But the kid was talking. Since Daniel had come home with his broken leg, he’d barely said a word. He didn’t want help or interference. Zane, Lottie, and Jake all knew he had a problem, but Daniel got angry anytime they tried to talk to him about it.
The drumming from Daniel’s bouncing leg stopped.
He couldn’t believe Emily had drawn Daniel into conversation so quickly. He remembered how easy it had been to talk to her at the hospital. There was something special about her.
“Daniel, I can help you. If you’ll let me.”
Emily’s offer was met with silence. Then, so low Jake barely heard him, Daniel said, “I developed a drinking problem last fall... after...”
Again, Jake held his breath. Would Daniel tell Emily what had driven him to drink? He insisted he didn’t want anyone to know, especially Riley. Jake was the only one, besides Daniel’s parents, who knew what happened last fall.
“I was involved in an accident,” came Daniel’s quiet murmur.
Jake let out his breath. Well, it wasn’t the whole truth, but it was more than he expected Daniel to volunteer.
“Do you want help with your drug and alcohol addiction?”
“Yes.” It was a hoarse whisper.
Jake sucked in a deep breath. He wanted to kiss Emily’s strawberry-red lips. He couldn’t believe she’d gotten Daniel to open up to her, let alone ask for help. He hadn’t told her everything, but Jake was sure, with time, Emily could get him to trust her.
Daniel asked for help. That was huge.
“It will be difficult and extremely unpleasant.” Emily’s serious tone, serving as a warning to Daniel, came through the open window. “It would be much easier if you could do the things you enjoy, like working and riding.”
“Being at the ranch and not able to do anything is killing me.”
“You need something for your mind to focus on while keeping your hands busy.”
“What... like puzzles?” Daniel’s voice was full of doubt.
“That might help if you enjoy that kind of thing, but I think you need something more engaging.” After a lengthy silence, Emily laughed. “I’d suggest you have Faith teach you to crochet, but I doubt you’d enjoy that.”
“No.” Daniel’s response was emphatic.
Jake considered suggesting Daniel take up whittling, but then wondered whether the kid was in a safe enough mental state to have a knife in his hands. Of course, he wasn’t about to let Emily and Daniel know he was eavesdropping.
“Do you play a musical instrument?”
“I’ve still got the guitar I had back when I was in junior high. Robert gave me a few lessons, but then he went away to college, and I never really learned to play it.”
“Sounds like we’ve found the perfect challenge. Jake!”
Jake jumped when she called his name. Heat crept up his neck. He shouldn’t have eavesdropped, but he still wanted to kiss Emily.
He stood and went to the front door.
“Everything okay?” he asked as he stepped out on the porch, trying to act nonchalant.
“Not at the moment,” Emily said. Then she smiled at Daniel. “But it will be.” She looked back at Jake. “Do you think you and Lottie could bring Daniel half of one of his pain pills and find his guitar?”
Jake looked at Emily for a long moment. He smiled and winked at her. “Absolutely.”
He hoped Emily was as good of a counselor as she was pretty.
Chapter 10
Jake yawned and stretched. It was after eleven, and he’d spent most of the day in the house doing paperwork. Trying, anyway. He’d had difficulty focusing even before Emily had interrupted him from the front porch this morning.
