Chapter Nine
Gabe’s instinct was to cross the lot at a run, but he didn’t want to startle the kid into falling. The ladder was merely resting there, not safely grounded on the uneven gravel for actual use. Cold fear gripped Gabe.
He and Tanner exchanged stricken looks.
“Go get help,” Gabe instructed, not caring what form that help took as long as they got this kid down safely. Were there still firemen at the bingo tent, or had they gone to lunch? Did they have nets and safety equipment with them, or were they stored at the fire station?
He walked purposefully toward the kid, noticing as he went that the ladder was shaking. The little boy, who’d nearly reached the top, was crying.
“Ben?” Gabe called softly. “You’re okay, buddy.”
“No, I’m n-not. I’m afraid just I-like my br-br-”
They could address phobias and self-esteem and
Gabe needed to reach the kid before the whole damn thing fell over.
“Hold on.”
But the child wasn’t listening. His pitiful little howls were gathering strength, and Gabe heard Arianne’s sharp intake of breath behind him as Ben reflexively lifted a hand to wipe his nose. Gabe dived for the tilting ladder as it scraped against the side of the building. Ben shrieked.
Gabe didn’t have time to steady it, not with Ben’s shaky weight working against him. “Just let go, buddy. I’ll catch you.” Please, God, let his words be true.
Instead, Ben panicked and scrambled to get down, further upsetting the ladder. As it started to topple, he either decided to trust Gabe or just plain lost his grip. He smashed down into Gabe’s chest. Gabe staggered back, tightening his hold to keep the kid safe, barely able to register the discomfort in his rib cage before a much more powerful blow struck him across the skull.
Tanner tried to help him into a sitting position as Arianne pulled Ben into her waiting arms. There was a ringing so intense in Gabe’s ears that the sound nauseated him, but somewhere beyond it, he focused on Arianne’s low, soothing voice. He thought he heard her say that Lilah had gone to find Ben’s mom.
“Sh-she’ll be mad,” the boy fretted. “I was supposed to stay with Toby, but I wanted to prove I was brave. Like m-my daddy.” The last word ended on a wail that was like a machete to Gabe’s temple.
“Benjamin August Harris!”
Gabe’s stomach lurched. Must everyone yell? Suddenly Arianne appeared in the halo of his blurred vision.
“Are you all right? How many fingers am I holding up?”
He tried to focus on her hand. Eleven? That couldn’t be right. “Don’t worry. Hardheaded. Like you.” To prove his point and erase the fear pinching her face, he lurched to his feet.
And the world went temporarily dark.
GABE WAS OUT ONLY a moment, but apparently when you were dealing with women, that was more than enough time for them to conclude you had to go to the hospital.
“You blacked out!” Arianne said, blessedly keeping her voice soft despite her vehemence.
“Just stood too fast,” he mumbled. “Aspirin, bed, be fine.” Aspirin, a few hours rest and plenty of time in bed with
Meanwhile, Fawne Harris was gushing to the rapidly gathering crowd that Gabe had saved her son. Everyone parted to make way for the red truck. Tanner had taken Gabe’s keys and gone to get his vehicle so that he didn’t have to walk all the way between buildings and across lots to where he’d parked.
Tanner stepped out of the truck and tossed the keys to Arianne.
“You want Lilah and me to come with you?” her brother asked.
“I’ve got it from here,” Arianne said. She sounded almost like a protective mama bear.
It made Gabe smile, the crazy idea of the tiny woman shielding him from danger, but moving his facial muscles only added to the agony in his head. So he gave up arguing and let Lilah and Tanner help him into the passenger seat of his truck.
Once he was buckled, he told Arianne, “Never let a woman drive it before.”
“Don’t worry, David taught me to drive stick when I was still in high school. Close your eyes and leave the ride to me.”
Luckily, business in the E.R. was slow this afternoon, and the doctor saw Gabe pretty quickly. He asked him some questions and did a rudimentary exam before concluding, “MTBI.”
“What’s that?” Arianne asked, sounding alarmed. Gabe wanted to hug her, to reassure her that he was all right, but it was difficult to portray unharmed strength when the room tilted every time he moved.
“A concussion,” the doctor explained.
Well, duh. Gabe figured everyone who’d been in town square with them, right down to little Ben, could have made that diagnosis and spared him the extra stop at the hospital with all its painfully bright fluorescent lights overhead.
He swallowed, squinting at the doctor. “Can I have some aspirin?”
“Not for a concussion! Acetaminophen would be better. I’ll get you some of that.” The man turned to Arianne. “Can you or someone else keep an eye on him for the next twenty-four hours? He should make a follow-up appointment for Monday, but in the meantime, if he gets worse, you should bring him back in.” He gave her some symptoms to watch for, like vomiting and growing confusion.
Earlier that afternoon, the idea of Arianne spending the night with him would have sounded like paradise, but not in his current condition. Gabe felt woozy and vulnerable and not a little foolish, getting conked on the head with his own damn ladder.
“Feeling better,” he lied to her as she navigated the labyrinth of the hospital’s parking garage to get them back out on the main road. “You don’t have to stay once you drop me off.”
“I don’t mind,” she said firmly.
She slanted him a sidelong look. “All right, how about I call your father?”
“What?” He hadn’t meant to yell. Damn, that hurt.
“You were just in the hospital. Even if you don’t ask him to come over, shouldn’t we at least call your dad to notify him?”
“
“I thought maybe you’d be more comfortable with a parent taking care of you instead of me.”
Throughout Gabe’s life, his father had made him feel guilty, had made him feel unloved and had made him itch to leave home. But made him comfortable? No. That was not in Jeremy’s repertoire.
“Is there…” She hesitated. “Is there anyone else you’d like me to call, then? To watch over you?”
Either the acetaminophen was kicking in or his body was simply shutting down as a defense mechanism against the throbbing pain, because the earlier excruciating agony was giving way to a duller, achy sleepiness. Was there anyone else he’d rather be with than Arianne, anyone else he trusted more in this situation?
“Stay.” His eyes closed. “Stay with me.”
EVEN ASLEEP, GABE DIDN’T look at peace. Arianne parked the truck beneath the carport outside the old Mitchell barn. It was no secret Gabe had bought the place and had been slowly fixing it up; she’d wondered several times over the past few weeks what the interior of his home looked like. Now she’d get an insider’s view. She felt a dash of shame over her curiosity-the man was hurt! This was no time to be thinking of herself. But then she forgave herself. After all, who could blame a girl for wanting to learn more about the man she was…
Falling for? Lusting after? Thinking about on an hourly basis?
“Gabe.” She nudged his shoulder. Not being able to wake a person up could be a sign that the concussion was more severe than first realized. But she had no frame of reference. How difficult was Gabe to wake up normally? What if he was like Tanner, who slept like the dead?
At least Gabe mumbled something, so she knew he’d heard her.
She gave it another shot. “C’mon, big guy. We’re home, and I need your help. I can shoot pool with the boys,
