She tried not to laugh—it hurt her head—but she chuckled. “How’ve you been, Owen?”
“Better than you, for the past week or so, anyway.”
“That wouldn’t be hard.”
“No.”
“Cain tells me you have a stellar wife and a couple of kids.”
His cheeks reddened. “I have a few more mouths to feed.”
Sheridan smiled, mildly surprised to see how much more successfully Owen could relate on a social level now that he’d matured. In high school he’d been so much younger than the other students. He’d always avoided one-on-one interaction, preferring to keep to himself or hover at the fringes of a group. If Sheridan ever approached him, he’d stare at his shoes and mumble monosyllabic responses in a mostly one-sided conversation.
“He said your wife keeps you on track.”
“Only because I don’t dare cross her.” He grinned as he put the tray on a nightstand that was extra-large and as masculine as the rest of Cain’s furniture. From what Sheridan had seen, in Cain’s home comfort won out over style. Yet there was a woodsy, cabinlike atmosphere throughout, and every room was clean.
“You’ve brought lunch, I see,” she said.
“Cain had to go to town. He asked me to look after you—and gave me strict instructions that I was to wake you and have you eat if you weren’t up by noon. I was giving you five more minutes, so your timing’s good.”
“Is he a paramedic or a vet or something?” Other than ascertaining that he wasn’t a cop, she hadn’t questioned Cain about what he did for a living. She’d either been loopy with drugs or too preoccupied with doubts and fears about her recovery. But the care he’d shown her from the beginning suggested he had more confidence in dealing with injuries than most people did.
“No, he works for the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency. He looks after the large tract of public land adjacent to this property.”
“The forest?”
“The main body of it. In addition to that, he patches up other people’s animals—any animals, really—just because he’s good at it. Fortunately, he hasn’t yet put me out of business by turning his talents to healing people,” he added with a rueful smile.
“So I’m an exception?” She was now officially “Cain’s patient,” it seemed.
“You’re just another bird with an injured wing,” he said. “And the good news is that Cain always opens the cage when you’re ready to fly.”
Sheridan didn’t know how to respond to such a strange comment. Did Owen intend more warning than reassurance? Sheridan thought so. “What happened between him and Amy?” she asked.
Koda gave a low growl, as if he didn’t like the conversation, but a quick glance in his direction confirmed that he was just interested in her food.
“Go gnaw on the furniture,” Owen told him, but Koda merely sat down and wagged his tail.
“I don’t think you’ll be able to convince him to do anything Cain wouldn’t like,” she said between spoonfuls.
“I couldn’t get him to obey me at all. That’s why I gave him to Cain.”
She swallowed before sending him a hopeful smile. “Are you going to tell me about Amy?”
He seemed annoyed by the question. “Why do you want to know about Amy?”
The sudden change in his manner made Sheridan frown. “Basic curiosity. I’ve been gone for twelve years. Last I knew, she was following him around like a lovesick fool, but he wasn’t interested.”
“He was interested enough to get her pregnant.”
A latent twinge of jealousy clamped down hard but she managed to smile through it. “Is that why he married her?”
“It wasn’t for love.”
“You don’t think she tried to trap him, do you?”
“With Amy, who knows? She’d do anything to have him, even now.”
Based on what she’d seen, Sheridan agreed. “So…is the child living with her?”
“She miscarried a few weeks after they eloped.”
“Does anyone know for sure if the baby was real? She could’ve made that up.”
“Cain’s not stupid,” he said. “He went with her to get an ultrasound before he married her. There was a baby.”
“Was he excited at all? About the baby, I mean?”
“I don’t think excited would be the right word.”
She pushed her hair away from her eyes. “So what did he do after she miscarried?”
“He divorced her.”
“The miscarriage didn’t make him sad?”
“Cain didn’t talk to me about it. He’s very private, so I doubt he talked to anyone. But I’d guess he was so young that one ultrasound wasn’t enough to make it real. He acted like the pregnancy was an obligation. An obligation from which he was granted a reprieve.”
“So he was relieved.”
“I had the impression he was very relieved. He did mention to me once that his relationship with Amy wouldn’t provide a very strong foundation for a family. But of course we already knew that.”
“His desertion must’ve hurt Amy.” Sheridan felt sorry for her. But if Amy had gotten pregnant intentionally, she should’ve expected problems. Trying to corner a man like Cain was beyond risky; it was downright foolhardy.
“Judging by her bitterness, I’m sure it did.”
“So…”
He lifted a hand to silence her. “If you stick around long enough you’ll hear plenty about Cain and Amy. She won’t let go of the past, won’t let go of him.” Taking a break from the soup, he helped her drink some warm beverage she didn’t recognize.
“What’s this?”
“Cain’s own blend of herbs brewed into a tea.”
“Not bad, considering it’s medicinal.”
Owen set it aside. “What about you?”
“Me?”
“Are you married?”
She wanted to feed herself, but her movements weren’t steady enough for soup and she was afraid she’d dribble it all over the bedding. The beating had impaired her motor skills, which gave her one more thing to worry about. “Nope. Not even dating.”
“Why not?”
“I’ve let my work take over.” It was a sad commentary on the state of her life at twenty-eight, but The Last Stand had become her only passion. She and Skye and their new partner Ava, who’d started a few months ago, worked night and day, and it still wasn’t enough to meet the tremendous need for the services they provided.