Page 14 of Texas Splendor
“Then just leave it. I’ve been enough trouble.”
“It’s going to leave an ugly scar.”
“Won’t be the first.”
Reaching around him, she picked up a brown bottle that had been set near some cloths. He suspected that she’d anticipated he would need further care this morning. It galled him to need her help. Why couldn’t Duncan have cut him someplace that he could have reached and treated himself? He supposed he should just be grateful that he’d moved soon enough to avoid giving Duncan the opportunity to slice any deeper.
“I thought I’d put some tincture of iodine on it this morning,” she offered.
“Fine.”
She pulled the stopper and the acrid odor assailed his nostrils. She drenched the cloth with the reddish-brown liquid. Dallas had always had a fondness for the medication, pouring it on every cut and scrape Austin had ever had. He supposed it was because his brother had seen too many men die from infection during the war. He probably wouldn’t be sitting here now if he’d told Dallas about the cut.
“This is going to sting,” she said quietly.
Austin gritted his teeth and dug his fingers into the back of the chair. When she touched the saturated cloth to his back, he sucked in air with a harsh hiss.
“I’m sorry, so sorry,” she whispered, and he thought he heard tears in her voice.
He focused his attention on the man he hoped to find in Austin. Each day, the man owed him more. He wouldn’t be sitting here fighting back the pain if the man hadn’t run off after killing Boyd.
She removed the cloth, and Austin released a long slow breath. He eased away from the chair as she wrapped a bandage around his chest and across his back.
“You’ll want to keep it clean and have a doctor look at it when you get to Austin.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Her fingers strayed to an old wound on his shoulder.
“Someone shot you,” she said quietly.
“Yes, ma’am. A little over six years ago.”
She jerked her hand back as though he’d bitten her. She placed the bottle of iodine on a shelf, scrubbed her hands at the sink, and wiped them on her apron, over and over, until he thought she might remove her skin.
“Is something wrong?” he asked as he stood and shrugged into his shirt.
“I just didn’t expect you to clean up so nice.”
Her blush pleased him more than her words. “I … I’ve got some porridge going here if you’d like some.”
He swung the chair around and dropped onto the seat. “Just some coffee.”
She slapped the porridge into a bowl and set it in front of her place at the table before pouring the coffee into a cup and handing it to him. “I’ve got milk and—”
“Just black.”
He wrapped his hands around the cup, absorbing its warmth, waiting as she poured herself some coffee and took her seat. While she dumped six heaping spoons of sugar into her coffee, he watched with amusement. He hadn’t been amused in a long time. She was incredibly innocent. Living out here alone, away from town, away from the influence of people, how could she be otherwise?
Maybe not completely innocent. Even as she offered him food and shelter, a wariness remained in her eyes, a caution as though at any moment she feared he might turn on her like a rabid dog.
She glanced up and blushed again. “I like a little coffee with my sugar.”
“Is what why you’re so sweet?”
Her blush deepened as she lowered her gaze. Austin cursed himself and wondered what the hell he thought he was doing. He had no business flirting with a woman, especially one as innocent as she was. “I appreciate all that you did for me last night.”
“You should never let a wound go unattended so long.”
