Serious Cowboy (Cowboys of Duncan Ranch #2)

Chapter 16

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Why Zeke was being stubborn about this, Callie had no clue, but she refused to give in about this. He was too fragile to go untreated, and that wasn’t even mentioning that if he hit an artery or something during that tumble, he could literally bleed out and die.

She hadn’t seen him this far to get all negligent about things now.

“Timothy, I need you. Zeke fell and won’t let me call an ambulance. Can you come over here and knock some sense into the man.”

“I’ll do my best,” her brother informed her, then disconnected.

Ten minutes later, Tim had scissored off the damaged fleece fabric of Zeke’s sweatpants to assess just how bad things were. He’d brought his medicine bag—it was an old fashioned one Callie had specifically bought for him as a present for graduating med school at the top of his class—and she released her anger for long enough to be touched by Tim still carrying it.

After all, the only reason he would do so would be mostly for sentimental reasons.

Tim hissed as he saw how deep the cuts were.

“I’m going to patch you up,” he told his best friend. “But only because they’re not any worse than this. An inch deeper and to the left, and you could’ve been in a world of hurt.”

“Wonder what that’s like,” Zeke grumbled, and Callie wanted to smack him.

After all he’d been through, after all they’d been through together, him taking his temper out like this disappointed her. Even if the discomfort might be responsible for a certain percentage of it. She reminded herself that adults, much like children, were far less easy to be around when in pain. It did no favors for anyone’s mood no matter their age.

With that in mind, she did her best to be tolerant. Even if she’d basically been nothing but all throughout his recovery.

When Tim pulled out an injection, Zeke glowered at the needle. “What are you doing?”

“I have to deaden the site. Unless you want to feel everything as I sew these up,” her brother snarked right back, and Callie could see at least three or four deep cuts long enough to require stitches.

“Hold my hand, Zeke. I’ll get you through this.”

“That’s not a bad idea,” Tim intoned. “These might sting.”

Based on Zeke’s fervent hissing and flinching “might” must not have been accurate. In the end, however, Tim not only stopped the bleeding. He had his friend bandaged up lickety-split. With Tim on one side and Callie on the other, they maneuvered Zeke onto his couch.

“Might be best for you to sleep here tonight. Avoid those stairs and let your body rest,” Tim suggested, and Callie waited for Zeke’s rebuttal. Yet, he didn’t provide one.

“Sorry,” he grunted out, though she couldn’t tell who this was aimed at.

Her brother stared at his buddy as if he’d never seen him before. “Did you just apologize?”

Zeke’s features twisted into a look that might melt sand, but he answered, “Yes. To your sister. I snapped at her when I shouldn’t have.”

“When?” Tim had his hackles up.

Great. That was the last thing she needed, two of the important men in her life getting into a tussle over something so silly.

“Earlier.” Then, Zeke secured her hand in his, latching his gaze onto hers. “I mean it. I’m sorry.”

She believed him.

The problem was how snarly he was over the next few days. After so recently having been bedridden, being laid up like this again did nothing for his disposition. She went over to check on him every day, with Tim showing up every third or fourth day. And while Callie could tell that he didn’t mean to ever bite anyone’s head off, Zeke must be finding this setback difficult.

She supposed she would, too. To be making such great progress to stumble and ruin it all. It’d be hard for anyone.

Once, she came in to discover him outright glaring at his television. It wasn’t even on, either.

“What is it?” Was it not working anymore?

“I’m not a TV person. Having nothing to occupy my hands is driving me bonkers.”

“Well, what would you like?”

“I don’t know. Do you have anything you can bring me that needs fixing?”

At first, she could think of nothing. But then… “I don’t have anything broken per se, but what about tangled up jewelry?”

“Tangled up how?”

“It’s a bunch of necklaces that got all knotted up in my jewelry box. I can’t wear them anymore because they’ve turned into this metallic ball of chains. I can’t work them loose. That fiddly kind of stuff drives me right up the wall.”

Zeke’s eyes lit up like she’s just told him he was getting a new pickup for Christmas. “I’ll do it. I can get them loose.”

“There’s like twenty of them, though. I was considering either throwing them out or having them melted down.”

“No, don’t do that. I’ll work on them. I’m sure I can do it without breaking them.”

He did. Quite successfully, in fact. Not only did he detangle jewelry she’d been thinking of as a lost cause, he did something to them to clean them, as well. They looked good as new. Better, even.

“How’d you do this?”

He shrugged as if it was no big deal. “I like it. Have anything else?”

So, she brought him every ring, bracelet, and pendant where the settings were damaged, loose, or had stones that needed to be put back in. After that she carried the new batch of broken toys from the pediatric practice. Then, cracked holiday ornaments, doubting those could be fixed properly.

She’d been wrong, though. Zeke had a gift. And keeping him occupied with such tasks meant he had a better mindset and outlook on his overall recovery. Soon, he was able to involve himself in PT again.

A week later, she strolled in to find that not only had Zeke prepared himself some dinner, he’d prepared her some, too. It’d been a selection of microwaved foods, but still. It’d been the thought that counted, and to Callie, it counted a lot.

“Your cup of soup game is on fire tonight,” she complimented him, not mocking him at all. In her book, a home-cooked meal was a home-cooked meal.

“I added some sesame oil and a few spices to the mix. Oh, and a steamer bag of carrots and peas.”

“I thought it had more veggies than I remembered.”

Zeke grinned at her, and the look in his eyes was so soft she wished she could capture it and hold it in her heart always. In her mind, she did. “I’d do anything for you,” he said.

“That’s quite a sentiment.”

He took a step toward her, closing the distance. He’d switched from crutches to a boot, and that boot would be coming off in the next ten days or so. “It’s one I mean. You’ve done so much for me. The least I can do is return the favor.”

“You do plenty for me already.” She lifted the necklace she wore, one he’d repaired for her.

“I want to do more.”

“Like what, for example?”

He took another step. And another. By the time he paused in front of her, she could bask in his fresh masculine scent. Callie took a whiff, breathing it in deep. He didn’t answer her. Instead, he offered her a demonstration.

Weaving his hand into her curly hair, he tugged slightly so that they brought their heads together. When his lips connected with hers, all tender and soft, Callie found herself lost in his kiss. That chemistry they’d shared since the beginning hadn’t gone anywhere despite months having elapsed since the last time they’d been like this together.

Maybe had this been a different scenario, she might’ve analyzed everything and compared this kiss to one of their earlier ones. Maybe she would’ve be worried about the large part of him that he’d never allowed her to know, but all his clandestine secret keeping appeared to be over. He’d confided in her, just like she’d confided in him.

He’d shown her who he really was and hadn’t hidden anything, not his fears, not his emotions, not his actual reactions to pain. She knew Zeke now. The real man with all the elements she found attractive about him as well as all his flaws. Just like he knew her flaws. It was the first truly authentic relationship she’d ever had with a man, and she was so glad it had occurred with him.

Now that he was without his crutches, he held her so that their bodies were flush, so that she could feel the heat of him against her. She welcomed it, welcomed this new closeness that wouldn’t allow anything either inside or outside of them to interfere in any way.

In hindsight, when they’d dated before, it hadn’t felt natural because she’d had to pursue him so relentlessly. He’d resisted her. Had thrown up barriers. Had concealed information from her that kept them from connecting on a more intimate level. But that wasn’t the case anymore, and the ease of their closeness displayed that.

And as they continued to kiss and reconnect all over again, Callie’s heart felt utterly full.