Big Sky Cowboy. Linda Ford

the right thing in applying mud, but I have an ointment that will help even more. You wait here while I get it.” She hurried over to the shed near the garden.

      Wyatt shifted from foot to foot and looked longingly toward escape.

      Cora patted his arm. “Relax. Ma’s remedies are the best.”

      He nodded. How could he hope for her or anyone to overlook the fact he’d been in jail? If the Bells ever learned the truth, Wyatt would be run off the place. And yet...yet...what was the harm in enjoying the ministrations of a loving family until they learned the truth? Perhaps they never would. The depth of his longing frightened him, and his mouth puckered with the anguish of such futile hope.

      Mrs. Bell returned. “You two come in the house and let me take care of those stings.”

      Cora smiled at his helpless shrug. “It won’t hurt a bit, I promise.”

      He nodded. It might not hurt now, but it would eventually. There was no point in hoping for any other outcome. But he allowed himself to be shepherded inside, where Rose washed Cora’s stings. Mrs. Bell cleaned away the mud on his neck and applied the ointment while he stared at the floor. Every touch of the older woman’s cool fingers reminded him of Cora’s gentle touch and tightened the tender strands of hope about his heart.

      Lilly burst into the house. “I brought Lonnie back with me.”

      Wyatt jerked to his feet and stared at his little brother hovering at the open door.

      Lonnie’s eyes were wide, his fists curled into white-knuckled balls.

      “Come right in and join us,” Mr. Bell called from the end of the table where he watched the proceedings.

      Lonnie slid in and plopped on a chair next to Wyatt. “Heard you got stung. You okay?”

      So worry over Wyatt’s well-being had spurred him into joining them. It certainly made a few hornet stings worthwhile. “I’m fine. Nothing that requires all this fuss.”

      Mrs. Bell tsked. “The girls will tell you fussing is what I do best.”

      “That’s right,” her daughters chorused, and Mr. Bell added a deep chuckle.

      Mrs. Bell moved away toward the stove. “Let’s have some tea and cookies.”

      “There’s more.” Wyatt remembered what had brought him here in the first place. And it wasn’t to share tea and cookies with Cora’s family, as appealing as that sounded. “Cora fell on her back trying to get away from the hornets. She banged her head pretty hard.”

      Mrs. Bell shifted direction toward Cora and the twins rushed to her side.

      “Let me have a look.” Mrs. Bell took Cora’s chin in her hands.

      Wyatt squeezed his hand into a ball. He’d done the same thing, and despite his genuine concern about her injuries, longing had risen within him. A need to hold and comfort her. A desire to let her see into his heart, to confess his secrets and receive her understanding. Fortunately, he’d been too busy to give in to such foolish thoughts.