Lloyd turned away. “Yeah. I’ll never forgive myself for running off and leaving Mom and Evie on their own.”
“You’ve more than made up for that, Lloyd. They would both be lost without you now. Even Evie. You mean the world to her.”
“Well, there’s one person in this family who means more to all of us, and that’s you. Evie and Katie will be so happy to know you’re all right.”
Jake winced as he shifted again. His side was beginning to ache. “I should tell you that before that robbery, I’d been in the Silver Saddle—had a little run-in with Brady Fillmore. He kept goading me about your mother—said she was getting thin and acting strange and that it must be my fault. That I’d put her through too much. I just about lost it, and came close to getting myself thrown back in jail.”
“That man has a way of making you want to clobber him,” Lloyd answered. “If I catch him with one more J&L steer, I’ll hang him.”
“It didn’t help that I’m a mess. He’s goddamn lucky I didn’t kill him. If Randy didn’t need me, I would have. I ran him out of the saloon and told him the same thing you just said. If we catch him rustling any of our cattle again, he’ll die.” He borrowed and lit yet another cigarette, a sign to Lloyd of how stressed he was. The man always chain-smoked when upset.
“Lloyd!”
The men looked up to see Randy, wearing a robe and standing in the doorway. She headed for her son, and Brian followed her into the room. Lloyd stood up and wrapped her in his arms, afraid to hug her too tight for fear she’d break.
“Mom, I wanted you to sleep as long as possible.”
“Oh, I’m so glad you’re here! Have you seen Tricia?”
“Of course I have. We didn’t wake you up, did we?”
“No, I woke up on my own. I was so glad to see Brian sitting there!”
Randy pulled away, and Lloyd leaned down and kissed her forehead. “My God, Mom, I never realized how thin you’re getting.”
“Yes, well, your father has been force-feeding me. He’s like a prison warden about it. I swear if I don’t eat, I’ll be put into solitary confinement with nothing but lard for food.” She looked at Jake with a frown. “You’re a mean man, Jake Harkner.”
Jake grinned. “Always have been. You knew that when you married me.”
Randy smoothed back her hair self-consciously. “I must be a sight.”
“A beautiful sight,” Jake told her. “How would you like to go home tomorrow?”
Randy frowned, walking over to him and leaning close to feel his face for fever. “Do you think you’re ready to travel? And what are you doing out of bed and walking around in the first place?”
Jake reached out and toyed with her hair. “I have to get up and around sometime. I hate lying in bed, unless it’s with you. You know that.”
“Jake!” She straightened and folded her arms. “You insist on always embarrassing me, don’t you?”
Jake just grinned.
“I think it’s too soon for you to leave, but I would love to go home,” she told him.
“That bullet was more a flesh wound than anything else,” Jake reminded her. “I’ll be fine. We’ll have Brian with us, and we can take the train part of the way.”
Randy knelt in front of him. “Heaven knows I need to get you out of Boulder before you decide to take that sheriff’s job. I want you home on the J&L with me.”
Jake smiled for her. “Then that’s where we’ll go. And once there, I insist you eat like a pig.”
“I might get fat.”
“I couldn’t care less. And Lloyd thinks we should get out of this place and sleep in our room at the hotel tonight. What do you think?”
“I think it might be too hard on you to have someone extra in your bed.” The three men laughed, and Randy covered her face and put her head on Jake’s knee. “All of you know what I mean!”
Jake winced as he petted her hair again. “We know what you mean, but I’ll heal faster with you beside me. I’ll be fine, Randy.”
Randy raised her head and met his gaze, her eyes tearing. “I thought I was watching you die, Jake. I felt so alone! What would I do without you?”
Lloyd sobered. “Mom, you will always have me. And Evie and Katie and Brian and all the grandkids. You’ll never be alone.”
Randy shook her head. “It’s not the same.” She put her head on Jake’s knee again. “Jake loves me in a special way,” she said in an almost childish way. “He protects me. No one could ever take his place.”