DEACON HAD NEVER been the type to let anything or anyone scare him. He was made of stronger stuff.

But one sick little girl had almost brought him to his knees.

Seeing Hazel on the bathroom floor, weak and tired and staring up at him with her sad blue eyes, had torn his heart out. He couldn’t make her feel better, and that had made him feel useless. He’d hated it. All he wanted to do was hold her and comfort her and ease her pain.

Loving a kid was hard, man.

He hurried home, trying his best to stay just enough over the speed limit to not get a ticket. He took the fastest shower ever for him, threw on clean clothes, then dashed back to the hospital. On his way he called Reid, because he’d planned to be at the job site this morning to work, and that just wasn’t gonna happen. Reid told him not to worry, that he’d get one of their foremen to pick up the slack over at the Harden building.

Deacon was relieved about that. At least he didn’t have to think about work today.

After he parked he went inside and up to Hazel’s room. Fortunately, he got there before they took her to surgery. She was sitting up in bed, talking to Loretta’s parents.

There was also another older couple there, who had to be Tom’s parents. When Loretta spotted him, she came over.

“You made it. The nurse was here a few minutes ago and said they’ll be back shortly to take her into surgery.”

“Okay.”

“She was asking if you were coming back. She wants to see you.”

“I don’t want to get in the way if her grandparents are there.”

Loretta looped her arm through his. “Nonsense. Come on. She’s been asking for you.”

He walked in and immediately saw the disapproving looks from Anthony and Gwen Black.

Nothing he wasn’t already used to. He moved in toward the bed and saw Hazel smile at him.

“Hi, Deacon.”

He sat on the edge of her bed. “Hi, tough kid. How are you doin’?”

“They gave me medicine that makes me sleepy, but my stomach doesn’t hurt anymore.”

“Good.” He picked up her hand. “And soon you’ll get to take a nap, and then they’ll get rid of that rotten appendix.”

“Yeah. I wonder if they’ll let me see it. Maybe I can take it home with me and put it on my bookshelf.”

“Gross, Hazel,” Loretta said. “We are not bringing it home with us.”

She wrinkled her nose. “Then maybe they’ll take a picture of it for me.”

Deacon laughed. “You could ask the doc. I’ll bet she would.”

The door opened and the techs came in, so he leaned in and kissed her forehead. “See you soon, sweetheart.”

“Okay.”

He stepped out of the way so her grandparents could give her a kiss. Then Loretta kissed her.

“I love you.”

“Love you, too, Mama.”

Loretta stayed with her while they wheeled her to the operating room. Which meant Deacon was alone with Loretta’s and Tom’s parents.

“So, Deacon,” Anthony said. “How have you been?”

“Fine. And you?”

“Just fine. So you and Loretta are seeing each other again.”

It didn’t surprise him at all that Anthony Black would take this totally awkward and inappropriate moment to bring up his relationship with Loretta. “Yes, we are.”

“I see.”

And that was the last he said to Deacon. Which suited him just fine.

“Tom said he’s flying in soon,” Kelly Simmons said.

Deacon nodded. “Loretta told me. Hazel will be really happy to see him.”

He’d known Tom in high school, and while they hadn’t been close friends, or friends at all, really, he’d had no beef with the guy. Tom’s relationship with Loretta now was none of his business.

All he cared about was Hazel coming through the surgery and being all right. Family politics and parents and ex-husbands weren’t in his sights at the moment.

“If you’ll all excuse me for a minute.” He stepped out of the room, needing to take a walk to gather his thoughts. He wandered the halls until he got to a waiting area. There, he took a seat, clasped his hands, and bowed his head.

He wasn’t a terribly religious person. His parents had taken him to church every Sunday as a kid, but he’d more or less fallen off the wagon as an adult. He didn’t think God would take that personally. So he took a few minutes of silent prayer to ask God to watch over Hazel.

Loretta found Deacon with his hands clasped tightly together and his head bent, his eyes closed as if he were deep in thought. Or maybe in prayer.

It touched her heart deeply to think that maybe he was sending up a prayer for her daughter. She sat next to him and laid her hand over his and offered up her own prayers of hope.

He looked over at her. “How are you doing?”

“I’m fine. Dr. Alder said it’s going to be an easy surgery and I shouldn’t worry.”

“But you’re going to worry anyway.”

“Yes. She’s my baby and they’re cutting her open. How could I not worry?”

He put an arm around her and kissed the top of her head. “She really will be fine. I know she will. She’s strong and healthy, and I’ve never known a kid as tough as she is.”

Loretta’s lips curved. “She is tough.”

“Gets that from you.”

Loretta laughed. “Hardly.”

He leaned back and gave her a look. “You don’t think you’re tough?”

“Not at all.”

“Look at what you’ve done with your life, Loretta. You stepped away from a situation you didn’t think was good for you or for Hazel. You’re raising a daughter by yourself. You own your own business; you bought a farm. That’s tough, and a lot of women couldn’t do it.”

She shrugged. “I had the financial means to do it. That made it easy.”

“Bullshit.”

Her eyes widened.

“Lot of women in similar situations also have the financial means to separate themselves from bad circumstances, but lack the courage. That’s what you had, Loretta. Courage. You made the leap, and I’m sure it was scary as hell to do it. But you did it anyway, for the good of your daughter. So never say you’re not tough, because you are.”

She’d never looked at it from that perspective before.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Oh, I came to find you to tell you there’s a family waiting area. If you’d like to join us.”

“I think I’ll pass. You go ahead, though.”

She frowned. “Why not?”

“I think your parents like me even less now than they did when we were teens. The last thing you all need is more tension while you’re waiting to hear about Hazel.”

Loretta’s brows knit into a tight frown. “What did they say to you?”

“Not much. But trust me, the disapproval over our relationship is still there.”

“I’ll talk to them.”

“No, you won’t. I’m an adult, Loretta. I can handle their animosity just fine. Now is not the time for you to play mediator between your parents and me. Just leave it alone.”

She stared at him, not knowing what to do. She didn’t like that her parents hadn’t gotten past their dislike of Deacon, which had always been completely unwarranted. It irritated her. But she understood Deacon not wanting to upset the family, especially right now.

“Okay. I’ll leave it alone. But only if you come sit with me in the waiting area. I’d really like you to be there. It’ll make me feel better while I’m waiting.”

He hesitated for a few seconds, then finally nodded. “Okay. But only for you.”

He stood and held out his hand for her, and she took it. “Thank you.”

They walked hand in hand into the family waiting area. If her father and mother had any thoughts about it, they masked it well. They all sat together in silence and waited until Dr. Alder showed up with a smile on her face.

“Surgery went very well. Appendix is out, and there were no complications. Hazel’s in the recovery room right now. You’ll be able to see her shortly.”

Loretta exhaled a sigh of relief. “Thank you so much.”

“She should be able to go home later today, but we’ll monitor her to be sure.”

Loretta glanced over at Deacon, who looked as relieved as she felt.

About an hour later, Loretta went into the recovery room to see Hazel. She was mostly groggy and out of it, but Loretta got to talk to her and see that she was okay. And for a mother, that was everything.

Now all she had to do was wait for Hazel to fully awaken and shake off the anesthetic and have the doc check her out to make sure everything was all right with her.

Considering how terribly this day had started, it was looking better. Finally.