Page 61 of Wellspring
“He’d probably tell us to keep it in our pants if we didn’t want to lose it.”Cade ambled back to the bed and gave Erick another long, slow kiss.“And since I have plans involving your cock and my ass—or my cock and your ass if you prefer—I’m going back to the bunkhouse.Sleep well, love.”
The warmth that spread through Erick’s chest at that easy admission had nothing to do with his wounds.He could only answer in kind.“And you,mein Lieber.”Erick raised an eyebrow when Cade threw a leg over the window ledge.“Didn’t Grace request you to use the door?”
“And risk running into Payne?Not a chance, not tonight anyway.”He winked at Erick and disappeared.
Erick had started to doze again when a rustling near the window caught his attention.Dusk had fallen and he hadn’t lit the lamp in his room, leaving it in near darkness.Surely Cade wasn’t returning?By the time his eyes acclimated to the dim light, a small orange body hopped up onto the bed.“Biscuit?What brings you here?I’m sorry I didn’t come out to the barn to visit you and the horses.”
The cat bumped its head against Erick’s hand.Bemused, Erick stroked between Biscuit’s ears as it circled a few times and finally settled against Erick’s side.Erick closed his eyes and drifted back to sleep to the sound of Biscuit’s rumbling purr.
Chapter Thirty-Three
ERICK AWOKEthe next day feeling much better for having slept on a soft bed and convinced Grace to let him sit at the kitchen table for breakfast.
“Burke has a list of all the supplies we need for the repairs,” Payne said with a nod when Erick joined him and Grace.“Trujillo can give the list to Miss Hart when he goes into town to get this week’s order, and we can pick them up when they’re ready.The biggest portion of it will be lumber to replace the parts of the barn and bunkhouse that were shot up or burned.We have those big oaks that came down in the spring that we haven’t chopped up yet.We could haul them into town and have Graff mill them for us.That would save on the cost of lumber, especially if we want extra for that other project we talked about.”
Erick contented himself with eating and let the conversation flow around him.He was no construction expert, to know what would be needed for the repairs, but even his untrained eye had picked out the damage done to the buildings during the firefight.While the temperatures had not begun to drop, winter would arrive eventually, even if Cade assured him it would not be as harsh as the winters Erick was accustomed to in Prussia.It would be in everyone’s best interest to have the repairs done before then.
“I’ll get some of the boys to hitch the oxen to the trees and drag them into town,” Grace said.“I doubt they’d fit even in the big wagon.”
“How big are those trees?”Erick asked in surprise.He knew how heavy a load they’d hauled in the wagon on the way back from Galveston.
“Too damn big,” Payne replied.“And there are six of them.That’s the real problem.The horses could handle one or two, but I don’t want to be dragging our asses back and forth to town six times to get them there, even if we don’t have to worry about JR assholes fucking with us anymore.We had one hell of a storm not long before you and Webster got back this spring.We’re lucky all we lost were those trees.That kind of weather, buildings go flying.”
“I remember that storm,” Erick said, “or one much like it.It seemed as if the sky had turned green.And Cade said something about a… twister?”
“That’s the one,” Payne confirmed.
“A twister—a tornado—is when the wind spins back on itself,” Grace explained, twirling her finger to demonstrate.“It can level an entire town in a matter of seconds.Zeke is right.We were lucky to only lose a few trees.We had talked about using them for firewood this winter, but we wouldn’t go through that much wood in three winters.Having Graff mill them for lumber makes much more sense.Now, I need some help with the ledgers, and then a short walk down to the barn before lunch to see the mustangs will do you good.And now that the threat from the JR has passed, we can see about bringing some more down from the wild herd for you to work with when you’re well again.”
“I could start getting them used to being around people again,” Erick began.
“Not until you’re fast enough on your feet to get out of the way if one of them takes exception to you being there,” Payne all but roared.“We just got you back.We’re not taking the chance of losing you again.”
The outburst silenced any protest Erick might have made.He would have expected such sentiments from Cade, but to hear them from Payne, of all people, made him feel that he had not only found friends at Wellspring but, as Cade had often claimed them, a family as well.
“I can walk to the barn to visit the horses before joining the others for lunch,” Erick proposed.Before either Payne or Grace could counter him, he added, “Eating lunch with the other hands will allow me to rest before returning to the house.Dr.Lillard prescribed walking every day as a way to increase my stamina.”
“I have better things to do than watch your scrawny ass all day,” Payne grumbled.He carried his plate to the sink and bent to kiss Grace before heading to the door.“So I better not find you passed out somewhere.”
Grace shot Payne an amused glance before turning her own intimidating stare on Erick.“I know you want to be well again.Just remember that you won’t get there by pushing yourself into a relapse.And it won’t be Zeke or me you’ll have to explain yourself to if that happens.It will be Webster, and I know you don’t want that.He’s had enough death and disappointment in his life.He doesn’t need more.”
Perhaps it shouldn’t surprise Erick that Grace knew at least some of Cade’s history.That understanding and caring for each man and woman who worked there was what made Wellspring such a special place.“I have no intention of adding to it, I promise you.Now, let us take a look at those ledgers.”
ERICK SUSPECTEDthat Grace did not truly need his help with her accounts, since he found no issues with the recent entries he reviewed, but it filled the time before he could reasonably leave to walk toward the kitchen where Javier would be serving lunch.He stopped in the barn along the way to visit the mustangs he’d been training.Maybe it was his imagination, but they seemed happy to see him, or at least happy to lip up the sugar cubes he’d filched from Grace’s breakfast table.Rosy in particular nudged at his shoulder as if asking to be taken from the paddock and ridden.
“I’m sorry I cannot give you the attention you deserve,” he told the paint, stroking her nose.“You are as eager to be put to work as I am, it seems.Soon, I hope.”With a final pat to her neck, he continued on to the kitchen, where Javier was already starting to dish out plates of tamales and beans.
“Good to see you up and about, Erick,” Javier said as he handed Erick a plate.“Do you need anything added to this week’s order?I’m going into town tomorrow.”
Had his recuperation progressed more, Erick might be riding to town with Javier himself.He would like to find something for Cade, but he could not ask Javier when he didn’t know what gift would be enough to demonstrate how much Cade’s loving care meant to him.“Perhaps a new pair of dungarees to replace the ones I was wearing when I was shot.I doubt even Miss Annie will be able to make them fit to be worn again,” he replied.
“I’m sure Miss Hart has just the thing,” Javier said.“I’ll add it to the list.Let me know if you think of anything else.”
Erick nodded and moved on so others could get their food.He made his way slowly to the table where MacRae and Logan sat.Cade was nowhere to be seen, so Erick figured he was on the range with Michele and the other hands who were absent from the meal.
“Should you be up so soon, Erick?”Logan asked solicitously.
“Don’t listen to Kit,” MacRae countered.“He’s a mother hen.Erick knows what he’s capable of doing.”
