thought she was...fine? He looked around and considered that the jump off the flat porch was not dangerous for such a stranger. But if she went up the several flights to the attic, she might do serious damage to herself jumping from one of the windows.
Then he looked up and remembered the bars that were braced sideways across the windows in a casual, perfectly spaced row. She didn’t have a chance of doing anything drastic.
He considered her. Was she in self-danger?
He finally decided slowly that, like life, even in death she wouldn’t give a damn. She didn’t care one way or the other.
But she’d remembered he had had a serious case of Kayla.
He asked gently, “That man you used to be with...Philip? He left you?”
She nodded.
“Oh.”
“—and then I lost the baby.”
Tom hadn’t known she’d been pregnant. He frowned and looked at her. He told her kindly, “There was some reason for it. Babies sometimes can’t make it There will be another time for you.”
She slowly turned her head and just looked at Tom with ancient knowledge that he would never understand.
He asked, “Have you been ill?”
“I forget to eat.”
“Can you walk?”
She considered. “Some.”
“Let’s go around the porch to the shady side.”
She was slow in deciding. She turned her head carefully. She began to leave the chair, and he reached to help her. She said, “I can do this by myself.”
Tom rose to his feet and just anxiously watched, his hands ready to catch her fall. He wondered if moving her had been a good idea. Maybe she needed the feeling of the warm, Texas winter sun on that side of the house?
She straightened and looked around slowly. She asked, “Which way?”
He could carry her. She didn’t have to go around to the other side of—
Ellen looked at him in a dead glance and asked again, “Which way?”
Tom had never counted the steps of either way. He glanced up and quickly, mentally judged the distance one way or the other. He said, “This way.” It would be around the back.
Watching, inside the house, Mina asked Ciggie, “What the dickens is he doing?” She was huffy and appalled.
Ciggie replied, “We’ll see.”
Mina gave Ciggie a deadly look of shock. Well, she had asked the question, and Ciggie had given a logical reply. Mina breathed carefully to soothe herself and moved instantly to see where the hell Tom was taking that fragile child-woman!
The two women hurried to the various places to see...
Tom had lifted Ellen into his arms and was carrying her around the back of the house! Good gravy! If a woman was so fragile that she had to be carried then she probably should be in bed!
Tom was stopped along the wall of the porch and was indicating something to Ellen that was on beyond. It was horses. No. It was the Longhorns moving slowly and eating grass. Tom Keeper mentioned, “Their horns must be a nuisance but don’t they look elegant?”
Ellen said a nothing, “Mmm.” A response, not any opinion.
He grinned down at her lying on his arms and asked, “Not taken with Longhorn Cattle?”
“I had a steak—”
Indignantly, Tom interrupted, “You ate one? Don’t even say it! How could you?”
“—and someone told us it wasn’t actually longhorn meat, because you all didn’t let anybody kill a-one of them.”
Tom nodded as he said, “That’s a fact.”
The fragile, pale woman smiled.
He asked softly, “Want to go inside now? You’ve been out a while.”
She said, “All right.”
He not only carried her into the house, he asked, “Which way?”
She pointed to a guest room down a hallway on that floor.
Beyond, Mrs. Keeper and her cohort had scurried so as not to be seen. It was frustrating to them not to see what was happening!
As he carried Ellen, Tom offered, “Since I’ve already learned to carry you, would you like a review of the house? The layout is simple and—”
“This time, I’ll just go to my room.”
“Have I bored you?”
“Oh, no. I’m just tired.”
Not having let her go, he asked, “Along here?”
“Yes. The third door.”
He carried her to the door as he said, “I’ve got to be out and about, but I’ll be back for lunch and we’ll eat on the south side. Okay?”
She hesitated, then she said, “Okay.” But there was no enthusiasm.
His foot nudged her door open as she turned the knob and he carried her across the room and carefully laid her on the made bed. Well, he wasn’t cognizant about blankets—and she was dressed.
“Want to change?” He asked that watching her soberly. He smiled. “I could help?”
She lay quietly and barely shook her head as she watched him. She said a formal, “Thank you.”
“I’ll be back at noon.”
“Don’t bother. I’ll probably sleep.”
He grinned. “Too much good Texas air?”
She almost smiled as she said, “Yes.”
“I’ll check on you.” Then he didn’t leave. He watched her. He said yet again, “I’ll be back.”
A tear slid out of her eye.
He leaned over her and frowned. “What’s wrong.” A lead-in, not a question.
Her breaths became disorganized.
He was alarmed and said, “I can take care of anything that bothers you. Just tell me what’s wrong.”
“I was thinking of the baby I lost.” And big old tears slid from her eyes.
He sat down on the bed and lifted her onto his lap. He told her, “That’s tough. It makes you want to rail at God, doesn’t it? Go ahead. God won’t
