She gently touched the seepage from his swollen eye. “Heroes don’t let bad people hurt other people,” she said softly before placing a kiss on his cheek. “You’re a hero.” She patted his shoulder again. “Where’s your first-aid stuff?”
“My what?”
“First-aid stuff. Mama always says you have to clean cuts so they don’t get infected.”
She stood beside his chair, one brow arched up.
“Oh.” He nodded toward the stuff he had picked up in the bathroom.
“Mama’s gonna have to get what you need. This isn’t much, but will do for now.”
She opened a gauze pad, soaked it in alcohol, then gently dabbed it on the abrasions across his face and both hands. “Sometimes Mama will blow on it when she uses alcohol, but it doesn’t really stop it from stinging.”
Her soft breath warmed more than his skin.
“But I like how it feels.”
She said nothing more as she continued to work on his face and then his knuckles. When she was done, she stood back and checked her handiwork.
“Okay. That’s all I can do. Mama will take care of the rest.”
She took his hand and led him out the back door.
“Where’s Maddie?” asked Sky.
“I thought maybe she went to the bathroom,” answered Logan.
Sky walked down the hall and checked the bathroom, then Maddie’s bedroom. Where could she have gone? In a flash, she knew.
Max.
She hurried back toward the kitchen, stopping as the door opened and Maddie came in, dragging Max behind her.
“I did the best I could, Mama, but you’re gonna have to clean his mouth and his eye cause all he had was alcohol, and I don’t think you’re supposed to use that there.” She literally pushed Max into a chair at the table, barely taking a breath. “I told him we’d take care of him.”
Sky wanted to laugh, to cry, to…something, but couldn’t move.
He was here.
Max must have taken her hesitancy as a bad omen because he tried to stand. “I better go.”
She morphed into action. “Move from that chair, Max Logan, and I’ll black your other eye. Sit down and let me look at you.”
“I’ll get the first-aid kit,” said Maddie.
A silent Logan lounged against the kitchen counter as she cleaned the cut on Max’s lip. “It’s not bad,” she said softly, “No stitches needed. Might make…some things painful for a few days.” Heat infused her face. She wondered if he knew she meant kissing?
When his one good eye narrowed and his breath hitched, she knew he did.
Maddie stood beside Sky, carefully watching her every move. Her daughter had such a kind and loving nature, Sky knew she would make a wonderful nurse. Or doctor.
The fact that she had taken it upon herself to check on Max said volumes about their relationship, which made Sky even prouder.
“You did a good job cleaning his hands, Munchkin,” she said softly.
“I remembered how you did my knee when I wrecked my bike.” She leaned in for a closer look at his lip. “Does it still hurt, Max?”
He cleared his throat. “No. Not much anyway.”
“I would have decked him.”
Logan’s quiet statement had them all looking his way.
“I know,” said Max. “But this was between him and me.”
“It was my mother he dissed.”
“And my friend.”
There was a tense pause before the boy spoke again. “He’s really an a—uh, jerk, isn’t he?”
Max nodded.
“Thank you,” said Logan. “For standing up for us.”
Sky saw Max swallow hard before nodding again. It didn’t surprise her that praise embarrassed him. He didn’t think he was worthy of it. He was wrong.
