It Takes a Cowboy

“I can walk by myself,” Jeffrey insisted, even as he wrapped his arms around Scott’s neck.

“Yeah, I know. But be still, okay? I’m trying to impress your aunt with how strong I am.”

“Okay.” With a sigh, Jeffrey settled into Scott’s solid shoulder.

Blair swallowed an enormous lump in her throat and followed as Scott began to carefully make his way to the cabin.

*

SOMETIME LATER, Jeffrey had bathed and his scraped hands and knees had been treated and bandaged. Dressed in clean clothing, he sat at the kitchen table behind a bowl of freshly cooked oatmeal. Rapidly recovering from his misadventures, the boy ate ravenously while the adults, who were slower to get over the morning’s trauma, sipped coffee and hovered over him.

“Do you want some more orange juice, Jeffrey?” Blair asked.

“No, thank you.”

“Toast?” Scott suggested.

“No, I’m fine. Aren’t you guys going to eat?”

“I’m really not hungry right now,” Blair answered, her stomach still queasy from fear.

“I’ll eat later,” Scott said, refilling his coffee cup.

Jeffrey shrugged and finished his oatmeal. And then he pushed the bowl away, took a deep breath and said, “Okay. You can yell at me now.”

Blair laced her fingers in front of her on the table, leveling a somber look at her nephew. “Is it necessary for me to point out how wrong you were to slip out without permission that way?”

Hanging his head, Jeffrey muttered, “No, ma’am.”

Aware that Scott was watching them closely, Blair cleared her throat. “You frightened me out of my wits,” she said. “You worried Scott, who has been so good to you all weekend. And you could have been seriously injured, if not worse, when you fell. Don’t you think we have a right to be angry with you?”

Jeffrey nodded miserably.

“As it turned out, you were lost and frightened and hurt. I think you realize how wrong you were, and I hope you’ll never do anything that willful and foolish again. Now, apologize to Scott for your behavior and then we’ll let this go.”

“I’m sorry, Scott.” Jeffrey’s voice was barely audible.

Scott nodded. “I’m just glad you’re okay. But I hope you never do anything like this to your aunt again. You made her cry, Jeff. She didn’t deserve that from you.”

Jeffrey’s lip was quivering again, his eyes tear-filled. “I’m really sorry, Aunt Blair.”

“It’s over now,” she said, taking pity on him. He looked so small and vulnerable hunched in the big wooden chair. What he had done was wrong, but she couldn’t bring herself to punish him further this time. Something Scott had said nagged at her. Was Jeffrey really uncertain about her feelings for him?

“I love you, Jeffrey,” she said clearly and firmly. “I would be devastated if anything happened to you. Please don’t do anything like that again.”

His eyes widened, and he looked at her with surprise showing on his face. “I only wanted to go fishing, Aunt Blair,” he said earnestly.

She wasn’t sure he’d quite gotten the point, but she nodded. “Next time, wait until an adult agrees to go with you. Now go brush your teeth and pack your things. We’ll need to be under way soon.”

Jeffrey knew when to obey without question. He nodded, stood and hurried from the room.

“You handled that well,” Scott commented.

Blair lifted her eyebrows in response to the faint hint of surprise in his voice. “You expected me to beat him?”

“No, of course not. I was just... Well, you didn’t overdo it. You know, the preaching and lecturing.”

Was that what Scott’s grandparents had done when he had misbehaved? Preached and lectured? “It wouldn’t have done any good. That’s something I learned making presentations to jurors. A longer speech is more likely to bore them than sway them.”