Page 47 of Wellspring

ON THE bed, Erick stirred, although Cade knew he hadn’t made any sound.

He reached out but stopped short of touching Erick’s hand, not wanting to wake him if he was only shifting in his sleep.

Warmth radiated from Erick’s skin, another layer of reassurance, not the fever heat that would’ve indicated more problems, but the safe warmth of a healthy body.

Okay, as healthy as someone could be with a bullet hole in him.

He studied Erick’s face instead. His skin was pale beneath the little bit of tan he’d managed to acquire from working outdoors, his forehead furrowed, creases drawing his mouth into a frown.

His hair was tousled against the pillow beneath his head, and knowing the care Erick took with his appearance even when wearing work clothes, he couldn’t stop himself from reaching a hand out to gently smooth it down.

Erick’s eyelids fluttered, and his brow furrowed even more as they parted, giving Cade a glimpse of clouded blue eyes. “Cade?” he rasped, as if it hurt him to speak,

Cade grasped his hand and squeezed it gently. “Yeah, I’m here. Parnell let me and Javier go.” He leaned forward to drop a kiss on Erick’s forehead. “You’re not allowed to die on me, understand?” he ordered, his own voice nearly as rough as Erick’s.

“I’ll do my best,” Erick answered dryly, “as long as you stop trying to get yourself killed too.”

“Hey, Sanders shot at me first! Not that I wasn’t going to kill him anyway for what he did to you.”

Erick sighed. “Michele told me what happened. I’m sorry I didn’t get to see you wearing your buckskins.” He caught the thin beaded braid of Cade’s hair and tugged it lightly. “Come over here.”

Cade leaned in to kiss Erick, but before he could mate their lips, Erick frowned and moved his hand to rub at Cade’s temple. “What do you have on your face?”

“War paint,” Cade replied bashfully. “I wiped off what I could, but I didn’t exactly have a bath, much less a mirror, to clean up in jail.”

Erick traced the paint with his fingers. “I am sure Dr. Lillard will have a way for you to wash up later.” He drew a labored breath. “One day you must let me see you in your Comanche garb. But now, give me a kiss.”

That was a request Cade would gladly grant. Erick’s lips were dry and he had to break away far too soon to draw in another ragged breath, but it was still the best kiss Cade had ever gotten. He planned on getting a lot more of them as soon as they had the guarantee of privacy.

A rap on the door forced Cade to draw back.

He rested his hand on the hilt of his knife, ready to throw at a moment’s notice.

He hoped the threat had passed, with Sanders and Lutz dead and Parnell seeming to believe their side of the story, but he wasn’t about to take chances with Erick’s safety just yet.

Javier stuck his head in the door, shaggy after several days in jail.

“Michele, Mac, and I are heading back to Wellspring. They need the supplies we came into town to get before”—Javier glanced at Erick with a wince—”before things went to hell, and after nearly a week of Beaufort’s cooking, Payne will be even more bad-tempered than usual. ”

Cade chuckled a little at the image. “I’m staying here until I know for sure there’s no one coming to finish what Sanders started. Payne will just have to do without me for a few more days.”

“I think we can manage,” Javier said, “though we’ll miss both of you. Erick, you keep getting better, you hear?”

“I shall endeavor to do so,” Erick replied with a strained smile. Javier returned it and started to leave.

“Javier,” Cade called. “Be careful. Even with the fight and Parnell, Reichardt is still out there, and we don’t know how many hands the JR has left.”

“Actually, Parnell offered to go with us,” Javier said. “He wants to see what happened at Wellspring for himself.”

That sounded good to Cade, as long as Reichardt didn’t have them all killed as they crossed JR land to get to Wellspring, but he kept that thought to himself. “Ride safe,” he said instead.

Chel cuffed Javier to step aside so she could enter the room. “Erick, I hope you’ll be well enough to come back to Wellspring by the time we make the next supply run.” Her gaze slid over to Cade. “Don’t do anything stupid enough to get thrown back into jail before then.”

“Not planning on leaving Erick’s side,” Cade asserted. Though at some point he’d have to retrieve his weapons and his leathers from the sheriff’s office. Only for Erick would he have left his bow behind.

“I’ll keep him safe from himself,” Erick assured Chel in a rough voice.

“That’s it. You all quit ganging up on me and get out of here so Erick can get some sleep.

” When Erick tried to protest, Cade silenced him with a gentle kiss as Javier and Chel took their leave.

“The more you rest, the sooner you’ll heal.

I have plans for you that Reichardt’s stupid attack interrupted.

And trust me, you’ll need all your strength to keep up. ”

“I look forward to it,” Erick said. He looked like he wanted to say more, but a yawn interrupted him, which turned into a grimace.

“Sleep.” Cade settled in to keep watch.

“TAKE A breath for me, Mr. Heller, as deep as you can without coughing,” Dr. Lillard said two days later. “I want to see how your lung is healing.”

Erick shot Cade a quelling look where he hovered nearby.

He wouldn’t ever get stronger if he didn’t push himself, but Cade didn’t want him to lift so much as a finger.

Erick inhaled slowly because he seemed able to get more air that way than if he gulped it in, but even with that, he could only take in half what he could have before Sanders cravenly shot him in the back.

“Excellent,” Lillard said as Erick exhaled just as slowly.

“You’re making better progress than I’d hoped.

Lungs are tricky things. We know so little about them, you see.

Now, let’s get you on your feet. Lying in bed all day isn’t good for you either.

The wound has closed almost completely, so as long as you’re careful, you can start building your strength back up. ”

That sounded wonderful to Erick; he was tired of simply lying in bed, even if he’d begun to sit up to eat.

He swung his legs over the side and tried to push to his feet, only to have his knees buckle under him.

Cade was at his side in an instant to steady him before he could drop back onto the mattress.

“Are you sure he’s ready to be out of bed?” Cade asked sharply.

“I’m fine.” Erick took as deep a breath as he could and stiffened his legs. With Cade hovering at his side, he took a few shuffling steps, only making it as far as the door to his room before he had to catch hold of the frame to hold himself up, his breath rasping.

Dr. Lillard nodded toward the chair at his bedside. “To start, let’s just have you sit here for a bit. You can eat your meals there, and tomorrow we can start having you take short walks.”

It took Erick a humiliating long time to catch his breath enough to speak. “How long… before I am back to my full strength?”

Dr. Lillard frowned. “Truthfully, you may always see some aftereffects. I had to remove the bottom lobe of your lung. There are breathing exercises that will help restore some of your lung capacity, but only time will tell how much that will be. I’ve only had to perform this type of surgery once before, during the war, and unfortunately that soldier succumbed to sepsis.

But conditions here are much more aseptic than a field hospital.

I should be able to remove your stitches within another week, but I’d recommend at least another six weeks of reduced activity before you attempt anything as strenuous as riding a horse. ”

Cade blanched and leaned against the far wall, looking as near to fainting as Erick had ever seen him, whether at the thought of the surgery or at how near Erick had come to dying, Erick didn’t know. “Is there still a risk of sepsis?” Cade asked after clearing his throat twice.

“No, we passed that worry several days ago,” Lillard said.

“Now we just have to let the wound finish healing and build Erick’s strength back up, however far that ends up being.

The biggest issue there, as you’ll have seen with your friend MacRae, is getting discouraged and giving up.

Recovery won’t happen in a straight line.

There will be good days and bad days. You didn’t lose a limb the way he did, but that makes it harder in a way.

You won’t have that visible reminder to slow down and give yourself time to heal. ”

“I did not travel from Prussia to Texas to give up,” Erick said with what he hoped was a reassuring smile at Cade.

“Teach me these breathing exercises so I can begin to regain my potency.” Cade snickered, as Erick hoped he would.

No matter how much effort or time it took, he would become the man Cade had fallen in love with again.

Anything less was simply not acceptable.

CADE TIPPED his face up to absorb the warmth of the morning sun and stretched his legs to rest on the porch rail.

Too many days spent inside always left him feeling like his skin didn’t fit right, but this morning Doc Lillard had decided Erick could walk as far as the porch of his office and rest there while he did his breathing exercises.

In the time they had been sitting there, half the town, it seemed, had stopped to check on Erick and thank Cade for shooting Sanders and Lutz.

Cade had made sure to tell them Javier had killed Lutz, although Cade would have if Javier hadn’t, so maybe it wasn’t worth correcting them.

Still, credit where credit was due and all that.

“Erick,” Miz Hart exclaimed, sailing up to where they sat, “you are looking much better than the last time I saw you. I’m glad to see Webster is taking good care of you.”

“Ma’am.” Cade touched the brim of his hat politely.

He let the flow of words wash over him as Miz Hart caught Erick up on all the town chatter, which seemed to mostly consist of admiration for the new marshal.

He’d have to warn Burke when he made it back to Wellspring.

The blacksmith had grown overconfident in his courtship of the independent shopkeeper, but it sounded as if he might have actual competition for once.

Speaking of the new marshal…. Cade sat up slowly, dropping his feet to the ground as he watched Marshal Parnell ride into town leading a posse of riders and in the middle, a wagon holding several trussed-up men, including…. Hot damn, he’d actually done it. He’d gone and arrested Reichardt.

“Marshal, if you’re a drinking man, I’ll buy you the best whiskey the Meiers have to offer,” he hollered over the noise of the wagon wheels and the clomp of the horses’ hooves.

That met with a jeer from one of the men in the wagon—Collier, who was obviously recovering more quickly from his gunshot wound than Erick had—but the marshal only tipped his hat. “Just doing my job, Webster,” he called back. “Good to see you out of bed, Heller. Miss Hart.”

“Marshal,” she replied with a genteel nod and a slight blush. Oh yeah, Burke had competition, all right.

“What will become of the JR now that Reichardt is in custody?” Miz Hart asked when Parnell and his prisoners had ridden on.

“Well, nothing immediately,” Cade said. “He’ll have to stand trial—”

“Everyone in the tavern heard Sanders announce that Reichardt wanted Carter to lead the raid to prove himself,” Erick said.

Cade hid a flinch at the reminder of what Sanders had done next.

Erick was alive and getting stronger every day.

“So he clearly had knowledge of what would happen, even if he had not planned it himself.”

“Payne must have turned Jim Collier over to the marshal when he visited Wellspring. One of the JR hands, wounded in the attack,” he added for Erick’s benefit.

“I bet he’s been happy to claim he was only following Reichardt’s orders.

Not that he wouldn’t say anything to save his own miserable skin, but that will back up what the Meiers and Jock and the others heard.

And if Reichardt’s convicted, well, hanging’s too good for him but it’s probably all we can hope for. ”

“If Reichardt has any relatives, they don’t live in the area.

” Though she wasn’t a gossip herself, Miz Hart seemed to hear all the local news, hearsay, and chitchat.

“It may take some time to track that down. And if there is anyone, they might not be interested in running a ranch in the middle of Texas.”

“I bet Miz Roarke wouldn’t mind picking up some JR property,” Cade said. “Especially if it meant we could stay on Wellspring land all the way into town.”

“With Reichardt and most of his men gone, there may be no one left to manage the estate,” Erick added. “There will be cattle and horses that need to be seen to, especially before winter comes.”

“Winters in Texas probably aren’t like the ones you’re used to,” Cade said with a smile. “But you’re right. The stock can graze awhile longer, but they’ll run out of feed and supplies before long, and I don’t see any hands sticking around if they aren’t getting paid.”

“I am sure Payne is already making plans.” It was clear from Erick’s voice how eager he was to return to Wellspring as soon as Doc Lillard would release him.

“Plans that’ll have us busier than ever,” Cade said with a groan.

They were already shorthanded. If they added land and livestock from the JR, that would make it even worse.

And it’s not like they could trust any of the men left from the JR outfit, even if Parnell didn’t arrest all of them or if any of them didn’t stand trial or weren’t found guilty.

Cade sure wouldn’t sleep at night with any of them in the bunkhouse with him!

And yeah, he hoped he and Erick wouldn’t be in the bunkhouse forever, but he had arrangements to make before that could happen, and he couldn’t get started on those until they could return to Wellspring and he was sure Erick was back on his feet.

“If Mrs. Roarke is indeed hiring, especially with a new marshal in town and the threat posed by Reichardt lifted, I suspect she’ll find it easier to sign people on than she has in the past,” Lizzie said. “I’ll put the word out as soon as she gives me the go-ahead.”

“We’ll bring it up when we get back, if Payne doesn’t say something before then.” Payne seldom came into town, not wanting to draw any more attention to his unorthodox role as Wellspring foreman, but this might be enough to draw him out.