Ingrid nodded, not thinking so much about the potential for a drought as about hearing Kari call Caleb Walker “Papa.” She knew her sister had loved Arne Hagen, too, the good man who had raised her as his own daughter. There were so many new things to adjust to, so many changes in their lives, and now what had happened to her today and poor David breaking his leg—
“Ingrid, everything’s going to be all right,” Kari said gently as if reading Ingrid’s tumbling thoughts. “Mama would be happy that we’re all together. Get some sleep.”
Kari bent down to press a kiss to Ingrid’s cheek and then she rose and went to Seth, who was already standing by the infirmary door. Caleb tipped his hat toward Ingrid, throwing her a reassuring smile, and then he was gone, too.
That left Charles and Molly, who spoke in low conference with Joshua. All three stood by David’s bedside, until Joshua turned as well and left the infirmary without a glance in Ingrid’s direction.
His aloof indifference stunned her, the tension in his broad shoulders making her wonder if she had said something that might have upset him.
But what? Something he might have overheard between her and Kari?
“Your sister Anita brought a nightgown for you,” Molly said, distracting Ingrid from her troubled musing. “I’ll put a screen around you and let’s get you changed for bed, shall we?”
Ingrid nodded, wanting to ask if Joshua was gone until morning, too, but she held her tongue.
No doubt as sheriff of Walker Creek, he had plenty to do to ensure the town was secure before he retired for the night. Surely he had more important things to think about than anything she and Kari had said, didn’t he?
* * *
“Keep going, man, just keep going.” His jaw tight, Joshua strode toward Blaze, tied to the fence, and loosened the reins.
He wanted nothing more than to stay longer at the infirmary—with his son, yes, and with Ingrid, too, which made him all the more resolute to be on his way.
What was wrong with him tonight? Calling her by her first name? Staring into her eyes as if he’d never seen such a stunning blue before? The sound of his name on her lips touching him in some deep place that he was determined to never resurrect again.Never!
His jaw grown even tighter, Joshua mounted and steered his horse toward the main part of town.
Wednesday evenings weren’t the quietest, but at least the Red Dog Saloon would soon be closing up for the night.
Caleb’s directive for earlier hours suited him just fine, especially with the full moon shining brighter than any streetlights. With two deputies manning the jailhouse and two others patrolling the streets, maybe he’d be able to head home before midnight and get a decent night’s sleep.
Dr. Davis had assured him that his son would be fine, the boy so tuckered out from a hellish day that he had slept right through all the commotion of Ingrid’s visitors.
The only one Joshua had minded was her sister Anita, the young woman starting to weep and wail at first sight of her sister sleeping like the dead from that dose of laudanum. He’d realized almost immediately that much of her inconsolable display was feigned due to her lack of tears, a real Sarah Bernhardt in the making. Thankfully Dr. Davis had sent her packing with Andreas, her strapping twin brother who appeared to have grown another inch since he’d arrived in Walker Creek. They raised them big in Minnesota!
That had left Seth, a longtime friend of Joshua’s, still at the infirmary, and his new wife, Kari, who had earned his admiration at how kindly she had treated his daughter at their wedding. Emily had clutched that pink rose from Kari’s bouquet all through the reception until bedtime, Joshua not having the heart to take the crushed bloom from her.
Caleb, too, had lingered, which amazed Joshua. Until a month ago, the man had showed no kindness or consideration toward anyone, yet his genuine concern for Kari’s siblings that he seemed to have adopted as his own had been written all over his face. Like Molly had said, her brother was a changed man—
“Sheriff Logan!”
Joshua tensed in the saddle as his newest deputy, lanky Billy Braun, rode toward him on a palomino that looked ghostly pale in the moonlight. His gut instinct told him before the young man even uttered a word that there was trouble in town.
“A fight at the saloon, the Sutherland boys!”
Joshua wasn’t a swearing man, but his hands tightened into fists at the reins, making Blaze snort and toss his head.
Trouble wasn’t the word for Cain Sutherland, an apt name, and his younger brother, Connor. Those two were headed down a reckless path that at the very least would one day mean jail time and at the worst, a hangman’s noose. He’d told them several months ago to steer clear of Walker Creek after their drunken and disorderly conduct, but apparently they had decided to ignore his warning.
Yet as he kicked his horse into a gallop, Joshua welcomed the distraction…anything to keep him from thinking about Ingrid’s blue eyes and the stirring sound of his name on her lips.
* * *
“Mama, no! Noooo!”
Ingrid’s eyes flew open with a start, David’s desperate cries waking her from a fitful sleep.
The single lamp was light enough for her to see that the boy thrashed in bed, caught in the throes of a nightmare. She threw aside her covers and ran to him, fearing that any moment he might tumble onto the floor and reinjure his leg.
