CHAPTER ELEVEN
Kelly
I woke up the next morning in the hotel. I was stiff and tired. It had been amazing to sleep in a clean place and my body was groggy with the long, uninterrupted rest. I yawned and hauled myself out of the bathroom, feeling the sunny scene outside the window cheer me up.
Whatever happens, I know Grandpa’s safer in hospital than he would be alone.
I showered and dressed and had breakfast. Over coffee, I started to plan my day. First, I wanted to get to the hospital as close to ward round as I could. I needed to chat with the doctor or the matron and find out when Grandpa could leave the hospital. I wasn’t thinking at the moment about who was paying for all his medical care: I was one person on my own with considerable savings—if I couldn’t use some of them for Grandpa, what would I spend it for? I might even get some of it back in the unlikely event that Grandpa had functioning medical insurance.
“More coffee?”
I smiled at the waiter. “Yes, please.”
Once I’d had two coffees and some delicious breakfast, I was ready with a plan. I’d settle things at the hospital and then go tidy the farmhouse. I wanted to get it ready for Grandpa’s homecoming.
He will be coming home. And before I leave. He’ll recover.
I had to believe it.
As I drove into the town I remembered why I felt so nice. My body felt like a candy bar that had melted, and it was solely a result of my time with Reese. He is the most amazing lover.
I felt my cheeks flush. I found myself thinking a lot about him. He wasn’t just amazing in bed—he was thoughtful and that strong presence made me feel protected. I really did like him.
I reached the hospital just as Doctor Marsden finished rounds.
“Doctor,” I asked. “How’s my grandpa?”
He gave me a reassuring nod. “He’s doing much better. We can discharge him on Friday.”
“On Friday?” Today was Tuesday. That meant he was in there for four days.”
“Yes,” the doctor nodded. “We have him on diuretics—water tablets—and we need to get the fluid balance stable. We’ll need to keep him on the tablets until something can be done about his heart.”
“What needs doing?” I asked, feeling a sinking feeling.
“The ECG shows that he has a severely narrowed coronary artery,” he explained gently. “It’s reducing the heart function quite drastically. He’ll need a stent put in if he’s going to recover.”
“Oh.” I said in a small voice. I felt like the world was getting bigger and bigger, everything spiraling out and up. I held out a hand and he caught me. “Sorry,” I murmured. “Just a surprise, is all.”
“Not at all,” he said gently. “Come. Sit down. Nurse?”
“Yes?”
“Fetch Mrs.—um, Mrs. Gowan, right? Some tea, thanks.”
“Ms. Gowan,” I corrected thinly, but he didn’t seem interested. He was talking gently to me, explaining the procedure in simple terms, trying to reassure me. The nurse arrived with some tea and I was grateful to have something warm and sweet to drink.
When they had both gone, I stood and, shaking myself, walked out of the door to my car. All I wanted was to get home.
It was only when I was almost on the ranch that I realized how much the place meant to me. It was already way homelier than my impersonal pad in LA ever was.
“Home,” I said as I got out. It had a nice feel to it.
I laughed. It wasn’t like that thought really made sense. I was here for a week, no more. Then I would be back in LA and this would be a magic memory. Not part of my humdrum daily life.
I blinked, surprised by how that thought upset me. Then I laughed.
Come on, Kelly. You, living here in the far end of civilization? Not likely. What would you do?
It wasn’t like I could work as a secretary out here, was it?
“Ha.”
I chuckled as I dusted the shelves of the kitchen, then started to cough.
By one o’ clock that afternoon I was starving and the kitchen was clean. I finished the leftovers that were still in the fridge from my first stay and then found my thoughts straying to Reese. He had been so kind yesterday.
I felt an idea brush across my thoughts. The more I thought about it, the more it felt right. I had planned to do some baking for Grandpa and had bought all the ingredients for my chocolate cake recipe. There was easily enough to bake two. What if I made one for Reese, to thank him?
It sounded like a good idea. I rolled my sleeves up to my elbow, preheated the oven—thank Heaven that the oven worked!—and got stuck in.
I went through to the sitting room while the cake cooked, working up a sweat as I brushed the floor. The scent of baking—warm and inviting—wafted through.
I took it out, let it cool, iced it and set off next door, the cake carefully balanced in a bowl on the seat. At the farmhouse, I was surprised to see a group of farmhands standing about. My eye scanned the place, looking for Reese.
I saw him and slid out. The cake reposing in the shallow bowl, all chocolate goodness, I went toward the house.
“Reese?” I called. I was wearing my best blouse—a cream one—with new slacks, and I had washed my hair last night so it shone. I headed through the group of farmhands, looking for Reese.
He looked up when he saw me and his eyes went wide, surprise shining there.
“Kelly!” he said.
“Hi.”
As I came over, one of his farmhands, an obnoxious guy with a sandy-haired, rugged appearance, whistled.
“Woo-hoo! Farmer Reese got a new momma!” He grinned at Reese.
I tensed, feeling offended, but nothing could have prepared me for the response of Reese. He launched himself at the man, fists flying. I screamed as the man took a swing at Reese’s head and then Reese had him down on the ground, hitting his head on the tar.
“Reese!” I shouted. “Reese, stop!”
I could see that if he kept up the onslaught he might kill the guy. The workers seemed to decide the same thing at the same moment, because they all launched themselves at the two men, pulling them apart.
I felt sick as I saw Reese fight to keep his grip on the man. He was growling in his throat, refusing to budge, his hands clasped round the neck of the man as he pressed…
“Reese!” I screamed. I grabbed him and he stood up. His eyes were dark and he growled at me.
“Get away from me!”
His fist was clenched and I stepped back. Would he attack me? I froze in place as I saw his eyes darken and then open again as if just noticing me.
He fell back toward the man on the ground and the others made a grab for his shoulders again.
My own eyes blinking tears of horror, I put the cake on the step in its bowl and ran to my car.
I drove back to the farm next door, not wanting to even think about what I just saw.
I hate violence, I thought. I hate fighting. If that’s what he’s like, so unpredictable, I would rather not know him. Combined with his machismo and his arrogance, it made him really unappealing.
I was still feeling sick when I got into the next-door farmhouse and collapsed on the seat.
It was only about five minutes later, when I had stopped shaking, that it occurred to me to wonder what had happened to Reese or whether or not the farmhands made him stop.