cage hurt. He leaned against the gnarled trunk of a live oak tree, his knuckles bleeding and every muscle in his body screaming.
The driver was an older Hispanic man with a decided limp. The passenger, the one holding the shotgun, was a woman who could only be described as grandmotherly. Thank the lord for help in all shapes and sizes.
Ben’s next thought went to Kate and Lily.
Kate rounded the back of the pickup and ran back into the yard, tears making muddy tracks down her cheeks. “Lily!” she cried out.
A whimper sounded from the tree branches over Ben’s head.
Hidden between the leaves was a little girl with a curly halo of hair, clutching a ball of fur to her chest, tears slipping down her cheeks. “Mommy?”
“Lily?” Kate skidded to a halt beneath the tree. “Oh, baby. I’m so glad you’re okay.” Kate grabbed a branch and started up the tree.
Ben snagged her arm. “Let me.”
“I can do this.”
“It would be better if I could hand her down to someone she knows.”
Kate backed away and let Ben take the lead.
He ducked beneath the low-hanging branches and climbed upward. “Hey, Lily. How’d you get all the way up here?”
She hiccuped, her bottom lip trembling as she clutched the fuzz ball to the curve of her neck. “I followed Jazzy.”
“Is Jazzy one of your toys?” He spoke in calm, soothing tones, careful not to grimace when a shard of pain rippled across his hands or ribs.
Lily shook her head. “No, Jazzy’s not a toy.”
A soft mewling erupted from the fur ball and little paws reached out to latch onto Lily’s shirt.
“Jazzy’s a kitten.” Lily’s eyes rounded as she stared down into Ben’s eyes. “Can I keep her?”
Ben chuckled, his body hurting with every breath. He wanted to crush the little girl and the kitten to his chest and hold them there for as long as he could. He couldn’t tell if the pain he was feeling stemmed from sore ribs, bruises or heartbreak. “You’ll have to ask your mommy.”
“Will you ask her for me?”
“You bet.” Ben settled on a thick branch and wrapped his legs around it before he reached out. “Come on. I think your mother wants to fix you lunch or something.”
“I’m scared.” She glanced around at the ground below her. “Are the bad men gone?”
Rage burned in Ben’s throat as hot as acid but he fought to keep it from his face and voice. “Yes, baby. They’re gone.” This child should not have been exposed to the violence of those men.
She leaned toward him and stopped, her arm around the kitten that clung to her, its blue eyes as big around as Lily’s. “You’re bleeding.”
“It’s okay. It doesn’t hurt, just a little cut.”
“I want my mommy,” Lily whimpered.
“I’m going to hand you down to her. Come on. You’re so brave to save that kitten. Now let me be brave and save you from falling out of the tree.”
Lily smiled. “Silly, I’m not falling out of the tree.”
“Your mother thinks you will.” He winked. “But I know better. You’re good at climbing trees, aren’t you?”
She nodded, then let him grab her around the waist and lift her onto the branch he sat on. He hugged her to him, relief washing over him in such a rush that his eyes glazed over and he couldn’t see.
“Give her to me, please,” Kate cried.
Ben blinked several times before he loosened his hold on the little girl and handed her down into Kate’s outstretched arms.
Kate gathered Lily into a hug so tight, Lily grunted. She sat on the ground in the dirt and hugged her some more, tears trickling from the corners of her eyes.
“I’m okay, Mommy.” Lily patted Kate’s face. “See?” Her empty hand pressed against Kate’s face, urging her to look into her eyes. “I saved the kitten.” Her smile broadened. “Can I keep her? Her name is Jazzy.”
“Sure, honey. You can keep her.” Kate dashed the tears from her cheeks and hugged Lily again. Then she climbed to her feet, lifting Lily to perch on her hip. “Come on, let’s clean up.”
Ben slid out of the tree and dropped to the ground beside the two, his hand going around Kate’s waist. “You two going to be all right?”
“I hope so.” Kate’s eyes widened. “You’re bleeding.”
Lily grinned at Ben. “Told you.”
Kate cupped Ben’s cheek. “Come in the house and let me take care of your cuts before they get infected.”
The light touch sent fire through his veins. Ben pushed her hand aside. “I’m fine. I’ll just stay out here and see what I can do to clean up the mess they made.” Anything rather than being close to Kate. She brought out too many feelings in him, feelings he’d thought long dead, emotions that made a man vulnerable.
The woman holding the shotgun waved her hands at them. “You three go get cleaned up and let us take care of the mess. Eddy and I can set things to rights in no time. Can’t we, Eddy?”
The short Hispanic man had wandered off, picking up broken bush branches. “Sí, señora.”
Ben stepped between the woman and Kate. “Could we at least know the names of our rescuers?” He tried to smile, his lip hurting with the effort. “I’m Ben Harding, Kate’s my…fiancée.”
“Oh, goodness, yes.” The woman shifted the shotgun into her other hand and gripped Ben’s hand in a firm, capable grasp. “Margaret Henderson. But most folks ’round here call me Ma or Marge. This here’s Eddy.”
“Mrs. Henderson, Eddy, glad to meet you.” Ben nodded at the gun. “Good shootin’.”
“No boys in my family, so my daddy taught all his girls to squirrel hunt.” She grinned. “And I make a mean squirrel soup.”
“I’ll bet you do.” Ben let go of her hand. “Thank you for showing up when you did. I think they were about to get the best of us.”
“I don’t know. You were holdin’ yer own pretty well.”
Ben didn’t want to argue with the woman. He’d gotten his butt whipped and Kate would be in a world of hurt had Margaret and Eddy not come along when they did. Guilt with a hint of heartrending regret tugged at his empty belly. What made Hank think a washed-up cop was the right man for this job? It had taken an old woman with a shotgun to chase off the latest threat. Some bodyguard he’d turned out to be.
Margaret smacked Ben on the back. “Twenty-to-one
