His words seemed to work magic over her. She sagged against him, no longer fighting his hold. He led her toward the woman and teenager sitting huddled together on the back of an old pickup.
“Diane!” Margaret Ledbetter shouted as soon as she saw her daughter.
Diane ran into her arms, hugging her and her younger sister. “Mom, is everyone all right? Where’s Jack and Paul?”
“They’re over there, fighting the fire. Dear, it started in your room. All your clothes and—everything is—oh, I’m so sorry. Jack had suggested we check the wiring for the air-conditioning unit we added, but I thought— I’m so sorry.”
He could tell Diane was fighting back tears, but she hugged her family closer. “The important thing is that you’re all safe.”
A few moments later, several cars pulled up near the house. Katie and Gabe Dawson got out of one and Katie rushed to them, comforting and hugging her mother and sisters.
Gabe approached Jeff and asked, “Hell, how did this happen?”
“Margaret was just telling Diane that it was electrical. Something about an older air-conditioning unit they’d just installed in Diane’s room.
“Damn! I should’ve insisted they let me install proper air-conditioning,” Gabe said with a sigh. “But Margaret and Jack don’t want any help.”
Jeff knew Katie’s bakery was doing well, and Gabe was a wealthy businessman, but people around Cactus were proud. Handouts were unacceptable except in dire straits.
Even as the two of them talked, the men who’d worked to put out the fire were packing up their equipment. Jeff and Gabe moved over to speak to them.
“Is it completely out?” Gabe asked.
“Yeah. Jack and his boy had it under control before we even got here,” one of the firemen said.
“Did any of you get injured?” Jeff asked.
“I think Paul had a burn on his arm,” the man who’d spoken earlier said.
Jeff looked for Diane’s younger brother. He’d met him before, a few months back.
“Paul?” Jeff called when he spotted him. “Heard you got burned. Let me look at it,” Jeff said as he made his way over to the younger man.
“Aw, it’s nothing,” Paul assured him.
With a smile, Jeff said, “Humor me. I’ll feel better if I check you out.”
Jack Ledbetter, Paul’s stepfather, came over with a flashlight. “Need some light on the subject?” he asked as he turned it on.
“Yeah, thanks, Jack.” After looking at the burn, Jeff said, “I’ll need to treat it, Paul, and bandage it up so it won’t get infected.”
When Paul started to refuse, Jack said, “Don’t be macho, boy. That’s your throwing arm. How will you support me and your mom in our old age if you can’t play football anymore?”
His accompanying grin was matched by Paul, who reluctantly surrendered himself to Jeff’s care with no more resistance.
“You play football?” he asked.
“I’m on an athletic scholarship at Texas Tech. Ouch!” Paul exclaimed as Jeff touched his burn. His face was already pale, in spite of his pretence of no pain.
“He’s really good,” Jack bragged. “Goin’ to play in the Superbowl someday.”
Jeff smiled. “I’ll expect free tickets in payment, of course.” He led Paul to his vehicle so he could get his medical bag.
As the three of them moved away from the house, the group of women spotted them and dashed across the front yard to meet them at Jeff’s truck.
“What happened? Who’s hurt?” Katie demanded.
“Paul has a minor burn,” Jeff said soothingly. “We’re taking precautions so it won’t get infected.”
The babble of relieved voices and supportive pats on Paul’s shoulders were interesting to Jeff. He’d moved to Cactus for several reasons. One of them was to feel connected again. He was alone, no family. The wealth of emotion this family shared was incredible.
Gabe rejoined them. “How is he?” he asked.
Paul grinned at his brother-in-law. “It’s nothing much. The doc’s being cautious so I won’t sue.” Everyone seemed to notice the slight wobble in the boy’s voice.
Jeff prepared to clean the burn, wishing he didn’t have such a large audience. It was going to be painful for Paul. “Son, this is going to hurt,” he said in a low voice.
Diane overheard him. “Just a minute,” she said softly. “Mom, you and Jack had better get what you need for the night from the house. You, too, Susan. Gabe, can you see if Paul has some clean clothes? And Katie, you’d better help Mom.”
In seconds, only Diane and Paul remained with Jeff.
“Thanks, sis,” Paul muttered. Then he looked at Jeff. “Okay, go ahead.”
Diane helped hold her brother’s arm while Jeff cleaned and covered the wound with salve. Then he began wrapping the arm in gauze. “I’m going to need to see you tomorrow, Paul, to check on this.”
Though the young man was still pale, he’d kept quiet during the process. Now, he cleared his throat and said, “Sure, Doc. I’ll be in tomorrow.”
“I’ll bring him,” Diane added, her hands still comforting her brother.
“Do you want some pills for the pain?” Jeff asked.
Paul said no.
Diane said yes. Before her brother could argue, she added, “Just in case. You’ll feel better if you get a good night’s sleep.”
Jeff took a couple of pills out of his bag and handed them to Diane. “One every four to six hours as needed.” Then he asked, “Where are you going to sleep tonight?”
Diane and Paul looked at each other, but before either could speak, Katie had returned, carrying her daughter, Rachel. “She woke up,” Katie announced. “How’s Paul?”
“All taken care of,” Jeff assured her. “We were just talking about where they would sleep tonight.”
“With us, of course,” Katie said, as if there was no question.
“But you only have one bedroom free, Katie,” Diane said, frowning. “Mom and Jack will take that. I guess we can put Paul on the sofa, and I’ll take the big chair to keep an eye on him, but—”
“I don’t need anyone to watch me,” Paul argued. “And I can sleep here in the barn.”
“We’ll manage,” Katie insisted.
Jeff interrupted. “Look, I’ve got three bedrooms empty. You,” he said, nodding to Diane, “Paul and Susan can stay with me tonight.”
“Oh, no, we can’t—there are other—”
“I’m sure there are,” he said, agreeing with Diane’s protest, “but it’s late. Tomorrow you can make whatever arrangements you want.”
Diane was acting like he wanted them in his home, intruding into his life, which was crazy. He liked living alone. And he wanted no part of Diane in his life. He sure didn’t want to give the local matchmakers any ideas. But this was Cactus and people helped each other here.
“Are you sure you don’t mind, Jeff?” Katie asked. “I’ll admit life is hectic enough since Rachel was born, but if—”
“It will be fine. I’m not a good housekeeper, but the beds are comfortable. And Paul needs to get to bed.”
“I’m