Chapter 39
Gran peered blearily at the three men circling her bed. They were her boys.
“Nurse said one at a time,” she slurred, speaking as though through a wad of cotton.
“Rules are made to be broken, sweetheart.” Declan reached out and lightly stroked her hand.
Her eyes sought Kade. She would draw much needed strength from him. He was their touchstone. Trying for a brave smile, she bit her lip, seeing the pain and worry in his dark eyes.
“I sure know how to draw a crowd,” Gran mumbled.
“What?” Kade bent closer, aching at the sight of her heavily bandaged shoulder.
“Morgan’s even here.”
“’Course I am. Did you think I’d pass up a chance to play doctor with my best girl?”
Gran made a feeble attempt to swat at him.
She turned back to Kade. His face was a reflection of study. Gran recognized that look. He would explore all avenues and make a decision. But in this instance, she wouldn’t let him take her on as a burden.
“Kade,” her voice weak.
“We’ll talk later, Gran. Save your strength.”
“No. Now. None of this is your fault. I knew what I was doing when I stepped between that terrible man and you. Jesse could not be allowed to be taken by him.”
“You could have been killed.” He had only to blink, and the fateful scene would replay. “We could have lost you.”
“But you didn’t.” Her eyes closed. Her breathing deepened.
“What are three of you doing in this room?” The door swung open revealing a chunky nurse, arms folded across her chest, glaring at them.
“This lady is barely out of surgery. Now get out of here. You’ve used up your visiting privileges.”
Kade took a step forward. The nurse took one back.
“Now you listen closely,” he said. “This ‘lady’ is our grandmother. She means more than life to all of us. We’ll try to respect your rules, but don’t push. There’ll be one of us just outside that door twenty-four hours a day. And,” he narrowed his eyes, “visiting privileges have just been reinstated. One at a time, every hour for a few minutes. Now if you’ll step aside, we’ll be in the waiting room where someone else who loves her is anxiously waiting for his turn.”
Eyes wide, the nurse backed against the door, opening it far enough to allow three wide shouldered men to pass through. Declan paused long enough to give her a sassy wink.
~ ~ ~
The hospital had lost its cold aloofness. Even the nurses had mellowed toward the handsome men often crowding their patient’s room. Since Gran had been upgraded from intensive care to a private room, one of them had been beside her bed, often sleeping in the uncomfortable chair pulled close.
“Kade, sit down. All that pacing is wearing me out.”
“Sorry, Gran. I thought you were sleeping.”
“Hmmpf. How could I? There’s one of you hovering over me every second as though you’re waiting for me to take my last breath. And you’re the worst of the lot. I declare I’m afraid I’ll open my eyes and find one of you holding a mirror to my mouth, checking to see if I’m still breathing.”
Kade bit back a grin. It wouldn’t do to tell the silver- haired woman in the hospital bed how good it was to be on the end of a feisty tongue lashing. Gran was three-quarters of the way back to normal. If he managed to block out the shoulder, resplendent in a navy-blue sling, he could pretend she was already there.
“Mirror, huh? Didn’t think of it. I’ll pass that on to Declan, he’s coming in this afternoon.”
“No.”
“No?”
“That’s right,” she snapped. I no longer need twenty-four hour-a-day babysitting. I’m surprised you coaxed Morgan into leaving. He was putting his residency in jeopardy sitting here holding my hand. Look, Kade,” her tone softer, “I love having my boys by my bedside. I even like having that stubborn Mark here. But enough’s enough. The doctor says that if I continue to improve, he’ll be sending me home in the next couple days.”
“Can’t be too soon. There’s an empty hole at the Double K with your name on it.” He pulled the chair closer to her bedside and took her slender hand.
“Gran, we need you,” he said huskily.
“And I need you—all of you.” She picked at the thin blanket, “Even that old ranch hand.”
A gentle quiet settled between them. Then Gran spoke, breaking it. “What are we going to do, Kade?” It was a question he’d been asked over the years since his parent’s death. He was just eighteen-years-old, and he’d found the answer to that question then and every time since. Never once had he faltered or complained.
“Do?”
“Don’t play dumb with me.” Asperity edged her words. “You know what I mean. You’ve got a house full of boys and soon an old lady invalid to see after. I’m going to need help, Kade. More help than you and Declan can give.”
“We’ve got Hope. I don’t know what we’d have done without her.”
Warmth entered his eyes, and his tongue lingered on her name. He was beginning to accept the feelings she brought about in him just seeing her beautiful face. She was water to his parched land.
“I know we do. She’s a godsend. But you can’t expect to add me to her list. We hired her to look after one child—Maddy. You’re putting a lot more on her shoulders.”
“Yeah.” He rubbed his hand over his face and the lines of fatigue. Gran was asking questions he’d been trying for days to find the answers to.
He’d kept the two smaller boys by his side as much as possible while he attended to the ranch chores. Since so much of ranching was done on the back of a horse, his first order of business was sitting five-year old Caleb on one of the older, gentler horses and teaching him how to ride. It had been an easy task. The delighted boy took to it like a duck to water.
Isaiah had been a different story. He was scared to death when Kade had placed him on his own horse, clinging to the saddle and trembling, lip quivering, and tears streaming down his small face.
“I scared, Uncle K,” he’d cried, using the shortened version of the name both boys had settled on. He wasn’t sure where the uncle part came from, but he knew his heart warmed each time one of them referred to him that way.
They’d compromised by Isaiah straddling Kade’s saddle. His skinny, short legs barely spanning its girth as he rode, a smile on his face, tucked against his Uncle K’s chest. The last few long days, he’d taken his nap there with Kade’s strong arm, circling his wobbly body.
Caleb, on the other hand, sitting in the adult saddle dwarfing him, had to be pried off his horse. Earlier today, before taking his turn at Gran’s bedside, Kade had stopped in a western tack store and walked out with a child’s saddle. He was looking forward to the surprise and delight on the boy’s face. This was accomplished with the voice of reason nagging him, saying time would have been better spent buying desperately needed clothing for the two. He’d shrugged the voice off, knowing Hope could be talked into taking on that chore. Saddle buying was more important.
“Kade,” Gran’s voice cut into his thoughts.
“Uh, huh.”
“Lost you there for a few minutes. What’s going on in that busy mind of yours?” Her bright eyes pierced his face.
Kade answered, fully aware that he couldn’t hide anything from this woman who knew him so well.
“Thinking about the boys. I bought Caleb a saddle this morning. Spent time buying a saddle when it should have been spent buying clothes. They’re still wearing those rags they appeared in. Cleaner, but ragged. Their shoes are held together by shoestrings. Gran, I thought Jesse was bad off, but those two little guys are worse.”
“Wormed their way into your heart, have they?”
“Naw. Oh, I like them fine.”
“Stop it, Kade McKune. It’s me you’re trying to fool.”
Kade flushed. “Guilty. You always could see through me. They’re special, all right. Jesse is, too, but they’re a handful.”
Gran nodded. “Had three of my own,” she smiled over at him. “Three handfuls.”
Kade leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. “Thank God you did have us three.”
“But back to my original question, what are you planning to do?”
Kade knew Gran was like a terrier with a bone. She wouldn’t give up until she had her answer.
“I’ve hired a nurse.”
“You what?” she exploded. “I don’t need a nurse bossing me around. I’ve had my fill of that this last week. If another nurse asks me if I’ve had a bowel movement, I’ll tell her she needs to take care of her own bowels. Mine are just dandy.”
Kade chuckled. “Well, now, I have to agree, that’s getting mighty personal.” Then with eyes dancing fire, he asked, “Have you?”
Gran swatted his arm, her chuckle joining his.
“No nurse, Kade.”
“This time I’m overruling you. Hope’s getting tired. I’m tired. Declan’s chasing Maddy. Mark’s trying to do all the chores and more. I’ve interviewed several, and I think the one I’ve hired will fit right in.”
“Hired? Without asking me? Without even getting my opinion?”
“Yep.” Kade got to his feet. “She’ll start the day we bring you home. I put her in one of the guest rooms.”
“What’s she like?” Gran asked petulantly, knowing when Kade made a decision, he rarely budged. Besides, even though she put up a good fight, a nurse was needed, but just for a few days.