And found one.
“Is everything okay in here?”
Cain turned to see that a nurse had pushed the door partway open. “Fine,” he said, and she hurried on.
It was fine, he told himself. Sheridan was safe. But he hadn’t been vigilant enough.
Thank God he had another chance.
6
“What’s all the fuss about?” Marshall demanded.
Cain rested his elbow on top of the pay phone in the hospital lobby, once again wishing he had a cell phone. He’d needed to make sure that Levi Matherley was taking care of his dogs, and he’d decided to check on his grandfather while Sheridan’s doctor was with her. Maybe Cain’s relationship with John, his stepfather, had been strained from day one, but the opposite had been true of Marshall. They’d hit it off the minute Cain’s mother had taken Cain, as a twelve-year-old boy, into Wyatt Hardware to make the introductions. “So you’ve heard about all the excitement,” he said now, attempting to rub the exhaustion from his eyes.
“You think I don’t get any news in here?”
Marshall lived in a rest home. Because of the onset of Alzheimer’s, it was the best place for him. But it wasn’t easy for Cain to see his normally self-reliant grandfather in a situation neither of them liked. Marshall was lucid most of the time; it was just the odd moment when he found himself lost and confused.
“I think you manage to get whatever you want in there,” Cain said with a laugh. “Including a string of girlfriends, judging by the cards I saw on your desk last visit.”
“Girlfriends!” His voice boomed through the line. “You know I’d never cheat on Mildred. I’ve been faithful to that woman for more than fifty years.”
Cain tried to ignore Marshall’s response. Mildred had died before Cain was even in high school. Marshall forgot that fact more than any other. Probably because that was the fact he wanted, more than any other, to change.
“How’s she doing, anyway?” his grandfather asked. “Why doesn’t she ever come to see me?”
Cursing the disease that was slowly robbing Marshall of his memory, Cain grimaced. God, why do I have to watch this happening to the person I love the most? He never knew what to say when Marshall lost touch, but generally preferred to go along with the conversation rather than risk embarrassing such a proud man. “She’s doing fine. I’m sure she’ll be by soon.”
“I miss her,” he said. “Life just isn’t the same without her.”
There was an awkward silence, because Cain could no longer pretend. He missed his grandmother, too. She’d been every bit as loving and supportive as Marshall. If only she’d lived…. It would’ve made a big difference—to him and Marshall.
“But she’s dead, right?” Marshall said at length. “I know that, I know that,” he murmured as if he needed to repeat it in order to convince himself.
He was back. Already. Sometimes he slipped in and out of reality so quickly Cain could almost convince himself that Marshall wasn’t getting any worse. “Yes, she’s gone.”
His grandfather cleared his throat, and Cain suspected he was hiding tears. “But Sheridan Kohl isn’t gone, is she? I remember her parents, you know. They came into the hardware store all the time. A nephew of theirs ran my Nashville store before I sold out. They were good people. A bit uptight for my taste, maybe. Still, good people. They must be relieved their little girl’s okay. And it’s all because of you.”
This brought a smile to Cain’s lips. Others might doubt him—but never Marshall. “They don’t know yet. They’re on some cruise. And it might be a bit premature to celebrate her safety.”
“Why’s that?”
“There was an incident here at the hospital last night. A man was spotted right outside her room, wearing a wig and doctor’s scrubs. He took off when a real doctor tried to speak to him.”
“You think he wanted to harm her?”
“I think he came back to finish the job.”
“So what are you going to do about it?”
Cain had been wondering that ever since the incident occurred. He couldn’t protect her in such a public place—and couldn’t stay at the hospital indefinitely. “I’m going to take her home with me.”
“That should be interesting,” Marshall said.
Cain had never nursed a woman back to health. But over the years, he’d worked with so many ill and injured animals, he figured it wouldn’t be that different. Having her in his own sphere of influence would give him greater control. He could take care of her until she was well enough to care for herself. “I’m sure it will be. If I can talk her into it.”
“My favorite show’s coming on,” Marshall suddenly announced.
Cain chuckled. Marshall scheduled his life according to TV programming. “Okay, I’ll let you go.”
“Call me later.”
“I will,” he said. Then he hung up and hurried back to Sheridan’s room so he could catch the doctor.
When Sheridan woke up, it was daylight and she found Cain sitting next to her bed. His hands dangled between his knees, his hair stood up on one side as if he hadn’t had the chance to comb it and the shadow of beard covering his jaw had darkened considerably.
“How long have you been here without a break?” she asked.
“Nearly two days.”
“I’m sorry. I should’ve told you to go home last night.” She was still drowsy but feeling better. The sunlight coming through the window chased away her remaining doubts. She could smell food drifting toward her from the covered plate on the rolling table now positioned at her elbow. For the first time since the attack, she felt hunger pangs. “Want to share my lunch?”
“No.”
He seemed preoccupied. “Is something wrong?” she asked hesitantly.
“I want to get you out of here.”
She forgot about lunch. “What?”
“Whoever did this to you…it’s not over.”
The brief sense of well-being brought about by all that sunshine disappeared. “What do you mean?”
“Someone who wasn’t a doctor or a nurse tried to come in here last night, after we both fell asleep.”
“Tried?”
“He looked suspicious so someone confronted him and he took off.”
A deep uneasiness caused goose bumps to jump out on her arms. “You’re saying whoever did this to me isn’t giving up.”