Four days later…

Riley had never been so exhausted in her life. And she’d just had eight hours of sleep. Her father was back in his room at the lodge. His laser surgery had gone without a hitch, and the doctors sent him home early under the care of Riley and Tyler.

The truth was, everyone at the ranch pulled together to help take care of Joel, and Riley could not have managed without Tyler there at the hospital with her. She’d stayed at the hospital 24/7 with him, but Tyler was the one who brought her coffee, food from restaurants, and sat with Joel while she slept during the day.

He’d learned a lot about her during those five days, she mused. He knew that the only coffee she would drink was Starbuck’s vanilla latte, extra vanilla, caramel drizzle. He had learned that she was a vegetarian with a penchant for cheesecake. But not just any cheesecake. It had to be plain cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory. However, red velvet cheesecake was acceptable.

He’d seen her with no sleep and no shower. He’d seen her pace up and down the waiting room aisles, about to come out of her skin while waiting for her father to come out of surgery. She’d barely spoken to him the whole two hours that the surgery had taken. And then, only when Joel had come out of surgery and the intensive care nurse had run her off, had she gone to the hotel with him, only to crash on the bed where she’d practically passed out and slept in her clothes. She’d been on pins and needles until she was back in his room, and he was awake.

And yet Tyler was still hanging around.

She stretched and considered a shower. She had a few days before she had to return to New York. She’d taken off one week with the option to make it two. Most of her clients would wait, and those who couldn’t would see Benson, her colleague. But two weeks was about all the time she was comfortable being away from the hospital in New York.

With her father patched up and better than before, she had some unfinished business to explore with Tyler. They hadn’t spoken about that night Joel had gone to the hospital. Tyler had been a perfect gentleman while being attentive to her every need as well as her father’s.

In the process, he had endeared himself to her even more.

She needed to find out if he wanted to finish what they’d started.

She also needed to shift. To stretch her tiger legs and relieve some stress. That, however, would have to wait. At the moment, she had another type of stress relief in mind.

After checking on her father, sleeping in the next room, she took a long hot shower and pulled on some jeans with a soft, fleece-lined sweatshirt that she’d ordered online while sitting at her father’s bedside. A girl had to have decent clothes to wear when she was walking around the lodge. She never knew who she might run into.

She found Uncle Nate in the lobby trying to get the guest printer to work.

“It’s great to have you and Joel back.” He lowered the lid on the printer and waited.

“You have no idea how good it is to be back. Thanks for sending over the flowers. They really brightened up the room.”

“You’ll have to thank your Aunt Carol for that. She’d dying to see you.”

“I know. I’ll get over to the house. Things are just a little chaotic right now.”

Uncle Nate unplugged the uncooperative printer and started over. “No rush. There’s plenty of time. I’m sure she’ll be over here today to check in on Joel.”

“Oh. Good. Hey.” She put her hands in her back pockets. Glanced around the lobby. “Have you seen Tyler? I want to thank him for staying with me this week.”

“I think he went back to his cabin. He had some things to do. Wanted to check on his horses and such.”

“Right.” Tyler had a life here. She couldn’t expect him to hang with her all the time. She’d doubtless already taken her share of his time. “No problem. I’ll catch him later.”

“Well,” Uncle Nate said. “Let me know if you need anything.” He unhooked the printer and gathered it up. “Gonna have to buy a new printer. Hey, go on back to the kitchen and get yourself some breakfast.”

“I will.” She smiled at him and followed his advice. While she was there, she’d make a plate for her father.

When she entered the kitchen, the staff stopped talking. She filled two plates with eggs and oatmeal and one with bacon. After locating a tray, she added some fresh-squeezed orange juice and carried it all with her.

As she walked out the door, the staff started talking again. Riley rolled her eyes. Could they be any more obvious? Everyone was no doubt talking about her and Tyler.

How they’d both come home and reconnected. They probably had them married off with babies by now.

But that wasn’t going to happen. Riley had a career and no interest in settling down with her high school boyfriend who had just made the majors. He’d be back on the road soon, and this place would be in his rear-view mirror.

She carried the tray upstairs and acknowledged to herself that her tiger insisted she was lying to herself.

“It doesn’t matter,” she muttered. “I have to go back to work anyway. I can’t just stay here and play.”

She passed a male guest coming down the stairs as she spoke to herself. “Hi.” She greeted him. “How are you doing?”

The man nodded, but gave her a wide berth.

She was laughing to herself as she nudged the door open and stepped into her father’s suite.

“What’s funny?” He asked. He was sitting up and had color to his face. And another layer of tension faded from her shoulders.

“Some of the guests aren’t used to seeing people talking to themselves.”

“Ha. It’s a common occurrence around here.”

“I noticed. I wondered if I was the only one.”

“You know…” Her father had that tone that warned her he was about to bring up something she might not like. “You haven’t spent much time, if any, around other shifters. You really should think about spending some time here and getting to know, you know, what’s common among you.”

She set the tray on the bedside table. “I’m not worried about other shifters. I prefer to keep that part of myself under the radar as much as possible.”

“Understandable. But it is part of your heritage. It’s something you can’t deny runs through your blood. I’m sure there are things you don’t understand. Things that only someone else who shifts could understand.”

“Maybe, but remember, I’m not from around here. I’m an exotic shifter.” She grinned at her father.

“And wouldn’t it be interesting to compare notes?”

“No.” She handed him a glass of orange juice and went to stand at the window.

Tyler, bundled in a heavy khaki coat, was coming toward the back door, his arms loaded with firewood. She whirled around. “Do you have everything you need, Father? For now?”

He shrugged. “I’m good.”

“I’m gonna take a walk.”