April shook her head and sniffed.
“He’s a doctor. He helps little girls with boo-boos. Do you think you can be a brave girl and let Dr. Davies look at you?”
April’s head nodded again.
“Jimmy killed the snake.”
“Who’s Jimmy?” Colton asked as the mother moved to sit on a nearby chair. She shifted April to her front so that she could sit in her lap.
“Jimmy is my dog. He killed the snake and brought it to me. I admit I was so worried about April I wouldn’t be able to tell you much about it except it’s way bigger than the garden snakes I’m used to.”
Jace gave a nod. “Where is it?”
“Jimmy won’t leave it. I think he thinks it can still hurt April. It’s over there.” The mom pointed to the first row of trees. Jace saw a black and white dog sitting and staring down at the ground.
“I got this, Doc.” Conley called out in his Eastern Kentucky twang. Southern accents varied greatly in Kentucky, but there was no doubting Conley’s accent. He was a country boy from the Appalachian Mountains who could probably identify every native species of snake in the blink of an eye.
April blinked her big blue eyes at him and wiped the tears from her face with the back of her hand. “You’re Mr. Colton’s cousin?”
Jace smiled at her and held out his hand to her. “That’s right. I’m Dr. Jace Davies. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” April giggled and shook his hand like a grown-up.
“I’m April Winters.”
Jace looked up at the mom who smiled tightly at him. She was still nervous but he could see that she was beginning to calm down. “Stella Winters.”
“Hey, Doc!” Conley yelled. “It’s a rat snake!”
“Is it dangewous?” April asked, looking like she was about to cry again.
“Nope, it’s not poisonous. It just gave you a boo-boo with its teeth. I’m going to get it all cleaned up and then you’ll be good to go. Do you have any siblings or maybe a younger cousin?”
April shook her head. “I told my mom and dad I want a younger sister but they haven’t been coopewating.”
Jace tried not to laugh as he examined the wound and got everything he needed to clean it out of his bag.
“And my aunt isn’t coopewating either. Mom says she needs a man first before she can coopewate and give me a cousin.”
Jace looked up and saw the mother scarlet with embarrassment. He winked at her to let her know it was okay. He loved working with kids this age. “Do you know I have two older siblings and two younger ones? The youngest, Cricket, is a little younger than you.”
“Seriously?” the mother asked with surprise.
“Yes. If you think you’re surprised, then you should have seen the surprise on my mom and dad’s faces. Cassidy, my other younger sister, is out of college. Piper, the oldest, is in her mid-thirties.” Jace began to clean the wound and April looked ready to cry again. “April, can I tell you a secret?” Jace whispered.
“Yes!”
“I think my big sister will be making me an uncle soon.”
“I don’t have an uncle, but if my aunt would hurry up and get mawied, then I would have one.”
Jace nodded as he put some antibiotic ointment on the puncture wounds. “That’s right. But your aunt needs a man first, right?”
“Mother of . . .” the mother said with a roll of her eyes.
“That’s wight. She had a boyfwiend, but I didn’t like him and she got wid of him.”
Jace began to put the bandage over the wound as he looked up seriously. “That’s important. You and your family should like the man your aunt brings home. After all, you all would be family, and family is important. Do you know that all the boyfriends my cousins bring home have to survive a family dinner where my uncles ask them all kinds of embarrassing questions?”
April giggled. “Do they ask him if they need to use the potty? My mom and dad ask me that all the time and it is embawassing.”
“No, but I’ll add that to the list.” Jace looked up at Mrs. Winters. “Is she up to date on her DTaP boosters?”
“Oh gosh. I don’t know.” They both turned as they heard someone flying up the gravel lane. “Oh, thank goodness. Here’s her dad. He’ll know.”
A minivan flew into a controlled slide that would make a race car driver envious. A man with the same dirty-blonde hair as his wife had leaped from the minivan, not even bothering to turn it off. “April!”
“She’s okay. It was a rat snake bite,” Mrs. Winters called out.
“Oh, baby! Are you okay?” Mr. Winters bent down as all the firemen huddled behind him watching.
“I’m okay, Daddy. Dr. Davies fixed my boo-boo.”
“Thank you so much, Doctor.” Mr. Winters held out his hand and Jace shook it. “But are you sure it’s a rat snake?”
“Sure as shi . . . sure as the sun,” Conley said, catching himself before he cussed. “I know my snakes. I got rid of it for you, ma’am.”
“Thank you.” Mrs. Winters said as she handed April off to her father. “I’m so sorry, Karl.”
Mrs. Winters looked close to tears and every man there stood a little straighter. It wasn’t her fault. Why was she about to cry to her husband to forgive her? He should understand how terrifying it was for her.
“It’s okay, Stella. It wasn’t your fault. I’m surprised you killed the snake,” he said with a little chuckle.
“Jimmy killed the snake,” April announced.
“I asked your wife if April up to date on her DTaP booster yet. She didn’t know. If she hasn’t, then she should have one just to be safe.”
“You talked to my wife? She must be freaking out.”
Five male heads all turned to look at Stella and then back to Karl. Karl followed Jace’s eyes before his went comically wide. “Oh no! Stella’s not my wife. She’s my sister.”
“The single aunt who needs a good man?” Colton asked as suddenly four male faces had broad smiles on them. Jace’s didn’t. She had acted just like the mother of the child would, and damned if that wasn’t what turned him on even more than the cute freckles and the curves he could now fully appreciate guilt-free for having previously noticed.
“Guilty.” Her face blushed and she looked horribly uncomfortable.
“Don’t feel bad,” Jace said, lowering his voice. “I haven’t dated in so long there’s a bet going on that I’m entering the priesthood. I’m not, by the way. I was just busy getting through medical school and setting up my practice.”
“Smooth, cuz,” Colton said with a laugh and Jace about wanted to die. Ugh, he was so out of practice.
3
Stella had so many emotions roiling around right then she didn’t know which to pay attention to first. Well, yes, she did. Relief. She was beyond relieved that April was going to be okay. Second was utter embarrassment. All these men now knew she was the spinster aunt from the fairy tales, thanks to April. Then she even felt embarrassment for the poor doctor who had been so good with April. Stella had felt a kindred spinsterhood with him after he confided in her. Then it made her wonder what the masculine form of the word spinster was. Confirmed bachelor, maybe?