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He nodded slowly and a small smile stretched his lips. “Mommy also gives me five dollars and a bucket of candy.”
Ben and I were both already reaching for our wallets when Violet scoffed. “No, sir, I do not. Don’t tell fibs, Forrest.”
He sighed. “Sorry.”
Justin came back in and handed me the first-aid kit. He put his own black bag down next to Violet and wedged himself between her knees. He lifted the bottom of her sweater up and over her head, leaving her in just a bra on our kitchen island. He paused with his hands mid-air. “Where’s your undershirt?”
Violet slapped his stomach and grabbed her sweater to cover herself. “Why would you assume I’m wearing an undershirt?”
He cupped the elbow on the arm that had been tugged around and held it still. “I just assumed… This sweater is thin. Don’t you need layers for warmth?”
She looked over at Forrest and saw we were all watching. Her cheeks darkened. “How’s your knee, baby?”
I jerked myself out of my stupor and cleared my throat so I could speak again. There wasn’t anything I could do about the reaction threatening to form in my pants. Dragging my eyes away from her bare shoulders and chest, I opened the kit and started pulling things out.
“It hurts.” Forrest was quiet for a moment. “Are you okay, Mommy? Did Captain hurt you?”
Violet gasped dramatically. “Captain? Never! He wouldn’t hurt a fly. I’m fine. I just wasn’t paying attention and Captain was so excited to see you and General.”
“You were kissing Ben.”
Violet stammered for a few seconds and then calmly nodded. “You’re right. I was. How do you feel about that?”
I held my breath as I waited for his answer. I could tell Ben and Justin were doing the same.
Forrest shrugged. “I don’t care.”
Ben let out a breath that sounded more than a little relieved. “Okay. Good.”
I looked down at Forrest’s knee and then looked over at the spray I’d need to use to clean the wound. I’d taken care of wounds in the field while bullets sprayed the ground around me without a single shake to my hands. Something about knowing I was going to have to cause pain to my son gutted me, though. My hands shook and my stomach clenched.
Violet reached over and put her hand over mine. “I can do it.”
Shaking my head, I squared my shoulders and met Forrest’s eyes. “I’ve got this. Forrest is going to help me. Right?”
He nodded. “I can help.”
While Justin checked Violet’s arm, I worked on cleaning and bandaging Forrest. He was tougher than I was when I put the cleaner on his tiny knee. I wanted to crawl into a hole and never come out when I saw the tears in his eyes. By the time I was finished, I’d used a ridiculous number of bandages and his knee was triple the size it should’ve been.
Justin had checked Violet to make sure she was okay and they both stared at me staring at Forrest’s knee, smiles on their faces. My shoulders were stiff and I felt like I’d just detonated a bomb. They seemed to find it hilarious, though.
Ben slapped my shoulder. “Ignore them. I feel a little sick, too. We’ve all taken care of gunshot wounds and worse, but watching you do that was awful.”
Justin grunted. “Well, my diagnosis is that you’ll be sore as hell for a few days. No more walking General for you. And you, Forrest, were a great patient. If I were you, I would’ve screamed just to scare Mason.”
Forrest held out his arms for me and when I hugged him, he squeezed me tight. “I can’t scare Mason. He was a good doctor.”
I tried to keep my emotions in check while holding him. I doubted he would understand the excitement I felt at hearing his words. I hoped he would one day.
CHAPTER 25
Violet
Sitting across from Margaret and next to Joanie and Lizzie, I wondered if there were other towns like ours, where women were holding secret meetings to plan events to take down the town mayor. I highly doubted it. Joanie gripped my knee every so often, just when Margaret or Brenda said something extra wild, but Lizzie seemed unphased by her aunt’s besties.
“This event is going to be huge. Mayor Stevens talked it up with some of his golf club buddies and they’re all horny for it.” Margaret rolled her eyes and Joanie gripped my knee tighter. “We’re going to make it a town-wide event. Maybe it’ll even be an annual event if the guys can’t get it through their thick skulls the first time around.”
Eve looked tired as she spoke up. “What are we going to be doing? Some kind of race? I’ve got to tell you right now, if it’s a race, I’m not your girl.”
