Chapter 9
“You used some of that horse whisperer magic on her, didn’t you?” Declan asked.
Dragging the sack with her, Maddy had scooted back to Declan and sat at his feet happily taking each car out and examining it.
Kade sat back in his desk chair, a Cheshire grin on his face.
“Nope, just some Uncle Kade magic.”
“Right.”
“How about a cold drink?” Kade rolled his chair toward a small refrigerator behind the desk.
“All the comforts of home.” Declan teased. “What have you got?”
“Pepsi, root beer . . .”
“Root beer?” Declan sputtered. “Honest to gosh root beer? I haven’t had a root beer since . . . damn, I don’t remember when.”
“Root beer it is, then. What about the princess?”
“She’ll have a sip of mine. She’s never tasted pop.”
Taking the cold can from Kade, Declan popped the top. Maddy stopped playing with the cars and focused intently on his actions. He leaned toward her and put the lip of the can against her open mouth.
“Drink.” He said tipping the can. “Take a drink, honey.”
Maddy took a sip of the fizzy pop. Her eyes snapped open as she choked and swallowed the liquid. Declan started to jerk the can out of the way and pat her on the back, when she grabbed for it and forcefully pulled it up to her mouth.
Laughing, Kade said, “I think it’s safe to say she likes the taste.”
Maddy took another gulp and, much to her surprise, gave a big burp.
Delighted with the two men’s laughter, she bobbed her head and grunted out a poor imitation of a burp.
Declan took back possession of the can and said, “Maddy, Gran will have our hides for teaching you to burp.” He glanced at Kade, “Remember the burping contests you, Morgan, and I had?”
Kade’s eyes twinkled at the memory he’d forgotten. “We sounded like a trio of bullfrogs all right.”
“Had to have them outside of Gran’s hearing,” Declan mused.
“Then Morgan had to spoil it all by looking up burping in that old medical book.”
“Yeah, he lied and told us it was gas passing from our bowels up through our mouths. Made us about sick hearing him go on about what we eat goes through the stomach to the intestines and then on to the bowel. There it forms gases that can come out through our mouth. Bowel gases. Took all the pleasure out of a good burp.” Kade shook his head at the memory.
“Wish he was here,” Declan said. “I’d love to see him.”
“Give him a call, tell him about Maddy, and I’ve no doubt if he can swing it, he’ll come. I talked to him last week, and he sounded dead on his feet. Said the last year of residency was the equivalency of throwing Christians to the lions. It was a test to see how long they could function without sleep before collapsing. He’d just finished a two-day shift with a total of four hours sleep.”
“I’ve had a few of those nights while on patrol. Didn’t dare close my eyes for fear I’d never open them again. One false move and they’d be seeing those pearly gates.”
Kade tipped his Pepsi to his mouth and waited.
Declan focused on Maddy, playing quietly by his feet, his thoughts turned inward.
“I left here and joined the Marines. A few good men and all that. Appealed to me. I was determined to show you and Gran I could make it on my own.” He shrugged.
“I was the tough kid from Wyoming.” He gave a rueful laugh. “I didn’t know the meaning of tough until I hit boot camp.” He lapsed into quiet, taking gulps of the root beer.
“They discovered how accurate I could shoot. I was deployed three times to Iraq. Damn near got my leg blown off when our convoy hit a land mine.” He raised his eyes to Kade’s.
“Shrapnel plays hell with a man’s tissue and muscle. I spent months recovering. Got the scars to prove it.” He lowered his eyes, but not before Kade saw the pain reflected there.
“Like a fool, I lapped up their medals and praise for my leadership as well as marksmanship. Signed up for another tour. And that’s when I found Maddy. She was sitting in a garbage dump and holding something green in her hand. It was smeared around her mouth, so I knew she’d been eating whatever it was.”
He paused, swallowed, and cleared his throat. “Alongside her was a dead girl who looked about ten. I figured it was her sister. Not an uncommon sight—kid caring for kid.” He inhaled deeply. “Fell in love with her the minute I touched her. Signed up for another six months while I tried to jump through the red tape and adopt her. Finally, my captain intervened and got in touch with his dad, a respected senator. The rest is history.” His voice weakened at the end.
Silence reigned in the small room filled with words said and unsaid. Kade knew he’d heard only a smattering of the horrors Declan had gone through. He rubbed his hand across his face.
“I’m about to lose the ranch.”
Declan bolted upright in his chair.
“The hell you say.”
“I’ve got a $10,000 note coming due and no way to pay it.”
“Old Hinkley still riding the desk at the bank?”
“Yep. Still president and still rubbing his hands in glee, just waiting for me to cave in and sell him the Double K.”
Kade shifted in his chair. “Your and Morgan’s parcels are okay.”
“They are?”
Kade nodded and hurried on, not wanting to elaborate. I made a dumb mistake right after you left and lost a wad of money. Had to take out a second on the ranch. Thought I could recoup my losses, but . . .” He let the sentence hang.
“Just a minute, Kade. Back up. Morgan and my acres are free and clear? How?”
“That’s not important.”
“The hell it isn’t.”
Maddy raised her head, worry in her eyes, and frightened by the tone of Declan’s voice.
“It’s okay, princess. Your daddy’s just asking questions when he should be listening.” Kade gave Declan a warning look.
Maddy tensed, waiting for Declan to reassure her.
“Play with your toys, Maddy. Daddy and Uncle Kade will be here a while. Your closed-mouth uncle has some explaining to do.”