Chapter Eighteen

“Mama Vita, what the hell are you doing here?” Laura woke up to a shocking surprise the third day after her accident.

“I got a call from Vinny.” She held up one diamond-ring clad finger. “Who got a call from Maria.” She raised another finger. “Who got a call from your boss?” Her hands went to her hips. “I tell you, Sabrina, you ought to tell your mother when things like this happen. I shouldn’t be the last to know.”

“But it’s not safe for you to be here with me.” Laura tried to sit up but failed in the effort. Her ribs were still too tender and bruised. She eased back onto the pillows. “When did you get here?” She would only admit it to herself, but she felt better with her mother there.

“An hour ago. I tell you, Sabrina, this place is in the middle of nowhere. Even with the GPS system, it was nearly impossible to find. I can’t believe people actually live out here.” Mama sat on the bed. “I can’t believe you’re sleeping in your employer’s bed. That’s not quite right.” She looked around the room then and reached toward the dresser and tentatively touched the mounted, stuffed pheasant sitting there. She made a face. “Isn’t this a bit odd?”

“He’s a hunter.” Laura ignored the censure in her mother’s voice and closed her eyes on a sigh. “If you switch on the light, you’ll see a deer head over there.”

Mama Vita flipped on the light and took a step back. “Oh, my.”

Laura laughed and then groaned at the pain in her side. “Ouch, ouch, ouch.” She shifted on the bed. “Help me up, Mama Vita. I have to use the bathroom and take some of those miracle drugs.”

Her mother helped Laura slip out of bed and gave her the crutch. The cast on her leg was heavy, and she felt clumsy. She took care of her needs and swallowed the horse-sized pills before she wobbled back into the bedroom. Mama Vita was sitting on the edge of the bed, studying her fingernails.

“Tell me that you’re all right.” Laura took Mama’s hand with her good right one.

“I can’t stay in Florida; I hate it there.” Her hand sliced through the air. “Too hot, no wind. It’s sticky. But other than that, yes, I am fine.”

Laura bent forward and kissed her forehead.

“I’m fine,” Mama said, “but I am here to make sure you are.”

“I hurt,” Laura said. “I’m bored and tired of being in bed.”

“Well, let’s get you up and out of here,” Mama said. “Where are your clothes?”

“Upstairs, in the end bedroom.” She sighed, feeling the room spin out of control, and sat back onto the bed.

“You sit then. I’ll find something for you to wear.”

Mama Vita left Laura pondering on the bed. In all her years, Laura had never so much as strained a muscle. Even with her daily exercise, or maybe because of her physical exertion, she’d never been injured.

Mary Grace was filling in for Laura, cooking and cleaning, until her ribs were good enough for her to stand straight. The poor woman hadn’t stopped crying around Laura since she’d gotten out of the hospital, so Laura had hidden out in Caleb’s bedroom. She couldn’t climb the stairs with her leg, so he’d swapped with her. At least, she imagined he was sleeping in her bed.

“Hi, Laura.” Connor poked his head around the corner. “How are you today?”

“Much better.” She opened her arms wide and welcomed the little boy to her. Careful of her ribs, she held him as tightly as she could. “What should we do today? Do you want to color or play Go Fish?”

“Can you?” Conner’s eyes were huge.

“Sure.” She kissed the top of his head. “My mom came to see me. Do you want to meet her?”

He nodded.

“She’ll help me get dressed and then we can play.”

“Okay, I’ll go get my cards and pencils.”

Laura looked up to watch him leave and found Caleb leaning on the doorjamb.

“And you thought he would be mad at you?” He ruffled his son’s hair as he left the room.

“I didn’t know,” she admitted. “I just hoped he would know it wasn’t my fault.”

“How are you today?” He walked over to her and lifted her in his arms. “I’ll be gentle,” he whispered before he dropped his lips on her.

A discrete giggle from Mama Vita as she entered the bedroom drew their attention.

“So, that’s how it is, huh?” she asked.

“’Fraid so,” Caleb admitted. “I’ll go get the other surprise, Vita, and be right back.” He set Laura gently on the bed and left the room.

“Another surprise?”

“This is a good one,” Mama Vita said.

A few minutes passed, allowing Laura to pick out some clothes that might fit over her casts and that weren’t too tight on her ribs.

“Hello, Princess.”

She looked up at the deep voice. “Pop?”

In the doorway stood her father. It was as if she was seeing a ghost.

“What the—?”

“Hi, baby Bre.” He walked into the room and gingerly hugged her.

Tears streamed down her face. “You’re not dead.” She repeated the phrase over and over, unable to think of anything else to say.

“Had to go undercover. Had to pretend to die.”

“Oh, my goodness, I am so happy, I can’t even say.”

Laura glanced from her father to Caleb, who stood in the doorway grinning.

It felt like her life was complete again, but far fuller than it had been because Caleb and Conner were now a part of it.

 

* * *

 

“I guess I should fill you in on what we’ve learned about your accident.” Caleb settled her on the porch. It was almost Thanksgiving, a full month after she’d been run off the road, and they were enjoying an unseasonably warm stretch of days with temperatures in the sixties.

“Please?” She took a sip of hot chocolate. It was amazing to Laura how well Mama Vita was handling Connor, how well she was getting along with Mary Grace. Laura was sitting in an odd position on the screened-in porch, her leg up in the air, her opposite wrist elevated. The sun was just about to set, and she felt well despite not taking any pain pills since early that morning. Maybe movement and activity were the keys to her recovery.

“I’ve kept the newspaper away from you intentionally.” Caleb leaned back in the chair, crossing his ankles and folding his arms against his chest. “I’ll show them to you if you want. They had pictures of Mom’s car, how it landed cockeyed in the ditch. There’s the explanation of the accident too.”

“Just as long as my picture isn’t in the papers or on television, everything will be fine.” She set her mug down. “It’s bad enough my parents are here.”

“I don’t expect a problem with that. We did have a couple of reporters call. I did the best I could when they asked about you without telling them anything about you.” Caleb chuckled. “I had a hard time being evasive, but I think I ended up doing fine. I’ll let you see the articles.”

“How about you tell me who hit us, Caleb?” Laura knew he knew. Figured he’d known already when she was in the hospital. He and Brian were such good friends; the sheriff had surely told Caleb who he had arrested.

“It was Hank.” Caleb shifted, looking uncomfortable with the admission. “He thought you were Mom taking Connor to school or coming to town. He admitted his guilt already. There won’t need to be a trial—he’ll just serve his sentence. No chance of bail this time, either. He’ll have these accident charges and then compound them with the other drug charges.”

Laura digested the information, her gut turning. At first, when she realized what had happened, she’d worried it had been or Ernesto Garbaldo, that he had found her, hired someone to get rid of her as punishment for what her father had done to him. In the hospital, when Brian told her it was someone local, she had felt relieved. Now knowing it was Hank, her pain changed from a selfish one to more of concern and sadness for Mary Grace and for Caleb and Josh, who would deal with the scandal of their stepfather’s stupidity.

“Was he ever a good man?” Laura finally asked in deflated, hushed tones.

“I thought he was okay.” Caleb shrugged. “I never lived with him or spent a whole lot of time with him though. I was in my late twenties when he started sniffing around Mom. Josh was still at the house in town, living with her, but really, Josh was out here more than not.”

“Is that why Mary Grace cries every time she sees me? She feels responsible?”

“She’s embarrassed that she married the guy but also upset that she was supposed to be the one in the car and even worse that the idiot didn’t care Connor was in the car.” Caleb pulled her against him. “He has such an ugly vendetta, almost an obsession toward her, for refusing to bail him out and then leaving him. I guess he just saw red.”

“It’s not her fault.” Laura suddenly felt as if the weight of the world was on her shoulders. “Caleb, I have to ask, although I will hate myself for doing it.” She wanted to put it as delicately as she could. “Did she know what he was up to?”

He stared at her for the longest minute, and she found it difficult to breathe. Had she just made him mad, hurt his feelings?

“I don’t think so,” he told her quietly. “But I can’t say for certain.” He lowered his voice even further. “There have been things missing here at the ranch. Things I didn’t think much about, but Brian tells me it’s all related.”

“At least you know there aren’t a bunch of people out to get the ranch.”

“Stella called yesterday. One of Juan’s kidneys had quit, and the other is damaged. He’ll need dialysis, and they put him on a transplant list.”

“How horrible!” Laura’s injuries were minor compared to Juan, a man who was fighting for his life.

“I was wondering.” Caleb paused. “Would you be willing to split duties with Stella? She needs the job, and it sounds like they can help Juan with the dialysis right at the hospital in Mullen.”

“Of course, I’ll do that. I had planned to work with Phyllis anyway.”

“Thank you.” He caressed her cheek with the back of his fingers. “I wish you were feeling better. I would sure like to roll around with you in bed right now. To comfort you, show you just how much I love you.” He sat forward and kissed her with gentle pressure.

“You’re welcome to share your bed, Caleb,” she told him when he pulled away.

“Where the hell do you think I’ve been sleeping?” He laughed and pinched her earlobe. “I’ve been a damn nursemaid, fluffing your pillows and making sure your hand and leg are elevated for the last three nights. Dodging your cast as it about whacks my head off.” He laughed again. “You didn’t know?”

“No.” She shook her head, stunned. “I must have been sleeping pretty soundly to miss feeling you next to me.” She leaned into his lips and felt the intense desire brew, just as she always did when they connected. “Thank you.” What else does a woman say when she learns the man she loves has been slaving away and losing sleep because of her?

“It’s the pills. You’re taking an extra one at night for sleeping. They seem to knock you out almost immediately.”

She nodded, remembering that but still amazed she could sleep without knowing his body was next to hers.

“I told Mom she could have her choice of the pickups out here, that I’d be buying a different vehicle.” He rubbed his thumb over her bottom lip. “What do you think about a minivan? Fill it with a handful of babies?”

“A handful?” That sounded exciting.

“Three, maybe four.” He shrugged. “I’m easy. Connor needs a baby sister.”

“So you’re saying I shouldn’t bother with the patch thing?”

“That depends if you’re interested in marrying me or not.”

She was afraid the pain medication was muddling her mind. Did he just ask her to marry him?

“You said you’d never get married,” Laura argued.

“When did I say something that crazy? Certainly not after we made love.” He kissed her. “I knew then, well, actually, in Casper before the incident, there was no way I’d ever let you go.”

He dropped to one knee and took her hand.

“Marry me, Sabrina Marconi. Lose the Marshall name forever and marry me.”

He looked scared and serious, like a rabbit just before a car hits it.

“Why?” Laura wanted the words. “Just so we can give Connor siblings?”

“Because I love you more than any man has ever loved a woman,” he told her simply. “Because you have brought joy and happiness into my life and to Connor’s life in a way we never had it before. Because the thought of living without you in my life, even for a day, is suffocating.”

The tears spilled out then, choking her throat.

“What a proposal.” She chuckled, wiping away the water from her eyes. “How could I say no?”