Chapter 18 #2
He thought about checking his email as he ate but decided to leave it until later and kicked back to watch TV. He was in the act of swallowing the last of his pop when the doorbell rang.
Frankie Adams was on his doorstep, and her money was on the table right beside the door.
“Catch any bad guys today?” he asked as he handed her the envelope.
“No, but they pulled a body out of the fountain in Fair Park. The victim has a hole in his head from an old-fashioned Colt revolver. Everybody seems more excited about the weapon than why the guy was killed. Like always, they’ll calm down and figure it out.”
He handed her the envelope.
She clasped it to her chest, her eyes welling again. “Thank you.”
“I’m glad I could help. If you hustle, you can get it in the bank before they close.”
She nodded. “My plan, exactly. Take care of you, Kingston.”
He waited until she backed out of his drive before he shut the door. Mission accomplished. He turned off the TV and went to the kitchen, took a pain pill, and went back to the bedroom to make the rest of his calls from his bed.
Both Asher and Dylan had responded to tell him the money had come through. He knew his dad was busy at the Tumbleweed and never checked his phone when he was working, and that he rarely checked his bank account. He’d have to call him tonight and remind him.
As he was scrolling through the messages, he noticed a reply from Lane Bowman, one of the hydrogeologists he’d reached out to, and quickly read it, then called the number. After a brief discussion, the date was set.
“My father, Jacob Kingston, will be your contact. The location is a bit south of his home and business. He will give you directions. I made a tower of rocks on the location where I want to build, and I need you to find the nearest water source. If I have to relocate the build site, then I will,” Gunner said.
“Duly noted,” Bowman said. “I’ll be there tomorrow.”
“I’ll let my dad know, and thank you,” Gunner said.
As soon as that call ended, Gunner called Jacob.
The phone rang a few times, and then his father’s voice was in his ear.
“Hey, son! How are you feeling?”
“Like I got stomped by a herd of longhorns, but I’m healing. I called to ask you a favor.”
“Ask away,” Jacob said.
“I’ve hired a hydrogeologist by the name of Lane Bowman to locate the nearest water source to where I want to build.
He’s coming to Crossroads tomorrow, and I gave him your name as the contact.
All you need to do is point him in the right direction.
I told him there’s small tower of rocks that I made to mark the place where I want to build. ”
“I can do that,” Jacob said. “I am so happy you’re coming home, son. It will be wonderful to have you and Holly here again.”
“I can’t wait to be home. She’s going to stay with Garrett, and I’ll be bunking with you and Pearl again until the house is built, so we’re looking at a few months here. I hope you’re ready for that.”
“This will always be your home, and your room is always there,” Jacob said.
“One other thing, Dad. I had the money transfers made this morning. Asher and Dylan have already received theirs. First chance you get, check your bank account to see if your transfer came through and then let me know.”
“That’s awesome, Gunner! I will do that later when I get a chance. Thank you again for such a generous gift. We’re going to remodel the kitchen here at the house.”
“I can’t wait to see it,” Gunner said.
“You take it slow and take time to heal before you pull another stunt like that. I have been bragging about you a little, and you probably will need to know ahead of time that Pearl found the video online and got some kid to run the feed into her TV at the Rose. She lets it play over and over nonstop. Everybody in town has seen it countless times. She tells all the strangers who stop at the Rose that the hero who ended an FBI manhunt with that stunt is her stepson.”
“I guess I’m never going to live that down,” Gunner said.
“There’s no shame in being a hero, son. Accept it with grace. It doesn’t come to many men,” Jacob said. “I need to get back to the bar. I’ll let you know about the bank account. Take care.”
“You, too, Dad,” Gunner said and disconnected, then leaned back, thinking, Life just kept happening of its own accord. All he had to do was hold on.
* * *
Holly’s boss had been out of the office all day showing houses, so she sent him an email.
The appraiser for Gunner’s house will be here at the residence tomorrow, and the inspector later in the day.
Considering our client’s current physical issues, I thought it would be best to be on hand to let him in and stay until all of this is finished.
I will continue to work from the residence, so if anybody has questions, or needs me to do some research, just text me.
Holly
She left Gunner a note, then made a quick trip home while Gunner was asleep to pack some clothes, gathered up the groceries in her refrigerator to use at his house before they ruined, then hurried home.
She was anxious about his welfare and knew he was miserable, and that there was nothing she could do to heal him any faster.
One wreck and a car chase later, she exited off the Loop and took the route through the neighborhoods to get there.
Pulling up to his house was a relief. She got out her key and suitcase and deactivated the security system as she entered.
Two trips later, the food was inside, and so were her briefcase and laptop.
She turned the lock, then went down to check on him. He was asleep and lying on his left side holding his phone—a sign that his mobility was getting better.
She stepped out of her shoes, left them and her suitcase just inside his door, then went to put up the food. A short while later, she went back to check on him. He had rolled over onto his back.
“Hey, superman,” Holly said and leaned over the bed to brush a kiss across his mouth.
“Hey, yourself, darlin’. Glad you’re home.”
“Our dinner won’t be here for another hour. Are you ready to try getting in the Jacuzzi? I think you would really benefit from the jets and the soak.”
“Heck yes.”
“Let me see your arm,” she said and began looking for blood spots on the bandages over the road rash area, but none of them looked fresh.
“I can wrap your arm so the bandage there won’t get wet, but you can’t slide down into the water.
You’re not to get that arm wet at all until we go back to get the bandages changed. Then they’ll reassess.”
He sat up on the side of the bed. “I was hurting enough in the ER that I didn’t pay much attention to what the doctor was saying about treatment afterward. Good thing you were listening.”
“That’s what I’m here for. I’ll start the water running, then go get some plastic wrap. Do you think you can get yourself in and out of the Jacuzzi okay? Your legs are so bruised, they must be stiff, but the soak in the tub should help the soreness.”
He nodded. “I can do it.”
She went into the bathroom to start water running, then went flying past his bed. “I’m going to get plastic wrap.”
“You don’t need to hurry,” he said, but she was already gone and back with a box of plastic wrap and a roll of Scotch tape before he knew it.
She tore off one long sheet and began wrapping it gently around his forearm beginning at the wrist, and she kept wrapping and adding sheet after sheet until she had the bandage covered from his wrist to his elbow and taped to hold.
“That should work on any unintentional splashes. You get in the tub to see where the water level is and I’ll either let it run some more or turn it off.”
“Best nurse ever,” Gunner said and followed her. He stepped out of his sweatpants and into the tub, easing himself down, bracing his elbow on one side of the tub and his hand on the other until he was in. “This depth works. You can turn it off.”
Holly nodded, turned off the faucets, handed him a washcloth and a bar of soap, and laid a bath towel on the lid of the commode.
“We’re gonna need a bigger Jacuzzi when we build our house,” he said.
“Why?”
“My legs are too long. There’s nowhere for you to squeeze in. I’m gonna need one big enough for the both of us,” he said.
She walked out laughing.
* * *
Gunner had never been so glad to be clean again. It was like washing away the last remnants of Whistler from his memory. He was out, dry, and dressed in clean sweatpants when he walked into the kitchen.
“Something smells good,” he said.
“Our food arrived. Fried catfish and steak fries. I also heated up some baked beans I brought from my place. It’s all done if you want supper now.”
“Sounds good,” he said, then pulled out a chair and sat down. “I’m really grateful you are here, and there’s a bit of irony to it.”
“How so?” Holly asked as she was making their plates.
“Remember how you used to chase all the fly balls, and dart about grabbing bats for all of us? I can still see that in you… Attacking projects with laser focus and picking up after me again like the bats that I threw. I had no idea back then how much you would come to mean to me now.”
She paused, still holding his plate as her eyes lost focus. Gunner knew that she’d gone somewhere else in her mind.
“The hardest thing I’ve had to do is make peace with losing Mom.
The best thing that came after was you. It was like the universe was trying to make up for what had been taken away by giving you back to me.
There’s nothing I wouldn’t give up for you.
Loving you is as necessary to me as breathing.
The fact that you love me back is a gift I will never take for granted.
” She sighed, blinked, and finished making their plates and carried them to the table.
When she started to walk away, he reached for her wrist, stopping her, then tapped the side of his face. “Right here,” he said.
She giggled, then leaned over and kissed him.
“And here,” he said, tapping his lips.