Not till this moment did Josh realize his buddy was out of uniform. “Did the brass give you the day off to be my chauffeur?”
“Nope. Gave me the whole week.” Kade waved the orderly over to the bedside. “Your getaway ride has arrived.”
Very slowly, he eased off the bed and managed to sink into the wheelchair without getting dizzy. If it wasn’t progress, he was willing to pretend that it was. “You need a week to drive me to housing?”
A grin took over Kade’s face. “No housing.”
His brows pulled up on his forehead. “What do you mean no housing? They can’t kick me out.”
“Not out. Doctors say you need to have someone around to keep an eye on you.”
He huffed—okay, maybe it was more of a grunt. At least it wasn’t a growl. “I haven’t needed a babysitter since I was five.”
“Good, because you’re not getting a babysitter.”
“All right. You do realize, even for you, you’re speaking in riddles. Just get to the point.”
Kade heaved a deep sigh. “Well, I wasn’t going to tell you till we were on the road and too late for you to object, but we’reheading to the ranch. My mother is expecting you so you can’t refuse.”
Of course he could. A bigger part of him did not want to be on the receiving end of anyone’s pity. He could dang well go to his army housing and lick his wounds in private. Though he had to admit, he’d taken a real liking to the Sweet family ranch, and the Sweet family. Kade might just have a point. Fresh air, peace and quiet, and down home cooking would probably go a lot further to improving his physical condition than sulking in a recliner in front of the boob tube.
“I’m going to take your silence to mean you agree.”
Before he could say a word, Kade and the orderly were walking side by side talking about small town Texas as if it were a Hawaiian paradise. Friendly people, pleasant weather, blue skies, chicken fried steak, and sunsets as far as your eyes could see. He couldn’t disagree with any of it, which was probably why he hadn’t made any formal objections when Kade announced his plans without consulting him.
Next thing he knew, his bag was in the trunk of Kade’s rental, he was strapped into the passenger seat and the lousy headache he’d had for almost a week was actually fading without meds. Maybe that was a good sign. “You sure your mom doesn’t mind?”
“You’re kidding, right?” Kade shot a sideways glance in Josh’s direction. “You’re lucky she didn’t show up days ago to make sure you’re being well cared for. If I had let you go home she’d be yanking on my ear.”
“Your ear?”
“Yeah. If we dared step even slightly out of line, which trust me was not often, she would grab us by the ear and drag us to face my father.”
“Wow. She seems so nice.”
“She is nice, she just didn’t want to raise a bunch of hoodlums. Besides, Dad was more of a pussycat. He would put on a good show for Mom but he would always take it easy on us.”
“Obviously that worked.”
“Mostly because we were warned, if we didn’t toe the line, he’d throw us back to our mother.”
That had Josh laughing out loud for the first time since the convoy exploded. After his time with Mrs. Sweet, he could see why no one would want to cross the line. Good thing he wasn’t a wayward teen.
Katie had no idea if she had ever slept so soundly in her life. A city girl, she’d never given any thought to what it might be like to live out in the middle of nowhere. And West Texas was filled with a lot of nowhere. Driving across the state, she was honestly shocked when she reached the massive expanse of land with little more than an occasional cluster of cows huddled under the lone tree or shade canopy. By the time she’d reached the Sweet Ranch, she was flabbergasted by the panorama. The sun wasn’t quite setting and the sky was painted with startling shades of reds, oranges, and bright pink that would have made any artist proud.
Even though the land seemed to go on forever with little more than varying shades of yellow, it was truly breathtaking. She’d barely pulled into the front yard when Mrs. Sweet—Alice—came hurrying down the front steps to greet her with the same enthusiasm as a parent embracing their prodigal child. Anyone would think that Alice Sweet had known Katie her entire life and not just since Jackie’s wedding.
Dinner had been chaotic, hectic and the most fun she’d had since the last time she’d come to Honeysuckle. By the timeeveryone had excused themselves to head to their own homes, Jackie and Alice had escorted her upstairs to Jillian’s old room.
“You planning on sleeping all day?” Jackie tapped lightly on the bedroom door before nudging it open and popping her head inside.
Stretching like a lazy cat awakened from an afternoon of slumber, Katie smiled at her friend. “Debating how awful would it be to spend my vacation on this bed. Is this a feather mattress?”
Jackie entered the room fully and crossed to sit at the end of the bed. “I think it’s just a feather topper. But it’s heavenly, isn’t it?”
Yawning, Katie nodded. “I really should get up.”
“Alice is making her famous French toast casserole. You’ll want to get it while it’s hot.”
