A Family For The Soldier
A Family For The Soldier
Carolyne Aarsen
A Cowboy’s HomecomingSince his return to Little Horn, Texas, former Special Ops soldier Grady Stillwater has felt lost. Stillwater Ranch needs his attention—and so does his brother’s abandoned baby. But the injuries Grady sustained in Afghanistan have skewered his confidence. Physical therapist Chloe Miner offers hope and guidance—and a balm for the cowboy's wounded heart. Little does he know that Chloe is hiding a life-altering secret of her own. The sweet girl he remembers from high school has a baby on the way, and she may need Grady every bit as much as he does her…
A Cowboy’s Homecoming
Since his return to Little Horn, Texas, former special ops soldier Grady Stillwater has felt lost. Stillwater Ranch needs his attention—and so does his brother’s abandoned baby. But the injuries Grady sustained in Afghanistan have skewered his confidence. Physical therapist Chloe Miner offers hope and guidance—and a balm for the cowboy’s wounded heart. Little does he know that Chloe is hiding a life-altering secret of her own. The sweet girl he remembers from high school has a baby on the way, and she may need Grady every bit as much as he does her…
“You’ve had patients more reluctant than me?”
“Oh, yes,” she said with a definite nod. “There are more people who don’t like to admit they need help.”
“It’s hard,” he admitted. “I didn’t want to admit in front of you that I wasn’t as strong as I used to be. That I was weak.”
“I’ve always thought that it takes great strength of character for anyone to recognize honestly what they can and can’t do.” She gave him an encouraging smile. “Some take longer than others, but you did come to that point, and I think that’s honorable and manly.”
“I think what I struggled with most was I felt I wasn’t the man I used to be.”
“None of us are what we used to be,” she said. “We’ve both come through our lives with wounds mental as well as physical.”
“What wounds do you carry?”
Her heart suddenly felt as if it was pushing heavily against her chest, filling it with its racing beat. She took a slow breath. Should she tell him now?
* * *
Lone Star Cowboy League:
Bighearted ranchers in small-town Texas
A Reunion for the Rancher by Brenda Minton, October 2015
A Doctor for the Nanny by Leigh Bale, November 2015
A Ranger for the Holidays by Allie Pleiter, December 2015
A Family for the Soldier by Carolyne Aarsen, January 2016
A Daddy for Her Triplets by Deb Kastner, February 2016
A Baby for the Rancher by Margaret Daley, March 2016
CAROLYNE AARSEN and her husband, Richard, live on a small ranch in northern Alberta, where they have raised four children and numerous foster children and are still raising cattle. Carolyne crafts her stories in an office with a large west-facing window, through which she can watch the changing seasons while struggling to make her words obey. Visit her website at carolyneaarsen.com (http://carolyneaarsen.com).
A Family
for the Soldier
Carolyne Aarsen
www.Harlequin.com (http://www.Harlequin.com)
But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
—Isaiah 40:31
To my dear husband,
who knows everything and still loves me.
Special thanks and acknowledgment to Carolyne Aarsen for her contribution to the Lone Star Cowboy League miniseries.
Contents
Cover (#ue549a41f-e05e-557b-9524-7578da5087c9)
Back Cover Text (#u483563b4-702d-5237-a48b-56e24cdb8925)
Introduction (#ufe835984-a9a2-516c-b621-28e9ff0ecf2e)
About the Author (#udd237cc6-715c-5c29-92e2-398bc57c776c)
Title Page (#u765b6fd6-b1fa-5423-a2b9-159971ab99ab)
Bible Verse (#u11830a1e-e73e-5fcb-ba67-50cc933f4275)
Dedication (#u73ad1a93-726d-5e3a-a4c6-13f657691823)
Acknowledgments (#uf32dd46a-0768-590e-8d04-2105750b186e)
Chapter One (#u73654d37-d5d6-5e38-bd51-457c3ac63346)
Chapter Two (#u5bfa393a-7203-5622-a60c-56c421dbf701)
Chapter Three (#u47752287-2cb3-5da1-a653-67a53902b5ec)
Chapter Four (#ua325dff1-d760-5f8e-ab0d-664e318a2444)
Chapter Five (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Six (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Seven (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eight (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Nine (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Ten (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eleven (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twelve (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Thirteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Fourteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Fifteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Sixteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Dear Reader (#litres_trial_promo)
Extract (#litres_trial_promo)
Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter One (#ulink_babbc68a-dac6-55d6-a98f-38a7ab0a70b3)
The hospital room felt suddenly too small.
Chloe clutched the chart of her patient, Ben Stillwater, as his twin brother, Grady, limped through the doorway of Ben’s room. In spite of the single crutch supporting him, Grady’s presence filled the space.
He stood taller than she remembered. Broader across the shoulders. His eyes had taken on a flat look, though, all emotion leeched out of them; lines of weariness bracketed his mouth. It was as if his time serving in special ops in Afghanistan had shown him sights he wanted to forget.
“Hello, Chloe,” he said. His chocolate-brown eyes, shaded by dark eyebrows, drew her in as his eyes shifted to her left hand. Chloe unconsciously flexed her fingers. Though her divorce from Jeremy had been finalized a mere four months ago, Chloe had removed her ring eight months before when she’d discovered Jeremy had been cheating on her.
“A lot of things have happened since you went away from Little Horn,” she said, setting Ben’s chart aside, then covering his legs with a sheet. He looked so pale compared to his twin brother, who now joined her at the foot of the bed.
She had come into Ben Stillwater’s hospital room hoping to do some physical therapy with him. But for the moment, all thoughts of her patient fled as the man who had once held her heart came to stand by her side.
“I know. My cousin Eva getting married, among many other things,” he said.
All of Little Horn had buzzed with the news of the injured vet’s return from Afghanistan two days ago, the day after the New Year had been rung in, the day of his cousin’s wedding.
Eva Stillwater and Tyler Grainger had been engaged since Thanksgiving, but they had surprised everyone by announcing that they’d decided to get married as soon as her cousin Grady could come home.
“I heard it was a lovely ceremony,” Chloe said. “I’m happy for them.”
“Me, too. I think they wanted to start adoption procedures as soon as possible. That’s why she stepped up the date.” He held her gaze. “It’s good to see you again.”
Chloe gave him a tight smile, disturbed at how easily old emotions had intruded. She’d known she would run into him eventually. She just wished she could have had some advance notice.
So you could have put on some makeup? Do your hair?
You’re a divorced woman and he’s a war vet with an unexpected child, she reminded herself. And you have other complications. Too tangled.
Besides, she had promised herself when she discovered Jeremy’s cheating that no man would hold her heart again. No man would make her feel vulnerable.
“I’m sorry. I’ll leave you alone to spend time with your brother,” she said, moving past Grady only to come face-to-face with her stepsister.
“Hello again, sister of mine,” Vanessa Vane said, tossing her red hair, her bright smile showing off thousands of dollars’ worth of dental work and a puzzling nervousness. Vanessa had never been one to show anything but overweening self-confidence.
Last month she had waltzed into Little Horn, crashing the Lone Star Cowboy League’s annual Christmas party and laying claim to Cody, the baby who had been dropped off at the Stillwater ranch four months earlier. Vanessa had cried crocodile tears, telling anyone who would listen how badly she felt about abandoning Cody at that time. She should have owned up that Grady was the father and stayed around.
But she was back now and wasn’t that great?
For Chloe, not so much. Vanessa’s redheaded vivaciousness was a bright contrast to Chloe’s wavy brown hair and calm demeanor. And whenever Vanessa saw Chloe she liked to remind her of those differences, as well as the deficiencies of Chloe’s now-deceased father, Vanessa’s stepfather.
“Hello, Vanessa. How’s Cody doing?” Chloe asked.
Though Chloe had heard Grady and Vanessa were an item a year ago, seeing Cody, the physical evidence of their relationship, created a surprising and unwelcome heartache.
“He’s great. Such a sweetie.” Vanessa smiled up at Grady, batting her eyelashes.
Grady’s own eyes narrowed and he didn’t return her smile, which surprised Chloe. Vanessa’s expression grew taut as she looked from Grady to Chloe again, and her auburn hair glistened in the lights of the hospital room. “Isn’t my baby adorable?”
“He is,” Chloe agreed, wishing she could be less inane. More sparkly and interesting.
Like her sister.
Every time Vanessa came into a room, eyes were drawn to her; men took a second look at her long red hair, slim figure and vivacious personality.
“Can you give me any information about my brother, Chloe?” Grady’s resonant voice broke in over Vanessa’s prattling. His eyes, deep set and dark, held hers in a steady gaze, resurrecting old feelings she couldn’t allow. “Do you know when he’ll come out of it? Do you know if there will be any long-term damage?”
“Don’t be silly, Grady,” Vanessa put in, walking past him to stand beside Ben’s bed. “Chloe can’t tell you anything about your brother. She’s only the physical therapist.”
Chloe ignored Vanessa, unconsciously tucking back a strand of hair that had freed itself from her ponytail. “The only thing I can tell you is that he will experience some measure of muscle atrophy, given how long he’s been in a coma.” Chloe put on her professional voice, trying not to let Vanessa’s patronizing attitude get to her. “The range-of-motion exercises we perform on him will help maintain as much of his muscle tone as possible and at the same time prevent sensory deprivation.”
“Ooh. Long words,” Vanessa said, the joking tone in her voice negated by her flinty look. “Still trying to impress Grady? I wouldn’t bother.”
“Do you know anything about the coma?” Grady continued, obviously ignoring Vanessa. “At all?”
Chloe heard the hurt and fear behind his questions. She guessed the bond identical twins often shared made him more anxious.
“I only know what you know,” she said. “The fall from the horse was the root cause, but there have been no other internal injuries that we can ascertain, no brain injury. No hematomas.” She stopped herself there. As Vanessa had said, she wasn’t a doctor. “You’ll have to speak with his doctor to find out more.”
“Thanks for that information at least,” Grady said, his smile holding a warmth that could still make her toes curl.
“You’re welcome,” she said, trying to convey a more brisk and professional tone. “We hope and pray he will come out of it. That’s all we can do.”
“I’ll take care of the hoping and leave the praying to those more capable.” The bitterness in Grady’s voice made Chloe wonder again about his war experiences overseas and what they had done to his once rock-solid faith.
“How long are you back for?” Chloe asked, holding up her head, determined not to let the effect he had on her show.
“For good. I got an honorable discharge from the army. I’m home.”
She forced herself not to look at the crutch he leaned on to support himself.
“We can all be so thankful Grady made it back from Afghanistan. And a hero to boot,” Vanessa said, the edges of her lips growing tighter, as if she had to work to maintain her vivacity.
Each word she spoke felt like a tiny lash. Her stepsister had known Chloe had a crush on Grady when they were in high school. In fact, once Vanessa had discovered this, she’d made an all-out attempt to charm and captivate Grady just to spite her. Chloe, a tomboy at heart, had known she couldn’t compete with her glamorous stepsister, so she’d given up on that dream.
Given that Vanessa claimed to be the mother of Grady’s supposed baby, Chloe could only reason Vanessa still held some attraction for him.
“I still can’t get over how much Grady and Ben look alike.” Vanessa gave Chloe an arched look as she fiddled with the sheets draped over Ben’s body.
“They do look similar,” Chloe murmured, trying to find an opportunity to make her escape while her stepsister chattered away.
“Similar? They are like two peas in a pod,” Vanessa said, her narrowed gaze flicking from Ben to Grady. “If it weren’t for Ben being flat on his back, you’d never know the difference. And did you know that twins have identical DNA?” she asked, turning to the cards on the windowsill.
And why did Vanessa think she needed to impart that particular piece of information?
“I’ll leave you to visit with your brother,” Chloe said, taking another step toward the door.
To her surprise and shock, Grady touched her arm, as if trying to make a connection. “It’s good to see you,” Grady said, lowering his voice. His eyes held hers.
Unable to look away, Chloe felt her heart quicken. Then a faint queasiness gripped her. Vanessa called out again and she dismissed the emotion as quickly as it came.
Vanessa claimed that Grady was the father of her child.
And Chloe had enough problems of her own.
* * *
Chloe’s reaction to his wound still stung.
Grady fitted his crutch under his arm and made his way over the snow-covered sidewalk to the ranch house. The chill January wind biting into his face promised bitter weather to come and seemed to sum up how he felt. Vanessa had driven him in her car to the hospital. Grandma Mamie’s car and Ben’s truck filled the garage, which meant they had to park it outside.
All the way home he replayed that moment when he’d stepped into his brother’s hospital room. He would have had to be blind not to have seen Chloe recoil from him.
Not that he blamed her. A crippled soldier and, according to Vanessa, the father of a child born out of wedlock. A child from her own stepsister.
Grady knew Cody wasn’t his, and though part of him wanted to tell Chloe, he knew it was neither the time nor place; he wasn’t even sure if it mattered to her. He was still frustrated at how glibly the lies had tripped off Vanessa’s tongue when she had confronted him at the ranch, Cody in her arms. He had come directly here once he was discharged and the first person he’d met at the ranch house had been Vanessa.
She had unleashed a stream of innuendo and falsehoods about how she and Grady had been intimate at a party that he and Ben had attended. Initially she had said he was too drunk to remember, but Grady wasn’t a drinker. Nor was he the kind of guy who slept around. At all. But the DNA test had shown Cody was a Stillwater, so Grady guessed, given his brother’s wild living, Ben had fathered the child at that party.
When he’d confronted Vanessa with that information she had conceded that maybe she’d had a bit too much to drink herself and quickly claimed it must have been Ben. The trouble was, though he had made it very clear to Vanessa that he wasn’t Cody’s father nor was he interested in her, she still flirted with him. It annoyed him and even though he didn’t encourage it, he could only guess how the situation looked to Chloe. Not exactly the hero he had hoped he would return from the war as.
Injured, with the whiff of scandal surrounding him and his family.
Precisely the thing he had left Little Horn to escape after his father’s debilitating injury had sent his mother away, unable to live with a crippled man. The shame of his mother’s defection and subsequent divorce had caused Grady to join the army, looking for discipline and meaning to his life. It had sent Ben on a path of hedonism and self-indulgence. Their mother’s death while traveling abroad hadn’t helped matters, either.
It seemed both their lives had come full circle. Now he suffered from a life-changing injury that had cut short his army career and Ben lay in the hospital after being thrown from a horse. Both living echoes of their now-deceased father.
“Slow down, soldier,” Vanessa called out as she got out of her car behind him. “Let me help you.”
He tried not to cringe as he kept going, tucking his chin into his jacket against the cold, trying to banish the picture of Vanessa standing beside Chloe, their differences so obvious.
Chloe with her sweet, gentle smile. Vanessa with her overly loud voice and tactless attitude. He knew he shouldn’t compare, but he couldn’t help himself.
Vanessa hurried ahead of him as he struggled up the stairs to the covered veranda that wrapped around the Colonial-style house. “You know, I can never figure out which of these doors to use,” she muttered as she grabbed the handle of one of the double doors. She pulled it open just as Grady came close, and the door connected with his leg.
He bit down on a cry as he stumbled, his crutch slipping out and away.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to hit you.” Vanessa clutched his arm as he regained his balance, pain shooting up his leg and clouding his vision.
He rode it out, then shook off her hand, frustrated at his helplessness. “I’m okay. Please.”
“I’m just trying to help you,” she complained as he fitted his crutch back under his arm. “You don’t need to get all huffy.”
“Sorry,” he said, unable to say more than that as he stumped into the entrance of the house. As Vanessa closed the door behind them, heat washed over him blended with the scent of supper baking and his frustration eased away.
He was home.
Beyond the foyer a fire crackled in the stone fireplace that was flanked by large leather couches. He wanted nothing more than to sink into their welcoming depths, close his eyes and forget everything that had happened to him the past few years. The war. The secret mission he and his team had been sent on and the hard consequences.
He just wanted to find the simple in life again.
But the sound of a baby crying upstairs broke the peace of the moment and reminded him of his obligations and how complicated his newly civilian life would be.
“Grady? Vanessa? Are you home?” his grandmother called out from somewhere in the house.
Vanessa sauntered past him to the living room, ignoring his grandmother’s question.
Just as Grady shucked off his heavy winter coat, his grandmother came down the stairs toward him, carrying Cody, who was fussing and waving his chubby arms.
In spite of knowing Cody wasn’t his, it wasn’t hard to see the resemblance. The little boy’s brown eyes and sandy hair were exact replicas of his and Ben’s, and he looked identical to Grady and Ben when they were babies.
He could see how people might believe he was the father. That Chloe might believe he was bothered him more than he cared to admit.
“Is he okay?” Grady asked, hobbling over to his grandmother, the injury in his leg making itself known as he faltered.
“He’s just fussy. Missing his mom, I think.” Mamie Stillwater shot a meaningful glance over her shoulder at Vanessa, who was now lounging on the couch leafing through a magazine she had bought on their way back from the hospital.
Vanessa must have caught the tone in Mamie’s voice, however, because she shot to her feet, her hands out for Cody. “Hey, sweetie,” she cooed, taking him from Mamie’s arms and walking back to the living room. “Did you miss your momma?”
“Can I get you something to drink? Some coffee? Hot chocolate?” his grandmother asked him, her eyes still on Vanessa who sat on the couch again.
“Coffee would be great,” he said.
“I’m fine,” Vanessa said to her, then turned to Grady with a coy smile and patted the couch beside her. “Come and sit down, soldier,” she said.
Grady hesitated, then walked over, wavering between politeness and his own struggles with Vanessa. Though he knew Cody wasn’t his child, he was clearly Ben’s and therefore his nephew. However, Vanessa didn’t seem very motherly.
His thoughts whirled as he struggled to find the peace that had been eluding him for the past few years. Ever since that hay bale had fallen on his father and injured his back, Grady’s home life had spun out of control. His father’s chronic pain had created tension, which had led to fights, which finally had sent his mother away.
Living with his father had been difficult before; it had become almost impossible after the accident. Reuben Stillwater had turned into a bitter, angry and critical man.
Grady, who had often wanted to leave the ranch and Little Horn, saw his chance when he met with a recruitment officer from the army at high school. As soon as he’d graduated, he’d joined the army looking for discipline and order. He desired adventure and an escape from Little Horn. He had joined special ops, wearing his green beret with pride.
But escape had resolved the issue only temporarily. Running special ops in Afghanistan had drained him. Had created an increasing yearning for home. When he’d been injured that horrible day, he’d known his career was over.
However, coming back to the ranch to discover a woman he neither admired nor desired was telling everyone he had fathered her child wasn’t the vision he’d held in his head during the lonely nights in Kandahar, Afghanistan. He had longed for the open spaces of the ranch, the simplicity of working with cattle and horses.
As he leaned back and glanced at Cody gurgling his pleasure in Vanessa’s arms, a picture of Chloe flashed in his head. She looked as pretty as ever. Prettier if that was even possible, with a simple charm he remembered from their youth.
As if someone like her would look at someone like you, he reminded himself.
“He sure knows his mommy,” Vanessa said, tickling the little boy under his chin. “Don’t you, darling?”
His grandmother returned with two steaming mugs of coffee. She set down one within arm’s reach of Grady and settled herself on the large leather couch across from them both, her eyes on Vanessa and the baby.
“Busy happenings in the county today,” Mamie said, her gaze flicking from Vanessa, still absorbed with Cody, to Grady sipping his coffee. “Yesterday Tom Horton discovered a couple of his brand-new ATVs were stolen.”
“They figure the same people who’ve been rustling the cattle and stealing equipment are to blame?” Grady asked.
“Lucy Benson is quite sure it is. This must be so difficult for her.” Grandma Mamie tut-tutted. “Byron McKay is calling for her to quit as sheriff and she’s not getting any closer to the culprits.”
“Byron McKay likes to throw his weight around,” Grady said.
“He’s a big-time rancher, isn’t he?” Vanessa put in, tucking Cody against her while she opened the magazine with her free hand. “I heard he’s got one of the biggest spreads in the county.”
“He’s wealthy enough,” Mamie said. “And he likes to let the members of the cowboy league know it.”
“He’s not president yet, is he?” Grady asked.
“Oh, no,” Grandma protested angrily, as if the idea horrified her. “Carson Thorn still holds that position and the other members will make sure Byron doesn’t ever get in charge.”
“This league... That’s the one that threw the fancy party I was at two weeks ago. What do they do exactly?” Vanessa asked.
“The league formed over a century ago as a service organization,” Grandma Mamie said. “They provide help and resources to the ranchers in the area. There are chapters all over Texas.”
“What kind of help? Like with the branding and stuff?” Vanessa seemed quite interested in the dealings of the league, which puzzled Grady.
“It started to fight cattle rustling and give support when times got hard for fellow ranchers.” Mamie gave Grady a warm smile. “Grady and Ben’s great-grandfather, Bo Stillwater, was one of the founding members.”
“They aren’t helping much for all the cattle rustling going on,” Vanessa said, still turning the pages of her magazine one-handed, seemingly oblivious to her little boy, now, thankfully, sleeping in her arms. “I heard that Byron McKay got some fancy machinery stolen and another cattleman lost some animals. And that town sign thingy is still gone. Not too on the ball, are they?”
“I’m sure they’re doing what they can,” Grady said, cradling the cup of coffee, feeling a sudden chill. Coming home to stories of a rash of thefts of cattle and machinery and equipment was disheartening. The community of Little Horn, with the help of the Lone Star Cowboy League, had always pulled together. Though he had been back only a few days, he already sensed mistrust growing between the local ranchers.
“Funny how nothing’s disappeared from this place, though,” Vanessa said with a sly look. “Maybe the thieves are those kids you’ve got working on that, what is it, ranchers something or other?”
“Future Ranchers program,” Grady said, shooting her a warning look. “And you might want to watch what you say about the girls we’ve got helping here. The Markham sisters’ ranch has been hit, as well.”
“But that Maddy Coles. I mean, she’s a foster kid. She probably has all kind of weird friends.”
“That’s enough,” Grady snapped, angry at her allegations, then frustrated at his shortness with her.
Too many things were happening at once, he thought. His brother, Ben, in the hospital, Vanessa and her ever-changing insinuations, all the upheaval the thefts had caused in the community.
Seeing Chloe hadn’t helped his equilibrium, either. He’d thought hearing about her marriage would ease away the feelings he still harbored, but now she had come back to Little Horn. Single and as attractive as ever.
He felt a clutch of pain in his leg and all thoughts of Chloe vanished with it. He wasn’t the man he used to be and he had nothing to offer any woman. He shot a glance at Vanessa. Especially not with someone like her entangled in his life.
“What puzzles me is all the things other people are receiving,” Grandma said. “The new saddles at Ruby’s, the cattle at the Derrings’ and the clothes for their foster children. It’s all very nice and generous, but it’s puzzling.”
“Well, I wouldn’t mind getting some of the stuff being handed out.” Vanessa tossed the magazine aside then stood in front of Grady and held out the little boy, who had woken up again and was stirring in her arms. “Can you take him? I’m tired. Didn’t sleep a wink last night.”
Grady hadn’t slept much, either, but he said nothing. Instead, he set his coffee on a nearby table and took him from Vanessa. Cody stared up at him with bright eyes and gurgled his pleasure, and Grady felt a tug on his heart. He was such a cute little guy.
“I think you should see about getting that Eva chick back, that nanny you hired,” Vanessa said. “I don’t think I can take care of this little boy by myself.”
Then she sauntered off before Grady could say anything more.
When she was out of earshot his grandmother got up and sat down beside Grady, letting Cody grab her finger with his. “I wish we could hire Eva again, but she’s married now and I want to give her time to concentrate on her husband and married life. I wish I knew what to do.”
“We will take care of him,” Grady said firmly. “He’s a Stillwater. Our flesh and blood. Our responsibility.”
But even as he spoke the brave words, he felt a tremor of apprehension. Ben lay in a coma. He had his own injuries to contend with. His grandmother was getting on in years.
If Vanessa wasn’t stepping up, what would Cody’s future look like? Grady knew getting married wasn’t in the picture for him, so he couldn’t count on creating any kind of family for Cody.
His thoughts, unexpectedly, drifted to Chloe. Her warm smile, as generous as always. Her easy nature.
He pushed them aside as irrelevant. He would never be marriage material.
His mother hadn’t been able to live with an injured man; how could he expect Chloe to?
Chapter Two (#ulink_b59e8557-9da0-5813-88d8-15223e38c9e4)
“Got a new patient for you. Is Salma here?”
Chloe looked up from the makeshift desk she had been given in one corner of the physical therapy department at the doctor standing in front of her. With his droopy moustache and thick eyebrows, Dr. Schuster looked as though he should be riding the range rather than diagnosing and treating patients. Dr. Schuster had taken advantage of this impression and adopted an aw-shucks attitude that put many of his patients at ease.
However, right now he looked anything but as he tapped the file he held against his other hand, the frown on his face giving her cause for concern.
“She’s gone for lunch. Can I help you?”
“I thought she would be around.”
“You look worried. Is it a difficult case?”
“I’ve got other things on my mind,” he said. “But this patient does bother me. He said he doesn’t need therapy.”
“Do you want me to talk to him?” Chloe asked, not sure she could make a difference, but sometimes another voice helped.
“You mean turn on that Miner charm?” Dr. Schuster joked. Then he shook his head. “No. I can’t ask that of you.”
“It’s my stepsister who has all the charm,” Chloe returned. Ever since yesterday when Vanessa had shown up with her arm hooked in Grady’s, grinning that smug Cheshire smile, Chloe had struggled with envy and frustration. So often in the years after Vanessa’s mother had married Chloe’s widowed and grieving father, Chloe had wished she and Vanessa could be close. As an only child she had looked forward to having a sister.
Instead, Vanessa had been difficult and contrary, trying at every opportunity to either discredit Chloe or treat her with contempt.
“Vanessa definitely has a certain appeal.” Dr. Schuster’s smile deepened. “She’s been the talk of the town since she descended on the party last month claiming to be Cody’s mother. But I doubt she has as much staying power as you.”
“Words to make a girl’s heart go pitty-pat,” Chloe said in a dry tone and held her hand out for the file. “Who is the reluctant patient?”
“Another Stillwater. Grady.”
And now Chloe’s heart did, in fact, go pitty-pat. And then some. She took the folder from Dr. Schuster and opened it, scanning the contents, trying to maintain her distance.
“This patient will need quite a bit of time spent with him.” Chloe flipped through the file, shifting into professional mode. “He’ll need to get started sooner, rather than later, if he wants to regain full mobility.”
“He only arrived Friday, last week,” Dr. Schuster said. “He came to see me yesterday on the recommendation of his surgeon in the army.”
“Okay. I’ll contact Mr. Stillwater. See what I can do.”
“Good. Great. Make sure you let Salma know, as well. I suspect once you get Grady cooperating, as senior therapist she’ll be doing most of the work.”
Chloe understood this, but worried that Dr. Schuster thought she wasn’t as competent as Salma. He looked as if he wanted to say more, then left, his lab coat flaring out behind him as he hurried off.
Clearly in a rush, Chloe thought, setting the file aside.
She had hoped to talk to him. Tell him about her personal situation. Guess it would have to be another time.
There were no other visitors in Ben’s room when she got there, and the only sound was the faint hissing of his oxygen, the steady beeps of the monitors. “I suppose you’ve heard about all the happenings in and around the county,” she said to him while she got him ready for his exercises. Talking to patients while she worked was part of the therapy. “Thefts and unexpected gifts and all sorts of stuff. Kind of crazy. So far, though, nothing from your place, so that’s good, I guess. And now your brother is back.” Chloe’s smile faded as she did a series of hip flexions and abductions, thinking of Grady.
“You know everyone says you look the same. I can see some minor differences,” she continued. “Grady’s eyelashes are thicker. Hope that doesn’t bother you, though I can’t imagine either of you could care about that. And his one eyebrow slants off to one side. I think he’s a bit taller. Maybe because of his army training. Makes him stand up straighter.”
A cough behind her caught her attention and she flushed, suddenly self-conscious about her chatter as Mamie Stillwater entered the room holding a sleeping Cody, a large quilted diaper bag hooked over her narrow shoulder.
“I’m sorry,” Mamie said. “I didn’t mean to interrupt.”
“I’m just doing Ben’s exercises,” Chloe murmured, thankful she hadn’t said anything more.
“Do you mind if Cody and I watch?”
“Not at all.” Chloe felt a stirring in her soul at the sight of the little boy, so innocent, his rosy cheeks begging to be touched. Vanessa and Grady’s son. The thought hurt her more than it should.
At least this child has two parents. As opposed to mine.
She tried to fight the thought down. I’ll do the best I can, she reminded herself, thinking of the child she carried. At four and a half months, she thankfully wasn’t showing yet, so she hadn’t told anyone. Not even her close friend Lucy. She was too ashamed. Sooner or later, however, she would have to tell the hospital administration, and then everyone else.
Mamie dropped the diaper bag on an empty chair by the window, shifted the sleeping baby in her arms and stood on the opposite side of Ben, her free hand resting on his head while Chloe did some hamstring stretches.
“You’ve been doing this awhile?” Mamie asked, fingering Ben’s hair away from his face.
“About two years. It took me six to get my degree.”
“And you came back here...”
“I was offered this job.” Part-time and only temporary, she’d been told, but she’d wanted to come back to Little Horn badly enough that she took the chance it might turn into full-time work.
“I was sorry to hear about your father,” Mamie said.
“So was I.” Chloe had made a visit seven months ago for her father’s funeral, then returned to Fort Worth and Jeremy.
How much had changed since then, she thought.
Her father’s ranch had been sold, barely paying off the debts incurred against it from his accident, and Jeremy had started divorce proceedings once he’d found out she was pregnant.
She had felt rootless and lost. Taking this job had become her way of finding her footing.
Chloe moved to work on Ben’s arm when the rhythmic thump of a crutch on the floor gave her another start. Grady had arrived.
She pressed her lips together, sent up a prayer for strength and continued working.
“Good morning, Chloe,” he said, his deep voice creating an unwelcome shiver of awareness. She gave him a nod, her cheeks warming as he made his way around the bed. He wavered, catching the rail of the bed to steady himself. He wasn’t wearing his brace today, she noticed.
“Are you okay?” his grandmother asked.
“I’m fine.” His curt voice and the clench of his jaw told Chloe he wasn’t fine at all. She guessed his hip was causing him trouble, as was his knee. From what she’d read in his file, he’d been shot in the thigh, damaging many muscle groups and compromising the ligaments of his knee. “Do you want me to hold Cody?” Grady asked.
“He’s okay. And Chloe said we could stay while she does therapy with Ben,” Mamie said in a falsely bright voice. “It’s interesting to watch her work. She’s very capable.”
“I understand from Dr. Schuster that you’ll be coming to visit me in the physical therapy department,” Chloe said, piggybacking on what Mamie was saying.
“I doubt it,” Grady muttered, the tightness around his mouth another indication of the pain he dealt with. “I don’t have time with everything at the ranch falling on my shoulders now. And this little guy.” He glanced down at Cody, touched his chubby cheek with one finger, and Chloe’s heart hitched at the warmth of his smile. This man would make a good father.
Was a good father, she corrected herself.
“Plus I’ve got Ben and the Future Ranchers program he started at the ranch to keep me busy,” he continued. I don’t have time to run around for appointments that won’t make a difference.”
“But if you don’t take care of the low mobility in your knee and hip, you could be facing chronic pain later on,” Chloe suggested.
Grady shot her a frown, as if he didn’t appreciate what she had to say.
“As a physical therapist, I feel I must warn you the pain you are dealing with now will only worsen with lack of treatment.” Chloe manipulated Ben’s fingers, half her attention on helping the one brother while she tried to convince the other to accept what she could do for him.
“The pain isn’t that bad.” He dismissed her comment with a wave of his hand. “I know my dad managed through his. Your dad, as well. Just have to cowboy up.”
Chloe kept her comment about that to herself. She didn’t know everything about his father and care. However, she still maintained that, in the case of her own father, if he had received proper care and treatment, he would have been better able to do his work. “Being tough only gets you so far,” she carried on. “Your injuries will, however, only cause you more problems with lack of immediate care.”
She stopped then, sensing she was selling herself too hard. Grady looked as though he didn’t believe her. Didn’t or wouldn’t—she wasn’t sure which was uppermost.
“Are you working here full-time?” Mamie asked, stroking a strand of hair back from Ben’s forehead, shifting to another topic.
“I am here as a part-time, temporary worker.” Speaking the words aloud made her even more aware of her tenuous situation.
“Where will you go after this?”
Chloe shrugged, working with Ben’s fingers, stretching and manipulating, not sure she wanted to talk about her hopes and dreams to start up a dedicated physical therapy clinic in town. Finding out how little was left after settling her father’s estate had put that dream out of reach.
“There are other opportunities in Denton or Fort Worth, I’m sure.” Opportunities she had passed up when she’d taken this job. She wasn’t a city person. Coming back to Little Horn had filled an emptiness that had grown with each day she was away.
“I see.” Mamie held her eyes, nodding slowly, as if her mind was elsewhere.
“I need to work on Ben’s other leg and arm,” Chloe said, setting Ben’s hand down beside his still body. “So I’ll have to ask you to come over to this side of the bed.”
Just as Chloe came around the end of the bed, Cody whimpered, opened his eyes and started to cry.
“I should get something for him to eat,” Mamie said, jiggling him as she dug through the large diaper bag she had been carrying. She looked over at Chloe as Cody’s cries increased. “I’m sorry to ask, but can you hold him a moment?”
“Of course.”
“I can take him.” Grady shifted himself so he had his hands free.
But Mamie had already set Cody in Chloe’s arms.
She held the wiggling bundle of sorrow. His cries eased into hiccups. His dark brown eyes, still shining with tears, honed in on Chloe’s.
A peculiar motherly feeling washed over her. This little boy, so sweet, so precious. She cuddled him close and he quieted as he lay his head against her shoulder.
“You have a way with him,” Mamie said, pulling a jar of baby food out of the diaper bag. “Just like his previous nanny, my niece, Eva, did.”
“He is a sweetie,” Chloe murmured, rocking him to keep him quiet.
“I can take him back now,” Mamie said, taking the boy from her. “I should find a place I can heat this up.”
“There’s a microwave at the nurses’ station I’m sure you can use,” Chloe said, walking to the sink in Ben’s room to wash her hands again.
Mamie walked out, leaving Grady and Chloe alone. She moved to the other side of Ben’s bed and started with his leg exercises.
“Does that do anything?” Grady asked. “I mean, he’s not participating.”
“No, but it’s important we keep his abductors flexed, his hamstrings from pulling.” Chloe glanced over at Grady, disconcerted to see him staring at her. She dragged her attention back to her patient. “It’s a type of stimulation, as well. And if we don’t do these exercises, his muscles will seize up and when he gets out of the coma, he will have a much longer recovery ahead of him.”
“You said when.”
Chloe glanced up from Ben, thinking of the theories of coma patients being able, on a subliminal level, to hear what was said around their bed.
“I said when and I mean when,” she said, her voice firm. “He will come out of this. We just have to do what we can for him while we wait.”
Grady sat down in the chair, setting his crutch aside. “I like the sound of when. I have things I need to settle with my brother. Ben and I... Well, we had words before I left.”
“A fight?”
“A disagreement about his lifestyle,” Grady said. “I want to make it right.”
Out of the corner of her eye, Chloe saw Grady drag his hand over his face. He looked exhausted. She was sure some of it was the burdens he carried, in addition to the pain.
“Then, this is a chance for you to talk to him,” Chloe said, picking up Ben’s arm and stretching it gently above his head. “A chance for you to tell him what you feel. Tell him how you care for him.”
“So you think he can hear me?”
“I’d like to think he can.” Chloe gave him a gentle smile. “Sometimes talking aloud can be as much for yourself as for him.”
Grady nodded, then looked up at her, his expression growing serious. “You think it will help?”
“Confession is good for the soul,” she said.
“In that case, I’ll wait until you’re gone. I don’t want you hearing all my deep, dark secrets.”
“You have those?” And how did that semiflirty note get in her voice?
“Don’t you?”
She held his gaze a split-second longer than she should have, thinking of the last time she and Jeremy had been together and the repercussions of that. The child she now carried.
She had no right to talk this way to him. No right at all.
“If you’re referring to Cody’s parentage, I feel I need to tell you, he’s not my son. At all.” His gaze locked on hers, suddenly intense.
“He’s not?”
“No.”
Chloe seemed surprised and yet, at the same time, pleased that he wanted her to know.
“So why is Vanessa—” she stopped herself. She almost asked him why Vanessa was acting as if she had some claim on Grady, but it was none of her business.
Yet he seemed to think she needed to know. A tiny finger of awareness trickled down her neck. Was he trying to tell her something else?
She pushed it away as she returned to working on Ben. He was simply concerned about his reputation, that was all. Besides, it seemed that Vanessa, in spite of Grady not being Cody’s father, seemed to have laid her claim on Grady.
There was no way Chloe could compete with her very attractive stepsister.
A few minutes later she had finished. Before she left, she couldn’t help a glance Grady’s way. But his entire attention was on his brother. So she made a notation on Ben’s chart then left.
Dr. Schuster stood by the nurses’ station, but he looked up when she came near.
“Chloe. Just the person I need to talk to.” His grim expression made her apprehensive.
She swallowed down her nervousness. “What do you need?”
Dr. Schuster tugged at his moustache, then steered her toward a small room just off the nurses’ station. “I had hoped to do this in my office, but I don’t have time.” Another tug on his moustache. “I’m sorry to tell you this, Chloe. But I just got the word that I have to cut back on the budget. I know I promised you a job for longer than this, but I’m afraid I have to let you go. I don’t have much choice.”
“Excuse me?” Chloe wasn’t sure she heard him correctly. “I’ve lost my job?”
“The position was only temporary,” he reminded her.
“For a year.” She fought down her rising panic, trying to maintain a professional attitude, trying not to sound as though she was pleading. “I need this job, Dr. Schuster.”
Her life had been turned upside down the past four months. She had counted on this year to catch her breath, make other plans.
“I’m sorry, Chloe. You’re a hard worker and I’d love to keep you. We could certainly use a fully staffed physical therapy department. But it’s not going to happen. Sorry.”
“When do I leave?”
“I’ll pay out your two weeks’ salary, but Friday will be your last day.” He patted her awkwardly on the shoulder and left.
Chloe leaned back against the wall, fighting down an unwelcome urge to cry. Silly hormones, she thought, closing her eyes and breathing slowly.
Help me, Lord, she prayed. Help me get through this.
The prayer had been her constant refrain the past year. Each time she felt that she had caught her balance, life spun her around again.
She covered her face with her hands, pulled in a wavering breath, then slowly released it.
“Are you okay?”
Mamie Stillwater’s concerned voice behind her made her straighten and force a smile to her face before turning around. “I’m fine,” she assured the elderly woman, still holding Cody, who slept again. “I’m just fine. Just tired. How’s Cody?”
“He’s tired, too.” Mamie gave her a careful look. “I better get back to see how Ben is. You take care of yourself, okay?” She patted her on the shoulder with one thin hand, then trudged away, her own shoulders stooped, as if carrying Cody was more than she could bear, either.
Chloe gave herself a few more moments to compose herself. But as she walked past Ben’s room, she glanced sideways only to catch Grady looking directly at her. She gave him a wan smile, then carried on. She had one more patient and then she was done for the day.
And where was she supposed to go after that? How was she going to take care of her child on her own? Jeremy had disappeared after he found out she was pregnant, disavowed any interest in her or her child, and she hadn’t been able to find him. Nor did she have the energy right now.
Help me, Lord, was all she managed as she made her way to the next patient’s room.
* * *
“Boy, does it smell bad in here.”
Grady cringed as Vanessa’s shrill voice echoed down the hallway of the barn.
“You in here, Grady? I need to talk to you. I’m not coming in.”
“Will you excuse me a moment?” Grady said to the three young girls standing by the doorway of one of the horse stalls. “I need to speak with Vanessa.”
Maddy Coles, Lynne James and Christie Markham were part of the Future Ranchers program his brother, Ben, had initiated to help high school students get extra credit. They came to the ranch whenever they could to work with the horses and to assist with their training and care.
“Do you want me to clean out the stalls?” Maddy asked, grabbing a fork from the wall.
“That would be good. Start with Apollo. Lynne and Christy, you can go outside and get Bishop, Shiloh and Chief in. Saul said he wanted to check their hooves when he comes here. I’ll be right back.”
The girls nodded and Maddy, eager as ever to work, stepped into the first stall.
Grady hurried down the alleyway, the thump of his crutch on the wooden floor echoing through the cavernous horse barn. A chill wind whistled toward him as he neared the open door where Vanessa stood, her winter coat wrapped around her, her mouth turned down in a grimace of disgust.
“I don’t know what’s nastier, the weather out here or the stink in there.” She waved her hand delicately in front of her face as if to dispel the scent.
“What can I do for you?” Grady asked.
“First off, Mamie wants you to come to the house. She’s not feeling that great and Cody has been crying the past half hour.”
“And you can’t take care of him?”
“I told you. Hire that nanny back. I’m headed to Austin. I’ve got a fitting for a dress I ordered. I’ll be back tomorrow.”
Grady could only stare at her, the suspicions that had been hovering in the back of his mind growing stronger each moment he spent with her. “So you’re leaving your son with his great-grandmother?”
Vanessa shrugged. “I don’t have time for this. I have to go.” She turned and hurried off, her high-heeled boots slipping in the snow that had fallen overnight.
Grady watched her go, heaving out a sigh. He shouldn’t have pushed her. He blamed his lapse on the steady pain in his leg and the headaches he’d been fighting the past two days. He took a deep breath and worked his way back to Maddy and the other girls. After giving them instructions for work that would keep them busy for the next hour, he hobbled back to the house to help his grandmother.
Cody’s heart-rending wails were the first thing he heard when he stepped in the house.
He shucked off his coat, banged the packed snow off the bottom of his crutch, then, moving as fast as he could, followed the little boy’s cries. He had trouble negotiating the stairs, Cody’s distress adding to his own growing panic. He burst into the nursery, hurried to the crib, his ears hurting from the noise the little boy emitted.
Where was his grandmother?
He set aside his crutch and grabbed the tiny, upset bundle of baby. Cody arched his back, his fists batting the air, screeching with eyes scrunched shut as Grady tried to lift him out of the crib.
Grady wobbled on his feet, trying to hold the squirming child. Cody turned away again, screaming even louder, and Grady lost his footing.
He was going down.
He twisted, shifting his center of balance so that Cody would land on top of him.
Excruciating pain drilled through Grady’s thigh, up his back and into his head as he landed hard on his bad leg. Cody let out another squawk.
Grady rode out the waves of agony, breathing slowly, then he lifted his head to see Cody staring at him, finally quiet. Thankfully he was unhurt.
“Grady. What happened?” Grandma Mamie burst into the room and hurried to Grady’s side, taking Cody from him. “How did you fall? Are you okay?”
Grady sucked in another breath, the pain slowly subsiding. “I’m fine,” he said, though he felt anything but. His leg felt as though it was on fire and his head as if someone had pounded a nail through it.
Mamie cradled Cody on her hip and hooked her arm through Grady’s as if to help him up.
“Please, don’t,” he protested, gently pulling away. “I need to get up on my own.” Besides, he didn’t want to pull Mamie down with him in case he lost his balance again.
He rolled to one side, got his good knee under him and, using the bars of the crib, pulled himself upright. A red-hot poker jabbed him again and he faltered.
“You’re not okay. You’re hurt.”
“I’m fine,” he ground out as the pain subsided, leaving in its wake the residue of humiliation and embarrassment. Couldn’t even pick up a baby out of his bed. How was he supposed to keep up the workload created by the ranch? Not everything could be given to the hired hands. He carefully got his balance and reached for his crutch.
“You look pale,” Mamie murmured, still hovering, her hand raised as if to help him again.
“How’s Cody?” He turned the attention to the little boy.
Mamie shifted her gaze to the little boy, now lying still in her arms. “He seems okay.”
“Should we bring him to see Dr. Tyler?” The pediatrician would have a better idea if Cody was sick or not, Grady figured.
“You’re the one I’m worried about.”
Grady grabbed his crutch, wishing he didn’t feel so helpless. “You don’t need to worry about me. Vanessa should have been here to take care of the baby.”
“I think we need to confront her,” his grandmother said, a note of steel in her voice that Grady remembered all too well as a child. Mamie Stillwater might come across as easygoing but when push came to shove, she could be as immovable as half of Texas.
“When she comes back we’ll deal with this once and for all,” Grady said, massaging the back of his neck with one hand, trying to ease away the tension that seemed to be his constant companion.
Mamie looked down at the baby reaching for her glasses. “We know for sure he is a Stillwater. I think we need to know for sure if he is a Vane. I think we need to do a DNA test on her.”
“That would either corroborate her story or rule her out,” he said.
But if Vanessa was the mother, they needed to have a sit-down with her about her responsibilities. She needed to take on more and not count on Mamie.
But if the test proved she wasn’t Cody’s mother, that left them with the troubling question of who was.
Grady rubbed his head, the pain there battling the pain in his leg.
You should let Chloe help you. Maybe she can do something for you?
Grady held that thought a moment, trying to imagine himself showing exactly how vulnerable he was in front of a woman he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about.
He couldn’t. He just couldn’t.
Chapter Three (#ulink_bb4efb6e-d55e-50fc-84b9-a0f220bbc8ad)
“So what are you going to do now for employment?” Lucy Benson took a sip of her coffee, her green gaze flicking around the patrons of Maggie’s Coffee Shop.
The place was busy. Abigail Bardera zipped around carrying plates of steaming food, her long black hair pulled back in a glossy ponytail. Maggie poured coffee, helping take orders.
“Blunt much?” Amelia said with a note of reprimand, shaking her head at their friend, her blond curly hair bouncing on her shoulders.
“May as well lay it out on the table,” Lucy said.
As soon as Lucy had heard about Chloe’s situation, she’d called Amelia and insisted that they take Chloe out for coffee and pie at Maggie’s.
“I don’t know.” Chloe poked her fork at the flaky apple pie Amelia had insisted she order. “I already talked to Maggie about working here, but that’s a no-go.” She fought down the too-familiar sense of panic at the thought of being unemployed.
She was supposed to have worked today but yesterday Dr. Schuster had told her to consider Thursday her last day. He had hoped it would give her some more time to find a job.
“Would you move back to Fort Worth?” Amelia asked, her tone concerned.
“Too many bad memories there, though if there’s work there I might. To coin a phrase that has been the mantra of my life lately, beggars can’t be choosers.” Her stomach roiled again at the thought of having to leave. Start over. Find her balance again on her own.
Just her and her baby.
“I know things are bad when you’re resorting to clichés.” Lucy tucked her short blonde hair behind her ear, her eyes holding Chloe’s as if trying to encourage her.
“My life is a cliché,” Chloe grumped, then waved the complaint off. “Sorry. I shouldn’t whine. It’s just getting hard to find the silver lining.”
“Well, every silver lining has a cloud,” Lucy quipped. “And it’s not your fault Jeremy cheated on you. I always knew he was a jerk.”
If she only knew how much of a jerk.
Chloe cut off that thought. She didn’t want to give Jeremy any space in her mind. Bad enough he didn’t want to have anything to do with the baby she carried. And that he had disappeared after emptying out the bank account.
“At least you’re not going to tell me I told you so,” Chloe said. “You did warn me not to marry in haste.”
“Are you not listening to Lucy?” Amelia said with a warning wag of her finger. “You’re spouting clichés again.”
A sudden burst of laughter at one end of the café caught Chloe’s attention. Carson Thorn stood by a table of people, laughing at something one of them had said.
“Carson looks more relaxed lately,” Chloe said.
“Getting reunited with his childhood sweetheart probably helped mitigate the stress of all these thefts that he and the other members of the league have been dealing with,” Lucy said with a wry tone. “Nice that there can be happy endings in this town.” She shot a glance over at Amelia. “And speaking of happy endings, how are you and Finn getting on?”
To Chloe’s surprise, her friend blushed. She hadn’t thought spunky and vivacious Amelia knew how to blush.
“Quite well. Making plans.”
Lucy sighed. “Like I said, I’m happy for happy endings.”
Chloe gave her apple pie another stab, wishing she could hope for a happy ending in her particular story. She doubted any man would want to take her on now.
“You’re looking pensive,” Lucy said. “I thought that was my job?”
Chloe knew Lucy had been on edge the past few months, the pressure of all the thefts in the area making her extratense and vigilant. “That’s why I’m trying not to complain. I know you’re under a lot of stress lately.”
As well, Chloe wasn’t ready to divulge her secret to Lucy and Amelia. Not while she was still adjusting to the idea, trying to figure out what shape her life would take.
“This string of thefts has been a frustrating nightmare.” Lucy looked as if she wanted to say more when someone stopped by their table.
“Good afternoon, ladies.” Mamie Stillwater’s smile encompassed the three of them, the light from the windows beside them glinting off her glasses and polishing her gray hair. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but is it possible to talk to you alone, Chloe?”
“I have to head out right away,” Lucy said, giving Chloe a look she interpreted as “tell me everything later.”
“And I have to meet Finn to go over some wedding plans,” Amelia said, getting up as well and dropping a few bills on the table. “This should cover everything.”
Chloe was about to protest but Amelia just shook her head and gave her a bright smile. “And now we’ll leave the two of you alone.”
“Thanks so much.”
“We’ll talk more later.” Amelia walked toward the entrance, but Lucy stopped by the table where Carson stood. Chloe guessed she would be asking him if he had heard about more thefts or people receiving anonymous gifts.
“You know we have little Cody at our house,” Mamie said as she sat down in the chair Lucy had vacated. “My niece Eva used to be his nanny, but she’s married now. I have a cook but Martha Rose went to go help her mother who broke her leg, which means I can’t spend as much time with Cody as I’d like. And Grady was supposed to be doing physical therapy with you and he isn’t.”
She stopped there and Chloe waited, not sure where Mamie was going with all of this.
Mamie gave her a tight smile. “I’m sorry, but I overheard Dr. Schuster talking to you about your job, or lack of one...”
“How did you know about that?”
Mamie paused, her hands folded, fingers tapping against each other as she gave Chloe an apologetic look. “I didn’t mean to listen in. I was in the room behind you when I heard him say that.”
Chloe’s cheeks warmed. A witness to her firing. But Mamie seemed genuinely sorry and Chloe guessed it wasn’t her fault. Dr. Schuster should have been more discreet.
“Again, I’m sorry,” Mamie continued. “But what I was wondering, given that we have Cody to take care of and Grady who won’t go to therapy, would you be willing to work for me? I thought if you were actually at the house, Grady would be more amenable to participate in his recovery. And, truthfully, I need someone to help us with the little boy.”
“I thought Vanessa was staying with you?” Chloe asked.
Mamie shot a look around the café, as if checking to see if anyone was listening, then leaned closer, concern etched on her features. “I know she’s your stepsister, but truthfully, she doesn’t seem to want to spend the time with Cody that he needs. It would help us out a lot if you would be willing to work for me.”
Chloe wasn’t sure she wanted to stay in the same house as Vanessa. It was too easy to recall the stinging comments her stepsister had steadily lobbed her way when they’d lived together and how Vanessa had often put her down in front of her friends.
But the cold facts of her life made her shelve her pride. Truth was she needed a job.
“So how long would you need me for?”
“Not sure.” Mamie sighed. “As long as Ben is in a coma and Grady is handicapped by his injury...” Her voice trailed off and as she pressed her lips together Chloe felt a flash of sympathy for the poor woman. It must have been so difficult to see her grandsons both dealing with difficulties as well as deal with the extra strain of taking care of an unexpected great-grandbaby.
And then there was Vanessa.
“All right. I’ll do it. When do you want me to start?”
“Whenever you’re done at the hospital.”
“Yesterday was my last day.”
“Can you come now?”
The weariness in her voice, plus the light touch of Mamie’s hand on Chloe’s, made her stifle her objections and give in. “I’ll come today.”
“Excellent. Thank you so much.” Mamie sank back in her chair, the relief on her face palpable. “I’ll go directly to the ranch and get your room ready.”
“My room?”
Mamie looked taken aback. “Yes. I thought you knew. I’m sorry if I didn’t make that clear. I was hoping you would be staying at the ranch overnight. To help with Cody.”
Chloe sucked in a breath at the thought of having to face Grady, Vanessa and Cody all together day and night. It was a small comfort to know that Grady was not Cody’s father, but that still left Vanessa and her flirtatious ways.
But a job was a job, she reminded herself. Something she needed until she could figure out her next move.
“Okay. I’ll pack my things and meet you at the ranch.”
“Why don’t I go with you and we can drive back with each other? You remember where the ranch is, right?”
Too clearly, Chloe thought, remembering a trip she had made with Vanessa to the Stillwater ranch. The day she’d first seen her stepsister kissing the boy she had cared for so deeply.
* * *
“Hush now, Cody. Please go to sleep.” Grady stood by the crib rubbing one large hand over the baby’s back in a vain effort to get him to settle down. Vanessa was still gone and his grandmother had left on some mysterious trip to town.
Cody had been crying for an hour now. Grady felt more out of his league than he had that time he and his fellow soldiers had been pinned down by crossfire. At least then he had training to fall back on.
He had no training to deal with a kid who wouldn’t settle down.
He should call Eva. Or her husband. They would know. He was just about to do that when he heard voices. And with relief he grabbed his crutch and stumped over to the door to listen. Was Vanessa back?
He heard footsteps coming up the stairs, and a figure rounded the corner. She was slim with long wavy brown hair spilling over one shoulder of a plaid shirt tucked into snug blue jeans. Beautiful and sweet looking.
Grady blinked. Chloe? What was she doing here?
His grandmother materialized behind her, a grin taking over her face. “Isn’t this wonderful?” Mamie said. “Chloe has agreed to come help us out.”
“And from the sounds of things, I better get to work,” she said, giving him a vague smile. “Is he hungry?”
“No. He just had a bottle.”
Chloe gave him a tight nod and hurried past him into Cody’s room.
Grady looked from her to his grandmother, who stood in front of him looking mighty pleased with herself.
“What is going on?” he whispered, moving her away from the door so Chloe wouldn’t overhear them.
The cries from the nursery stilled and he heard Chloe’s gentle murmur as she settled the baby.
“We said we needed to do something about Cody. Chloe lost her job at the hospital. And you need therapy and you won’t go. Martha Rose is gone. So I thought this was a perfect solution for all of us. Chloe can help us with Cody and she can work with you, leaving me free to help with the cooking and where I’m needed. Win, win.”
Grady could only stare at his grandmother, trying to absorb what she had just told him.
“Chloe? Do physical therapy with me? Here?”
“One question at a time,” his grandmother said, wagging her finger at him, a definitely mischievous smile on her face. “Chloe. Yes. And yes, I do want her to do physical therapy here. You know that is what you need to do. I can see by the grimace on your face and by the way you walk. It’s only getting worse and, I fear, will continue to get worse. You have to take care of yourself.”
Grady clenched his jaw, knowing his grandmother was right but not sure he wanted Chloe seeing his helplessness.
“You are the only man I have around,” his grandmother said, playing a last, devastating card. “I need you to help me as much as possible.”
Surely there had to be another way?
“I agree that we need help with Cody,” he conceded. “As for the rest, well, we’ll see.”
And that was all he was giving her.
“That’s fine,” his grandmother said with a bright smile. “One step at a time.”
He watched her leave, eyes narrowed, feeling as though he had just agreed to something he would regret.
He returned to the nursery to check on Cody.
Chloe stood in profile to him, rocking the baby, such a maternal smile on her face that Grady’s knees grew weak. This was what a mother looked like, he thought, taking in the sight of this beautiful woman holding this baby so tenderly.
“I think he’s asleep,” Chloe whispered, her attention still focused on Cody. As she gently laid him down, Cody started, his hands shooting into the air, then as Chloe stroked his face he settled again, his breathing growing deep and even. It was amazing, he thought, envious of her ability to soothe the child, yet so grateful she could.
She gave his face another stroke of her hand and stepped away.
“We can go now,” she said, keeping her voice down.
She left ahead of Grady and he gently closed the door behind him. Together they walked down the hallway.
“Thanks so much for your help,” Grady said, following her to the top of the stairs. “I didn’t know what to do anymore. You seem to be a natural mother.”
She stopped there, her hand gripping the railing, her knuckles white, a look of fear on her face.
Had he said something wrong? Hurt her in some way?
She turned, folded her arms over her stomach. “Before we see your grandmother, I need to know how comfortable you are with working with me. I don’t think my coming to help you was your idea.”
Grady held her steady gaze, appreciating her straightforward honesty, such a refreshing change from her manipulative stepsister.
And that’s not the only thing you appreciate about her, a perfidious voice teased.
He shook it off, his injury a grim reminder of why she was here and what he had to offer someone like her.
“It wasn’t my idea. For now, let’s just leave it at you taking care of Cody.”
“But I saw your file. You need to keep working on your mobility.”
“I will. I just don’t have time yet. I’ve got the ranch and the program Ben set up to oversee. If Ben hadn’t been so foolhardy...” He stopped himself there. Chloe may be employed here, but she didn’t need to know all the ins and outs of their lives. “Anyhow, let’s go have some coffee with my grandma, because I’m sure she’s getting some ready.”
“I have your assessment. Dr. Schuster gave that to me so we could start from there.”
“You don’t give up, do you?”
“One of the characteristics of being a physical therapist. A quiet stubbornness.”
He laughed at that, glancing sidelong at her. But he didn’t look away and neither did Chloe. Their eyes held and a peculiar feeling of awareness rose up. An echo of older emotions she had once created.
She swallowed and he saw her take a quick breath.
Did she feel it, too?
Then he took a step closer and his foot caught on the carpet of the hallway. He faltered, thankfully just for a moment, as reality shot down any foolish thoughts he might have entertained.
She turned away, went down the stairs, quickly outpacing him.
And as he made his slow, painful way behind her he was reminded once again the foolishness of allowing himself to feel anything for any woman.
The only trouble was Chloe wasn’t just any woman. At one time he had cared for her. But she’d given him no indication that she returned his feelings. And then Vanessa had come along. After that, the war.
Now his life was a tangle of obligations and unmet expectations. He knew he had to be realistic. He couldn’t offer her anything. Not anymore.
* * *
“So you took the job?” Lucy was asking.
Holding her cell phone close to her ear, Chloe sat back on the bed of the room Mamie Stillwater had shown her to. It was off the nursery and a full floor away from the room Grady stayed in, which was a good thing.
Her room was lovely, though. Painted a soft aqua, trimmed with white casings, the room was large, cozy and welcoming. A chair and small reading table were tucked into a corner beside an expansive bay window that overlooked the ranch. The bed filled another corner, and a small walk-in closet and en suite gave her all the privacy she needed. It was lavish and luxurious compared to the cramped furnished apartment she had been renting.
“I didn’t have much choice,” Chloe said.
“Won’t hurt to see Grady every day,” Lucy teased.
“It’s strictly professional,” Chloe said, trying not to let the image of Vanessa fawning over Grady get to her. “Besides, I don’t know how much one-on-one time I’ll be spending with him. He seems intent on avoiding therapy.”
“If he’s as stubborn as his brother, you’ve got your work cut out for you.”
Lucy sighed lightly and Chloe sensed her friend’s extra stress. “You sound tired. Have there been more thefts?”
“Another one at the Cutler ranch last night,” Lucy said. “Some ATVs and a horse. I’m getting worried that this is more organized than people think.”
Chloe twisted a thread from the cuff of her worn blue jeans around her finger. “Do you have any leads?”
“None. Though something has been puzzling me greatly. The Stillwater ranch is the only large ranch that doesn’t seem to have had any thefts at all. A few of the smaller ones have been avoided as well, but I’m still trying to see if there’s a connection. A pattern that I can’t find. I was hoping you could help me out.”
“How?”
“Just keep your eyes and ears open. Maybe get closer to Mamie. I don’t know.”
“And report anything I might hear back to you.”
“Please.”
“Okay. I’ll see what I can find out.” She stifled the feeling of guilt that accompanied her statement. She was thankful for the job and she didn’t want to take advantage of that.
Yet Lucy was her friend. And she would be helping her and the community out.
“I should go. Mamie said that dinner was in a few minutes.”
“Hey, thanks for doing this for me,” Lucy said. “I appreciate any help I can get.”
Chloe said goodbye, then made quick work of changing her flannel shirt and pants for a clean pair of blue jeans and an aqua silk shirt. She brushed her hair and, giving in to an impulse, applied some blush and mascara.
For Grady?
Chloe lifted her chin and looked at her reflection in the mirror. For herself, she thought, clipping part of her hair back with a couple of bobby pins. She couldn’t allow herself to think of Grady. Not while she carried another man’s baby.
Before she could give in to doing any more primping, she left. She paused at the door of the nursery, but all was silent.
She hurried down the stairs. However, no one was in the kitchen by the table, so she followed the conversation to the formal dining room.
Grady sat at one end of the table and as she came in, Vanessa got up from her end and sat by him. As if trying to show Chloe where things stood. Grady didn’t seem interested, however, which gave her a small encouragement. He looked up, struggling to stand.
Vanessa frowned at Grady. “Just relax. It’s only Chloe.” Then Vanessa’s icy glance ticked over her. “That’s an interesting look.”
Chloe’s heart turned over as she mentally compared Vanessa’s silky dress and perfect makeup with her own clothes. She had thought she looked okay, but now she felt drab and dull. She didn’t think she needed to dress for dinner.
Vanessa gave her a wry look. “Well, I guess it’s too late to change.”
Chloe wished she could ignore her stepsister’s dismissive attitude.
“I think you look great,” Grady said.
His words shouldn’t have made her feel as good as they did.
Mamie, who wore plain dress pants and a shirt partially covered by her apron, entered and set a platter of ham beside bowls of steaming potatoes and salads and vegetables. At least she looked more casual.
“Do you need any help?” Chloe asked her.
Mamie waved off her offer as she removed her apron and laid it on a side table. “No, dear. This is the last plate. Please sit down.” Mamie pulled a chair away from the table, leaving the only empty spot available opposite Vanessa but beside Grady. Chloe sat down and plucked her napkin out of the ring, ignoring Vanessa’s calculating look.
“Is Cody sleeping?” Vanessa asked, leaning close to Grady, as if staking her claim on him. Again.
“He is.”
“Poor baby. I think I wore him out playing with him,” Vanessa said with a smug smile.
“Well, here we are all together,” Mamie said, but Chloe caught a strained note in her voice.
“One big happy family,” Vanessa chimed in, and reached for the salad bowl. “Grady, can I serve you some salad?”
“I thought we would pray first,” Mamie said.
“Oh. Right.” Vanessa fluttered her hands in an “I’m silly” gesture, then gave Grady another arched look. “I always forget.”
Just before Chloe lowered her head, however, she couldn’t help a glance Grady’s way and was disconcerted to see him looking directly at her.
Then she felt a tinge of nausea, a remnant of what she had been struggling with the first four months of her pregnancy, a reminder, and she quickly drew her gaze away.
Mamie prayed a blessing on the food, asking as well for some solution to the thefts, thanks for family and another request for Ben’s recovery.
Chloe kept her head bowed a moment, adding her own prayer to stay focused on her work here and not be distracted by inappropriate feelings better left buried.
“I heard there was another theft at the McKay spread,” Vanessa said, her voice bright, her expression holding a forced gaiety when Mamie was done.
“I’m sure Byron was upset about that,” Mamie replied.
“And you guys haven’t had anything stolen?” Vanessa asked, taking a tiny bite of her salad.
“Not yet, thankfully.” Grady handed the platter of ham in front of him to Chloe. “Would you like some?”
Chloe felt a start of surprise, her mind as much on the job Lucy had asked her to do here on the Stillwater ranch as trying not to be so aware of Grady sitting only a few feet from her. “Sure. Thank you.” As she took the plate, however, she caught Vanessa’s narrowed gaze.
“That’s interesting,” Vanessa said, dragging out the word, larding it with innuendo. “Makes one wonder if it’s not that foster girl you’ve got working here who could be behind the thefts. Maddy something or other. She doesn’t come from the best family. Sort of like Chloe here. Having an alcoholic father can’t be easy.”
“I think that’s enough,” Grady said, a harsh note of reprimand in his voice.
“Well, it’s true.” Vanessa stabbed at her salad. “About Maddy anyway.”
The supper conversation limped along after that. Vanessa picked at her food, shooting glances over at Grady, who steadfastly ignored her. All the while Chloe was far too aware of Grady’s eyes on her and of Vanessa’s occasional glower. The tension was noticeable and Chloe was thankful when the meal was finally over.
Chloe declined dessert as she got up from the table, saying she should check on Cody.
As she hurried up the stairs, second thoughts nipped at her heels. She shouldn’t have taken this job. How long could she put up with Vanessa and her judgmental attitude and snide comments?
But even as those questions plagued her, she knew Grady’s presence created the tighter tension.
She slipped into the nursery and stood by the crib, her arms wrapped tightly around her midsection. She could feel a bump that she knew would start to show soon. For now, however, she could still wear her regular clothes.
And what will you do when you can’t?
She doubted Mamie would let her go. After all, they had taken in Vanessa, who was an unwed mother. She doubted Mamie would judge her.
But even as that thought formulated, she thought of how Grady avoided Vanessa in spite of her flirting. She wondered if his attitude toward her had something to do with Vanessa’s situation—being an unwed mother.
Cody lay on his side, arms curled up, looking utterly adorable.
A confusing brew of emotions stirred within her as she pressed her hand to her abdomen in a protective gesture.
“He’s sleeping?”
Grady’s voice from the doorway made her jump. She spun around just as he joined her by the crib.
“He looks so peaceful,” Grady said, leaning on the rail as if to get a closer look. Then Grady looked over at her and gave her a cautious smile. “I’m sorry about what Vanessa said over dinner.”
“You don’t have to apologize,” Chloe said. “I heard a lot worse growing up.”
“I keep forgetting you two are sisters.”
“Stepsisters,” Chloe reminded him. “And Vanessa only lived at the ranch for a while.”
“If I may ask, what made her mother leave?”
Chloe’s conscience fought with a desire to tell him the bare truth. There hadn’t been enough money for Etta Vane. The ranch hadn’t been as prosperous as she had thought.
“I don’t think ranch life suited Etta. Or Vanessa. The reality was a shock for them.”
“Somehow she seems to like our place just fine,” Grady said.
Because there’s money here.
But she dismissed the thought. The little boy sleeping in the crib in front of her was her stepsister’s reason for returning. As was the man standing beside her.
“I...I should go,” she said.
To her dismay, she felt Grady’s hand on her shoulder as she straightened. The warmth of his fingers through her shirt sent a tingle of awareness down her spine; the glint of his eyes in the soft glow of the night-light created an unexpected and unwelcome attraction. “Don’t take to heart what Vanessa said to you.”
“I’m used to it,” Chloe said, struggling to keep the breathless tone out of her voice.
“Was it hard? Living with her?”
Chloe shrugged, then gave him a faint smile. “I just wished we could have been closer. But maybe there’s time now that she’s here.”
He held her gaze, his expression earnest. “I feel as if I need to tell you because you’re working here now, with Cody, that while I know I’m not his father, neither do I believe she’s Cody’s mother.”
“What?” Vanessa’s screech from the doorway broke into the moment. “How dare you say things like that? I’m his mother, Grady Stillwater.” She rounded on Chloe. “You were feeding him some lies, weren’t you? You always were jealous of me. You’re so plain and dumpy. You could never compete with me. You and your useless father. I can’t believe my mother even married him. He was a lousy rancher and a crippled drunk.”
Chloe fought her inborn urge to defend her father. It wasn’t his fault his grandfather hadn’t left as much money as Etta had hoped. It wasn’t his fault he’d been injured when he had his ATV accident.
“Vanessa, that’s enough,” Grady snapped.
“Enough of what?” Vanessa said, rounding on him. “You don’t need to stand up for her. You need to face the truth.”
“If we’re talking about truth, it should be an easy matter to get a DNA test done on you,” Cody said, his voice surprisingly calm. “That should give us the truth about who Cody’s biological mother is.”
Vanessa paled at that, glancing from Chloe to Grady, her eyes wide. “I can’t believe you doubt me. I can’t believe you think I’m not his mother...” Her voice drifted off and with another accusing glare at Chloe, Vanessa spun around and strode away.
Grady blew out a sigh as he shoved his hands through his hair. “Again. Sorry about that,” he said. “I shouldn’t have confronted her. Made her say those things about you and your father.”
Chloe looked down at Cody, who lay fast asleep and blissfully unaware of the drama unfolding in his nursery. “I’m just glad he didn’t wake up” was all she could manage.
Grady touched her again and she turned to him.
“You always were a pure, sweet person,” he said.
Once again her former attraction to him bubbled to the surface.
Then Chloe felt another flicker of nausea.
She pulled back, turned away from him, the feeling a stark reminder of the main reason she couldn’t encourage him. Couldn’t be with him.
The child she carried. The child conceived with her ex-husband.
Chapter Four (#ulink_79c81b87-89f9-5ddb-a24d-cf466c258389)
“Have you seen Vanessa this morning?” Mamie asked, beating some eggs in a bowl.
Grady looked up from the laptop he had propped on the eating bar of the kitchen. Ben had all the livestock records, all the bookkeeping, all the information on the Future Ranchers in files on the computer, and Grady had been poring over them in an attempt to get up to speed.
“No. I thought she was sleeping in.”
“I had to get something from the closet in her room and knocked on the door but when I opened it, there was no one in the room. Her bed was empty.” Mamie beat the eggs, the frown on her face clearly expressing her concern. “I’m glad we hired Chloe to help us.”
“I am, too.” Grady’s thoughts skipped back to that moment last night in the nursery. Seeing Chloe standing by the crib, smiling down at Cody, had created a mixture of emotions he had a hard time processing. He knew he was attracted to her. And he sensed something building between them.
But all it took was one shift of his weight on his leg, one look at the crutch to remind him of the foolishness of letting these feelings take over. He wasn’t the man he once was.
No. She deserved better than this.
Just as he made this resolution, she came into the kitchen, Cody cuddled up against her. The baby still wore his sleeper. He was rubbing his eyes, his rosy cheeks holding the imprint of one of his chubby hands, his blanket tucked under one arm.
Grady felt a warmth kindle in him at the sight.
Trouble was he knew it wasn’t the sight of Cody that caused it, but the woman holding him.
“Good morning, Chloe,” he said, giving her a wary smile.
She just nodded at him, suddenly impersonal. Clearly he had stepped over some line she had drawn last night.
“Hey, sweetie.” Mamie reached for the boy, beaming at the sight of Cody holding out his arms to her in answer. “Did you have a good sleep?”
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Carolyne Aarsen
A Cowboy’s HomecomingSince his return to Little Horn, Texas, former Special Ops soldier Grady Stillwater has felt lost. Stillwater Ranch needs his attention—and so does his brother’s abandoned baby. But the injuries Grady sustained in Afghanistan have skewered his confidence. Physical therapist Chloe Miner offers hope and guidance—and a balm for the cowboy's wounded heart. Little does he know that Chloe is hiding a life-altering secret of her own. The sweet girl he remembers from high school has a baby on the way, and she may need Grady every bit as much as he does her…
A Cowboy’s Homecoming
Since his return to Little Horn, Texas, former special ops soldier Grady Stillwater has felt lost. Stillwater Ranch needs his attention—and so does his brother’s abandoned baby. But the injuries Grady sustained in Afghanistan have skewered his confidence. Physical therapist Chloe Miner offers hope and guidance—and a balm for the cowboy’s wounded heart. Little does he know that Chloe is hiding a life-altering secret of her own. The sweet girl he remembers from high school has a baby on the way, and she may need Grady every bit as much as he does her…
“You’ve had patients more reluctant than me?”
“Oh, yes,” she said with a definite nod. “There are more people who don’t like to admit they need help.”
“It’s hard,” he admitted. “I didn’t want to admit in front of you that I wasn’t as strong as I used to be. That I was weak.”
“I’ve always thought that it takes great strength of character for anyone to recognize honestly what they can and can’t do.” She gave him an encouraging smile. “Some take longer than others, but you did come to that point, and I think that’s honorable and manly.”
“I think what I struggled with most was I felt I wasn’t the man I used to be.”
“None of us are what we used to be,” she said. “We’ve both come through our lives with wounds mental as well as physical.”
“What wounds do you carry?”
Her heart suddenly felt as if it was pushing heavily against her chest, filling it with its racing beat. She took a slow breath. Should she tell him now?
* * *
Lone Star Cowboy League:
Bighearted ranchers in small-town Texas
A Reunion for the Rancher by Brenda Minton, October 2015
A Doctor for the Nanny by Leigh Bale, November 2015
A Ranger for the Holidays by Allie Pleiter, December 2015
A Family for the Soldier by Carolyne Aarsen, January 2016
A Daddy for Her Triplets by Deb Kastner, February 2016
A Baby for the Rancher by Margaret Daley, March 2016
CAROLYNE AARSEN and her husband, Richard, live on a small ranch in northern Alberta, where they have raised four children and numerous foster children and are still raising cattle. Carolyne crafts her stories in an office with a large west-facing window, through which she can watch the changing seasons while struggling to make her words obey. Visit her website at carolyneaarsen.com (http://carolyneaarsen.com).
A Family
for the Soldier
Carolyne Aarsen
www.Harlequin.com (http://www.Harlequin.com)
But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
—Isaiah 40:31
To my dear husband,
who knows everything and still loves me.
Special thanks and acknowledgment to Carolyne Aarsen for her contribution to the Lone Star Cowboy League miniseries.
Contents
Cover (#ue549a41f-e05e-557b-9524-7578da5087c9)
Back Cover Text (#u483563b4-702d-5237-a48b-56e24cdb8925)
Introduction (#ufe835984-a9a2-516c-b621-28e9ff0ecf2e)
About the Author (#udd237cc6-715c-5c29-92e2-398bc57c776c)
Title Page (#u765b6fd6-b1fa-5423-a2b9-159971ab99ab)
Bible Verse (#u11830a1e-e73e-5fcb-ba67-50cc933f4275)
Dedication (#u73ad1a93-726d-5e3a-a4c6-13f657691823)
Acknowledgments (#uf32dd46a-0768-590e-8d04-2105750b186e)
Chapter One (#u73654d37-d5d6-5e38-bd51-457c3ac63346)
Chapter Two (#u5bfa393a-7203-5622-a60c-56c421dbf701)
Chapter Three (#u47752287-2cb3-5da1-a653-67a53902b5ec)
Chapter Four (#ua325dff1-d760-5f8e-ab0d-664e318a2444)
Chapter Five (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Six (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Seven (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eight (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Nine (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Ten (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eleven (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twelve (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Thirteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Fourteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Fifteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Sixteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Dear Reader (#litres_trial_promo)
Extract (#litres_trial_promo)
Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter One (#ulink_babbc68a-dac6-55d6-a98f-38a7ab0a70b3)
The hospital room felt suddenly too small.
Chloe clutched the chart of her patient, Ben Stillwater, as his twin brother, Grady, limped through the doorway of Ben’s room. In spite of the single crutch supporting him, Grady’s presence filled the space.
He stood taller than she remembered. Broader across the shoulders. His eyes had taken on a flat look, though, all emotion leeched out of them; lines of weariness bracketed his mouth. It was as if his time serving in special ops in Afghanistan had shown him sights he wanted to forget.
“Hello, Chloe,” he said. His chocolate-brown eyes, shaded by dark eyebrows, drew her in as his eyes shifted to her left hand. Chloe unconsciously flexed her fingers. Though her divorce from Jeremy had been finalized a mere four months ago, Chloe had removed her ring eight months before when she’d discovered Jeremy had been cheating on her.
“A lot of things have happened since you went away from Little Horn,” she said, setting Ben’s chart aside, then covering his legs with a sheet. He looked so pale compared to his twin brother, who now joined her at the foot of the bed.
She had come into Ben Stillwater’s hospital room hoping to do some physical therapy with him. But for the moment, all thoughts of her patient fled as the man who had once held her heart came to stand by her side.
“I know. My cousin Eva getting married, among many other things,” he said.
All of Little Horn had buzzed with the news of the injured vet’s return from Afghanistan two days ago, the day after the New Year had been rung in, the day of his cousin’s wedding.
Eva Stillwater and Tyler Grainger had been engaged since Thanksgiving, but they had surprised everyone by announcing that they’d decided to get married as soon as her cousin Grady could come home.
“I heard it was a lovely ceremony,” Chloe said. “I’m happy for them.”
“Me, too. I think they wanted to start adoption procedures as soon as possible. That’s why she stepped up the date.” He held her gaze. “It’s good to see you again.”
Chloe gave him a tight smile, disturbed at how easily old emotions had intruded. She’d known she would run into him eventually. She just wished she could have had some advance notice.
So you could have put on some makeup? Do your hair?
You’re a divorced woman and he’s a war vet with an unexpected child, she reminded herself. And you have other complications. Too tangled.
Besides, she had promised herself when she discovered Jeremy’s cheating that no man would hold her heart again. No man would make her feel vulnerable.
“I’m sorry. I’ll leave you alone to spend time with your brother,” she said, moving past Grady only to come face-to-face with her stepsister.
“Hello again, sister of mine,” Vanessa Vane said, tossing her red hair, her bright smile showing off thousands of dollars’ worth of dental work and a puzzling nervousness. Vanessa had never been one to show anything but overweening self-confidence.
Last month she had waltzed into Little Horn, crashing the Lone Star Cowboy League’s annual Christmas party and laying claim to Cody, the baby who had been dropped off at the Stillwater ranch four months earlier. Vanessa had cried crocodile tears, telling anyone who would listen how badly she felt about abandoning Cody at that time. She should have owned up that Grady was the father and stayed around.
But she was back now and wasn’t that great?
For Chloe, not so much. Vanessa’s redheaded vivaciousness was a bright contrast to Chloe’s wavy brown hair and calm demeanor. And whenever Vanessa saw Chloe she liked to remind her of those differences, as well as the deficiencies of Chloe’s now-deceased father, Vanessa’s stepfather.
“Hello, Vanessa. How’s Cody doing?” Chloe asked.
Though Chloe had heard Grady and Vanessa were an item a year ago, seeing Cody, the physical evidence of their relationship, created a surprising and unwelcome heartache.
“He’s great. Such a sweetie.” Vanessa smiled up at Grady, batting her eyelashes.
Grady’s own eyes narrowed and he didn’t return her smile, which surprised Chloe. Vanessa’s expression grew taut as she looked from Grady to Chloe again, and her auburn hair glistened in the lights of the hospital room. “Isn’t my baby adorable?”
“He is,” Chloe agreed, wishing she could be less inane. More sparkly and interesting.
Like her sister.
Every time Vanessa came into a room, eyes were drawn to her; men took a second look at her long red hair, slim figure and vivacious personality.
“Can you give me any information about my brother, Chloe?” Grady’s resonant voice broke in over Vanessa’s prattling. His eyes, deep set and dark, held hers in a steady gaze, resurrecting old feelings she couldn’t allow. “Do you know when he’ll come out of it? Do you know if there will be any long-term damage?”
“Don’t be silly, Grady,” Vanessa put in, walking past him to stand beside Ben’s bed. “Chloe can’t tell you anything about your brother. She’s only the physical therapist.”
Chloe ignored Vanessa, unconsciously tucking back a strand of hair that had freed itself from her ponytail. “The only thing I can tell you is that he will experience some measure of muscle atrophy, given how long he’s been in a coma.” Chloe put on her professional voice, trying not to let Vanessa’s patronizing attitude get to her. “The range-of-motion exercises we perform on him will help maintain as much of his muscle tone as possible and at the same time prevent sensory deprivation.”
“Ooh. Long words,” Vanessa said, the joking tone in her voice negated by her flinty look. “Still trying to impress Grady? I wouldn’t bother.”
“Do you know anything about the coma?” Grady continued, obviously ignoring Vanessa. “At all?”
Chloe heard the hurt and fear behind his questions. She guessed the bond identical twins often shared made him more anxious.
“I only know what you know,” she said. “The fall from the horse was the root cause, but there have been no other internal injuries that we can ascertain, no brain injury. No hematomas.” She stopped herself there. As Vanessa had said, she wasn’t a doctor. “You’ll have to speak with his doctor to find out more.”
“Thanks for that information at least,” Grady said, his smile holding a warmth that could still make her toes curl.
“You’re welcome,” she said, trying to convey a more brisk and professional tone. “We hope and pray he will come out of it. That’s all we can do.”
“I’ll take care of the hoping and leave the praying to those more capable.” The bitterness in Grady’s voice made Chloe wonder again about his war experiences overseas and what they had done to his once rock-solid faith.
“How long are you back for?” Chloe asked, holding up her head, determined not to let the effect he had on her show.
“For good. I got an honorable discharge from the army. I’m home.”
She forced herself not to look at the crutch he leaned on to support himself.
“We can all be so thankful Grady made it back from Afghanistan. And a hero to boot,” Vanessa said, the edges of her lips growing tighter, as if she had to work to maintain her vivacity.
Each word she spoke felt like a tiny lash. Her stepsister had known Chloe had a crush on Grady when they were in high school. In fact, once Vanessa had discovered this, she’d made an all-out attempt to charm and captivate Grady just to spite her. Chloe, a tomboy at heart, had known she couldn’t compete with her glamorous stepsister, so she’d given up on that dream.
Given that Vanessa claimed to be the mother of Grady’s supposed baby, Chloe could only reason Vanessa still held some attraction for him.
“I still can’t get over how much Grady and Ben look alike.” Vanessa gave Chloe an arched look as she fiddled with the sheets draped over Ben’s body.
“They do look similar,” Chloe murmured, trying to find an opportunity to make her escape while her stepsister chattered away.
“Similar? They are like two peas in a pod,” Vanessa said, her narrowed gaze flicking from Ben to Grady. “If it weren’t for Ben being flat on his back, you’d never know the difference. And did you know that twins have identical DNA?” she asked, turning to the cards on the windowsill.
And why did Vanessa think she needed to impart that particular piece of information?
“I’ll leave you to visit with your brother,” Chloe said, taking another step toward the door.
To her surprise and shock, Grady touched her arm, as if trying to make a connection. “It’s good to see you,” Grady said, lowering his voice. His eyes held hers.
Unable to look away, Chloe felt her heart quicken. Then a faint queasiness gripped her. Vanessa called out again and she dismissed the emotion as quickly as it came.
Vanessa claimed that Grady was the father of her child.
And Chloe had enough problems of her own.
* * *
Chloe’s reaction to his wound still stung.
Grady fitted his crutch under his arm and made his way over the snow-covered sidewalk to the ranch house. The chill January wind biting into his face promised bitter weather to come and seemed to sum up how he felt. Vanessa had driven him in her car to the hospital. Grandma Mamie’s car and Ben’s truck filled the garage, which meant they had to park it outside.
All the way home he replayed that moment when he’d stepped into his brother’s hospital room. He would have had to be blind not to have seen Chloe recoil from him.
Not that he blamed her. A crippled soldier and, according to Vanessa, the father of a child born out of wedlock. A child from her own stepsister.
Grady knew Cody wasn’t his, and though part of him wanted to tell Chloe, he knew it was neither the time nor place; he wasn’t even sure if it mattered to her. He was still frustrated at how glibly the lies had tripped off Vanessa’s tongue when she had confronted him at the ranch, Cody in her arms. He had come directly here once he was discharged and the first person he’d met at the ranch house had been Vanessa.
She had unleashed a stream of innuendo and falsehoods about how she and Grady had been intimate at a party that he and Ben had attended. Initially she had said he was too drunk to remember, but Grady wasn’t a drinker. Nor was he the kind of guy who slept around. At all. But the DNA test had shown Cody was a Stillwater, so Grady guessed, given his brother’s wild living, Ben had fathered the child at that party.
When he’d confronted Vanessa with that information she had conceded that maybe she’d had a bit too much to drink herself and quickly claimed it must have been Ben. The trouble was, though he had made it very clear to Vanessa that he wasn’t Cody’s father nor was he interested in her, she still flirted with him. It annoyed him and even though he didn’t encourage it, he could only guess how the situation looked to Chloe. Not exactly the hero he had hoped he would return from the war as.
Injured, with the whiff of scandal surrounding him and his family.
Precisely the thing he had left Little Horn to escape after his father’s debilitating injury had sent his mother away, unable to live with a crippled man. The shame of his mother’s defection and subsequent divorce had caused Grady to join the army, looking for discipline and meaning to his life. It had sent Ben on a path of hedonism and self-indulgence. Their mother’s death while traveling abroad hadn’t helped matters, either.
It seemed both their lives had come full circle. Now he suffered from a life-changing injury that had cut short his army career and Ben lay in the hospital after being thrown from a horse. Both living echoes of their now-deceased father.
“Slow down, soldier,” Vanessa called out as she got out of her car behind him. “Let me help you.”
He tried not to cringe as he kept going, tucking his chin into his jacket against the cold, trying to banish the picture of Vanessa standing beside Chloe, their differences so obvious.
Chloe with her sweet, gentle smile. Vanessa with her overly loud voice and tactless attitude. He knew he shouldn’t compare, but he couldn’t help himself.
Vanessa hurried ahead of him as he struggled up the stairs to the covered veranda that wrapped around the Colonial-style house. “You know, I can never figure out which of these doors to use,” she muttered as she grabbed the handle of one of the double doors. She pulled it open just as Grady came close, and the door connected with his leg.
He bit down on a cry as he stumbled, his crutch slipping out and away.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to hit you.” Vanessa clutched his arm as he regained his balance, pain shooting up his leg and clouding his vision.
He rode it out, then shook off her hand, frustrated at his helplessness. “I’m okay. Please.”
“I’m just trying to help you,” she complained as he fitted his crutch back under his arm. “You don’t need to get all huffy.”
“Sorry,” he said, unable to say more than that as he stumped into the entrance of the house. As Vanessa closed the door behind them, heat washed over him blended with the scent of supper baking and his frustration eased away.
He was home.
Beyond the foyer a fire crackled in the stone fireplace that was flanked by large leather couches. He wanted nothing more than to sink into their welcoming depths, close his eyes and forget everything that had happened to him the past few years. The war. The secret mission he and his team had been sent on and the hard consequences.
He just wanted to find the simple in life again.
But the sound of a baby crying upstairs broke the peace of the moment and reminded him of his obligations and how complicated his newly civilian life would be.
“Grady? Vanessa? Are you home?” his grandmother called out from somewhere in the house.
Vanessa sauntered past him to the living room, ignoring his grandmother’s question.
Just as Grady shucked off his heavy winter coat, his grandmother came down the stairs toward him, carrying Cody, who was fussing and waving his chubby arms.
In spite of knowing Cody wasn’t his, it wasn’t hard to see the resemblance. The little boy’s brown eyes and sandy hair were exact replicas of his and Ben’s, and he looked identical to Grady and Ben when they were babies.
He could see how people might believe he was the father. That Chloe might believe he was bothered him more than he cared to admit.
“Is he okay?” Grady asked, hobbling over to his grandmother, the injury in his leg making itself known as he faltered.
“He’s just fussy. Missing his mom, I think.” Mamie Stillwater shot a meaningful glance over her shoulder at Vanessa, who was now lounging on the couch leafing through a magazine she had bought on their way back from the hospital.
Vanessa must have caught the tone in Mamie’s voice, however, because she shot to her feet, her hands out for Cody. “Hey, sweetie,” she cooed, taking him from Mamie’s arms and walking back to the living room. “Did you miss your momma?”
“Can I get you something to drink? Some coffee? Hot chocolate?” his grandmother asked him, her eyes still on Vanessa who sat on the couch again.
“Coffee would be great,” he said.
“I’m fine,” Vanessa said to her, then turned to Grady with a coy smile and patted the couch beside her. “Come and sit down, soldier,” she said.
Grady hesitated, then walked over, wavering between politeness and his own struggles with Vanessa. Though he knew Cody wasn’t his child, he was clearly Ben’s and therefore his nephew. However, Vanessa didn’t seem very motherly.
His thoughts whirled as he struggled to find the peace that had been eluding him for the past few years. Ever since that hay bale had fallen on his father and injured his back, Grady’s home life had spun out of control. His father’s chronic pain had created tension, which had led to fights, which finally had sent his mother away.
Living with his father had been difficult before; it had become almost impossible after the accident. Reuben Stillwater had turned into a bitter, angry and critical man.
Grady, who had often wanted to leave the ranch and Little Horn, saw his chance when he met with a recruitment officer from the army at high school. As soon as he’d graduated, he’d joined the army looking for discipline and order. He desired adventure and an escape from Little Horn. He had joined special ops, wearing his green beret with pride.
But escape had resolved the issue only temporarily. Running special ops in Afghanistan had drained him. Had created an increasing yearning for home. When he’d been injured that horrible day, he’d known his career was over.
However, coming back to the ranch to discover a woman he neither admired nor desired was telling everyone he had fathered her child wasn’t the vision he’d held in his head during the lonely nights in Kandahar, Afghanistan. He had longed for the open spaces of the ranch, the simplicity of working with cattle and horses.
As he leaned back and glanced at Cody gurgling his pleasure in Vanessa’s arms, a picture of Chloe flashed in his head. She looked as pretty as ever. Prettier if that was even possible, with a simple charm he remembered from their youth.
As if someone like her would look at someone like you, he reminded himself.
“He sure knows his mommy,” Vanessa said, tickling the little boy under his chin. “Don’t you, darling?”
His grandmother returned with two steaming mugs of coffee. She set down one within arm’s reach of Grady and settled herself on the large leather couch across from them both, her eyes on Vanessa and the baby.
“Busy happenings in the county today,” Mamie said, her gaze flicking from Vanessa, still absorbed with Cody, to Grady sipping his coffee. “Yesterday Tom Horton discovered a couple of his brand-new ATVs were stolen.”
“They figure the same people who’ve been rustling the cattle and stealing equipment are to blame?” Grady asked.
“Lucy Benson is quite sure it is. This must be so difficult for her.” Grandma Mamie tut-tutted. “Byron McKay is calling for her to quit as sheriff and she’s not getting any closer to the culprits.”
“Byron McKay likes to throw his weight around,” Grady said.
“He’s a big-time rancher, isn’t he?” Vanessa put in, tucking Cody against her while she opened the magazine with her free hand. “I heard he’s got one of the biggest spreads in the county.”
“He’s wealthy enough,” Mamie said. “And he likes to let the members of the cowboy league know it.”
“He’s not president yet, is he?” Grady asked.
“Oh, no,” Grandma protested angrily, as if the idea horrified her. “Carson Thorn still holds that position and the other members will make sure Byron doesn’t ever get in charge.”
“This league... That’s the one that threw the fancy party I was at two weeks ago. What do they do exactly?” Vanessa asked.
“The league formed over a century ago as a service organization,” Grandma Mamie said. “They provide help and resources to the ranchers in the area. There are chapters all over Texas.”
“What kind of help? Like with the branding and stuff?” Vanessa seemed quite interested in the dealings of the league, which puzzled Grady.
“It started to fight cattle rustling and give support when times got hard for fellow ranchers.” Mamie gave Grady a warm smile. “Grady and Ben’s great-grandfather, Bo Stillwater, was one of the founding members.”
“They aren’t helping much for all the cattle rustling going on,” Vanessa said, still turning the pages of her magazine one-handed, seemingly oblivious to her little boy, now, thankfully, sleeping in her arms. “I heard that Byron McKay got some fancy machinery stolen and another cattleman lost some animals. And that town sign thingy is still gone. Not too on the ball, are they?”
“I’m sure they’re doing what they can,” Grady said, cradling the cup of coffee, feeling a sudden chill. Coming home to stories of a rash of thefts of cattle and machinery and equipment was disheartening. The community of Little Horn, with the help of the Lone Star Cowboy League, had always pulled together. Though he had been back only a few days, he already sensed mistrust growing between the local ranchers.
“Funny how nothing’s disappeared from this place, though,” Vanessa said with a sly look. “Maybe the thieves are those kids you’ve got working on that, what is it, ranchers something or other?”
“Future Ranchers program,” Grady said, shooting her a warning look. “And you might want to watch what you say about the girls we’ve got helping here. The Markham sisters’ ranch has been hit, as well.”
“But that Maddy Coles. I mean, she’s a foster kid. She probably has all kind of weird friends.”
“That’s enough,” Grady snapped, angry at her allegations, then frustrated at his shortness with her.
Too many things were happening at once, he thought. His brother, Ben, in the hospital, Vanessa and her ever-changing insinuations, all the upheaval the thefts had caused in the community.
Seeing Chloe hadn’t helped his equilibrium, either. He’d thought hearing about her marriage would ease away the feelings he still harbored, but now she had come back to Little Horn. Single and as attractive as ever.
He felt a clutch of pain in his leg and all thoughts of Chloe vanished with it. He wasn’t the man he used to be and he had nothing to offer any woman. He shot a glance at Vanessa. Especially not with someone like her entangled in his life.
“What puzzles me is all the things other people are receiving,” Grandma said. “The new saddles at Ruby’s, the cattle at the Derrings’ and the clothes for their foster children. It’s all very nice and generous, but it’s puzzling.”
“Well, I wouldn’t mind getting some of the stuff being handed out.” Vanessa tossed the magazine aside then stood in front of Grady and held out the little boy, who had woken up again and was stirring in her arms. “Can you take him? I’m tired. Didn’t sleep a wink last night.”
Grady hadn’t slept much, either, but he said nothing. Instead, he set his coffee on a nearby table and took him from Vanessa. Cody stared up at him with bright eyes and gurgled his pleasure, and Grady felt a tug on his heart. He was such a cute little guy.
“I think you should see about getting that Eva chick back, that nanny you hired,” Vanessa said. “I don’t think I can take care of this little boy by myself.”
Then she sauntered off before Grady could say anything more.
When she was out of earshot his grandmother got up and sat down beside Grady, letting Cody grab her finger with his. “I wish we could hire Eva again, but she’s married now and I want to give her time to concentrate on her husband and married life. I wish I knew what to do.”
“We will take care of him,” Grady said firmly. “He’s a Stillwater. Our flesh and blood. Our responsibility.”
But even as he spoke the brave words, he felt a tremor of apprehension. Ben lay in a coma. He had his own injuries to contend with. His grandmother was getting on in years.
If Vanessa wasn’t stepping up, what would Cody’s future look like? Grady knew getting married wasn’t in the picture for him, so he couldn’t count on creating any kind of family for Cody.
His thoughts, unexpectedly, drifted to Chloe. Her warm smile, as generous as always. Her easy nature.
He pushed them aside as irrelevant. He would never be marriage material.
His mother hadn’t been able to live with an injured man; how could he expect Chloe to?
Chapter Two (#ulink_b59e8557-9da0-5813-88d8-15223e38c9e4)
“Got a new patient for you. Is Salma here?”
Chloe looked up from the makeshift desk she had been given in one corner of the physical therapy department at the doctor standing in front of her. With his droopy moustache and thick eyebrows, Dr. Schuster looked as though he should be riding the range rather than diagnosing and treating patients. Dr. Schuster had taken advantage of this impression and adopted an aw-shucks attitude that put many of his patients at ease.
However, right now he looked anything but as he tapped the file he held against his other hand, the frown on his face giving her cause for concern.
“She’s gone for lunch. Can I help you?”
“I thought she would be around.”
“You look worried. Is it a difficult case?”
“I’ve got other things on my mind,” he said. “But this patient does bother me. He said he doesn’t need therapy.”
“Do you want me to talk to him?” Chloe asked, not sure she could make a difference, but sometimes another voice helped.
“You mean turn on that Miner charm?” Dr. Schuster joked. Then he shook his head. “No. I can’t ask that of you.”
“It’s my stepsister who has all the charm,” Chloe returned. Ever since yesterday when Vanessa had shown up with her arm hooked in Grady’s, grinning that smug Cheshire smile, Chloe had struggled with envy and frustration. So often in the years after Vanessa’s mother had married Chloe’s widowed and grieving father, Chloe had wished she and Vanessa could be close. As an only child she had looked forward to having a sister.
Instead, Vanessa had been difficult and contrary, trying at every opportunity to either discredit Chloe or treat her with contempt.
“Vanessa definitely has a certain appeal.” Dr. Schuster’s smile deepened. “She’s been the talk of the town since she descended on the party last month claiming to be Cody’s mother. But I doubt she has as much staying power as you.”
“Words to make a girl’s heart go pitty-pat,” Chloe said in a dry tone and held her hand out for the file. “Who is the reluctant patient?”
“Another Stillwater. Grady.”
And now Chloe’s heart did, in fact, go pitty-pat. And then some. She took the folder from Dr. Schuster and opened it, scanning the contents, trying to maintain her distance.
“This patient will need quite a bit of time spent with him.” Chloe flipped through the file, shifting into professional mode. “He’ll need to get started sooner, rather than later, if he wants to regain full mobility.”
“He only arrived Friday, last week,” Dr. Schuster said. “He came to see me yesterday on the recommendation of his surgeon in the army.”
“Okay. I’ll contact Mr. Stillwater. See what I can do.”
“Good. Great. Make sure you let Salma know, as well. I suspect once you get Grady cooperating, as senior therapist she’ll be doing most of the work.”
Chloe understood this, but worried that Dr. Schuster thought she wasn’t as competent as Salma. He looked as if he wanted to say more, then left, his lab coat flaring out behind him as he hurried off.
Clearly in a rush, Chloe thought, setting the file aside.
She had hoped to talk to him. Tell him about her personal situation. Guess it would have to be another time.
There were no other visitors in Ben’s room when she got there, and the only sound was the faint hissing of his oxygen, the steady beeps of the monitors. “I suppose you’ve heard about all the happenings in and around the county,” she said to him while she got him ready for his exercises. Talking to patients while she worked was part of the therapy. “Thefts and unexpected gifts and all sorts of stuff. Kind of crazy. So far, though, nothing from your place, so that’s good, I guess. And now your brother is back.” Chloe’s smile faded as she did a series of hip flexions and abductions, thinking of Grady.
“You know everyone says you look the same. I can see some minor differences,” she continued. “Grady’s eyelashes are thicker. Hope that doesn’t bother you, though I can’t imagine either of you could care about that. And his one eyebrow slants off to one side. I think he’s a bit taller. Maybe because of his army training. Makes him stand up straighter.”
A cough behind her caught her attention and she flushed, suddenly self-conscious about her chatter as Mamie Stillwater entered the room holding a sleeping Cody, a large quilted diaper bag hooked over her narrow shoulder.
“I’m sorry,” Mamie said. “I didn’t mean to interrupt.”
“I’m just doing Ben’s exercises,” Chloe murmured, thankful she hadn’t said anything more.
“Do you mind if Cody and I watch?”
“Not at all.” Chloe felt a stirring in her soul at the sight of the little boy, so innocent, his rosy cheeks begging to be touched. Vanessa and Grady’s son. The thought hurt her more than it should.
At least this child has two parents. As opposed to mine.
She tried to fight the thought down. I’ll do the best I can, she reminded herself, thinking of the child she carried. At four and a half months, she thankfully wasn’t showing yet, so she hadn’t told anyone. Not even her close friend Lucy. She was too ashamed. Sooner or later, however, she would have to tell the hospital administration, and then everyone else.
Mamie dropped the diaper bag on an empty chair by the window, shifted the sleeping baby in her arms and stood on the opposite side of Ben, her free hand resting on his head while Chloe did some hamstring stretches.
“You’ve been doing this awhile?” Mamie asked, fingering Ben’s hair away from his face.
“About two years. It took me six to get my degree.”
“And you came back here...”
“I was offered this job.” Part-time and only temporary, she’d been told, but she’d wanted to come back to Little Horn badly enough that she took the chance it might turn into full-time work.
“I was sorry to hear about your father,” Mamie said.
“So was I.” Chloe had made a visit seven months ago for her father’s funeral, then returned to Fort Worth and Jeremy.
How much had changed since then, she thought.
Her father’s ranch had been sold, barely paying off the debts incurred against it from his accident, and Jeremy had started divorce proceedings once he’d found out she was pregnant.
She had felt rootless and lost. Taking this job had become her way of finding her footing.
Chloe moved to work on Ben’s arm when the rhythmic thump of a crutch on the floor gave her another start. Grady had arrived.
She pressed her lips together, sent up a prayer for strength and continued working.
“Good morning, Chloe,” he said, his deep voice creating an unwelcome shiver of awareness. She gave him a nod, her cheeks warming as he made his way around the bed. He wavered, catching the rail of the bed to steady himself. He wasn’t wearing his brace today, she noticed.
“Are you okay?” his grandmother asked.
“I’m fine.” His curt voice and the clench of his jaw told Chloe he wasn’t fine at all. She guessed his hip was causing him trouble, as was his knee. From what she’d read in his file, he’d been shot in the thigh, damaging many muscle groups and compromising the ligaments of his knee. “Do you want me to hold Cody?” Grady asked.
“He’s okay. And Chloe said we could stay while she does therapy with Ben,” Mamie said in a falsely bright voice. “It’s interesting to watch her work. She’s very capable.”
“I understand from Dr. Schuster that you’ll be coming to visit me in the physical therapy department,” Chloe said, piggybacking on what Mamie was saying.
“I doubt it,” Grady muttered, the tightness around his mouth another indication of the pain he dealt with. “I don’t have time with everything at the ranch falling on my shoulders now. And this little guy.” He glanced down at Cody, touched his chubby cheek with one finger, and Chloe’s heart hitched at the warmth of his smile. This man would make a good father.
Was a good father, she corrected herself.
“Plus I’ve got Ben and the Future Ranchers program he started at the ranch to keep me busy,” he continued. I don’t have time to run around for appointments that won’t make a difference.”
“But if you don’t take care of the low mobility in your knee and hip, you could be facing chronic pain later on,” Chloe suggested.
Grady shot her a frown, as if he didn’t appreciate what she had to say.
“As a physical therapist, I feel I must warn you the pain you are dealing with now will only worsen with lack of treatment.” Chloe manipulated Ben’s fingers, half her attention on helping the one brother while she tried to convince the other to accept what she could do for him.
“The pain isn’t that bad.” He dismissed her comment with a wave of his hand. “I know my dad managed through his. Your dad, as well. Just have to cowboy up.”
Chloe kept her comment about that to herself. She didn’t know everything about his father and care. However, she still maintained that, in the case of her own father, if he had received proper care and treatment, he would have been better able to do his work. “Being tough only gets you so far,” she carried on. “Your injuries will, however, only cause you more problems with lack of immediate care.”
She stopped then, sensing she was selling herself too hard. Grady looked as though he didn’t believe her. Didn’t or wouldn’t—she wasn’t sure which was uppermost.
“Are you working here full-time?” Mamie asked, stroking a strand of hair back from Ben’s forehead, shifting to another topic.
“I am here as a part-time, temporary worker.” Speaking the words aloud made her even more aware of her tenuous situation.
“Where will you go after this?”
Chloe shrugged, working with Ben’s fingers, stretching and manipulating, not sure she wanted to talk about her hopes and dreams to start up a dedicated physical therapy clinic in town. Finding out how little was left after settling her father’s estate had put that dream out of reach.
“There are other opportunities in Denton or Fort Worth, I’m sure.” Opportunities she had passed up when she’d taken this job. She wasn’t a city person. Coming back to Little Horn had filled an emptiness that had grown with each day she was away.
“I see.” Mamie held her eyes, nodding slowly, as if her mind was elsewhere.
“I need to work on Ben’s other leg and arm,” Chloe said, setting Ben’s hand down beside his still body. “So I’ll have to ask you to come over to this side of the bed.”
Just as Chloe came around the end of the bed, Cody whimpered, opened his eyes and started to cry.
“I should get something for him to eat,” Mamie said, jiggling him as she dug through the large diaper bag she had been carrying. She looked over at Chloe as Cody’s cries increased. “I’m sorry to ask, but can you hold him a moment?”
“Of course.”
“I can take him.” Grady shifted himself so he had his hands free.
But Mamie had already set Cody in Chloe’s arms.
She held the wiggling bundle of sorrow. His cries eased into hiccups. His dark brown eyes, still shining with tears, honed in on Chloe’s.
A peculiar motherly feeling washed over her. This little boy, so sweet, so precious. She cuddled him close and he quieted as he lay his head against her shoulder.
“You have a way with him,” Mamie said, pulling a jar of baby food out of the diaper bag. “Just like his previous nanny, my niece, Eva, did.”
“He is a sweetie,” Chloe murmured, rocking him to keep him quiet.
“I can take him back now,” Mamie said, taking the boy from her. “I should find a place I can heat this up.”
“There’s a microwave at the nurses’ station I’m sure you can use,” Chloe said, walking to the sink in Ben’s room to wash her hands again.
Mamie walked out, leaving Grady and Chloe alone. She moved to the other side of Ben’s bed and started with his leg exercises.
“Does that do anything?” Grady asked. “I mean, he’s not participating.”
“No, but it’s important we keep his abductors flexed, his hamstrings from pulling.” Chloe glanced over at Grady, disconcerted to see him staring at her. She dragged her attention back to her patient. “It’s a type of stimulation, as well. And if we don’t do these exercises, his muscles will seize up and when he gets out of the coma, he will have a much longer recovery ahead of him.”
“You said when.”
Chloe glanced up from Ben, thinking of the theories of coma patients being able, on a subliminal level, to hear what was said around their bed.
“I said when and I mean when,” she said, her voice firm. “He will come out of this. We just have to do what we can for him while we wait.”
Grady sat down in the chair, setting his crutch aside. “I like the sound of when. I have things I need to settle with my brother. Ben and I... Well, we had words before I left.”
“A fight?”
“A disagreement about his lifestyle,” Grady said. “I want to make it right.”
Out of the corner of her eye, Chloe saw Grady drag his hand over his face. He looked exhausted. She was sure some of it was the burdens he carried, in addition to the pain.
“Then, this is a chance for you to talk to him,” Chloe said, picking up Ben’s arm and stretching it gently above his head. “A chance for you to tell him what you feel. Tell him how you care for him.”
“So you think he can hear me?”
“I’d like to think he can.” Chloe gave him a gentle smile. “Sometimes talking aloud can be as much for yourself as for him.”
Grady nodded, then looked up at her, his expression growing serious. “You think it will help?”
“Confession is good for the soul,” she said.
“In that case, I’ll wait until you’re gone. I don’t want you hearing all my deep, dark secrets.”
“You have those?” And how did that semiflirty note get in her voice?
“Don’t you?”
She held his gaze a split-second longer than she should have, thinking of the last time she and Jeremy had been together and the repercussions of that. The child she now carried.
She had no right to talk this way to him. No right at all.
“If you’re referring to Cody’s parentage, I feel I need to tell you, he’s not my son. At all.” His gaze locked on hers, suddenly intense.
“He’s not?”
“No.”
Chloe seemed surprised and yet, at the same time, pleased that he wanted her to know.
“So why is Vanessa—” she stopped herself. She almost asked him why Vanessa was acting as if she had some claim on Grady, but it was none of her business.
Yet he seemed to think she needed to know. A tiny finger of awareness trickled down her neck. Was he trying to tell her something else?
She pushed it away as she returned to working on Ben. He was simply concerned about his reputation, that was all. Besides, it seemed that Vanessa, in spite of Grady not being Cody’s father, seemed to have laid her claim on Grady.
There was no way Chloe could compete with her very attractive stepsister.
A few minutes later she had finished. Before she left, she couldn’t help a glance Grady’s way. But his entire attention was on his brother. So she made a notation on Ben’s chart then left.
Dr. Schuster stood by the nurses’ station, but he looked up when she came near.
“Chloe. Just the person I need to talk to.” His grim expression made her apprehensive.
She swallowed down her nervousness. “What do you need?”
Dr. Schuster tugged at his moustache, then steered her toward a small room just off the nurses’ station. “I had hoped to do this in my office, but I don’t have time.” Another tug on his moustache. “I’m sorry to tell you this, Chloe. But I just got the word that I have to cut back on the budget. I know I promised you a job for longer than this, but I’m afraid I have to let you go. I don’t have much choice.”
“Excuse me?” Chloe wasn’t sure she heard him correctly. “I’ve lost my job?”
“The position was only temporary,” he reminded her.
“For a year.” She fought down her rising panic, trying to maintain a professional attitude, trying not to sound as though she was pleading. “I need this job, Dr. Schuster.”
Her life had been turned upside down the past four months. She had counted on this year to catch her breath, make other plans.
“I’m sorry, Chloe. You’re a hard worker and I’d love to keep you. We could certainly use a fully staffed physical therapy department. But it’s not going to happen. Sorry.”
“When do I leave?”
“I’ll pay out your two weeks’ salary, but Friday will be your last day.” He patted her awkwardly on the shoulder and left.
Chloe leaned back against the wall, fighting down an unwelcome urge to cry. Silly hormones, she thought, closing her eyes and breathing slowly.
Help me, Lord, she prayed. Help me get through this.
The prayer had been her constant refrain the past year. Each time she felt that she had caught her balance, life spun her around again.
She covered her face with her hands, pulled in a wavering breath, then slowly released it.
“Are you okay?”
Mamie Stillwater’s concerned voice behind her made her straighten and force a smile to her face before turning around. “I’m fine,” she assured the elderly woman, still holding Cody, who slept again. “I’m just fine. Just tired. How’s Cody?”
“He’s tired, too.” Mamie gave her a careful look. “I better get back to see how Ben is. You take care of yourself, okay?” She patted her on the shoulder with one thin hand, then trudged away, her own shoulders stooped, as if carrying Cody was more than she could bear, either.
Chloe gave herself a few more moments to compose herself. But as she walked past Ben’s room, she glanced sideways only to catch Grady looking directly at her. She gave him a wan smile, then carried on. She had one more patient and then she was done for the day.
And where was she supposed to go after that? How was she going to take care of her child on her own? Jeremy had disappeared after he found out she was pregnant, disavowed any interest in her or her child, and she hadn’t been able to find him. Nor did she have the energy right now.
Help me, Lord, was all she managed as she made her way to the next patient’s room.
* * *
“Boy, does it smell bad in here.”
Grady cringed as Vanessa’s shrill voice echoed down the hallway of the barn.
“You in here, Grady? I need to talk to you. I’m not coming in.”
“Will you excuse me a moment?” Grady said to the three young girls standing by the doorway of one of the horse stalls. “I need to speak with Vanessa.”
Maddy Coles, Lynne James and Christie Markham were part of the Future Ranchers program his brother, Ben, had initiated to help high school students get extra credit. They came to the ranch whenever they could to work with the horses and to assist with their training and care.
“Do you want me to clean out the stalls?” Maddy asked, grabbing a fork from the wall.
“That would be good. Start with Apollo. Lynne and Christy, you can go outside and get Bishop, Shiloh and Chief in. Saul said he wanted to check their hooves when he comes here. I’ll be right back.”
The girls nodded and Maddy, eager as ever to work, stepped into the first stall.
Grady hurried down the alleyway, the thump of his crutch on the wooden floor echoing through the cavernous horse barn. A chill wind whistled toward him as he neared the open door where Vanessa stood, her winter coat wrapped around her, her mouth turned down in a grimace of disgust.
“I don’t know what’s nastier, the weather out here or the stink in there.” She waved her hand delicately in front of her face as if to dispel the scent.
“What can I do for you?” Grady asked.
“First off, Mamie wants you to come to the house. She’s not feeling that great and Cody has been crying the past half hour.”
“And you can’t take care of him?”
“I told you. Hire that nanny back. I’m headed to Austin. I’ve got a fitting for a dress I ordered. I’ll be back tomorrow.”
Grady could only stare at her, the suspicions that had been hovering in the back of his mind growing stronger each moment he spent with her. “So you’re leaving your son with his great-grandmother?”
Vanessa shrugged. “I don’t have time for this. I have to go.” She turned and hurried off, her high-heeled boots slipping in the snow that had fallen overnight.
Grady watched her go, heaving out a sigh. He shouldn’t have pushed her. He blamed his lapse on the steady pain in his leg and the headaches he’d been fighting the past two days. He took a deep breath and worked his way back to Maddy and the other girls. After giving them instructions for work that would keep them busy for the next hour, he hobbled back to the house to help his grandmother.
Cody’s heart-rending wails were the first thing he heard when he stepped in the house.
He shucked off his coat, banged the packed snow off the bottom of his crutch, then, moving as fast as he could, followed the little boy’s cries. He had trouble negotiating the stairs, Cody’s distress adding to his own growing panic. He burst into the nursery, hurried to the crib, his ears hurting from the noise the little boy emitted.
Where was his grandmother?
He set aside his crutch and grabbed the tiny, upset bundle of baby. Cody arched his back, his fists batting the air, screeching with eyes scrunched shut as Grady tried to lift him out of the crib.
Grady wobbled on his feet, trying to hold the squirming child. Cody turned away again, screaming even louder, and Grady lost his footing.
He was going down.
He twisted, shifting his center of balance so that Cody would land on top of him.
Excruciating pain drilled through Grady’s thigh, up his back and into his head as he landed hard on his bad leg. Cody let out another squawk.
Grady rode out the waves of agony, breathing slowly, then he lifted his head to see Cody staring at him, finally quiet. Thankfully he was unhurt.
“Grady. What happened?” Grandma Mamie burst into the room and hurried to Grady’s side, taking Cody from him. “How did you fall? Are you okay?”
Grady sucked in another breath, the pain slowly subsiding. “I’m fine,” he said, though he felt anything but. His leg felt as though it was on fire and his head as if someone had pounded a nail through it.
Mamie cradled Cody on her hip and hooked her arm through Grady’s as if to help him up.
“Please, don’t,” he protested, gently pulling away. “I need to get up on my own.” Besides, he didn’t want to pull Mamie down with him in case he lost his balance again.
He rolled to one side, got his good knee under him and, using the bars of the crib, pulled himself upright. A red-hot poker jabbed him again and he faltered.
“You’re not okay. You’re hurt.”
“I’m fine,” he ground out as the pain subsided, leaving in its wake the residue of humiliation and embarrassment. Couldn’t even pick up a baby out of his bed. How was he supposed to keep up the workload created by the ranch? Not everything could be given to the hired hands. He carefully got his balance and reached for his crutch.
“You look pale,” Mamie murmured, still hovering, her hand raised as if to help him again.
“How’s Cody?” He turned the attention to the little boy.
Mamie shifted her gaze to the little boy, now lying still in her arms. “He seems okay.”
“Should we bring him to see Dr. Tyler?” The pediatrician would have a better idea if Cody was sick or not, Grady figured.
“You’re the one I’m worried about.”
Grady grabbed his crutch, wishing he didn’t feel so helpless. “You don’t need to worry about me. Vanessa should have been here to take care of the baby.”
“I think we need to confront her,” his grandmother said, a note of steel in her voice that Grady remembered all too well as a child. Mamie Stillwater might come across as easygoing but when push came to shove, she could be as immovable as half of Texas.
“When she comes back we’ll deal with this once and for all,” Grady said, massaging the back of his neck with one hand, trying to ease away the tension that seemed to be his constant companion.
Mamie looked down at the baby reaching for her glasses. “We know for sure he is a Stillwater. I think we need to know for sure if he is a Vane. I think we need to do a DNA test on her.”
“That would either corroborate her story or rule her out,” he said.
But if Vanessa was the mother, they needed to have a sit-down with her about her responsibilities. She needed to take on more and not count on Mamie.
But if the test proved she wasn’t Cody’s mother, that left them with the troubling question of who was.
Grady rubbed his head, the pain there battling the pain in his leg.
You should let Chloe help you. Maybe she can do something for you?
Grady held that thought a moment, trying to imagine himself showing exactly how vulnerable he was in front of a woman he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about.
He couldn’t. He just couldn’t.
Chapter Three (#ulink_bb4efb6e-d55e-50fc-84b9-a0f220bbc8ad)
“So what are you going to do now for employment?” Lucy Benson took a sip of her coffee, her green gaze flicking around the patrons of Maggie’s Coffee Shop.
The place was busy. Abigail Bardera zipped around carrying plates of steaming food, her long black hair pulled back in a glossy ponytail. Maggie poured coffee, helping take orders.
“Blunt much?” Amelia said with a note of reprimand, shaking her head at their friend, her blond curly hair bouncing on her shoulders.
“May as well lay it out on the table,” Lucy said.
As soon as Lucy had heard about Chloe’s situation, she’d called Amelia and insisted that they take Chloe out for coffee and pie at Maggie’s.
“I don’t know.” Chloe poked her fork at the flaky apple pie Amelia had insisted she order. “I already talked to Maggie about working here, but that’s a no-go.” She fought down the too-familiar sense of panic at the thought of being unemployed.
She was supposed to have worked today but yesterday Dr. Schuster had told her to consider Thursday her last day. He had hoped it would give her some more time to find a job.
“Would you move back to Fort Worth?” Amelia asked, her tone concerned.
“Too many bad memories there, though if there’s work there I might. To coin a phrase that has been the mantra of my life lately, beggars can’t be choosers.” Her stomach roiled again at the thought of having to leave. Start over. Find her balance again on her own.
Just her and her baby.
“I know things are bad when you’re resorting to clichés.” Lucy tucked her short blonde hair behind her ear, her eyes holding Chloe’s as if trying to encourage her.
“My life is a cliché,” Chloe grumped, then waved the complaint off. “Sorry. I shouldn’t whine. It’s just getting hard to find the silver lining.”
“Well, every silver lining has a cloud,” Lucy quipped. “And it’s not your fault Jeremy cheated on you. I always knew he was a jerk.”
If she only knew how much of a jerk.
Chloe cut off that thought. She didn’t want to give Jeremy any space in her mind. Bad enough he didn’t want to have anything to do with the baby she carried. And that he had disappeared after emptying out the bank account.
“At least you’re not going to tell me I told you so,” Chloe said. “You did warn me not to marry in haste.”
“Are you not listening to Lucy?” Amelia said with a warning wag of her finger. “You’re spouting clichés again.”
A sudden burst of laughter at one end of the café caught Chloe’s attention. Carson Thorn stood by a table of people, laughing at something one of them had said.
“Carson looks more relaxed lately,” Chloe said.
“Getting reunited with his childhood sweetheart probably helped mitigate the stress of all these thefts that he and the other members of the league have been dealing with,” Lucy said with a wry tone. “Nice that there can be happy endings in this town.” She shot a glance over at Amelia. “And speaking of happy endings, how are you and Finn getting on?”
To Chloe’s surprise, her friend blushed. She hadn’t thought spunky and vivacious Amelia knew how to blush.
“Quite well. Making plans.”
Lucy sighed. “Like I said, I’m happy for happy endings.”
Chloe gave her apple pie another stab, wishing she could hope for a happy ending in her particular story. She doubted any man would want to take her on now.
“You’re looking pensive,” Lucy said. “I thought that was my job?”
Chloe knew Lucy had been on edge the past few months, the pressure of all the thefts in the area making her extratense and vigilant. “That’s why I’m trying not to complain. I know you’re under a lot of stress lately.”
As well, Chloe wasn’t ready to divulge her secret to Lucy and Amelia. Not while she was still adjusting to the idea, trying to figure out what shape her life would take.
“This string of thefts has been a frustrating nightmare.” Lucy looked as if she wanted to say more when someone stopped by their table.
“Good afternoon, ladies.” Mamie Stillwater’s smile encompassed the three of them, the light from the windows beside them glinting off her glasses and polishing her gray hair. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but is it possible to talk to you alone, Chloe?”
“I have to head out right away,” Lucy said, giving Chloe a look she interpreted as “tell me everything later.”
“And I have to meet Finn to go over some wedding plans,” Amelia said, getting up as well and dropping a few bills on the table. “This should cover everything.”
Chloe was about to protest but Amelia just shook her head and gave her a bright smile. “And now we’ll leave the two of you alone.”
“Thanks so much.”
“We’ll talk more later.” Amelia walked toward the entrance, but Lucy stopped by the table where Carson stood. Chloe guessed she would be asking him if he had heard about more thefts or people receiving anonymous gifts.
“You know we have little Cody at our house,” Mamie said as she sat down in the chair Lucy had vacated. “My niece Eva used to be his nanny, but she’s married now. I have a cook but Martha Rose went to go help her mother who broke her leg, which means I can’t spend as much time with Cody as I’d like. And Grady was supposed to be doing physical therapy with you and he isn’t.”
She stopped there and Chloe waited, not sure where Mamie was going with all of this.
Mamie gave her a tight smile. “I’m sorry, but I overheard Dr. Schuster talking to you about your job, or lack of one...”
“How did you know about that?”
Mamie paused, her hands folded, fingers tapping against each other as she gave Chloe an apologetic look. “I didn’t mean to listen in. I was in the room behind you when I heard him say that.”
Chloe’s cheeks warmed. A witness to her firing. But Mamie seemed genuinely sorry and Chloe guessed it wasn’t her fault. Dr. Schuster should have been more discreet.
“Again, I’m sorry,” Mamie continued. “But what I was wondering, given that we have Cody to take care of and Grady who won’t go to therapy, would you be willing to work for me? I thought if you were actually at the house, Grady would be more amenable to participate in his recovery. And, truthfully, I need someone to help us with the little boy.”
“I thought Vanessa was staying with you?” Chloe asked.
Mamie shot a look around the café, as if checking to see if anyone was listening, then leaned closer, concern etched on her features. “I know she’s your stepsister, but truthfully, she doesn’t seem to want to spend the time with Cody that he needs. It would help us out a lot if you would be willing to work for me.”
Chloe wasn’t sure she wanted to stay in the same house as Vanessa. It was too easy to recall the stinging comments her stepsister had steadily lobbed her way when they’d lived together and how Vanessa had often put her down in front of her friends.
But the cold facts of her life made her shelve her pride. Truth was she needed a job.
“So how long would you need me for?”
“Not sure.” Mamie sighed. “As long as Ben is in a coma and Grady is handicapped by his injury...” Her voice trailed off and as she pressed her lips together Chloe felt a flash of sympathy for the poor woman. It must have been so difficult to see her grandsons both dealing with difficulties as well as deal with the extra strain of taking care of an unexpected great-grandbaby.
And then there was Vanessa.
“All right. I’ll do it. When do you want me to start?”
“Whenever you’re done at the hospital.”
“Yesterday was my last day.”
“Can you come now?”
The weariness in her voice, plus the light touch of Mamie’s hand on Chloe’s, made her stifle her objections and give in. “I’ll come today.”
“Excellent. Thank you so much.” Mamie sank back in her chair, the relief on her face palpable. “I’ll go directly to the ranch and get your room ready.”
“My room?”
Mamie looked taken aback. “Yes. I thought you knew. I’m sorry if I didn’t make that clear. I was hoping you would be staying at the ranch overnight. To help with Cody.”
Chloe sucked in a breath at the thought of having to face Grady, Vanessa and Cody all together day and night. It was a small comfort to know that Grady was not Cody’s father, but that still left Vanessa and her flirtatious ways.
But a job was a job, she reminded herself. Something she needed until she could figure out her next move.
“Okay. I’ll pack my things and meet you at the ranch.”
“Why don’t I go with you and we can drive back with each other? You remember where the ranch is, right?”
Too clearly, Chloe thought, remembering a trip she had made with Vanessa to the Stillwater ranch. The day she’d first seen her stepsister kissing the boy she had cared for so deeply.
* * *
“Hush now, Cody. Please go to sleep.” Grady stood by the crib rubbing one large hand over the baby’s back in a vain effort to get him to settle down. Vanessa was still gone and his grandmother had left on some mysterious trip to town.
Cody had been crying for an hour now. Grady felt more out of his league than he had that time he and his fellow soldiers had been pinned down by crossfire. At least then he had training to fall back on.
He had no training to deal with a kid who wouldn’t settle down.
He should call Eva. Or her husband. They would know. He was just about to do that when he heard voices. And with relief he grabbed his crutch and stumped over to the door to listen. Was Vanessa back?
He heard footsteps coming up the stairs, and a figure rounded the corner. She was slim with long wavy brown hair spilling over one shoulder of a plaid shirt tucked into snug blue jeans. Beautiful and sweet looking.
Grady blinked. Chloe? What was she doing here?
His grandmother materialized behind her, a grin taking over her face. “Isn’t this wonderful?” Mamie said. “Chloe has agreed to come help us out.”
“And from the sounds of things, I better get to work,” she said, giving him a vague smile. “Is he hungry?”
“No. He just had a bottle.”
Chloe gave him a tight nod and hurried past him into Cody’s room.
Grady looked from her to his grandmother, who stood in front of him looking mighty pleased with herself.
“What is going on?” he whispered, moving her away from the door so Chloe wouldn’t overhear them.
The cries from the nursery stilled and he heard Chloe’s gentle murmur as she settled the baby.
“We said we needed to do something about Cody. Chloe lost her job at the hospital. And you need therapy and you won’t go. Martha Rose is gone. So I thought this was a perfect solution for all of us. Chloe can help us with Cody and she can work with you, leaving me free to help with the cooking and where I’m needed. Win, win.”
Grady could only stare at his grandmother, trying to absorb what she had just told him.
“Chloe? Do physical therapy with me? Here?”
“One question at a time,” his grandmother said, wagging her finger at him, a definitely mischievous smile on her face. “Chloe. Yes. And yes, I do want her to do physical therapy here. You know that is what you need to do. I can see by the grimace on your face and by the way you walk. It’s only getting worse and, I fear, will continue to get worse. You have to take care of yourself.”
Grady clenched his jaw, knowing his grandmother was right but not sure he wanted Chloe seeing his helplessness.
“You are the only man I have around,” his grandmother said, playing a last, devastating card. “I need you to help me as much as possible.”
Surely there had to be another way?
“I agree that we need help with Cody,” he conceded. “As for the rest, well, we’ll see.”
And that was all he was giving her.
“That’s fine,” his grandmother said with a bright smile. “One step at a time.”
He watched her leave, eyes narrowed, feeling as though he had just agreed to something he would regret.
He returned to the nursery to check on Cody.
Chloe stood in profile to him, rocking the baby, such a maternal smile on her face that Grady’s knees grew weak. This was what a mother looked like, he thought, taking in the sight of this beautiful woman holding this baby so tenderly.
“I think he’s asleep,” Chloe whispered, her attention still focused on Cody. As she gently laid him down, Cody started, his hands shooting into the air, then as Chloe stroked his face he settled again, his breathing growing deep and even. It was amazing, he thought, envious of her ability to soothe the child, yet so grateful she could.
She gave his face another stroke of her hand and stepped away.
“We can go now,” she said, keeping her voice down.
She left ahead of Grady and he gently closed the door behind him. Together they walked down the hallway.
“Thanks so much for your help,” Grady said, following her to the top of the stairs. “I didn’t know what to do anymore. You seem to be a natural mother.”
She stopped there, her hand gripping the railing, her knuckles white, a look of fear on her face.
Had he said something wrong? Hurt her in some way?
She turned, folded her arms over her stomach. “Before we see your grandmother, I need to know how comfortable you are with working with me. I don’t think my coming to help you was your idea.”
Grady held her steady gaze, appreciating her straightforward honesty, such a refreshing change from her manipulative stepsister.
And that’s not the only thing you appreciate about her, a perfidious voice teased.
He shook it off, his injury a grim reminder of why she was here and what he had to offer someone like her.
“It wasn’t my idea. For now, let’s just leave it at you taking care of Cody.”
“But I saw your file. You need to keep working on your mobility.”
“I will. I just don’t have time yet. I’ve got the ranch and the program Ben set up to oversee. If Ben hadn’t been so foolhardy...” He stopped himself there. Chloe may be employed here, but she didn’t need to know all the ins and outs of their lives. “Anyhow, let’s go have some coffee with my grandma, because I’m sure she’s getting some ready.”
“I have your assessment. Dr. Schuster gave that to me so we could start from there.”
“You don’t give up, do you?”
“One of the characteristics of being a physical therapist. A quiet stubbornness.”
He laughed at that, glancing sidelong at her. But he didn’t look away and neither did Chloe. Their eyes held and a peculiar feeling of awareness rose up. An echo of older emotions she had once created.
She swallowed and he saw her take a quick breath.
Did she feel it, too?
Then he took a step closer and his foot caught on the carpet of the hallway. He faltered, thankfully just for a moment, as reality shot down any foolish thoughts he might have entertained.
She turned away, went down the stairs, quickly outpacing him.
And as he made his slow, painful way behind her he was reminded once again the foolishness of allowing himself to feel anything for any woman.
The only trouble was Chloe wasn’t just any woman. At one time he had cared for her. But she’d given him no indication that she returned his feelings. And then Vanessa had come along. After that, the war.
Now his life was a tangle of obligations and unmet expectations. He knew he had to be realistic. He couldn’t offer her anything. Not anymore.
* * *
“So you took the job?” Lucy was asking.
Holding her cell phone close to her ear, Chloe sat back on the bed of the room Mamie Stillwater had shown her to. It was off the nursery and a full floor away from the room Grady stayed in, which was a good thing.
Her room was lovely, though. Painted a soft aqua, trimmed with white casings, the room was large, cozy and welcoming. A chair and small reading table were tucked into a corner beside an expansive bay window that overlooked the ranch. The bed filled another corner, and a small walk-in closet and en suite gave her all the privacy she needed. It was lavish and luxurious compared to the cramped furnished apartment she had been renting.
“I didn’t have much choice,” Chloe said.
“Won’t hurt to see Grady every day,” Lucy teased.
“It’s strictly professional,” Chloe said, trying not to let the image of Vanessa fawning over Grady get to her. “Besides, I don’t know how much one-on-one time I’ll be spending with him. He seems intent on avoiding therapy.”
“If he’s as stubborn as his brother, you’ve got your work cut out for you.”
Lucy sighed lightly and Chloe sensed her friend’s extra stress. “You sound tired. Have there been more thefts?”
“Another one at the Cutler ranch last night,” Lucy said. “Some ATVs and a horse. I’m getting worried that this is more organized than people think.”
Chloe twisted a thread from the cuff of her worn blue jeans around her finger. “Do you have any leads?”
“None. Though something has been puzzling me greatly. The Stillwater ranch is the only large ranch that doesn’t seem to have had any thefts at all. A few of the smaller ones have been avoided as well, but I’m still trying to see if there’s a connection. A pattern that I can’t find. I was hoping you could help me out.”
“How?”
“Just keep your eyes and ears open. Maybe get closer to Mamie. I don’t know.”
“And report anything I might hear back to you.”
“Please.”
“Okay. I’ll see what I can find out.” She stifled the feeling of guilt that accompanied her statement. She was thankful for the job and she didn’t want to take advantage of that.
Yet Lucy was her friend. And she would be helping her and the community out.
“I should go. Mamie said that dinner was in a few minutes.”
“Hey, thanks for doing this for me,” Lucy said. “I appreciate any help I can get.”
Chloe said goodbye, then made quick work of changing her flannel shirt and pants for a clean pair of blue jeans and an aqua silk shirt. She brushed her hair and, giving in to an impulse, applied some blush and mascara.
For Grady?
Chloe lifted her chin and looked at her reflection in the mirror. For herself, she thought, clipping part of her hair back with a couple of bobby pins. She couldn’t allow herself to think of Grady. Not while she carried another man’s baby.
Before she could give in to doing any more primping, she left. She paused at the door of the nursery, but all was silent.
She hurried down the stairs. However, no one was in the kitchen by the table, so she followed the conversation to the formal dining room.
Grady sat at one end of the table and as she came in, Vanessa got up from her end and sat by him. As if trying to show Chloe where things stood. Grady didn’t seem interested, however, which gave her a small encouragement. He looked up, struggling to stand.
Vanessa frowned at Grady. “Just relax. It’s only Chloe.” Then Vanessa’s icy glance ticked over her. “That’s an interesting look.”
Chloe’s heart turned over as she mentally compared Vanessa’s silky dress and perfect makeup with her own clothes. She had thought she looked okay, but now she felt drab and dull. She didn’t think she needed to dress for dinner.
Vanessa gave her a wry look. “Well, I guess it’s too late to change.”
Chloe wished she could ignore her stepsister’s dismissive attitude.
“I think you look great,” Grady said.
His words shouldn’t have made her feel as good as they did.
Mamie, who wore plain dress pants and a shirt partially covered by her apron, entered and set a platter of ham beside bowls of steaming potatoes and salads and vegetables. At least she looked more casual.
“Do you need any help?” Chloe asked her.
Mamie waved off her offer as she removed her apron and laid it on a side table. “No, dear. This is the last plate. Please sit down.” Mamie pulled a chair away from the table, leaving the only empty spot available opposite Vanessa but beside Grady. Chloe sat down and plucked her napkin out of the ring, ignoring Vanessa’s calculating look.
“Is Cody sleeping?” Vanessa asked, leaning close to Grady, as if staking her claim on him. Again.
“He is.”
“Poor baby. I think I wore him out playing with him,” Vanessa said with a smug smile.
“Well, here we are all together,” Mamie said, but Chloe caught a strained note in her voice.
“One big happy family,” Vanessa chimed in, and reached for the salad bowl. “Grady, can I serve you some salad?”
“I thought we would pray first,” Mamie said.
“Oh. Right.” Vanessa fluttered her hands in an “I’m silly” gesture, then gave Grady another arched look. “I always forget.”
Just before Chloe lowered her head, however, she couldn’t help a glance Grady’s way and was disconcerted to see him looking directly at her.
Then she felt a tinge of nausea, a remnant of what she had been struggling with the first four months of her pregnancy, a reminder, and she quickly drew her gaze away.
Mamie prayed a blessing on the food, asking as well for some solution to the thefts, thanks for family and another request for Ben’s recovery.
Chloe kept her head bowed a moment, adding her own prayer to stay focused on her work here and not be distracted by inappropriate feelings better left buried.
“I heard there was another theft at the McKay spread,” Vanessa said, her voice bright, her expression holding a forced gaiety when Mamie was done.
“I’m sure Byron was upset about that,” Mamie replied.
“And you guys haven’t had anything stolen?” Vanessa asked, taking a tiny bite of her salad.
“Not yet, thankfully.” Grady handed the platter of ham in front of him to Chloe. “Would you like some?”
Chloe felt a start of surprise, her mind as much on the job Lucy had asked her to do here on the Stillwater ranch as trying not to be so aware of Grady sitting only a few feet from her. “Sure. Thank you.” As she took the plate, however, she caught Vanessa’s narrowed gaze.
“That’s interesting,” Vanessa said, dragging out the word, larding it with innuendo. “Makes one wonder if it’s not that foster girl you’ve got working here who could be behind the thefts. Maddy something or other. She doesn’t come from the best family. Sort of like Chloe here. Having an alcoholic father can’t be easy.”
“I think that’s enough,” Grady said, a harsh note of reprimand in his voice.
“Well, it’s true.” Vanessa stabbed at her salad. “About Maddy anyway.”
The supper conversation limped along after that. Vanessa picked at her food, shooting glances over at Grady, who steadfastly ignored her. All the while Chloe was far too aware of Grady’s eyes on her and of Vanessa’s occasional glower. The tension was noticeable and Chloe was thankful when the meal was finally over.
Chloe declined dessert as she got up from the table, saying she should check on Cody.
As she hurried up the stairs, second thoughts nipped at her heels. She shouldn’t have taken this job. How long could she put up with Vanessa and her judgmental attitude and snide comments?
But even as those questions plagued her, she knew Grady’s presence created the tighter tension.
She slipped into the nursery and stood by the crib, her arms wrapped tightly around her midsection. She could feel a bump that she knew would start to show soon. For now, however, she could still wear her regular clothes.
And what will you do when you can’t?
She doubted Mamie would let her go. After all, they had taken in Vanessa, who was an unwed mother. She doubted Mamie would judge her.
But even as that thought formulated, she thought of how Grady avoided Vanessa in spite of her flirting. She wondered if his attitude toward her had something to do with Vanessa’s situation—being an unwed mother.
Cody lay on his side, arms curled up, looking utterly adorable.
A confusing brew of emotions stirred within her as she pressed her hand to her abdomen in a protective gesture.
“He’s sleeping?”
Grady’s voice from the doorway made her jump. She spun around just as he joined her by the crib.
“He looks so peaceful,” Grady said, leaning on the rail as if to get a closer look. Then Grady looked over at her and gave her a cautious smile. “I’m sorry about what Vanessa said over dinner.”
“You don’t have to apologize,” Chloe said. “I heard a lot worse growing up.”
“I keep forgetting you two are sisters.”
“Stepsisters,” Chloe reminded him. “And Vanessa only lived at the ranch for a while.”
“If I may ask, what made her mother leave?”
Chloe’s conscience fought with a desire to tell him the bare truth. There hadn’t been enough money for Etta Vane. The ranch hadn’t been as prosperous as she had thought.
“I don’t think ranch life suited Etta. Or Vanessa. The reality was a shock for them.”
“Somehow she seems to like our place just fine,” Grady said.
Because there’s money here.
But she dismissed the thought. The little boy sleeping in the crib in front of her was her stepsister’s reason for returning. As was the man standing beside her.
“I...I should go,” she said.
To her dismay, she felt Grady’s hand on her shoulder as she straightened. The warmth of his fingers through her shirt sent a tingle of awareness down her spine; the glint of his eyes in the soft glow of the night-light created an unexpected and unwelcome attraction. “Don’t take to heart what Vanessa said to you.”
“I’m used to it,” Chloe said, struggling to keep the breathless tone out of her voice.
“Was it hard? Living with her?”
Chloe shrugged, then gave him a faint smile. “I just wished we could have been closer. But maybe there’s time now that she’s here.”
He held her gaze, his expression earnest. “I feel as if I need to tell you because you’re working here now, with Cody, that while I know I’m not his father, neither do I believe she’s Cody’s mother.”
“What?” Vanessa’s screech from the doorway broke into the moment. “How dare you say things like that? I’m his mother, Grady Stillwater.” She rounded on Chloe. “You were feeding him some lies, weren’t you? You always were jealous of me. You’re so plain and dumpy. You could never compete with me. You and your useless father. I can’t believe my mother even married him. He was a lousy rancher and a crippled drunk.”
Chloe fought her inborn urge to defend her father. It wasn’t his fault his grandfather hadn’t left as much money as Etta had hoped. It wasn’t his fault he’d been injured when he had his ATV accident.
“Vanessa, that’s enough,” Grady snapped.
“Enough of what?” Vanessa said, rounding on him. “You don’t need to stand up for her. You need to face the truth.”
“If we’re talking about truth, it should be an easy matter to get a DNA test done on you,” Cody said, his voice surprisingly calm. “That should give us the truth about who Cody’s biological mother is.”
Vanessa paled at that, glancing from Chloe to Grady, her eyes wide. “I can’t believe you doubt me. I can’t believe you think I’m not his mother...” Her voice drifted off and with another accusing glare at Chloe, Vanessa spun around and strode away.
Grady blew out a sigh as he shoved his hands through his hair. “Again. Sorry about that,” he said. “I shouldn’t have confronted her. Made her say those things about you and your father.”
Chloe looked down at Cody, who lay fast asleep and blissfully unaware of the drama unfolding in his nursery. “I’m just glad he didn’t wake up” was all she could manage.
Grady touched her again and she turned to him.
“You always were a pure, sweet person,” he said.
Once again her former attraction to him bubbled to the surface.
Then Chloe felt another flicker of nausea.
She pulled back, turned away from him, the feeling a stark reminder of the main reason she couldn’t encourage him. Couldn’t be with him.
The child she carried. The child conceived with her ex-husband.
Chapter Four (#ulink_79c81b87-89f9-5ddb-a24d-cf466c258389)
“Have you seen Vanessa this morning?” Mamie asked, beating some eggs in a bowl.
Grady looked up from the laptop he had propped on the eating bar of the kitchen. Ben had all the livestock records, all the bookkeeping, all the information on the Future Ranchers in files on the computer, and Grady had been poring over them in an attempt to get up to speed.
“No. I thought she was sleeping in.”
“I had to get something from the closet in her room and knocked on the door but when I opened it, there was no one in the room. Her bed was empty.” Mamie beat the eggs, the frown on her face clearly expressing her concern. “I’m glad we hired Chloe to help us.”
“I am, too.” Grady’s thoughts skipped back to that moment last night in the nursery. Seeing Chloe standing by the crib, smiling down at Cody, had created a mixture of emotions he had a hard time processing. He knew he was attracted to her. And he sensed something building between them.
But all it took was one shift of his weight on his leg, one look at the crutch to remind him of the foolishness of letting these feelings take over. He wasn’t the man he once was.
No. She deserved better than this.
Just as he made this resolution, she came into the kitchen, Cody cuddled up against her. The baby still wore his sleeper. He was rubbing his eyes, his rosy cheeks holding the imprint of one of his chubby hands, his blanket tucked under one arm.
Grady felt a warmth kindle in him at the sight.
Trouble was he knew it wasn’t the sight of Cody that caused it, but the woman holding him.
“Good morning, Chloe,” he said, giving her a wary smile.
She just nodded at him, suddenly impersonal. Clearly he had stepped over some line she had drawn last night.
“Hey, sweetie.” Mamie reached for the boy, beaming at the sight of Cody holding out his arms to her in answer. “Did you have a good sleep?”
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Carolyne Aarsen
Тип: электронная книга
Жанр: Современные любовные романы
Язык: на английском языке
Издательство: HarperCollins
Дата публикации: 16.04.2024
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О книге: A Cowboy’s HomecomingSince his return to Little Horn, Texas, former Special Ops soldier Grady Stillwater has felt lost. Stillwater Ranch needs his attention—and so does his brother’s abandoned baby. But the injuries Grady sustained in Afghanistan have skewered his confidence. Physical therapist Chloe Miner offers hope and guidance—and a balm for the cowboy′s wounded heart. Little does he know that Chloe is hiding a life-altering secret of her own. The sweet girl he remembers from high school has a baby on the way, and she may need Grady every bit as much as he does her…