Page 52 of Revelry
“Gertie, what’s going on?” Kat asked, pulling a large turkey out the oven.
“I slipped and twisted my ankle, cracking it against a fence post,” Gertrude replied.
Kat came over to have a look. I grunted, trying to shield Gertrude, not wanting to hurt her ankle more.
“I see. And now we have a caveman?” Kat quipped.
My stare met Gertrude’s, and a small smile lifted one corner of her mouth. “Seems so.”
My cheeks flushed. I needed to dial things way back. But I was protective of people I cared about when they were hurting. I’dseen what could happen to someone if you weren’t careful and didn’t watch them closely.
“Have you got an ice pack?” I asked.
Kat rummaged in the freezer and pulled one out, wrapping it in a towel and handing it back to me. I placed it gently over Gertrude’s ankle. She hissed when it made contact and I flinched at her alarm.
“It’s okay, Tate. It’s just cold,” she reassured me.
“Some help?” Jack grunted behind me.
“Sucha cry-baby, it’s only a broken thumb. Do you know how many times I broke my thumbbull-riding? I could still beat you in a thumb wrestle.” Leo reached for Jack’s hand and Jack wrenched his arm away.
“I will drop you, boy. Don’t even try it,” he warned, and Leo chuckled before taking a seat beside Gertrude.
“YOU BROKE YOUR THUMB?” Kat cried, slapping a hand on the countertop.
“Um, maybe?” Jack shrugged one shoulder, his expression sheepish.
Kat was by his side in a moment, tutting over his poor thumb before growling about being careful and I was tempted to make a joke about her behavior, but Gertrude beat me to it.
“Looks like we’ve got a cavewoman here too,” she snorted. Kat’s stare whipped around and narrowed but the corner of her mouth quirked.
I watched Gertrude, loving that our brains went to the same place. Her eyes met mine, her cheeks filling with an adorable pink flush. I was still kneeling at her feet, one hand holding the ice pack, one hand stroking the back of her calf.
“Thank you for taking care of me, again,” she said, dipping her head.
My throat worked in a swallow as she fluttered her lashes at me. “No problem, it’s my job.”
“Animals are your job, not people.”
“Speaking of people, where’s my splint?” Jack asked. I reluctantly ceased stroking Gertrude’s calf, propping her leg on another chair and resting the ice pack before I inspected Jack’s thumb.
“You got any small bits of wood?” I asked, knowing his penchant for carpentry from our chat at the Halloween party.
“Yeah, a couple at the cabin.”
I clapped his shoulder and moved around him, heading out the door and to the cabin, rummaging through the off cuts laying by the porch. I found a relatively small bit and brought it back to the house.
When I entered the kitchen all conversation hushed, and Kat leapt away from Gertrude. I ignored that they were clearly talking about me and gestured for Jack to sit in a chair.
“Happy Thanksgiving all!” Daisy cheered as she entered the kitchen. “What’s going on?”
“Gertrude’s hurt her ankle and Jack’s broken his thumb,” Kat said.
Daisy nodded, unfazed. “Cool.”
I shook my head, hiding a smirk at her nonchalance before I measured the small block of wood against Jack’s swollen thumb. It was slightly too long, so I held it down against the old oak table, half of the block over the edge and brought my palm down on it, splintering the block. I did it again and again and eventually it snapped in half.
“Okay, that was hot,” Daisy whispered.
