The families who’d bought the land hadn’t purchased it for farming, either. Many had built minimansions, which by contrast made the Caldwell place and the handful of other vintage homes left on the road seem older than they really were. But the Caldwell place never looked shabby or neglected. Dad wouldn’t have let it, even if he’d had to slave over the property every minute he spent away from the station to get the work done.
Cate dragged herself up the porch steps and unlocked the door. The scent of home surrounded her. Furniture polish, fabric softener and a lingering hint of the cinnamon rolls she’d baked the day before mingled into a perfume that brought tears to her eyes with its familiarity.
Miss Tabitha Cranston, the sweet older woman who ran a boarding house in town and to whom she’d turned for help when Neal had called, hurried to hug her. “How is he?”
“Not good, but fighting.”
“That’s the Joe we all know and love.” She slipped her arms into her ivory colored cardigan, picked up her handbag and stepped onto the porch. “Oh, dear! Will you look at your forehead? What happened?”
Almost as if with a will of its own, her hand flew up to touch the sore spot. The whole episode still made her uneasy, but she didn’t think it would be a good idea to worry Miss Tabitha any further.
“Oh, it’s nothing much. Don’t worry. I just didn’t watch where I was walking this morning, and I tripped on the sidewalk. I’ll be okay.”
Miss Tabitha tsk-tsked. “Make sure you put ice on it, okay?”
When Cate nodded, the older woman murmured more comforting words, then headed down the steps. “I’ll be praying. We all will.”
Robby’s early morning grumble startled Cate. “Where you been?”
“Where are the others?”
The ten-year-old gave her a one-sided shrug. “Dunno.”
The Caldwells weren’t known for their morning verve. “Have you seen them? Are they up yet?”
Lindsay wafted down the stairs. “Tommy’s in the bathroom. I can’t get him out and I need my shower.”
“Use mine.” Cate made a mental note to deal with the bathroom situation later. At the foot of the stairs, she leaned on the newel post and gave the missing twin a bellow. “Get down here, Thomas Caldwell Mason. You can’t monopolize the bathroom.”
From the depths of the hall bathroom came a wail with a growl. She took it to mean her nephew had heard her, didn’t care for her comment, but was on his way…on his terms. Good. She didn’t feel she could recount last night’s events more than once.
Shoulders squared, she headed for the kitchen.
Moments later, the bathroom monopolizer shuffled to the table. “You make eggs?”
“Not today, kiddo.” She opened the refrigerator. “It’s a cereal day.”
He groaned.
“You guys are going to have to work with me here.” She turned and plunked the gallon of milk in the middle of the table. “I have to talk to you.”
Robby’s dark eyes grew wide. “Mrs. Washburn called you? She promised she wouldn’t if I did two extra weeks of cleanup duty…”
At Cate’s frown, his words dried up. It was a good thing the kid had no internal editor—he gave himself away all the time. “Cleanup duty?”
He winced, clamped his mouth shut, then shrugged.
Swell. “What’d you do this time, Robert? That poor woman. The least you can do is go easy on her.”
The scowl was classic little-boy-in-trouble. “I didn’t do nothing.”
Cate sighed. She’d have to call the teacher. Again.
At the head of the table, she laced her fingers and offered a brief, silent prayer for strength and the right words. Then, out loud, she asked the Lord to bless their food. After the Amens, she turned back to Robby. “We’ll deal with Mrs. Washburn later, okay?”
His relief would have made her smile if she weren’t so worried about the kids’ reactions to the news about Dad.
“I told you guys I had to talk to you.”
Six eyes zeroed in on her face. Robby frowned. Tommy crossed his arms. Lindsay shrank.
“Gramps had to work a fire last night. Mr. Hunter called me when things got dangerous. Turns out the theater on Main Street burned down and Gramps was trying to get Miss Tucker out of danger. They got hurt—pretty badly—when debris fell on them.”
One lone tear ran down Lindsay’s cheek.
“Why’s he gotta do such a crazy job?” Tommy griped.
Robby stuck out his chin as far as it would go. “He’s not dead, is he?”
Lindsay gasped, shoved her chair away from the table, and ran out of the room. Cate stood to follow.
The twins chose to bicker.
“Way to go, pigeon-brain.”
“Didn’t do nothing, monkey-breath.”
Time to be the grown-up. “Of course Gramps isn’t dead,” Cate said. “He’s at the hospital and they’ve stuck a bunch of tubes into him, but he’s going to make it. He’s just going to have a long recovery ahead of him.”
Robby melted back in his chair. “That works.”
Not so much for Tommy. “How soon’s he coming home?”
“I don’t know, kiddo. But that converted garage workshop of his is going to be off limits while he’s on the mend. And I’m going to need your help around the house while I fix up the living room so he doesn’t have to worry about stairs to get to his bedroom.”
“I’m not cleaning no toilets.” Robby hated bathroom duty.
“‘Any’ Robby. ‘Any toilets,’” she corrected. “We’ll work around the toilets.” She pretended to consider. “I know! You can take over trash can washup detail. You’ll remember to get all the crud out, won’t you? Use lots of bleach, right?”
His eyes bulged and he shook his head.
She grinned. “Later, okay? Now I have to go check on your sister and grab a shower. Eat up or you’ll both be late for school.”
Tommy’s eyes twinkled with mischief. “But we can’t go to school today, Aunt Cate. Not with Gramps in the hospital. We gotta go see him, cheer him up, you know?”
“Nice try, bud. No go, though. Gramps is going to be in the hospital for a long time and you aren’t going to miss any school over it. I’ll take you to see him once you get out this afternoon.”
“But Aunt Catey—”
“No buts, babe. Time to rock ’n’ roll.”
The boys moved. Slowly, but they moved. Things hadn’t gone as badly as they might have. Cate had known Lindsay would take it hard and she’d been prepared to talk to the girl, pray with her and help her deal with her fears. The boys…well, they were a handful, but they’d taken the news fairly well.
That’s when it hit her. How was she going to be in two places at one time? She’d never left the kids unsupervised until last night and then only for a handful of minutes and because Dad’s life was on the line. She’d left only when she knew Miss Tabitha was in the car and on her way over.
That was why Rand’s suggestion that she might not be able to handle the kids rankled so much. Why had he echoed the town gossips? She’d had to put up with all that ever since she came home. She hadn’t needed him to repeat it.
If