seen before. It was beautiful chaos.
“All set.”
Turning, CJ smiled faintly at Mac. He looked the same as when he’d left except that his hair was a little smoother and damp in spots. He’d obviously run wet fingers through it to try to tame it. He’d also used her mouthwash, she noted as she joined him to leave the room, and smelled the minty freshness of his breath. That made her realize that she hadn’t used mouthwash. She almost turned back to go give her mouth a rinse, but in the end decided she’d brushed and that was good enough.
“There you are!” Mrs. Vesper greeted them cheerfully from her position at the stove as they joined her in the kitchen moments later. “I thought I heard you two moving around upstairs, so I started making your breakfast. And you will eat it, young man,” the older woman said firmly, glaring at Mac. “You look ready to faint on us. Sit down.”
Much to CJ’s surprise, Mac obeyed and sat at once, positioning himself at the opposite end of the table, about as far away as he could get from the older woman and CJ, who had approached her. She’d meant to ask what she could do to help, but instead found herself frowning as she looked Mac over. She’d noted upstairs that he was pale this morning, but now she saw that his hands were balled into fists and his jaw was clenched. Both were signs of either anger or pain in her experience. In this case, she suspected pain.
“Are you all right?” she asked, leaving Mrs. Vesper’s side to move toward him.
“Yes, I just—” He lunged out of his seat, backing away from her, as he finished, “I just need some air.”
In the next moment, he’d turned on his heel and walked out of the kitchen. CJ followed in time to see him walk out the back door, but when he made a beeline for the police car parked beside her own vehicle, she decided Dandridge could keep an eye on him, and returned to the kitchen to see if Mrs. Vesper needed any help.
“I think that boy is anemic,” Mrs. Vesper announced as CJ rejoined her. “That or he didn’t get out of the fire as well as we thought. Maybe his lungs were damaged by the smoke and he’s not getting enough oxygen.”
“Hmm,” CJ murmured. “He is pale this morning.”
“Pale?” Mrs. Vesper gave a bark of laughter. “He’s whiter than that bread. Speaking of which, dear. Throw those last four slices in the toaster for me, will you, please? This is almost ready.”
CJ moved to the plate of bread in front of a four-slice toaster and did as requested as she said, “I think I’ll talk to Dandridge and have him take him into emergency on the way to the police station so they can check him over.”
“You aren’t taking him in yourself?” Mrs. Vesper didn’t hide her surprise.
“No. Really, he’s the responsibility of the police now,” CJ answered, saying what had only occurred to her moments ago, and then to distract her, asked, “Does Sandford have a hospital, or will Dandridge have to take him to a bigger town?”
“Oh, yes. We’ve had a hospital since 1951,” Mrs. Vesper assured her, and then smiled faintly and explained, “I know that because I was one of the first babies born there and my mother was glad not to have to rely on a midwife or go to the city to have me. She always said the new hospital was finished just in time for my birth.”
CJ smiled at this bit of the woman’s history, and then picked up the butter knife Mrs. Vesper had left next to the plate and began to butter the toast when it popped.
“Perfect timing,” Mrs. Vesper crowed, bustling to a cupboard next to the sink to fetch a large bowl. Returning to the stove she set the bowl down, and began to shift the scrambled eggs she’d been cooking into it from the frying pan. She carried the pale-yellow mixture to the table while CJ finished buttering the toast, and then returned and opened the stove to retrieve bacon and hash browns that she transferred to the table as well before returning to open the stove yet again.
“Just put those on here, dear,” Mrs. Vesper instructed as CJ finished buttering the last slice.
CJ glanced over to see that she’d retrieved a plate already stacked high with buttered toast from the oven where it had been