with a hand to her waist as she climbed into the backseat of the Blazer and ended up tripping over a loose, floppy sneaker. “Whoa there.” He scooped up her shoe. Clasping her upper arms, he turned her to face him. “You’re very pale. Are you in danger of fainting?”
“I’m fine. Well, no, I’m not. I’m queasy as all heck.” She put a shaking hand to her head. “Considering Shel’s a tomboy, I’m surprised this is our first incident of its kind. But it is, and it’s unnerving as anything. I promise to get a grip, Father Kelley. And I won’t forget I owe you for all the help you’ve given me today.”
Noah had finally managed to settle her next to Shelby and restore her dangling shoe. He shut her door and slid into the driver’s seat, and for a heartbeat he let his eyes connect with hers in the rearview mirror. He scowled as he shoved the seat back a few notches to accommodate his longer legs. “Just being neighborly,” he said tersely. “No payment required or wanted.”
Backing out with a spinning of wheels, Noah swung from the lane to graveled road with a bump that had Shelby crying out in pain.
“Sorry, peanut.” He was more careful after that to miss chuckholes. Before long, he engaged the injured child in subjects he thought might interest her in order to take her mind off her pain. He discovered that like him, she loved horses and dogs. She nattered on about Miranda’s dog, Dusty. Shelby had owned a horse in Denver, and from what he gathered she’d have another once the corrals were secure. The matter of a dog was obviously a touchier issue between the girl and her mother. Shelby pulled a sad face and announced, “Mama says I’ve gotta wait till next summer to get a dog. I don’t wanna wait that long. I told her I can train him after school, and he can sleep on the floor in my room. He’d be good company for when I come home from school, too. Especially since I don’t have any friends to play with way out here.”
Greer, who was supporting Shelby’s broken arm, reached over with her free hand and lightly pressed two fingers to her daughter’s mouth.
But the girl kept talking. She rattled on about what kind of dogs she liked even after they’d parked and Noah carried her into the clinic. Greer tuned her out, he noticed. Either this was an old discussion, or she was still numb from the fright caused by the accident.
Kristin Gallagher met them at the door and after brief introductions, ushered them straight into a pristine examining room. Her blunt-cut strawberry-blond hair brushed the shoulders of her lab coat as she bent to remove Noah’s splint.
He darted a guilty glance toward Greer. “Sorry about that. I didn’t know she’d cut your laces. Maybe a store in town has spares.”
“Not to worry. I’m sure I have extras in one of my moving boxes. I generally wear boots to work around the ranch, anyway.” Nervous, Greer paced the small room and read the plaques hanging on the walls. According to them, Kristin possessed B.S. degrees in nursing and psych, plus was certified as a physician’s assistant.
The P.A. focused her attention on her patient. “I usually see a lot of injuries like this the day school opens. But that’s been a few weeks. Were you swinging on the monkey bars?” she teased Shelby.
“I was helping Mama wash windows at our new ranch.” Shelby sniffled and wiped her good hand across a runny nose.
Kristin gave her a tissue, but aimed a sharp look at Greer’s bowed shoulders, as if she wondered whether her new patient might be the victim of parental abuse.
Before Greer could speak, Shelby herself disabused Kristin of that thought. “Mama said the only window I was supposed to wash was the one I could reach from standing on the porch. I figured the porch rail was wide enough to hold me. It was old and rickety, I guess.”
Visibly relieved, Kristin handed Greer a clipboard filled with a colorful packet of forms. “Maybe you could complete Shelby’s medical history for me while I set up to X-ray her arm. I gave our receptionist and my assistant the day off.”
Greer took the clipboard. “I was so rattled when Shelby fell. I’m sorry I didn’t think to bring her vaccination record. Really, she’s been remarkably well except for the occasional winter cold that everyone in Denver seems to get.”
“You’re from Denver?” Kristin moved a portable X-ray unit from one side of the examining table to the other.
Noah, who lounged with a shoulder negligently propped against the casing of the open door, hurried to help her. He supplied a missing piece of information. “I happened to be out exercising Jasper and rode past their ranch at the time Shelby fell, so I volunteered to drive them to the clinic. Greer and Shelby are our new neighbors, Kristin. At the Dragging F.”
Greer rolled her eyes. “Ghastly name. I may run a contest and have my first guests rename the ranch.”
“I’m sorry this is your welcome to Homestead,” Kristin said, grimacing. My father-in-law said Jase Farley was the type to get a kick out of a name like the Dragging F. I can’t wait to go home and tell Ryan we now have good neighbors all the way between us and the river.” She sent Noah a wide smile.
That comment caught Greer’s attention. She swung her head between the two. “Oh, then you and your family live in the other ranchette? Ed Tanner said a developer had built two before the bottom fell out of the real estate market here.”
“No. My husband, Ryan Gallagher, manages his dad’s ranch. The Four Aces borders you on the north and east.”
“Oh. Gallagher as in state senator?” Greer’s eyes rose from the page she was filling out. “I, ah, used to live in Homestead. Garrett’s a year younger than me, so I knew him the best of the Gallagher boys. If Trevor hasn’t changed too much, I could probably pick him out of a crowd. Ryan…I’m guessing he’s Garrett and Trevor’s older brother?”
Kristin nodded. “Wow, so you’ve come home, too? Like Ryan and Miranda. And Callie Montgomery, but she’d been gone a long time. You likely haven’t had a chance to eat at her café yet. Best family dining in town.” Kristin removed the film plate. “I need to go develop this. There’s no doubt that her arm’s broken. I have to be sure the bones are aligned and that there’s no restriction of blood.” She smiled down at the supine child. “You lie still as a mouse until I get back. Let your mom finish those forms. Noah, you could take a seat in the waiting room. The new Western Horseman magazine is out there.”
“Thanks, Kristin, but I’ll stay and keep Shelby company. We’re old buddies. We both like horses and dogs. She’ll have a cast, right? Maybe I’ll tell her about the time I broke my foot playing soccer and had to start my school year wearing one.” He pulled up a chair and sat next to the exam table. “Casts aren’t so bad. Everybody gives you sympathy, including teachers. And the kids all want to sign their names on the plaster.”
If the P.A. leveled a questioning glance in Noah’s direction, he was impervious. Shelby, it seemed, didn’t want to talk about casts, but pumped him for information about the care and feeding of dogs. She asked about different breeds, and Noah shared what he knew. She prattled on even after Kristin returned.
“Alignment’s good,” the P.A. said. “But I still have to deaden the arm in order to straighten out the bones. If anyone’s squeamish, you’re excused.”
Greer blanched but set the clipboard aside. Noah saw that pain filled her gold-flecked hazel eyes as she gently combed her fingers through Shelby’s tangled hair. “Shel, I want you to hold my hand tight so Mrs. Gallagher can fix your arm good as new.”
Noah rose to stand opposite her. “If you’re not up to this, just say the word. I’ll be glad to supply the muscle needed to hold her still.”
The eyes Greer raised to meet his were glossy with tears, but he recognized in them a rock-steady determination. Reaching across Shelby’s legs, Noah briefly squeezed Greer’s hand. That move earned him a second inspection from Kristin, who made no remark, however, except to give Shelby permission to go right on talking about dogs. Which, of course, she did. Nonstop.
Later, Greer would think her daughter