Page 29 of Billionaire Lumberjack's Bargain

“His nails?”

“They have a bluish tint. You haven’t noticed?”

I shake my head, wracking my brain to try to remember seeing anything like that. “No. I likely assumed they were just dirty. He still works in the garden and greenhouse a lot, since that doesn’t require a lot of physical exertion on his part.”

“Well, they’re pretty classic signs of B12 deficiency.”

B12?

All the homeschooling Pops spent so much time and energy on while I was growing up doesn’t seem to mean much because I don’t have a clue what she’s talking about.

“What’s that?”

“A vitamin we all need to keep our brains functioning properly.” She twists her hands in the apron. “It’s actually a very common deficiency, especially in the elderly.”

“Is it curable?”

She nods, shifting restlessly like she’s worried Pops will stick his head out at anytime and catch us talking about him. “He can take oral B12 supplements, but that will take a lot longer to really see any effect, and some people have trouble absorbing them properly. If I can get B12 shots, we should see improvement relatively quickly and know if I’m right or not.”

“Jesus…”

I rest my shoulder against the wall, and some of the weight I’ve been carrying for months finally eases from my shoulders as hopefulness washes over me. “Like how quickly?”

“Within a couple of days, he should showsomesort of improvement, and if it isn’t that…”—she gives me a sympathetic look—“then we’ll deal with it. We’ll figure it out. But I think I’m right. It’s like reading a medical textbook. I only saw it a few times when I worked in the ER, and it was years ago, but I’m pretty confident.” Her gaze searches mine. “You don’t look happy.”

I force a smile and scrub my dirty hands over my face. “I’m relieved. I’m just angry at myself that I didn’t figure it out sooner or force him to go to town.”

“He doesn’t seem like the type of man who will let anyoneforcehim to do anything.”

She has no idea.

I snort. “That’s exactly the problem. He hasn’t left this mountain in almost twenty years.”

“Ever?”

Shaking my head, I shift slightly to take the weight off my right leg that always seems to aggravate me the most. “He manages all the properties in town from here, and if something needs to be brought back and forth, he sends me or has somebody from town bring it to him.”

“Geez.” She brushes the loose strands of her hair behind her ears. “I had no idea since he came up and talked to Dave every month.”

Except the last few…

“Could this have caused any permanent damage? It’s been months of him like this…”

She bristles slightly, pulling her bottom lip between her teeth. “My understanding is that some people who only have mild deficiencies usually don’t have any lingering effects, but for someone who has had a severe deficiency, recovery can take a long time. Months or years. And some people have permanent issues with balance and memory.”

“Shit…”

Guilt carves a new space, mingling with the pain threatening to drop me to my knees.

Camille watches me carefully. “Can you get B12 shots?”

I nod slowly, rubbing the back of my neck. “I’ll radio into town to the clinic and talk to Doc. He can probably get them for us, and I’ll pick them up as soon as they’re ready.”

Pops sticks his head out from the kitchen and narrows his eyes on us. “What are you two doing out here? I thought we were eating.”

Hopefully, he didn’t catch any of that.

Forcing a smile, I incline my head toward her. “I was just updating Camille on some of the things over at her property.”

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