Chapter 7

7

C allum woke up feeling raw from what had happened in the night. Not only hauling himself up the stairs, but the unexpected gentleness from Iris toward his sons.

He and the boys had been on their own from the very beginning. They'd never known a mother's touch.

Like his sons, Callum couldn't remember his mom. She'd died when he'd been a little tyke.

The way Levi had snuggled up to Iris last night had touched a soft place inside Callum that he hadn't known existed. It made him ache. He wasn't sure he wanted to think about what the boys were missing without a mom in their lives.

He needed an ibuprofen or three to deal with the pain throbbing through his leg. Maybe some therapy for the residual pain he felt that echoed in Iris's eyes. And he needed to call his sponsor.

As he wrangled the crutches down the stairs and held on to the railing, he heard pots banging and the boys chattering from the kitchen.

He was sweaty and shaky again when he hit the ground floor. He leaned against the wall, heart pounding.

Iris found him when she came around the corner and stopped short. She was wearing a pair of jeans that highlighted her slender figure and a blue T-shirt with a smudge of flour on the shoulder. She was barefoot.

Her disapproval was evident in her frown. He remembered that expression.

"I was coming to check on you," she said. "I thought you'd still be in bed."

She made it sound like a federal crime that he'd gotten himself down the stairs.

"Good morning to you too."

He probably shouldn't tease her. But he was stiff and sore and frustrated at his stupid broken leg. Hobbling around like a grandpa, not even able to get to his own sons when they needed him. Teasing Iris made him forget, just for a second.

She didn't smile. "I was going to bring you up some breakfast."

He didn't know what to do with this version of Iris. Quiet, subdued. The Iris he remembered had been bubbly, able to carry on a conversation with a cardboard box.

"I'm not an invalid. I can at least get around the house."

Her lips thinned.

And he couldn't resist teasing her again. "Unless you're itching to wait on me hand and foot."

A smile twitched at the edges of her lips, and he let himself fall a little bit into her eyes. He couldn't help it.

He reached for her, forgetting about the crutch. It started to fall.

She backed away from his hand, and he had just enough time to grab the crutch before it clattered to the floor. He watched her retreating back as she slipped back into the kitchen.

Right. They were strangers. Not even friends.

Better keep his distance.

He shuffled behind her. The kitchen wasn't what he'd expected for an older farmhouse like this. It had new stone countertops and stainless appliances. Sunlight streamed in the windows and gilded the boys' hair where they sat at the round table in the nook. Levi and Brandt banged their forks on the wooden surface, creating quite a racket.

Iris had her back to him at the stove. She whirled a whisk in a bowl of eggs.

"Sit down," she ordered, nodding to the table. All without looking at him. Was she offended that he'd tried to touch her?

He maneuvered into one of the empty chairs. "Hey guys. Morning."

He felt Iris's presence beside him before he looked up. She pulled another chair out from the table and, keeping her face averted, lifted his leg gently, setting it on the chair. She stuffed a pillow beneath his foot.

"All right?"

"Fine." His voice was gruffer than he'd intended, and his knee burned where she'd touched him. "Thanks."

His phone chimed from the office-slash-temporary bedroom. He glanced that way but wasn't ready to get up now that he'd found some relief in the kitchen chair.

"It's been ringing all morning," Iris said. "I didn't want to go in your room without permission. You want me to get it for you?"

"I'll need to freshen up in a bit," he said. "I'll get it then." Hopefully, it would be one of the nannies calling him back.

He reached out and rifled Levi's hair. "Gotta hang out with my best buds before I get to work."

Iris was frowning deeply as she plunked a plate of pancakes in front of him.

He reached for the syrup. "Don't get your ponytail in a twist. I need to make a few phone calls and find someone to come out and take care of the cattle until I'm back on my feet."

"We got lots of cows," Brandt said proudly.

"Lots and lots," Levi said through a mouth full of pancake.

"Is there any baby ones?" Brandt waved his sticky fork in the air.

"I don't know," Callum answered. "I guess we'll have to find out."

Iris set a plate of scrambled eggs in the center of the table. "I can give you the number for the hired hand Jilly and I use during busy times. I don't know if he'll be available, but you could give him a call."

"I'd appreciate that." All of a sudden, the bite of pancake lodged in his throat. Iris was a selfless person. She'd always been that way.

She made him want to be better.

Iris leaned against the counter, eating from a plate she must've prepared for herself. She stood with one bare foot on top of the other.

He kept his focus on his plate and made his voice casual. "You ever hear anything from Cord?"

He heard the scrape of her fork on her plate. "His grandma passed about six months ago, and he's taken over running her ranch. He met his fiancé when he moved back. Jilly and I have spent a few evenings playing board games with them."

The affection in her voice was unmistakable.

"Is the place in any better shape than it used to be?"

She laughed a little and shook her head. "Barn collapsed during an ice storm. Cord's a contractor, and he's been picking up jobs to supplement the ranch income."

Smart man. Ranching wasn't for the faint of heart.

"Do you have his number, too?" Callum asked. "I was planning to put in some new pens by the barn, but I won't be able to do the work myself anytime soon."

"New pens?"

He nodded. His plate was clean, so he pushed it back a couple of inches. "Yeah. I'm going to keep going with the beef cattle, but I'm also going to be raising rodeo stock." Maybe she didn't care, but he was proud of what he'd built. He cleared his throat. "I bought in to a stock contractor's business with my first big win. Silent partner kind of thing. He's done real good for the two of us and, since I retired from bull riding, I figured I'd try my hand at raising some stock." Maybe later he'd add on a rodeo school. He already had young guys lining up for him to teach them how to stay on a bull.

He'd started with nothing, and look at him now. He just wished Joe was here to find out about it. Maybe it was prideful, but he'd wanted Joe to know that he'd made something of himself.

Movement from the doorway drew his attention. Jilly.

But not anything like the vibrant girl he remembered from high school. They'd been the same age, in most of the same classes throughout high school. She'd been beautiful with a long mane of blonde hair and dancing blue eyes.

But the Jilly making her way into the kitchen was far too thin. Dark patches underlined her eyes, and she wore some kind of colorful scarf over her head.

He'd seen people wear that kind of scarf before. When they had cancer and were taking chemotherapy.

Jilly was sick?

Iris watched as Callum's expression changed. He looked as if he'd been pummeled. His face leached of color, leaving only two pink spots high in his cheeks.

Jilly strode into the room, pretending not to see his reaction.

"I told you I would bring your breakfast upstairs," Iris chided gently. She turned back to the stove so Callum wouldn't see how much Jilly's illness hurt.

It was like watching Mom fade away all over again.

"And I told you, I'm not going to stay locked up in my room all day."

Iris blinked against the hot moisture that burned her eyes. Even Jilly's voice sounded weaker today. This week's round of chemo must be hitting her hard. Iris had been distracted yesterday, getting Callum settled and chasing the boys around. Should she call Jilly's oncologist and check in?

She tried to unobtrusively check on her sister as she loaded a plate with a scoop of scrambled eggs and two pancakes and fresh strawberries.

"Stop it," Jilly mumbled.

"Who're you?" Levi asked from the table.

"This is my big sister Jilly." Iris handed off the plate to Jilly. "She lives in this house with me."

Brandt was standing in his chair now. He tilted his head, staring at Jilly with pure curiosity. "How come we didn't see you yesterday? Are you sick?"

Jilly gave Iris the side-eye but didn't snipe at the boy. "Yes."

"You should take medicine." Levi started to stand up in his chair, too, but Iris moved behind him and gently nudged him to stay seated.

She rounded the table to Brandt, who was bouncing on his toes now. He grudgingly sat back down when she bribed him with more fruit.

On this side of the table, she couldn't avoid Callum's direct, sad stare.

And then he was working to stand and get his crutches underneath him. "You should've told me," he said quietly. "I could've figured out some other plan."

The boys were absorbed in their food, not paying attention.

Iris shot a look at Jilly, who shook her head. She was no help.

"What other plan?" Iris had overheard enough from the social worker and surgeon at the hospital to know that Callum didn't have any other choices. Not when he'd just moved back to town and didn't have a secure place in the community yet.

He scowled and turned to Jilly. "Will you please tell your sister that she can't rescue everyone?"

Irritated to be talked about like she wasn't even there, Iris snapped, "She already did."

Jilly's glare was shooting daggers at Callum. He seemed to accept Jilly's animosity as his due, which made Iris want to throw her hands up.

"You didn't ask about Noah," Jilly said. She'd been eavesdropping? "Any reason you don't want to catch up with both of your former best friends?"

Callum's expression went completely blank, but not before Iris caught the darkness he tried to hide.

"Noah moved back to Sutter's Hollow... seven years ago now, I guess." Iris counted the number again on her fingers. Had it really been that long?

"Is he... okay?" Callum asked.

"We don't know." Jilly's voice was sharp enough to cut. "He doesn't leave his house. Won't talk to anyone. He's a hermit."

"That's enough." Iris rarely had occasion to lose her temper with her sister, but her patience was gone now.

She didn't wait to find out if Jilly would drop the subject. "Levi and Brandt need clean clothes."

The twins looked up at her in surprise, both mid-chew.

Jilly stomped off to the living room. Iris was relieved to have her out of the equation for now.

Callum just looked at her. His expression remained closed off.

"I washed their clothes yesterday." And they'd run around the house in their underwear for the hour and a half it took to get the clothes clean and dried. "I'm guessing all their stuff is in those boxes at your place. Do you mind if I go over later and unpack some of their things?"

Uncle Joe had been a confirmed bachelor. He'd doted on his nieces but had never filled up his house with toys for them. The great outdoors had been their playground when they spent time on the Red Cedar.

Which meant that the house had no toys suitable for a pair of three-year-olds. She was hoping that she'd find a few things at Callum's house to bring over here and keep them busy.

"That's fine," he said.

He looked as if he wanted to say more, but she started gathering dirty breakfast dishes. If she ran hot water in the sink, she wouldn't be able to hear him.

Or so she hoped.

She heard a soft sigh as she stacked plates.

"You boys be good for Iris, okay? Daddy's going to rest some more so my leg can get better." She could hear the strain in his voice.

He smacked kisses on the twins' foreheads—avoiding their sticky mouths—and then she heard his slow, laborious shuffle toward Joe's office.

His phone dinged again.

He was working on a plan to get out of here. Hire somebody to do the work he needed done. It wouldn't be long before he was back on his feet.

But she wasn't going to forget that broken look on Callum's face anytime soon.