Chapter 7 #2
By the time he had it fixed, the shutter once again secured, he had to check on the horses again.
Their water was freezing faster than they could get it drunk, and when his stomach growled, an entirely new set of problems arose.
What were they supposed to do about food?
With the restaurant closed, they’d be starving by nightfall.
He stared at the door before pulling his watch from his pocket.
It was already after lunch, and Liam still hadn’t appeared.
Not that he really expected him to, with the way the snowstorm was raging.
But even though the old man knew he and Daisy were there, he didn’t imagine he’d just avoid the stable.
If they hadn’t been there, Liam would have been.
So why hadn’t they seen him? Was the snow getting too deep to walk in?
Heading to the door, he opened it back up.
What he’d cleared away earlier was once again accumulating.
At the rate it was falling, they’d be buried by morning.
He headed to the tack room. Daisy was lying on the cot, covered to her head with blankets, when he walked back in.
Her eyes were closed, so he couldn’t tell if she was asleep or just resting.
Not that it really mattered. There was nothing to do anyway.
He settled in the chair by the table, his gaze tracing every line of her face.
Liam had questioned him about his intentions with Daisy.
If he had asked him a month ago, he would have said he’d planned on marrying her and starting a family, but now, as he stared at her lovely face, surrounded by bitter cold, those dreams didn’t seem quite so attainable.
Despite his wanting her so much it hurt, he had nothing.
Owned nothing but a sack full of clothes and a pocketful of hopes and dreams. He could say all day that he wanted Daisy for a wife, but that didn’t change the fact that…
he had nothing to offer her. Had the bandits not taken what money he'd had on him, he would have still not been able to afford a hotel room or steady meals, so why did he think he could give her what she needed?
He’d saved up a little money since being in Silver Falls, but it was nowhere near enough to build her a proper home. It wouldn’t buy them a cow and some chickens, nor would it keep them clothed, and if by some chance children came into the picture, he’d not be able to provide for them either.
He sighed and leaned forward, bracing his elbows on his knees.
He liked Silver Falls. It was quiet, and with that waterfall visible from everywhere in town, it was one of the prettier places he’d been in, but the opportunities he needed to survive and start a family just weren’t there.
He could do odd jobs until he was too old to move, but that wouldn’t give him the security or the money to take care of a wife and kids.
He was stuck, and he knew it. And until he found a solution, he needed to distance himself from Daisy.
He loved her, but he didn’t want to keep her from finding a man who could give her all the things he couldn’t.
He lost track of time sitting there. When the light in the small room dimmed, he stood.
Daisy was still asleep, and when she woke, she’d be hungry.
He was already, so he had to find them food before the temperature dropped once the sun went down.
The decision of whether to wake Daisy wasn’t easy to make.
He didn’t want her to worry if she woke and found him gone, but he was loath to disturb her, so he left her to sleep as he headed out of the barn.
He secured the door behind him, pulling the collar on his coat up higher on his neck, and started down the street. Liam had told him where he lived, but he’d never been to his house, so it took longer than it should have to find it.
There was only one faint light flickering through the window when he stepped up onto the porch.
He knocked and waited, then knocked again.
He heard nothing from inside, but with the way the wind was blowing and whistling down the street, it was no surprise.
A peek through the small window on the front of the house showed him a dim light from a flickering lantern.
It was hard to see anything, but he knocked on the windowpane until it rattled.
“Liam, are you in there?” He heard the faintest noise and looked around the room again, glimpsing a hand sticking up over the back of a sofa.
It waved back and forth before falling out of view.
Something was wrong. He found the door unlocked when he turned the handle. Sticking his head inside the room, he said, “Liam…it’s Clay.”
“Here, boy.”
The faint sound of his voice was muffled.
Clay walked inside the house and shut the door behind him.
Skirting an old armchair next to the sofa, he looked behind it, his eyes widening when he saw Liam on the ground, his right leg twisted into an angle that wasn’t natural.
A bone poked through his pant leg, and a puddle of blood pooled underneath him. “Shit.”
Clay fell to his knees beside the old man and looked him over. He was pale, all the color leached from his face. He was panting for breath, and his eyes were glassy and filled with pain. “What happened?”
“I slipped on the porch this morning.” His voice was scratchy and barely audible. “Not sure how long I lay out there before I dragged myself back inside. I’ve been yelling all day, but no one has heard me.”
“There isn’t anyone out and about. The snow is too deep, and it's still falling.”
Liam nodded and closed his eyes. “I was trying to come get you and your girl. It’s too cold to be in the barn. I don’t have much room here, but it's warmer than the tack room.” He wasn’t lying. Even with nothing but hot coals in the fireplace, it was warmer than the barn.
“I appreciate the offer, Liam. I thought we'd freeze last night.”
“I’m sure you did, and for that I’m sorry. I didn’t even realize it was snowing until I stepped outside this morning, and well,” he glanced at his leg.
Clay looked around the room before asking, “Where is the doctor’s office?”
“Other side of town.”
“Alright, let me go get Daisy and the doctor, and I’ll be back.
” He stood and grabbed a blanket that was lying across the sofa and laid it over Liam, then snagged a small pillow from the armchair and placed it under the man's head.
When he was as comfortable as he could make him, he added a few logs of wood to the fireplace and left the house in search of a doctor.
For the second time that day, Daisy woke alone.
She sat up and stretched, twisting her body at the waist to work out the kinks, then stood.
The light filtering into the tack room was dim, which told her it was getting late.
Clay was probably seeing to the horses again, so she ventured out into the main part of the barn. Except he wasn’t there.
She looked into the stalls. Not seeing him, she headed to the door and pulled it open.
The snow that Clay had cleared away earlier had once again accumulated.
A gust of wind cut her to the bone and forced her to shut the door.
She glanced at the barn loft and yelled, “Clay? Are you up there?” She never saw him and blew out a breath. Maybe he went to find something to eat.
The mere thought of food made her stomach grumble. She wasn’t used to eating only one meal a day. She'd never been a big eater, but having regular meals had spoiled her. A solid thump against her back scared her, and she whirled around, surprised to see Clay. He’d hit her with the door.
“Did I hurt you?” he asked.
She shook her head. “No. Just startled me.”
He walked into the barn and shut the door behind him. He looked tired, as if he’d been running all day long, and maybe he had. Guilt made her chest ache. He’d worked himself ragged while she slept like a princess without a care in the world.
“Where have you been?” she asked, then blushed at being so forward. She wasn’t his keeper, so the demand to know his whereabouts might have come across wrong. “I was worried,” she added, trying to soften the request.
He blew out a breath and took off his hat before running a hand through his hair, then put it back on. “I went to get us something to eat at Liam’s and found him on the floor of his house.”
“What?” she gasped. “Is he all right?”
“He will be,” he said before stepping around her and checking on the horses. Seeing they were still good on water and food, he said, “We need to get back to Liam’s. We’ll be staying with him from now on.”
The fact she had to trudge through the snow all the way across town dampened the excitement she felt at the prospect of staying in a warm house. Liam’s home was at the other end of town, and her feet were near frozen by the time they stepped up onto his porch.
Clay didn’t bother knocking. Instead, opening the door and ushered her inside without a word. The heat in the room was heavenly, and she smiled before noticing a man behind the sofa. He glanced their way when Clay shut the door.
“Come help me get him up,” the man said, standing to his full height.
Clay stepped around her and walked behind the sofa. She took a few steps to the side to see what they were doing, and her eyes widened when she saw Liam on the floor. He didn’t look good. His color was all wrong, and his leg was bent at an odd angle, his bone protruding him his pant leg. “Oh, my.”
A sheet lay beside him. Clay and the man both bent and picked Liam up, sliding him onto it.
The old man’s mouth opened wide, his head thrown back, and Daisy knew he was screaming.
She put a hand to her throat, watching as they got him settled in a new position before they both grabbed an end of the sheet and lifted it and Liam from the floor.
They carried him to a room off the kitchen.
She followed them and watched from the door as they laid him on the bed.
She realized a few minutes later that the unknown man was a doctor.
He had Clay grabbing things for him before he glanced her way and said something, but turned his head too fast to make any of it out.
The doctor looked up when Clay spoke to him. When he once again faced her, he made eye contact and gave her a tiny smile. “Can you boil some water for me?”
The words were spoken more slowly than most people talked, and she knew Clay had told him she was deaf. Normally, the fact that he did wouldn’t have bothered her. It was the truth, but for reasons she couldn’t name, in that moment, it made her feel—inadequate.
She didn’t have time to ponder why. Turning to hurry back into the kitchen, she smiled when she looked at it. Although it wasn’t as large as the one she had at home, the space was—comfy. This was her domain. Where she felt useful and whole.
It didn’t take her much time at all to light the stove or put water on to boil. Clay came out to get the bucket and poured the hot water into a bowl before she had time to do it herself. He gave her a wink before heading back into the bedroom, and she wandered the kitchen to explore.
Liam’s pantry was stocked full, the shelves overflowing with canned goods and dried meats.
She knew without asking they all needed to eat and had ingredients for a meal collected and on the table, sorted and into pots as if she’d worked in Liam’s kitchen every day.
By the time hot buttery biscuits were coming out of the oven, Clay and the doctor walked into the room.
Clay grinned at her when their eyes met before turning to say something to the doctor. The man shook his head in a gesture that meant no before tipping his hat at her and leaving the house.
“How is Liam?” she asked when Clay turned his attention back to her.
“Better now that he’s settled.” He motioned to the food his a tilt of his head. “Want to fix him a plate? He’s talked about nothing else since we started smelling those biscuits and knew you were cooking. He must be as hungry as I am.”
Daisy did as he asked, piling slices of ham, green beans cooked with bacon and onions, and corn swimming in butter onto a plate. She added a biscuit and turned to hand it to Clay, but he wasn’t behind her.
She found a small tray to put the food on and carried it into the bedroom. Clay helped Liam sit up when she stepped into the room. A pained expression flitted across Liam’s face as he slid up the bed, but he thanked Clay for helping him get settled.
A bandage covered the majority of his leg, the limb no longer twisted, and for once, she was glad she wasn't able to hear. His bone had been protruding from his pant leg when they’d lifted him from the floor.
She’d seen injuries similar to Liam’s in the past and had seen people faint from nothing more than pain.
She didn’t know if Liam had passed out or not, but knew without asking, he'd screamed himself hoarse.
He smiled when he saw her, his gaze going to the tray of food in her hands.
She crossed the room and set it on his lap, then handed him a fork. He wasted no time digging in, and she knew by the way he ate that it was good.
Clay said something to Liam before ushering her back out into the kitchen. He went to the sink and washed up before turning to lean back against the counter as he dried his hands. “I don’t know what you fixed, but it smells better than anything I’ve had to pleasure to sniff.”
She laughed at his words, then rolled her eyes and grabbed a plate. She filled it full and set it on the table before putting a fork beside it. “Well, I suggest you sit and find out if it lives up to all that praise.”