Page 27 of Heart of Stone

CHAPTER17

Waking up was a matter of leaving dark, disturbing dreams for a brighter but painful reality. Stone opened his eyes slowly and drew in a deep breath that caused him to gasp in pain. “Shit,” he ground out as he tried to sit up.

“Oh no, you don’t!” The response was immediate, startling him, and then Luke was looming over him, pressing his shoulders back down. “You’re to lie still.”

“Luke?” Stone stared up at the man he loved and smiled. Luke was there, and suddenly things seemed a lot better. “When did you get home?”

“A few hours ago.” Luke sat down again, regarding him sternly. “And a fine welcome home I got, too, findin’ out you couldn’t stay on a horse’s back worth a damn.”

Stone frowned, trying to remember what had happened despite the muddled feeling in his head, and slowly the pieces came back. He’d started to mount Raider, and the next thing he knew, he was looking up at Doc Wilson, who was asking him what day it was.

“Raider threw me,” he said slowly, the thought disturbing him deeply. “He’s never done that before.”

“He had a burr under his blanket.” Luke smiled crookedly. “You must have been mighty distracted to miss that. You should be more careful.”

“I thought I’d checked.” Stone tried to focus his thoughts, which seemed to be scattered all over the place. “I guess I was distracted about the windmill.”

“I reckon so. It can happen to anyone.” Luke gave him another stern look. “Just don’t let it happen again.”

“I’ll sure try.” Stone shook his head and quickly decided that was a bad idea. He lifted his hand to his head, surprised to find that he was all wrapped up. “How bad am I hurt?”

“Could be worse,” Luke replied gruffly, tugging up the light blanket covering Stone and smoothing it. “Cracked ribs and a bump on the head. You’ve got to be still so those cracked ribs don’t turn into busted ribs.”

Stone frowned at the mere thought of staying in bed much longer. “I can’t do that, and you know it.” His head was slowly clearing, and he remembered why Luke had gone away in the first place. “You get that part?”

“The hell you can’t stay right in that bed!” Luke rounded on him with a scowl. “Yeah, I got the part, and it’s goin’ to get installed, and this ranch is goin’ to do just fine without you stompin’ around it for a few days.”

“But....” Stone stared at Luke, and the sight of Luke’s lips turned down distracted Stone from what he’d been about to say. Luke was too handsome to wear a frown like that. “I like it better when you smile.”

Luke froze, his expression shifting from irate to shocked, and he gaped at Stone in silence before he seemed to recover enough to speak. “Well, when I have reason to, I’ll smile,” he said, shaking his head. “Meanwhile, you’re goin’ to behave yourself and rest like Doc Wilson said to.”

Stone was torn. He didn’t want to stay in bed, but he didn’t want to make Luke unhappy either. He’d already caused Luke too much pain as it was; that was why Luke rarely smiled anymore, and he knew it. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to cause you so much trouble. Why ain’t anything ever easy?”

“I don’t know. It’s just how life is, I reckon,” Luke replied quietly, turning his gaze to the wood floor. “You find a way through the rough patches and keep goin’ as best you can.”

“Been tryin’. Just want a few less rough patches, is all.” Stone sighed. “‘Least I can count on you.”

“Yeah, you can.” Luke reached out to fluff Stone’s pillow a little. “And right now, you can count on me to make sure you get the rest you need until Doc Wilson says your ribs are okay.”

Stone peered at Luke, and then he reached out to capture Luke’s hand. “You can count on me too, y’know.”.

“I know.” Luke let his hand remain in Stone’s for a moment longer before tugging it free.

“Good.” Stone smiled, relieved that Luke understood. He was suddenly feeling tired again, and he closed his eyes and sighed. “Guess I need a little rest. Just don’t let me sleep too long, okay?”

“You sleep as long as you need to. The ranch’ll be fine, and I ain’t goin’ anywhere.”

“Good.” Luke’s words were reassuring, and Stone let himself relax. Somehow, everything would be just fine, so long as Luke was there. “This is where you belong,” he murmured, and then he felt himself slipping back into darkness once again.

CHAPTER18

The little town of Serenity could look right festive when it wanted to, Luke thought as he walked along Main Street, which was illuminated by lanterns hung on shepherd’s hooks that were decorated with fresh greenery and flowers in honor of the Spring Festival. What had begun as a simple town picnic to celebrate the arrival of spring a couple of years before Luke’s arrival had evolved in a day-long festival with games, fireworks, and a dance on top of the traditional picnic lunch. After the recent run of bad luck on the ranch, Luke was glad for a reason to forget all the losses and expenses for a while, even if he didn’t feel much like celebrating, and it was nice to see folks laughing and having a good time.

Now that the sun had set and the fireworks were over, children were being taken home to bed, some of them already exhausted enough to fall asleep in their pa’s arms and some of them kicking up a fuss. But the day had been full of events aimed at entertaining the little ones, and now it was the adults’ turn to have some fun at the dance. Luke could already hear the band warming up as he approached the warehouse that had been cleaned up and cleared out for the occasion.

He saw Stone hovering near the entrance, and he mustered as much of a smile as he could. He’d managed to keep himself occupied with activities that put some distance between himself and Stone, needing to forgetthatsituation for a little while too. Stone had recuperated from being thrown quickly, which was a blessing for Luke’s nerves; it had taken everything in him to keep from fussing and hovering like a mother hen while Stone rested and healed, but that wouldn’t have done either of them any good in the long run.

But he had no doubt that Stone was unsettled by the thought of attending the dance, which meant Stone needed him for reassurance, moral support, and help in escaping unwanted entanglements. Going to church every week was one thing; they could be in and out the door quickly enough not to get dragged into a lot of socializing, but here, the mixing and mingling couldn’t be avoided, and there would be hopeful young ladies fishing for invitations to dance from both of them. Luke didn’t mind that so much; he had always danced with the eligible misses and some of the matrons as well, giving the ladies enough attention to appear sociable but not giving any of them concrete reason to hope they had caught his eye.

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