Willow Brook Road(101)

“Tomorrow?” Bobby repeated as if it were an eternity until then.

“But by tonight, I think perhaps you could have a Popsicle,” Noah offered as a consolation. “Maybe even two. The ice would feel real good on your lip.”

Bobby turned to Sam. “Can we get some?”

“I’ll stop at the store,” Sam promised.

“I could take him home, while you do that,” Carrie offered, then couldn’t seem to stop herself from adding, “Unless I’d be overstepping.”

Sam winced at her words. Noah looked even more intrigued. Carrie simply stood there and waited to see what Sam would say.

“If you have the time, that would be great,” he said.

“I’ll give Bobby a small dose of children’s Tylenol before you leave,” Noah said. “He’ll probably sleep for a while this afternoon. You can give him more later if he’s in pain, but as brave as he is, he should be just fine. Bring him back next week and I’ll remove the stitches. Call or stop by if you have any questions or if anything doesn’t seem right.”

“Thanks,” Sam said, shaking his hand. “I appreciate your seeing us on short notice.”

“Hey, playground war wounds always get priority around here,” Noah told him.

Carrie added her own thanks.

“How’s the day-care center coming?” Noah asked her.

“All I need are the final inspection approvals and we’ll be ready to open. A few more weeks should do it,” she said, hoping her optimism wasn’t misplaced.

“Great. I’ll have Jackson there on day one. Maybe you can give Cait and me a tour when she’s home this weekend.”

“Absolutely,” Carrie promised, though she had a hunch that they were going to be far more interested in her relationship with Sam than they were in the selection of toys and the color scheme at her new enterprise.

Outside, Sam handed her a house key. “Thanks for taking Bobby home. I’ll be there as quickly as possible, so you can get back to work.”

“Sure,” she said, barely resisting the desire to start a fight with him about his attitude toward her involvement. He’d called her, blast it all. And she wasn’t Susie, likely to misconstrue what his request meant. “We’ll see you at the house.”

In the backseat of her car with his seat belt on, Bobby’s eyelids were already drooping from the day’s excitement. When she pulled to a stop in front of the house, though, his eyes blinked open.

“We’re home,” she said, walking quickly around to help him get out. “You feeling steady on your feet?”

“Uh-huh,” he said, then wobbled a little.

Still he looked indignant when she offered to carry him. “I can walk,” he said, then headed unsteadily for the front door.

Carrie opened it, then took him straight to his room. She removed his shoes and helped him onto the bed. His eyes were closed by the time his head hit the pillow. She sat next to him, her heart aching as she brushed his hair from his forehead. Long lashes that girls would one day envy brushed his cheeks. His sweet little mouth was swollen and red and there was already a bruise under one eye.

“What on earth were you fighting about?” she murmured to herself as she watched the rise and fall of his chest. She wondered if Sam had any idea.

She was still sitting there when Sam got home. She tensed at the sound of the front door closing, then made herself get up and go into the kitchen where he was putting away the Popsicles.

He turned slowly when she came into the room. “How is he?”

“Down for the count,” she said, noting the raw anguish in his eyes. “Are you okay?”

He shook his head. “When I got my first look at him in the nurse’s office, I think my heart stopped.”

“Get used to it,” she advised, wishing she had the right to put her arms around him and offer comfort. Less than a day ago, she would have. Now she felt entirely too uncertain of her status around here. “Little boys are prone to cuts and scrapes.”

“And fights? At his age?”

“That’s probably not quite as typical,” she conceded, though she’d mediated several at Julie’s day-care center involving boys not much older. “Any idea what on earth he was fighting about?”

“None. The nurse had no idea either and Bobby wasn’t talking. I should probably give the teacher a call now that the immediate crisis is over and see what she has to say.” He paused and muttered a curse under his breath. “I need to call Mack, too.”

“He knows about what’s going on already, right?”

“Yes, but I took off in the middle of a website crash. I was supposed to come back to deal with it.”