The Comforts of Home (41 page)

She saw Martha Q standing next to Mrs. Biggs near the door.

“What’s happening?” Reagan asked them both.

“The bul et went through. He’s in surgery now.” Mrs.

Biggs cried softly. “We’l know more as soon as they’re finished.

“Where is his brother?” Rea knew Bran would be worried about Border. He might be only a few years older, but he thought he was Border’s parent.

“He’s giving blood,” Mrs. Biggs said. “They’re running short of O negative with al the injuries coming in.” Noah had stepped up behind Rea. “I’m O negative.” Mrs. Biggs didn’t even have to ask; Noah was already moving down the hal way looking for a nurse.

Reagan talked Mrs. Biggs into moving into the waiting room. Martha Q came along.

She wasn’t sure how long she waited; al Reagan knew was that she couldn’t leave until she’d seen Bran.

Mr. Wright came in. He looked around the room and went straight to a woman Reagan hadn’t recognized until he hugged her. Major Kate Cummings, the arson specialist who’d visited several years ago. To Reagan’s surprise, Mr.

Wright kissed her on the mouth right in front of everyone.

They talked, their heads almost touching for a few minutes before they seemed to notice there were people al around.

Reagan leaned back in her chair. The night was ful of surprises. “How was Bran shot?” she asked Mrs. Biggs, but it was Martha Q who answered.

“I’m not sure. We think Brandon walked in and surprised Leland while he was robbing the place.”

Martha Q leaned closer and added, “I was there right after it happened. When Kate”—she pointed to the woman stil in Mr. Wright’s arms—“came up from the basement of the funeral home, there was the Biggs boy bleeding on the floor and that man, Leland, rummaging through the silverware drawer.

“He looked up at us and yel ed, ‘What do you two old bags want?’ Wel , I wasn’t going to take that kind of talk. I headed toward him, yel ing that he needed to have a little respect and what had he done. I pointed my finger at him and began to give him a piece of my mind on beating women.”

Reagan, along with several others in the waiting room, was listening to every word Martha Q said.

“I saw he’d left the gun on the counter and I aimed to get there before he did, but I’m not as fast as I used to be, even though I do work out at the gym now and then.”

“What happened next?” Reagan pul ed Martha Q back to her account.

“Wel , he was getting madder and madder as we both moved toward the gun. Apparently he likes to be the one yel ing, not the one being yel ed at. I started waving my arms like I was planning to teach him a lesson. I had his ful attention when Kate slammed the snow shovel up against the back of his head.”

Everyone murmured, amazed at Martha Q’s daring.

“He was stunned by the blow and by the time he recovered, she’d hit him in the back of the knees. He fel like a pine tree downed with one whack. When he could focus, he was looking down the barrel of a gun Kate obviously knew how to handle. She was in the army, you know.”

Everyone around began asking questions, and Reagan moved away. When she looked for Mr. Wright and the major, they seemed to have vanished.

TYLER TOOK KATE’S HAND AND THEY WALKED

TO A SIDE door off the waiting room leading to a courtyard. In summer it was covered with flowers and bird feeders, but now it looked dul and brown.

They stood a few feet beyond the door so the rain couldn’t reach them. He hugged her again, needed to believe that she was safe. “You could have been shot, Kate.

You could have been hurt.”

“I calculated the risk. I wouldn’t have charged in if I hadn’t seen the fireman down. Plus, Leland wasn’t trained and I was, though it had been a few years since I’d practiced combat.” She patted his chest as if to calm him. “I also had a secret weapon. Martha Q as a distraction.” Tyler grinned. “I love you.” He said the words before he’d realized his thoughts had tumbled out, but once said, he couldn’t pul them back. “I love you,” he repeated. “When I thought you were in trouble, I had to fight to keep from running to you.”

“You manned your post, Tyler. That was exactly what you should have done.” She patted his chest again. “And, by the way, Ty, I love you too. I have for a long time. I just didn’t know how to say it.”

REAGAN WATCHED TYLER WRIGHT AND THE

MAJOR THROUGH the long glass windows looking over the courtyard. They were standing close, talking only inches apart. He leaned down several times and gave her a light kiss. She had her hand over his heart.

They were in love, Reagan realized. The forever kind of love that everyone else can see. A dozen dramas were going on in the waiting room, but just beyond the glass two lonely people had found one another. No, more than that, she thought. They looked like they’d found the kind of love that lasts a lifetime.

When they final y stepped back inside, Tyler held her hand in his.

Reagan moved toward them, sorry to be the first to step into their private world, but needing to know more about what happened to Bran.

When Kate greeted her with a smile, Reagan whispered, “I just talked to Martha Q. Is that the way it happened, Major?”

Kate winked at Tyler and said, “That’s exactly how it happened.”

Reagan doubted it somehow, but Martha Q was loving being the hero.

“Reagan,” Tyler said in a low voice, “you don’t need to cal Kate
Major
. She’s going to be retiring soon and joining me in the business.”

“Real y?” Reagan would have never guessed Mr. Wright would take on a partner.

Kate nodded. “I’l be just Kate,” she laughed. “Or, of course you can cal me Mrs. Wright if you want to be formal.”

Reagan saw it then in their eyes, a kind of happiness that made them both shine.

“During the storm today,” Tyler began, “we both figured out something. We don’t want to be apart. Not ever again.” Kate laughed. “I’ve spent years looking for the right man. Who knew I could have just looked in the Harmony phone book to find the
Wright
one.” She smiled at him and added, “The perfect one for me.”

Before Reagan had time to say more than
Congratulations
, a nurse cal ed her to the recovery room.

Noah fol owed her in.

Brandon’s chest was bandaged, but he didn’t look near death, just groggy. “Thanks for coming, Reagan,” he said. “I wanted to tel you I’m not dying. Al I could think about while I was on that kitchen floor bleeding was to let you know.”

“The nurse said you’re going to be al right.” She leaned and kissed him on the cheek.

“Yeah, that’s what my little brother said when they let him in a few minutes ago. He gripes about me being hard on him al the time, but he was crying like a baby.”

“The nurse says I only have a minute, but I want you to know there’s a room ful of people out there worried about you. I about went nuts with worry.”

“I’l be around for a while.” He noticed Noah standing by the door. “Thanks for the blood, cowboy.”

“Don’t go thinking this makes us blood brothers. I was just paying back a favor.”

Bran laughed, then groaned in pain. The nurse moved in and told them to leave. Rea kissed him one more time and left before she started crying.

Noah led her down the hal way away from the others.

When they were alone, he leaned down and kissed her gently.

“What’s that for?” she asked, surprised by his sudden show of affection.

“For not crawling in bed with him. I may be leaving to catch the last of the spring rodeos, but you’re my girl.”

“What makes you so sure?”

“Because you climb up in bed with me when I’m hurt.

And you’re going to wait for me, Reagan Truman, no matter how much you hate it. You’l wait for me to finish rodeoing, and then we’l talk about the rest of our lives.”

“You’re light-headed from loss of blood.”

He shook his head. “No. I think I’m seeing better than I have in a long time. The rodeo isn’t my dream, it’s just a gamble I’m taking that might pay off. But whether I come home with winnings or broke, you’re stil in my future.” He looped his arm around her shoulder. “You, me, the ranch, three kids. I see the whole thing clear as day.” Reagan laughed. Her Noah was final y back. “We’l see,” she said, not wanting him to get too big a head.

THREE HOURS LATER, GABE LEARY WALKED

OUT OF THE delivery room to a crowd of Mathesons and his friend Denver Sims. Everyone went silent, but Gabe didn’t say a word.

Denver moved forward. “Wel , Gabriel, what do you have?”

Gabe’s eyes were wide like he’d been through the toughest battle of his life. Being a soldier hadn’t prepared him for what he’d just faced.

Denver slapped him on the shoulder. “Gabe! What is it?

What’s wrong?”

Gabe stared at his best friend. “I’ve got two daughters.

Girls. Little tiny girls.”

Denver laughed. “Don’t worry, they’l grow and then you’l real y have to be ready for trouble.” He glanced over at Saralynn, sitting beside her mother. “You know, I don’t think being a dad is going to be half bad. I think I might give it a try. Little girls have a way of wrapping themselves around your heart.”

MARCH 20

WRIGHT FUNERAL HOME

THE DAY AFTER THE TORNADO, RONNY SLEPT

LATE ON HER little bed in Autumn’s sitting room. She was vaguely aware of Autumn crossing the room at dawn, and she could hear the mumbling of people talking beyond the door, but she didn’t want to open her eyes. Yesterday had been too much for her. The tornado, then the wait at the hospital.