Page 74 of The Problem Child (Emerson Pass Historicals 4)

I wentin to see Flynn before I left to return to Shannon. For a moment, I stood by the side of the bed watching him sleep. Except for the bandages around his chest, he looked like the same brother I’d loved and admired all my life. Same dark lashes, high cheekbones, and full mouth. All the girls in town had been in love with him. There had been more than a few tears shed for Flynn Barnes.

I brushed a lock of his hair away from his forehead. A lump developed in the back of my throat. The last time we really talked, words had been harsh between us. What if he hadn’t made it? Those would have been the last we spoke to each other.

His eyes fluttered open. They were leaden, as if the violence had stolen part of his soul. “Cym?”

“How are you feeling?” I hastily wiped under my eyes.

“I hurt. Everything hurts.”

Mama and Papa entered the room. I glanced over at them. “Is there anything for the pain? He’s hurting.”

Mama rushed over to a table where she mixed a white powder into a glass of water. “Theo said to give this to him sparingly.”

Papa helped him sit up slightly to drink. Mama sat next to Flynn on the bed and lifted the glass to his mouth. Flynn took several sips before lying back on his pillows.

I hovered on the other side of the bed, unsure what to do. Seeing him this way had flustered me even more than the dangerous men waiting outside.

Flynn tugged on my sleeve. “Shannon?”

“She’s fine.” I looked over at Mama. Should I tell him? She shook her head.

“Mad at me,” Flynn whispered.

“Yes, but you’ll make it up to her,” I said.

Papa was at the foot of the bed. “We’re giving the inventory over to them and then burning the place down.”

“I should have. Pride.” Flynn closed his eyes. The pinched look around his mouth from the pain softened as the medicine took hold. “Burn it down, Papa. Burn it all down. Tell Shannon I said so. And that I’m sorry.”

“Don’t worry,” I said. “Just rest and get better. Everything’s going to be all right.”

His breathing steadied. He was asleep. I relaxed, realizing I’d been holding my muscles tight, unable to tolerate seeing him in pain.

“I should go to Shannon,” I said.

“I’ll go with you,” Mama said. “If your papa will stay here?”

“Yes, go. I’ll keep watch and send Theo out the minute he’s back from doing his rounds.” Papa kissed the top of my head. “You’re a good girl. You always have been the one I’d want by my side in a crisis.”

“Really, Papa? I always thought I was just the problem child?”

Mama placed her hands on my cheeks. “You’re strong and opinionated, yes. But we love you that way. It’s people like you, Cym, who change the world. We’ve always known that to be true.”

For the second time that hour, I teared up. “Thank you, Mama.”

“Cym, I beg you though. Be careful,” Papa said.

“You as well.”