“What was it doing under your cot?” asked Gabe. “It should have been stored properly in a locker in the supply hut.”
Zeke felt the sweat ring his neck all over again. “I’d cleaned it and meant to take it back.” He said. “I forgot it was there until Preston showed up and then?—”
He had to stop. Gabe knew what happened, but as the vision of it raced through him, Zeke knew there was no excuse for behaving like a man with no thought to the consequences.
“He only meant to scare Preston off,” said Cal, his voice rising. “Like he’d done with the bears.”
“Is that true?” asked Gabe.
The silence that filled the air around him brought Zeke to a halt. All of this rested on his shoulders.
“I can’t rightly say,” Zeke said, reaching for the truth beneath what he’d done. “I’ve never killed a man and I don’t think I intended to today. I was only going to shoot off his kneecap?—”
“Only one?” asked Galen, half a laugh lacing through his words.
“Just to scare him.”
“That’s what I told Leland when he called me.” Gabe looked Cal over. “I also told him that we have the right to defend ourselves and those that are in our care. He agreed, but I think he will want to talk with you, just the same.”
“I’m willing.” Zeke straightened his spine. “Do you think he means to let me go? Ask me to leave?”
“No.” Gabe’s answer came quickly, as if this conversation had already occurred between him and Leland. “You were defending Cal’s rights, just the same as you would have done for anyone.”
“What happens now?” asked Cal.
Zeke could tell Cal was getting wound up, anxiety taking over like a bad habit kicking in. He reached out to place his palm alongside Cal’s arm, and he left it there.
“You get back to work after you patch yourselves up,” said Gabe. “At the end of the day, take a truck up to the ranch, and have that face-to-face with Leland. But like I said, he’s already on your side. He just wants to get the details.”
“I can do that,” said Zeke.
“Wecan do that,” said Cal. He whooshed out a breath. “I could have tried harder to stop him, to make him go away, but I didn’t.”
“Nobody should have to handle that man on their own.” Zeke knew for a fact that if Cal ever had to talk to Preston again, Zeke would be there for it. Then he said to Gabe, “We should get back to work.”
“Go take care of those bruises first,” said Gabe. “Work will wait.”
“Yes, sir,” said Zeke, grateful that he’d get a bit of a break so he could make sure Cal was okay, really okay.
As Gabe and Galen took the path that led toward the main part of the compound, Zeke curled his fingers around Cal’s hand and pulled him close.
“We’ll get some ice for those,” he said.
“I’m fine,” said Cal.
“Ice,” said Zeke firmly. “Ice and Tylenol. And ice cream.”
“I’d rather have Bugles and a Coke,” said Cal, because, as it was easy to see, he remembered, as did Zeke, one of their first conversations. How they both preferred the savory to the sweet.
He took Cal to the first aid hut and applied an ice pack while Cal downed the Tylenol. Hopefully, this would be the last time he’d be patching Cal up after an encounter with Preston.
As Zeke trailed his fingers over Cal’s neck, he followed the touch with kisses. He knew he couldn’t kiss those bruises away,but hopefully, the kisses would remind Cal that he was safe now and that Zeke would do anything in the world to protect him.
Cal leaned into the kisses and asked, suddenly pulling the ice pack away, “Are there more bullets in your tent?”
“More bullets?” asked Zeke, puzzled.
“In your tent,” said Cal, firmly, and maybe a bit loudly.
