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“What?”
“He broke… well, I guess I broke his arm,” Austin amended, “and he’s suffering from…”
“You… broke… his… arm?” she asked bluntly, repeating back his words and enunciating them, feeling a rage take hold of her that was a little alarming. She suddenly felt the urge to throttle the man for hurting Kyle – only to realize he was still talking to her.
“It was that or let him sizzle, ya know? I mean, my boy was spit roasting between me and Andy over an open fire, if you get my drift? I couldn’t let go, nor did I expect him to pull down so hard, but I always forget about the weight of our gear and ‘snap, crackle, pop’ went the bone. I don’t know if the bird brain has birdy-bones or if he’s got thirty-somethin’-osteoporosis… but yeah, I suppose I did break his arm, and then rescued him. So, you should be doing the ‘swoony-hero-gratitude-stuff’… sheesh! Women!”
Reyna sat there for a moment, stunned, and replaying what he said, trying to put the pieces together, and then hesitated.
“Thank you?” she whispered in confusion.
“You’re welcome?” he retorted, sounding irritated. “Now, as I was saying…” he drawled openly in a pointed manner.
“Ma’ boy, Kyle… he is being treated for smoke inhalation and getting a cast as soon as the swelling goes down in his left arm. Thank goodness it was a clean break.”
“Where is he?”
“Tyler Medical Center,” Austin replied. “Do we all get to finally meet you?”
“I suppose so,” Reyna said distractedly, gathering up her wallet and keys. “I need to talk to the plumber and then I’m on my way. What room is he in?”
“Two-oh-four… just look for the guys in uniform – and call back this number if you need anything. Okay? I’ll have Kyle’s phone for a bit while he sleeps.”
“Thank you, Austin.”
“Oh!” he said, stopping Reyna in her tracks. “What’s your name, oh blue-eyed goddess?” the man laughed, sounding supremely delighted at having found that tidbit of sentiment saved into Kyle’s phone.
“I wonder what other treasures or goodies, ma’ boy has saved on here?” Austin continued talking. “Maybe I should be looking at the photos or checking his internet browser, hmmm? Am I going to find some scantily clad photos or dirty text messages between the two of you? How serious are you two? I mean, I didn’t think that he had that mushy stuff in him, but then again, he never tells us anything juicy or gives us much to tease him about… except Mrs. Kendall – and she’s something else!”
She hadn’t even processed what Austin had said until now… and smiled.
Gosh, she loved her sweet Kyle!
“It’s Reyna,” she replied, and hung up the phone.
* * *
Twenty minutes later,Reyna’s shoes were echoing down the linoleum hallway, briefly pausing to see several men in camouflage near the nursery, hugging and talking to each other. She didn’t think there was an army base nearby, but the city was growing by leaps and bounds.
Everything was getting so big in the area, that it was surprising to realize just how fast it was happening. It used to be that Tyler was the main hub for all the little outlying towns nearby, but now they were coming into their own, blossoming as families grew in size. Yonder, Ember Creek, even Hope, Texas were surging and growing.
Rounding the corner, looking for Kyle’s room, she realized that she didn’t need the room number after all. There were three men standing there in dark blue uniform shirts and pants, arms crossed, as their heads were bent together in the hallway.
All three sets of eyes looked up at once as she advanced.
“Kyle Rimes?” she began, feeling a momentary glimpse of trepidation wondering what she would find inside, or if things were worse than what Austin had let on.
“I’m Chief Carpenter,” one man said gently, extending his hand towards her.
“I’m Austin Olivera and this here’s Justin, but most people call him ‘Buck’…”
“Shut up, dork…” the other man muttered. “My name’s Justin and he only calls me that in public to make me feel like a redneck because I won’t give him deer meat in November when I go hunting.”
“And I don’t know why not…”
“Because I pay for my hunting license, ammo, and to have it prepared by a butcher – and you want it for free?”
Stunned, she saw the chief roll his eyes as the two of them began to squabble openly in the hallway, discussing the merits of summer sausage, deer jerky, and steaks for the entire team…
