned over to pick up a wet towel. A twig snapped behind her. The moment she turned, two large hands grasped her around the waist, and she felt her feet leave the ground.

Squealing, she shoved against Cade. He laughed, letting her feet dangle in midair. Spitting out the clothespin, she whacked him on his chest. “Put me down!”

He held her closer. “Widow Bradshaw, I’m ashamed of you. Don’t you know it isn’t polite to stare at men with their shirts off?”

She was as helpless as Missy’s rag doll in his arms. His power far overshadowed hers.

“Put me down,” she repeated. “Brody and Will might see us.”

He glanced toward the back of the house, where the boys were playing with the dog. “What if they do? Hasn’t anyone told them that once their ‘aunt’ would have welcomed a hug from Uncle Cade?”

“No, and you are not to mention a word to them, do you understand?” She could imagine the version he’d give.

“My promises are conditional.” His eyes gleamed with a playful light that she knew meant trouble, judging by his feisty mood.

She gripped his hard, bare shoulders, trying to push away, but his arms were like corded steel.