there’s anything I can do for any of you, let me know.”
Janet glanced toward the doorway. “Stay with Justin,” she said, her expression worried. “He’s going to need you. You heard him just now. This doesn’t fit with his sense of justice at all. It won’t be easy for him to reconcile it.” She sighed. “If I’m being totally honest, no matter what I said before, even I know it won’t be easy for any of us.”
* * *
The next few days went by in a terrible haze. Patsy did the only thing she could think of to do that might help. She kept the lunch counter at Dolan’s running smoothly from dawn to dusk. The news on Sharon Lynn was more positive each day and by the beginning of the following week she had been released from the hospital. Patsy went to visit her at the ranch, where the whole family was hovering over her. When she went into Sharon Lynn’s room, she was horrified by what she found.
Though Sharon Lynn’s injuries were healing nicely and the bruises had begun to fade, she was lying in bed staring dully at the ceiling. When Patsy had walked into the room, her friend had not even glanced in her direction.
“Hey,” Patsy said softly. “I’m so relieved to see you safe at home again.”
Sharon Lynn nodded, her expression blank. “Thanks,” she murmured with no emotion in her voice at all.
“Everyone at Dolan’s misses you like crazy. They’re asking when you’ll be back.”
No response. Patsy tried again.
“What is the doctor saying about getting back on your feet again?”
“Not much.”
Patsy didn’t know too much about clinical depression, but it seemed to her that Sharon Lynn was sinking into the kind of dark despair that needed quick attention. She wondered if anyone had broached the subject with her, then wondered if she dared do it herself. She was still debating whether she had any right or even an obligation to say something, when Sharon Lynn spoke.
“I killed him, you know.” She whispered it matter-of-factly.
Patsy reacted angrily. “Don’t be absurd. Kyle was killed by a drunk driver. Don’t you ever think otherwise.”
“But I was driving our car. I should have done...” Her voice trailed off before she finally added forlornly, “Something. I should have done something.”
Patsy reached for her hand. It was ice-cold and limp. “There was nothing you could have done, no place you could turn,” she insisted. “The road’s narrow, and there are deep ditches on either side. The only person responsible for this tragedy was the other driver.”
The door to the room opened just as she spoke.
“Damn right!” Justin said fiercely. He came over to the bed and reached down for Sharon Lynn’s hand. “Don’t you dare blame yourself. The slime who did this should be locked up for a long, long time. The sheriff will see that he is.”
Sharon Lynn retreated visibly, staring back up at the ceiling again, her expression blank. Patsy beckoned to Justin and led him from the room. It was the first time she’d seen him in days, as well. He looked only marginally better than his cousin. She wanted to throw her arms around him and hold him. It was a strange feeling to think of herself as the strong one after so many years of believing herself to be weak.
“Are you okay?” she asked quietly.
A ghost of a smile came and went. “Better now that I’ve seen you.”
“You don’t look as if you’ve slept a wink in days.”
“You mean I’m not as handsome as ever?” he asked, a twinkle bringing a momentary light to his eyes.
“Oh, you’ll always be handsome enough, Justin Adams, but right now you’re pale and drawn. Haven’t you been eating? You haven’t been by Dolan’s since this happened.”
He did smile at that. “Did you miss me?”
“Of course not. I just worried that the thieves were going to start getting ideas now that there hasn’t been a lawman parked at the counter for days.”
“So it’s my badge you’ve been missing,” he teased. “I’m surprised. I always had the feeling it made you nervous.”
Patsy’s pulse thudded dully at the taunt. It was too close to being squarely on the mark.
“I don’t hear you denying it,” he said.
“Because it’s so ridiculous it doesn’t deserve a reply,” she said, trying to brazen it out. She met his gaze unblinkingly.
Eventually he grinned. “If you say so, darlin’.”
“Can we talk about Sharon Lynn for a minute?” she asked.
She knew it was a topic that would fully capture his