hunting cabin in one of the pastures in the summer. How would I do this snow with crutches? A band tightened around my chest.
Dawson parked and I didn’t move. I stared out the window at the trailer with its boarded-up windows, its saggy roof, and its peeling paint. The place was decrepit. Should be condemned. One match would solve the problem, but I needed its plumbing.
Several moments went by. Dawson put the pickup in gear and drove off without saying a word.
Dawson
My online search came up with several ideas that Bristol was going to fucking hate. Her leg was in a long, bent-leg cast. Emma had said that the doctor didn’t think Bristol would need anything more. The cold had kept the initial swelling down, but I also thought the doctor hadn’t given a shit whether Bristol did fine or not.
What Bristol had said on the drive home resonated. Did I treat her the way I did because of what my family thought of her family? Had I been unfair? The questions plagued me. She was blunt, opinionated, and had a knack for finding any topic I was a little bit sensitive about. I tried to recall our interactions over the years, but they all ended with me being an insensitive bastard to her.
My chest tightened and I huffed out a cough. It was heartburn. Had to be. Bristol had earned every snarky remark.
Hadn’t she?
Those questions had led to the shittiest night of sleep ever and it wasn’t because I’d slept on the couch.
I’d started my morning trudging outside to check on everything and feed the dogs. Daisy had even stuck around, sleeping in the barn with Bucket. Then I’d researched.
Tibia fractures like Bristol’s should heal fine as long as she rested and didn’t try to do too much too early. I’d feel better if she got a second opinion, but no doubt she’d refuse.
Her cast couldn’t get wet, so that’d make showers and bathing difficult. Several inches of snow were on the ground, so running anywhere for a bath chair was out until the roads were cleared. I could find something for her to use.
I’d heard her clomping to the bathroom. She never asked for help, and if she fell, she got herself up and didn’t say anything. Last night I’d gotten her a water bottle and some acetaminophen. Hopefully she’d taken it. Her adamant refusal of the pain meds at the hospital had surprised me—and it hadn’t. After living with a raging alcoholic, who could blame her?
I read up on tips for using crutches. Shorts or loose pants were easier—
Damn. Bristol didn’t have any clothes. I had plenty of shirts and she was tall enough that she wouldn’t drown in the couple pairs of flannel pants I had. Whether she’d actually wear them was a different story. I couldn’t help with the other stuff. Had Kendall or any of my sisters-in-law left things that would work?
Nothing would. Eva was shorter than Bristol, and Bristol had a lean, athletic body that I absolutely had not checked out the few times I’d crossed paths with her in the bar. She had strong legs from growing up on the back of a horse and well-defined muscles from throwing bales and doing chores. Much of the time, she’d been the only help her dad had on the ranch. Even when he’d hired someone, the quality of Bristol’s work had far surpassed anyone else’s.
Hell, I knew who’d come out on top of a ranch rodeo. Tucker and Kiernan would lose any event in the cowboy’s version of driveway basketball.
My stomach growled. I hadn’t eaten supper and neither had Bristol. She’d been ready to drop when we’d gotten home last night. The way she’d stared at her trailer . . . I’d never seen anyone so despondent, like the hope had gotten sucked out of her. But she hadn’t fought me when I’d driven away, saving me from feeling like crap for dropping her off to be alone in a storm with a broken leg.
I popped up and went to the kitchen. I had eggs, sausage, and leftover bread that’d make excellent French toast. I went to work, keeping an ear out for Bristol. When I was wrapping up, I finally heard the toilet in the master bathroom flush. I loaded food on a tray that I’d found tucked deep in a cupboard. Mama had used it when me or my brothers were home sick.
I went to the bedroom door, tray balanced on one