“She has an injured foot and a couple of babies under there. My guess is that she thought her kits were in danger, so she protected them. Let’s go inside so I can check her out.”

It didn’t take Coop long to sew up the cut on the sleeping raccoon’s leg. Caitlyn stayed close and handed him whatever he asked for from the supplies. She was a good assistant and he knew it wouldn’t take much to train her. Too bad, he thought, she’s wasted on a bunch of fruit trees.

When it was done, he took the mother raccoon outside and put her back under the old house. He wanted her to wake up near her kits.

After he scooted out, he took a few minutes to walk around the old house. If it were restored it could be a beauty. Whoever had built it had money. There were some details on the windows and along the roof that took taste as well as money.

When he went back inside, he saw that Caitlyn had fallen asleep on one of the old mattresses. At least her head was on the clean blanket he’d given her.

She looked good lying there and for a moment he had a vision of snuggling up against her.

Spooning. It had been a long time since he’d felt the closeness of human contact. Not sex, just touch with someone he liked.

Abruptly, he turned away. It was light enough that he could see the inside of the house. It had a big living room with a fireplace. The mantel was gone but a visit to an architectural salvage yard could fix that. Cait was in the dining room, which had tall windows looking out to the back. The walls were covered with graffiti.

There was another sitting room that would make a good home office. The kitchen was along the back. Falling-down cabinets made the room quite ugly. Rat droppings were everywhere.

There were two staircases, the wide one in front and the narrow, steep one out of the kitchen. He took the skinny steps up. They weren’t stable. If they weren’t repaired soon, they’d collapse.

There were six bedrooms upstairs, but two of them were small. Servants’ quarters. They would make good bathrooms.

He spent a few moments looking out the windows. He wasn’t sure but he thought there had once been a manicured garden. Someone who knew about plants might be able to figure out what the original owner had installed.

He went downstairs and was putting away his instruments when Caitlyn woke up.

She sat up, blinking. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to flake out on you. Did you put her back under the house?”

“Yes. She’ll wake soon.”

“Then tear off her bandages?”

“Probably. You ready to go?”

“Sure, but I’m starving. I have emergency food in my Jeep. Interested?”

“Very much so.”