Chapter Ten
As soon as Tuesday stepped into the hospital room and set eyes on her pale momma lying in the bed, she realized just how right Jessica was to call her. She looked seriously ill and this wasn’t something her flighty sister could handle alone.
She tightened her hold on Joshua James and let the diaper bag and her purse slide off her shoulder. Momma was asleep, but she approached the bed anyway and touched the back of her still hand.
She didn’t move, probably on some heavy painkillers after the surgery and to combat the pain of the pancreatitis.
Just then, Joshua James let out a cry. Momma’s eyes popped open and she looked right at them for a long second before recognition hit her.
She gasped. “Tuesday! And the baby. Oh, I wish I felt stronger so I could squeeze him!”
Smiling, she sank to the side of the bed close enough that her mom could touch the baby. “I’m sorry we woke you.”
“Don’t be sorry. I’ve been sleeping too much.”
She laughed softly. “Momma, there’s no such thing as sleeping too much when you’ve just had surgery and are ill. What happened, anyway?”
“Pains just started and wouldn’t go away. One good thing is that once I’ve lost this water weight from all the fluids they pump into me, I’ll be lighter by a few ounces with that gallbladder gone.”
She laughed again. “Leave it to you to cheat the system and lose a pound without dieting.”
Her momma smiled but didn’t laugh, and she could see how tired she was by the strain around her eyes and mouth.
The baby was eagerly flapping his arms.
Tuesday stood him on her lap. “He wants put down so he can practice rolling across the room some more. He isn’t even supposed to be here, but I went to school with the head nurse and she let me sneak him in just this once.”
“He’s grown so much, honey. I can’t wait to snuggle him again.” Her words came slower as fatigue crept over her once more.
“We’ll be back, Momma. You sleep, okay?”
“Go on home. Your old bedroom is all ready. Jessica will be there.”
“I will. Love you.” She leaned in and kissed her mother’s cheek.
Half an hour later she was settled in the old familiar house and sipping a glass from the new batch of sweet tea she’d made while the baby rolled to and fro with his toys. Her sister was nowhere to be found, and it wouldn’t surprise Tuesday if she was out with friends. Of course, there wasn’t much she could do at the hospital for their mother, but still, she could have fed the cat at least.
When Tuesday had come inside, Merlin had curled his furry orange self around her ankles and meowed loudly until she glanced at his empty bowl and realized what he was trying to tell her.
Good thing Jessica had realized early that she wasn’t cut out for motherhood in this phase of life, because she couldn’t very well forget to feed a baby.
She was nervous about seeing her sister again. She didn’t want any weirdness between them, though there was bound to be some tension. She could do without it right now in her life, when she was just beginning to feel on a good track.
Now she’d been derailed.
For now, she told herself. Momma would recover and she’d return to her life in Texas.
With a shock, she realized she did have a life there. One she enjoyed. Somehow during the past month, she’d lost some of her worries and fears and started to love her small town, her work, her clients…
An image of Justus popped into her head. He wasn’t just the icing on the cake, he was the big hunky cherry on top. And she couldn’t wait to go home and swirl her tongue around and around him.
No time for those thoughts right now when he was a state away. She could think on him telling her he loved her when he ended the call too, but just then her son turned onto his stomach and dug in his knees.
He pushed across the carpet an inch. Then another.
“Oh my goodness!” She plopped onto the floor next to him to watch close up as he learned to creep for the first time.
He latched onto a toy and pulled it to his mouth.
Tears filled Tuesday’s eyes. He was growing so fast, gone from the sleepy newborn days to a tiny little personality with determination to get what he wanted and where he wanted.
At five and a half months now, she thought he was pretty young to be doing this, but that was boys for you, always in a hurry to get movin’.
Unless you were feeding them, and then they were content to linger.
She clapped her hands and he looked at her, startled. Then a big smile spread over his face. She gave his tummy a light tickle and praised him.
The door opening had her getting to her feet as Jessica came through it. “Tuesday! Is that your car I saw in the driveway?” she called out.
“Yes, in here,” she returned.
A second later her pretty sister entered the room wearing a strapless sundress and leather sandals, her hair, now blonde instead of the light brown they shared, up in a twist on the back of her head.
She looked at her sister and stopped worrying about tension. They embraced and then Jessica stood back to look down at Joshua James.
Silence stretched as Tuesday waited for her to scrunch her nose in distaste or turn away from the reminder of a time in her life she wanted to forget.
But she only said, “My nephew’s growing well, it looks like.”
Relief ran through her like a waterfall. “Yes, he just dug in his knees and moved a couple inches across the floor to snag a toy!”
Her sister looked at her as if that wasn’t such a big deal, and again Tuesday remembered she really was focused mostly on herself.
Seeing that Joshua James was happy for now, she sat again and took up her sweet tea.
“Oh, you made some tea? I’ve been longing for some. Be right back.”
“Why didn’t you make some?” she called at her sister’s back, but she never got an answer.
Jessica took a chair and they drank tea and talked about Momma. She filled Tuesday in on what the doctors had said about recovery and coming home.
“I only have two weeks max, Jess. I hope by then you’ll be able to help her.”
She waved a hand. “I can.”
“You did forget to feed Merlin.”
A blank look came over her sister’s face. “Oh. Forgot about him.”
“Yes, he needs food and fresh water daily even if he is a cat and goes out the cat door on his own.”
“I’ll remember.”
“I noticed there’s not much food in the house.”
“I haven’t paid attention. I’ve been eating out with friends.”
Tuesday’s attention turned to the baby. From the corner of her eye she saw Jessica watch her scoop him off the floor.
“He doesn’t look so floppy anymore.”
She stared at her sister. “He’s developing. He sits up with support, like in a seat or…” She realized her sister wasn’t paying attention and was on her phone.
With a sigh, she took Joshua James to the kitchen and fixed him a bottle and some cereal. As she shoveled cereal into his mouth, her sister entered the kitchen again.
“When are you going to sit with Momma again?” she asked.
“I figured I’d go back in a few hours after she’d slept a while. What about you?”
Her sister didn’t answer that, just said, “Oh good, because Shawn asked me to meet him.”
As her sister left the house again, Tuesday shook her head. Things hadn’t changed much, it seemed. She was glad to be away from it, too frustrated with her teenage behavior after all she’d been through. Having a baby usually turned someone’s life around, but for Jessica, that hadn’t happened.
She stared into her son’s eyes and noted how the color was changing slightly from blue to green, like her own. The revelation made her want to share it with someone, and the person who came to mind had a set of deep blue eyes of his own.
Justus.
Her second epiphany didn’t shock her much, since she’d known it for a few days now. But it still trickled like honey into her mind.
She’d totally fallen for the sweet, sexy cowboy.
* * * * *
Justus stepped into the kitchen and everyone looked up at him. He gave a sheepish grin and doffed his hat. “I’m late.”
“There’s no such thing as late to Sunday dinner!” Aunt Maggie jumped up like a much younger woman to hug him. He patted her back and let her direct him to the open seat between Easton and Beck.
Dinner was in full swing and smelled so good that his stomach woke up and growled. As people passed him things to fill his plate, he listened to the various conversations taking place around the table.
Two little ones across from him were conspiring to take a swim in the stock tank, something he knew happened so often that the parents were well aware by now and would be there to supervise. Easton and Lilah were discussing dinner with friends taking place in a couple nights and whether or not Easton could be home early from the oil rig to attend.
He dug into his pork chop smothered in gravy just as Aunt Maggie spoke up.
“Where’s Tuesday? You should have invited her, you know.”
He looked up. “She’s back in Tulsa.”
Several people stopped eating to look at him.
“Permanently?” Shelby asked. Her brows pinched together.
“Her momma’s sick, had a surgery to remove her gallbladder.”
“Oh dear. That is a rough one.” Aunt Maggie covered her own abdomen with a hand. “It’s good that Tuesday’s there to help.”
“Yeah, especially since her sister’s not very helpful.” That was all he’d say on the subject, since his opinions weren’t very kind and in the end, Jessica had done a huge favor in letting Tuesday adopt Joshua James. He couldn’t imagine Tuesday without Joshua James—and he loved them both equally.
It almost pained him that he was missing things with the boy. Tuesday had texted him to share that he’d begun to wiggle on his belly across the floor to fetch things he wanted. What would happen in another week?
Besides, he missed her with a bone-deep ache. Like a part of him had gone missing and he couldn’t quite function without it.
“How long does she plan to stay? Was her boss okay with her missing work?” Shelby asked, leaning forward to hear his answer.
“I think two weeks total, and I think so. Though she’s worried about losing those pageant clients.”
“Ohh, yes. I’m sure she is. And she took the baby with her? I wonder how that’s working out with going into the hospital room.” Shelby looked around her at the others. “Don’t they restrict visitors by age?”
“She hasn’t said as much, so maybe they’re letting him into the room with her,” Justus said.
Suddenly the two little conspirators across from him jumped up and ran out of the room with giggles trailing behind.
Cash let out a sigh. “I’ll go keep an eye on the hellions. I’m almost finished eating.” He pushed back from the table and followed the kids.
After that, everyone finished up and drifted off, some headed home to see to their own chores like Ford and Susannah, while some moved the family time to the big front porch.
Justus finished his meal last, of course, and then helped with the cleanup. When he made it to the front porch and took a seat next to his uncle, he was ready to put his feet up.
At his soft groan, Uncle Ted looked at him. “Hard week?”
He nodded. “Old man’s in the hospital and they think this time he might not come out. Mark’s been there 24/7 and his wife too. I’ve been trying to put in a lot of time there but the Williams needed me again on Thursday and the Drummonds as well.”
“Word got out that you’re a good man for the job.”
“Yeah, but wears on the feet.” He shot his uncle a grin.
His uncle looked out over the land that he’d bought for pennies on the dollar and developed into a booming business with his family. Justus followed his gaze, enjoying the breeze on his face rather than the beating of the sun.
“A man doesn’t mind hard work,” Uncle Ted remarked.
“No, sir.”
“But after a while, if it isn’t your own land or animals, it wears on a body.”
He sliced a look at his uncle. “You suggestin’ I get my own spread?”
“Nah, you’re young. Time to settle. Though it sounds as if you and that woman you see might be getting serious.”
His heart jerked as if it’d been lassoed and the rope yanked. “That’s true.”
“You love her. What are you gonna do about it?”
He laughed. “Do you miss nothing, Uncle Ted?”
“Nope. These eyes are old but I’m not blind yet.”
Justus chuckled and sat back to consider his question. “Right now, she wants to go slow. With the baby in the mix, she doesn’t want to make rash decisions.”
He nodded. “Smart woman.”
“She is.” Justus still wished she’d just open up and let him into her life fully, so he could bear the responsibilities with her.
“You want a ranch of your own someday?” he asked.
Justus shrugged. “Thought about it plenty. Thought about farmin’ too.”
He turned his steady blue gaze on him. “Farmin’?”
“Yeah, organic foods.”
“You ever raised crops before?”
“Just hay. Be a challenge, though, wouldn’t it?”
“That it would, son.” He rocked in his chair, attention on the land again. Justus thought their conversation had ended until his uncle cleared his throat. “Farm would do good in these parts. Rich soil. Not as dry as some areas.”
“No, Paradise Valley would be perfect.” If he could get his hands on a piece of land, that was. Not likely with the small amount he had banked, but maybe he could get a mortgage.
After a long spell of thought, Justus rose. “I’d better get back for evening chores. They won’t do themselves.”
His uncle gave him a nod and smile and a word of farewell. Justus felt more grounded when he made the trip back to the Guthries. Talking to his uncle set his goals firmly in his mind once again, and he wasn’t just running from ranch to ranch, helping out and putting out the fires, so to speak.
He knew what he wanted, and who he wanted at his side while he did it. He just had to figure out how to get the land and the girl—and her son.
Their son.
By the time he reached the ranch, he was eager to call Tuesday. But he found Mark in the barn, eyes red with weeping over his father who’d just passed on.