her.” Teddy sounded so serious she ducked to hide her smile.
“Teddy.” Caleb’s voice held warning. “You just found her. And she’s in pretty bad shape.”
“But Miss Lilly can fix her. Can’t you? That man in town said you could.”
She caught his hands and held them until he met her eyes. “Teddy, we will do our very best. Sometimes the best thing we can do is love our friend.”
“I love her.”
She felt the depth of his yearning in the pit of her stomach. He needed this dog. She prayed the injuries weren’t too bad and she’d survive. God, give me hands to heal and words to strengthen. She meant both the dog and his young owner.
Grub padded in at that moment. The silly dog never noticed people coming, and usually barked a warning upon their going. But the big, clumsy, lop-eared dog was dearly loved by the entire family. Grub saw Caleb and Teddy and gave a halfhearted woof. He noticed the injured dog and ambled over to smell it. He then sat two feet away and watched.
“This is Grub. He’s our dog.” She’d never tell a stranger how useless he was.
Caleb snorted. “Johnny-come-lately, I’d say.”
Lilly let the comment pass. “What’s your dog’s name?” she asked Teddy.
“She’s a girl, right?”
“Yes.”
“A girl might not like being with two boys.”
“Two boys?” Was there another one hiding in the wagon?
“Me and Papa.”
Caleb made a noise like he was holding back a laugh.
Lilly dared not look at him for fear of revealing her own amusement and offending Teddy. “Oh, I see. I don’t think a girl dog will mind.”
“That’s good. You know any good girls’ names?”
“Well, let me think.” She continued to wash the dog as she talked, thankful she’d discovered nothing but cuts so far, though some of them were deep enough to make infection a real possibility. “My sisters are named Cora and Rose, but those aren’t very good names for a dog. The girls I know have names like Nancy and Katie. I know a little girl called Blossom.”
Teddy nodded and smiled. “I like Blossom. It sounds like a pretty flower and my dog is as pretty as a flower. You like it, Papa?”
“I like it fine.” He knelt beside Teddy and patted Blossom’s head gently, earning him a grateful swipe of the dog’s tongue.
Lilly studied the man. He had dark brown hair, curly and tangled like it hadn’t seen a brush in several days. His dark brown eyes set off a face full of determination. She felt a flash of sympathy. No doubt he worried about his son. It was on the tip of her tongue to ask where Teddy’s mother was, but it didn’t matter to her except where it concerned the boy.
Caleb met her gaze. “Blossom is a fine name for a dog who looks to be half collie and half bulldog, or something equally—”
Afraid he’d say “ugly,” she quickly inserted her own word. “Strong.”
He nodded and grinned.
She blinked. My, how his eyes did darken and flood with warmth when he smiled. His whole face underwent such a transformation she was almost tempted to say he was handsome. Which had been her first thought when she’d seen him at the store. Good thing Rose hadn’t been there to take note of the way her cheeks had warmed as he brushed past with an apology.
She thought about how strong and kind he had been when he’d helped her calm the horse. Her feelings had been struck again with awareness of tenderness and strength when he took his son on his knee and drove from town.
Despite all those wonderful virtues, he had so much working against him. He was obviously married, even if she’d seen no evidence of a wife. He worked for the Caldwells, which put a barrier as big as the Rocky Mountains between them. Not that any of that mattered, because she had no intention of ever again getting close to anyone outside her family.
If you get close to people, you will just suffer more losses down the road.
She’d help the dog. She’d even help Teddy if Caleb let her and if she could. But she would not let her heart be drawn to either one of them.
She’d keep on repeating her vow every day if necessary.
Blossom! Caleb had almost laughed at the name. The animal looked more like trash than a flower, but he would respect Teddy’s devotion and hope the boy wouldn’t end up with a broken heart.
Lilly bent over a cut on the pup to examine it more closely, and then let out a sigh. “It’s not deep.”
“Blossom sure likes me washing her.” Teddy wiped at the fur. Indeed, the dog opened her eyes and focused on Teddy, who leaned closer. “You’re so pretty. Prettier than any other dog I ever seen.”
Caleb chuckled. The dog would likely grow into a good-sized animal with long silky hair like a collie. Her face, on the other hand, would probably look like she’d run into a train. “Beauty is certainly in the eye of the beholder.”
Lilly made a sound—half grunt, half sigh. “Seems to be true on many levels.”
Caleb considered her at length. It sounded like she had personal experience with the old saying, but it couldn’t be on her own behalf. She was quite the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. “I met your twin this morning. What about your other sister? Is she older or younger?”
“Cora. She’s two years older. She got married a short time ago and she and her husband, Wyatt, live on a small ranch not far from here.”
“How old are you?” Teddy asked, the question so out of the blue and so inappropriate it shocked Caleb.
“Son, we don’t ask personal questions.” He needed to give the boy some lessons on how to carry on a conversation with a woman. Not that he would mind knowing the answer. There was something about Lilly that made it impossible to guess her age. She had a twinkle in her eyes and a freshness about her that spoke of young innocence, but several times he’d glimpsed wisdom lurking in the depths of her gaze.
Lilly chuckled. “It’s a perfectly natural question. I’m eighteen.”
Teddy considered it a moment. “Mr. Frank said you and that girl you were with are twins. So your sister is eighteen, too?”
“That’s correct.”
“I’m five.”
Caleb ducked his head to hide his smile at how Teddy delivered his announcement. As if it carried a huge amount of importance.
“My pa is twenty-five. Isn’t that right, Papa?”
Caleb
