Kiss Me (Fool's Gold 17)

“I knew it,” C.J. breathed. “They stole from us at the party and that girl is doing it again.”

She marched toward Lucy. “Just what do you think you’re doing?” she demanded as anger surged through her. “Get away from our things.”

Lucy spun around, then jumped to her feet and tucked her hands behind her back. “I wasn’t doing nothing.”

“Sure you weren’t.”

Lucy’s dark eyes flashed with defiance. “I was looking for bandages. For Tommy’s knee. It’s bleeding real bad.”

“Don’t lie to me. You heard me say I was getting the first-aid kit from Cookie. There would be bandages inside that.”

Her anger grew until she was shaking. Why had she allowed Thad to convince her to come on this trip? So these ingrate children could have a vacation? They were thieves. They’d probably been born that way, and they would no doubt grow up to commit bigger and better crimes.

Lucy’s mouth quivered. “You were gone a long time.”

“So you decided to take matters into your own hands and go through our saddlebags. Is that it? I’m sorry to tell you, Lucy, that we didn’t bring any money with us. I had a feeling if we did, you’d just try to steal it.”

“I would not. I—” She caught her breath. “You’re a mean, old butthead.”

With that, Lucy turned and ran away. C.J. swore quietly. She wanted to go home right now. She wanted to have never come on this ridiculous trip. Instead she was stuck with thieving children and rabid vegetarians. And one of those children was bleeding.

C.J. hurried to the edge of camp. Tommy was still sitting on the ground with Thad’s arms around him. She tried not to notice how comfortable her husband looked holding the boy. Chase jogged up and collected the first-aid kit from her.

“Why don’t you hold his hand?” he said. “I’ll take care of cleaning the wound.”

C.J. took a step back. How could she explain that she wasn’t the sort of woman who was good at holding children’s hands? While she wanted to help, they never seemed comforted. She had hoped that by having her own child, or even adopting a baby, she would be able to figure it all out in time. Once her child loved her, he or she would understand that C.J. cared with all her heart, even if she didn’t always know what to say.

“What happened?” Gladys asked as she walked toward them. “Oh, the poor dear. Tommy, did you fall? You’re being very brave.”

Eddie joined her friend. “What are you going to use on that scrape, Chase? Got any hydrogen peroxide? It won’t sting so bad. Plus, Tommy will like the way it bubbles. All that white fizzing and foaming is like a battle going on right there on your knee. The good guys are fighting with the germs. Of course the good guys always win.”

“H-how do you know?” Tommy asked.

Eddie crouched next to him. “I’ve seen plenty of battles on knees in my day. Josh, my boss, takes spills off his bicycle all the time. Never seen one where the good guys didn’t kick butt.”

C.J. took another step back, then another. No one noticed. She turned and headed for the small stream she’d seen on their way in.

When she got there, she found a flat rock to sit on and folded her arms over her chest. She felt all ragged inside, and her eyes burned as if she wanted to cry.

Stress, she told herself. This wasn’t anyone’s idea of a relaxing time. Plus she hadn’t been sleeping very well. When she got home she would take a couple of days to unwind and get her equilibrium back.

She heard footsteps behind her but didn’t turn around. She felt someone sit beside her on the rock. Even without looking, she knew it was Thad.

“Tommy’s doing fine,” he said. “Chase cleaned out the wound and put on a bandage. The boy’s with Gladys and Eddie. They went to see if there were any brownies left from lunch.”

He spoke matter-of-factly, as if sharing information. But she wasn’t fooled. She heard the criticism hidden in his words. She should have stayed and helped take care of Tommy. She should have been the one to tell him that he would be fine and then get him a snack.

She sighed. That wasn’t fair. Thad never judged her. Sometimes she wished that he would.

“I caught Lucy going through our saddlebags,” she said. “I told her we hadn’t brought any money with us, so there was no point in stealing.”

Thad rested his hand on the small of her back. “What did she say?”

“That she wasn’t stealing. She claims to have been looking for a bandage for Tommy, but she was right there when I said I was going to get the first-aid kit from Cookie.” She squeezed her arms tightly against her chest. “I know you think I was wrong before when I said they stole from us, but I know what I saw.”

“You think she was doing it again?”

C.J. shrugged.

“Is it possible she was telling the truth? Looking for a bandage?”

She wanted to say no. She wanted to scream that these were not the children she’d wanted. It wasn’t fair. None of it. She and Thad were good people. They were honest and they worked hard. Was it so wrong for them to want a baby?

Pain sliced through her until it was impossible to breathe. Her throat ached. The ever-present anger rose up inside of her until it was all she could think about. There was such coldness in her rage. Such brittleness that sometimes she wondered if she would eventually shatter.

There was a time when she’d been soft and yielding, but not anymore. Not for a long time. Unexpected sadness overwhelmed her. She closed her eyes against it and dropped her chin to her chest.