Her Country Heart (7 page)

CHAPTER 10

Amy
sat at Granny’s Limbert desk in the downstairs den and glanced at the calendar. Hard to believe a week had gone by since Wyatt brought the rock candy for Bobby.

Since then, she’d made sure she and Wyatt were never alone. He worked on the farm fixing what he’d apparently promised he’d do for Granny.

Today, once again he’d mentioned the fixes he’d make that would help when she put the farm on the market, something she didn’t plan to do.

Maybe it was her perverse personality, but the more often he said to sell the more determined she was to stay and make the farm pay.

Bobby and Wyatt had slipped into the habit of a morning ride while she made breakfast for them. If anyone had looked in on them, they’d appear to be the all American family, mom dad and son.

Earlier Bobby had gobbled down his egg white omelet and then run out to see Wyatt. She hoped her son wasn’t getting to close to him. Was he beginning to think of him as a dad? Wyatt was nothing more than a temporary acquaintance at best. She grunted, and at worst? She wouldn’t go there.

Still, she’d kept her silence, because she hadn’t seen Bobby warm to any guy since Robert had hit him. Around other men, he was silent and clung very close to her side. With Wyatt, Bobby was a carefree kid with an easy grin.

She glanced out of the window. Both Bobby and Wyatt were laughing. He put his arm around her son’s shoulder as if he was a buddy.

If she were honest with herself, she’d admit she wanted Wyatt. His kind demeanor and physical attributes made her wonder what he’d be like when his passion was aroused. With his hunger unleashed, could she handle his touch deep within her core? She yanked her gaze away from him.

Regardless of how he treats your son, he wants to sell this place and that makes Wyatt an adversary. He’s ready to take away Bobby’s birthright
.

She took a deep breath to push down her anger and returned her attention to the website she’d put up to advertise Granny’s Organic Apples. It was an attempt to entice tourist to visit the farm. A few tourist dollars could go a long way to help make the place self-supporting.

There was still a lot to do before she could welcome anyone. She opened a folder of digital photos she’d taken of the farm. Decisions about which ones she wanted to up load to the site had to be made. And she’d found Granny’s Apple recipes. Should she put those up as well?

“Wyatt, can I paint?”

Her son shouted in excitement. She gazed out the den window again. Wyatt was just taking Bobby’s hand. He looked so fragile next to the cowboy.

“I have a special job for you big guy. I’m going to paint the cottage. It’s going to need a sign. I want you to paint the wood for it.”

“Me?”

“Yup. I put the sign on the drop cloth over there on the lawn. I’ll carry the paint and you bring the brush. You can do it while I work on the cottage.”

“Okay.” Bobby grinned.

Her heart warmed as she watched him copy the way Wyatt had dipped the little brush into a small can of paint. At four and a half years old, she wouldn’t have let him use real paint. Yet Wyatt had given him the white paint and brush and set a task for him. Then he’d turned from her son to work on the cottage. To his favor, he kept twisting back to glance at her son.

The two of them were covered in paint when they came to the kitchen for lunch.

“Mommy, look at my sign.”

Wyatt carried the board to the back door. “We better leave it out here until it’s completely dry.”

“Do you see it? Wyatt helped me print the word.”

“Cottage
” was written in black letters over the white background. “It’s wonderful.” She gave him a hug without realizing his clothes had wet paint on them.

“Mommy, now you have paint on you too.” He laughed.

“And I didn’t even have to do the work.” She giggled. “Come on you two, time for lunch. Wash your hands.”

***

Wyatt finished eating, excused himself and left as soon as he could without being rude. The sign that Bobby painted was still sitting on the back porch. He it picked up and took it to the cottage and nailed it to a post on the front porch.

The little boy was standing at the back door watching. He gave the boy a thumbs-up. The kid returned the signal.

“Good job kid.”

“It’s almost time to go. You have to change your clothes for preschool.” Wyatt heard Amy shout.

He looked back at the house. The kid was gone from the doorway. With his strawberry blonde hair, blue eyes and big grin, the little guy was getting to him. That surprised him. Until he’d met Amy’s son, he’d thought of kids as rug rats.

He’d noticed Bobby’s lips tightened when he first sat on the horse, eyes wide and his knuckles white as he clutched the saddle horn. But he didn’t cry, didn’t ask for his mommy. In fact, the next day he’d asked to ride again.

It never occurred to him a child could have so much personality. Small for his age and with a delicate build, he none the less had a heart of a lion, and was eager for life’s challenges.

Amy had appeared much less excited about him getting on a horse. Fear had shown in her eyes. Even so, she let him mount. She’d chewed on her bottom lip and held her hands to her heart, but when Bobby laughed and called to her, she’d waved and smiled.

Guess she wanted to make sure he had a good experience, regardless of her own concerns. The kid probably hadn’t noticed, but her smile hadn’t reached her eyes. Since then, Wyatt had admired how much she cared for her son and unlike his mother, even put Bobby’s desires before her own.

His thoughts were cut short when Amy walked by the open back door. The scent of her vanilla shampoo and the sway of her sexy hips triggered a tightening of his body.

For the first time he wondered what it’d be like to have a wife and kid of his own. What was he thinking? He looked away. Better get back to the rodeo circuit soon, before she got so far under his skin he couldn’t get her out of his system. Before she depended on him and even worst he began to depend on her. Before he became so fond of them both he couldn’t leave.

***

Amy glanced out the living room window of the old farm house. She’d been putting off working in the front yard because her first concern had been for the fruit trees. The plan to open the farm to tourist, where they could learn about farming and pick their own apples and buy organic pies and apple sauce, was getting closer. The homestead had to look presentable, appealing, be the quintessential organic farm and farmhouse. She wished there was a budget for a professional gardener to whip up a design for the yard, there wasn’t. It was up to her.

With a deep breath, she went to Bobby’s room.

“Come on, we’re going out to the front yard to work. Why don’t you take your truck? You can play while I mow the lawn and do some weeding. I’ll let you plant some of the pretty flowers.”

”Okay. Mommy, can we have a dog? A puppy could play with me when you work in the yard.”

“Soon you’ll be so big you can mow the lawn.”

“Oh Mommy. When can I have a dog?”

“We’ll see.” She laughed. “Come on.”

In the front yard, she adjusted her San Francisco Giants cap to shade her eyes and started to weed. “I promise I’ll look into getting a dog—soon. But first we’ll have to choose what kind of a puppy we want.”

Bobby grinned and ran off to play with his matchbox fire truck on a rock out cropping in the front yard.

“It’s hotter than I thought, must be near a hundred. Maybe you should sit on the porch for a while to cool down. I don’t want you to get overheated,” she shouted.

He was busy making siren sounds for his fire truck.

“Did you hear me Bobby? Don’t get over heated.”

“Where’s Wyatt?”

“He went to the lumber yard. He’ll be back soon.”

She watched her son play, grateful he finally had a yard where he could be safe.

Most of the weeds came easily from the small bed in front of the living room window. Granny’s old shovel leaned against the wall of the house ready to be used if any were too big to be pulled out.

The old mower was dull and cutting the grass was tougher than she thought it would be. But she was getting in shape. When she first arrived on the farm it would have been impossible to finish without stopping to take a rest. Now she did it without even becoming short of breath.

She heard Wyatt’s truck before she saw it. She’d just finished the lawn when he drove into the driveway and turned off the engine.

“Looking good.” He nodded at the grass and then glanced at her. His gaze traveled to her shorts and then to her bare legs.

“Thanks.” She tugged on the back of her pants and made a mental note to get a pair Bermudas.

He jumped out of the cab and checked the load in the pick-up’s bed. “I think I have enough lumber to take care of mending the corral.”

“That’s wonderful.”

“Mommy, help!”

Amy grabbed Bobby into her arms. A rattlesnake struck her before she could get out of the way. She screamed and ran toward the house.

“Stop!

She continued to run, wanting to get Bobby out of danger.

“Now!” Wyatt’s shouted. “Sit down.”

Still holding Bobby, she halted. “It was a snake.”

“Did it bite you?”

“It rattled and then struck, but I think it missed me.”

She pointed to the snake still coiled on the ground. Bobby trembled in her arms and she covered his eyes so he couldn’t see the snake.

Wyatt grabbed the shovel leaning against the house and cut off the snake’s head and then ran to her. “Sit down and let Bobby see the dead snake,” he demanded. “The boy needs to know what a dangerous snake looks like.”

“Big guy, see the diamond pattern on its back. Never touch a snake with that pattern, they’re poisonous— uh—they have poison in their bite. But they usually rattle their warning before they strike so you can get out of their way.”

Bobby’s eyes widened and he clutched Amy around her neck.

“Hey buddy, do you think you’d know it if you saw one again?”

“Yeah.” Bobby whispered.

“Good boy.” He used the shovel to toss the snake away from them. “Amy let me take a look to make sure you weren’t bitten.”

“I think it just hit my shoe,” she said hopefully. Her legs and well as her voice shook.

“If it hit your shoe don’t touch it. The fang and venom could be there. Let me check first.” He knelt next to her and scanned her leg and then her ankle and her shoe. “Looks like the rattler nicked you.”

She gasped when she saw the two fang marks near her ankle.

He ran to the truck and she watched as he took something from under the seat in the cab.

In the heat of the day, she shivered, goose bumps popping out on her arms. As a child she’d heard old timers tell of people who’d died from this kind of snake bite. People, who after being bitten, had run sending the venom coursing quickly through their system to the heart. She knew the stories and yet she run too. What would have happened if Wyatt hadn’t been there to tell her to stop?

He returned with a First Aid box and carefully slipped off her shoe. “To be on the safe side, I have to make a cut and take out the poison with this suction kit. Breathe slowly and try to stay calm and keep your leg down lower than your heart. Ready?”

CHAPTER 11

Don’t
panic
. Amy tried to control her breathing and turned away from Wyatt.

“Bobby, I’m not going to hurt your Mom, but I have to make a tiny cut to get the snake’s poison out. I have this little suction cup. It will take the poison away.” Wyatt held up the small rubber tube like device. “See son?”

She watched Bobby’s eyes widen, but he didn’t say anything.

“Amy, here it goes.”

She squeezed her eyes closed, bit her bottom lip and nodded. The cut was smooth and it wasn’t until he made the opening bleed that the pain hit her. “Whoa. Stop. Quit.” She tried to slap his hands away.

With one huge hand he held hers tightly together. “Can’t stop. Not yet. Have to get all the poison out. Stay calm. Slow breaths.”

She held back sobs and took a deep breath. She had to be strong for Bobby’s sake. But she was trembling and tears ran down her face. She hated being weak in front of them.

“Mommy, don’t cry,” her son whimpered.

“She’s okay,” Wyatt said his voice clear and strong. “Stay calm Amy. Slow breathing. Yeah, that’s good.”

She watched him rip open a package of gauze. “Hold that in place while I cut a piece of tape. He lifted the gauze and bandaged the wound. She didn’t see his Swiss Army knife until he wiped it on his jeans and stuck it back in his pocket.

“Come on Bobby. Let’s get your Mom to hospital so the doctor can take a look at her.”

Bobby’s face flushed.

“Don’t worry she’s going to be fine.” Wyatt’s arms flexed as he picked her up keeping her leg lower than her heart. She held on to him, thankful for his help. He set her on the passenger side of the truck and helped Bobby into the cab and buckled the boy’s seat belt.

“You sure I need to go to the hospital. I feel okay.” But her leg hurt like the devil.

“I think the poison’s out, but let’s play it safe and get some anti-venom and see if there’s anything else you need.”

She buckled the seat belt. She’d go to the hospital for Bobby’s sake. He needed a healthy mother. But with no insurance she didn’t know how the heck she was going to pay for the emergency room visit.

***

Wyatt paced in the small bland waiting room of Sierra Creek County hospital. The acid in his stomach churned. Bobby was asleep on a nearby orange vinyl couch. Sleep, no doubt, the boy’s way of coping with the stressful situation.

The whole incident with the snake had taken less than twenty minutes from bite to entering the hospital. Yet Amy might have died in those few minutes if she had continued to run. His heart hammered against his chest at the thought.

Without a second of hesitation, she’d put her life in danger to protect her son. He guessed most mothers would do that out of instinct? His mother certainly would not have done so. His mother didn’t even make sure her kid had three meals a day and a warm place to sleep. If it wasn’t for Granny—no wonder he felt a debt to Amy’s grandmother. He swallowed hard at the memory.

The rattler was a large older snake. The doctor had confirmed that mature reptiles generally had less powerful venom. But he also confirmed that Wyatt had done the right thing by getting her to the hospital as quickly as possible.

What if he had stayed longer at the lumberyard or if he’d accepted a friend’s invitation to have a beer? She didn’t even have a working car to drive herself to the hospital. He ran his hand over his forehead to release the tension of a building headache. The rattler had enough venom to kill. Without his help Amy might be dead.

Anger shook him. Now a city girl, she’d forgotten the dangers that lurk on a farm and it nearly killed her. Soon he’d deliver a lesson on dangerous snakes, spiders, and plants and their habitats to both Amy and Bobby. But first he wanted to see her and know she was going to be all right.

His arms tingled with the desire to hold her, his lips with the need kiss her and tell her how scared he’d been. Of course there was no way in hell he was going to do or say a damned thing like that to her.

Five foot three, one hundred and ten pounds, no matter how motivated she was to handle the job of farming, she couldn’t do it alone. She didn’t even know how to keep safe. With no money to hire help, it reinforced his belief that she shouldn’t even try to run the place. Selling was the only option.

A doctor stood in the doorway of the waiting room, a stethoscope around his neck. He signaled to Wyatt. “You’re waiting for Mrs. Long?”

“Yeah.” He walked toward the doctor and extended his hand. “Wyatt Cameron.”

“John Danelavich.” The doctor shook his hand. “Mrs. Long can go home in a few minutes. Make sure she stays off her feet for a couple of days and takes it easy. It might be painful at the site for a while, but that will pass. There could be some redness too, but it should be minor. If the site gets worse, she needs to get back here ASAP. But I don’t think that will happen. I’ve told her the same thing. I just need someone else to see that she follows directions. I know how people are,” he said with a smile. “It’s easy to get up too soon, especially with a kid to take care of.”

“Thanks doctor.”

The man shrugged and walked briskly back toward the treatment room.

Wyatt glanced at the sleeping boy and found Sophie was sitting in chair next to him.

“What are you doing here?”

“I came to give you a hand. Doc Danelavich is my cousin. He thought you might need some help.”

“Thanks.” He took a deep breath and discovered he’d almost been holding his breath since he’d arrived in the emergency room.

“They’re going to release Amy in a few minutes. Would you watch Bobby while I check with the business office and make sure everything is chill?”

“Of course, go.”

He found the hospital billing office and entered. “I’m Mrs. Long’s friend. I want to find out if she’s okay to go? She’s in the emergency room.”

A middle aged clerk came over to the counter. “She’s paying with her Visa card. She can leave whenever she’s ready. There could be more cost later. We haven’t had time for a complete accounting.”

He pulled out his gold card. “If there’s any problem use my card.”

“I’ll make a note in the file.” She smiled at him. “I know you. You’re Wyatt Cameron. I saw you on TV.”

“Yeah.” He got out of the office before she could say anything else.

Sophie was sitting in the same chair when he returned to the waiting room. She was knitting. Bobby slept peacefully next to her.

He nodded to the woman and then gently touched the little boy’s shoulder. “Come on let’s get your mom and go home.”

“Is she okay?”

“Yeah,” he said, relieved. “She’s fine.”

Amy’s foot was bandaged and her expression tight and her completion pale when she was wheeled out of the treatment room.

His blood pressure rose and the need to protect her raged in him. “Ready to go home,” he asked without showing any emotion.

“You have no idea how ready.” A weak version of a smile turned up the corners of her mouth. “Sophie, what are you doing here?”

“You don’t think I’d miss the excitement. My cousin is the doc here. He called me.”

Amy smiled, brighter this time. “Sometimes I forget what a small town Sierra Creek really is.”

“Well, now that I know you’re okay, I’ll go and get some dinner ready for you all. Tomorrow Vanna is going to come to the farm and take Bobby to the daycare center. So don’t worry about anything. Just get some rest and get better.”

“Sophie, how can I ever thank you?”

“Honey, don’t be silly.” She shrugged. “ Well, I’m off. Do what the doc said and take it easy.”

“I will.”

“Shall we go?” The young nurse said as she came to stand behind Amy’s wheelchair.

“I—um—please take me to the office so I can straighten the out the bill.”

“The business has your credit card. They’ll call if there is a problem.” The nurse started to push the wheelchair toward the entrance. “I do have other patients, so let’s get you to your car.”

“The truck’s parked right at the front door.” He carried Bobby, asleep in his arms toward the door.

“Mommy,” Bobby shouted when he woke while Wyatt was putting him in the truck, joy and relief at seeing her obvious.

He knew just how the kid felt. Contemplating Amy’s death was something he never wanted to think about again. Even now his heart was racing.

Were the dangers over? Or was the snake the least of her worries?