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“So, Ms. Slater,” the doctor began, “you’re getting a nasty bruise on your forehead.” There was silence for a moment, and the middle-aged man continued, “You’re lucky. It doesn’t seem you have a concussion.”
Grateful, Garrett sagged against the wall, knowing he shouldn’t eavesdrop, but he still listened for more information.
“I want you to take it easy today,” the doctor told her. “Your ankle is swollen, but the X-ray didn’t show any broken bones. But you’ll need to put ice on it.” He paused. “Do you take any medications?”
Garrett heard Josie rattle off a few. He recognized one was for anxiety and the other for sleeping. What was wrong with her?
The doctor came out from behind the curtain. “She’ll be fine, although she’ll have some bruises.”
“Thank you, Doctor.”
He nodded. “Just make sure she rests today and have her stay off her feet.”
“I will.”
The doctor walked away, and Garrett called, “You decent?”
“Yes,” she grumbled.
He went behind the curtain and found her sitting on the bed, not looking happy. “I got a clean bill of health, so can we go home?”
He nodded, suddenly wishing she was home. But he had a feeling that Josie was headed back to California real soon, and he’d lose her for the second time.
* * *
It was another forty minutes before Garrett pulled up in front of the Slater home. Josie’s pulse started racing once again as she looked up at the big two-story brown house with the white trim. It was a little faded and the porch needed some work. So a lot of things around the ranch hadn’t been cared for in a while.
Garrett got out of the truck and walked around to her side. He pulled the crutches out of the back, but propped them against the side of the truck as he reached in and scooped her into his arms. Instead of setting her down on the ground, he carried her toward the house.
“Hey, I can do this myself.”
“It’s crazy to struggle with these steps when I can get you in the house faster.”
She wasn’t going to waste the effort to argue. Soon she’d be inside and he’d be gone.
Garrett paused at the heavy oak door with the cut-glass oval window. She drew a quiet breath and released it. It was bad enough that the man she’d once loved was carrying her around in his arms, but she still had to face the other man in her life. Her father.
“You okay?” Garrett asked.
“Yeah, I’m just peachy.”
He stared at her, but didn’t say a word. Wise man. He managed to turn the knob and open the door.
Inside, she glanced around. This had been part of the house she hadn’t seen much as a child. Everyone used the back door off the kitchen. This was the formal part of the house.
Nothing much had changed over the years, she noted, as Garrett carried her across glossy honey-colored hardwood floors and past the sweeping staircase that led upstairs. He continued down the hall where the living room was closed off by large oak pocket doors. She tensed. Her father’s new living quarters since coming home from the hospital.
They finally reached Colt’s office. “She’s home,” Garrett announced as he carried her inside.
Ana Slater glanced up from the computer screen and froze. Her older sister was tall and slender with nearly black hair and blue eyes.
“Josie! Oh, God, what happened?”
“I had a little collision at the construction site.”
Garrett set her down in the high-back chair across from the desk. “She’d gotten in the path of a truckload of lumber,” he told her. “I pushed her out of the way. She landed funny.”
“You mean, you landed on me.”
Ana glanced back and forth between the two. “When you called me, you said nothing about being injured.” She looked concerned. “But you’re all right?”
“Yes!”
“No!” Garrett said. “The doctor wants her to rest.”
“I need to stay off my ankle, but I have crutches to help get around.”
“I’ll go get them,” Garrett said, and walked out of the room.
Josie turned to her big sister. “So when were you going to tell me that Garrett Temple was building the lodge? Or was it going to remain a secret?”
Ana tried to look innocent and failed. “Okay, how was I supposed to tell you?”
“By telling me the truth.”
Josie glanced around the dark paneled room that had been Colt’s sanctuary. They’d never been allowed in here, but that didn’t seem to bother Ana these days. By the looks of it she’d taken over.
“I’m sorry, Josie. I thought since you said you weren’t coming home, I didn’t need to say anything.”
Josie had trouble hiding her anger. “There have to be other contractors here in town you could have used.”
“First of all, Garrett gave us the lowest bid, and some of our own ranch hands are working on the crew. Secondly, he’s moved back here and now lives at the Temple Ranch to help out his father.”
Josie closed her eyes. It was enough having to deal with her father but now, Garrett. “Then I’m going back to L.A.”
“Josie, please. I need you to stay, at least for a little while. We can make it so that you and Garrett don’t have any contact.” She hesitated, then said, “And Colt, he definitely wants you here. He was so happy when I told him you came home.”
Her father wanted her here? That didn’t sound like the cold, distant man who’d raised her.
“We all need you here, sis.” Ana continued her pitch. “I can’t tell you how wonderful it is to have you here, even if it’s only for a short time. So please, give it a few days. At least until your ankle is better.”
The Lazy S had been her home, once. If Colt had changed like Ana said, she wanted to try and have some sort of relationship with the man. Was it crazy to hope? At the very least, she wanted to help Ana with the financial problems. It was no secret they needed outside income to survive.
Ana and her fiancé, Vance Rivers, the ranch foreman, had already opened the property on their section of the river to anglers. It brought in a nice profit. That was why they were expanding on the business.
Her sister spoke up. “The lodge was your idea to help with income for the ranch. Don’t you want to stick around to see your vision come true?”
It had been Josie’s idea to build housing to rent out. As an event planner she knew the large structure could be used for company retreats, family reunions and even small weddings. It was to bring in more revenue to help during lean years.
Maybe a little while here wouldn’t be so bad. “How soon is this wedding of yours?”
“As soon as possible,” came the answer from the doorway.
They both turned and saw Vance Rivers smiling at his future bride.
Ana’s grin was just as goofy. “Oh, honey, I don’t think I can pull it off that soon.”
The sandy-haired man walked across the room dressed in his cowboy garb, including leather chaps. “I’m glad you’re home, Josie,” he told her. “Ana has missed her sisters.”
Josie fought a smile and lost. “Seems to me my big sis has been too busy to miss anyone.”
Ana came around the desk and slipped into Vance’s arms. Josie couldn’t miss the intimate look exchanged between the two. “Yeah, she’s miserable all right.”
That brought a smile from the handsome man. “A few weeks ago, she was ready to string me up and hang me out to dry.”
Josie frowned as she looked at her older sister. “A misunderstanding,” Ana said. “It was all resolved and we’re all working hard to help the Lazy S and Dad.”
“So that was why you hired Garrett?”
“At first I offered to be their partner.”
Josie swung around to see Garrett standing in the doorway with her crutches. She stiffened, hating that he still got to her.
Josie didn’t want to hear any more from Garrett Temple. “I don’t think that will be necessary.”
He walked into the room, and Ana and Vance walked out, leaving her alone with the man she once loved more than anything, until he betrayed her. Now, she didn’t want to be around him.
With her bum ankle, she was stuck here. That didn’t mean she would fall all over this man again.
“I was trying to help out a friend,” Garrett said. “And I believe it’s a good investment. A lot of ranches have to go into other business to help stay afloat.”
“I might be stuck working with you, Temple, but I’m not the same girl who was falling all over you. I’ve grown up.”
“Come on, Josie. What happened between us was years ago.”
Eight years and eleven months, she silently corrected. She could still recall that awful day. She’d been so eager to see him when he returned home. It had been months since their argument. She’d finally agreed to see him, then he broke the devastating news.
He stared at her with those gray eyes, and she still felt the old pull. “I was hoping enough time has passed so...”
“So I’d do what? Forgive you? Forgive you for telling me you loved me, then going off and getting another woman pregnant?”
* * *
Later that afternoon in the parlor converted into a first-floor bedroom, Colt Slater sat in his chair in front of the picture window. He squeezed the rubber ball in his right hand. He knew his strength was coming back since the stroke. Just not fast enough to suit him. His therapist, Jay McNeal, kept telling him to have patience. He would get his strength back.
Right now, Colt’s concern was for his daughter, Josie. He had watched her drive away from the house and prayed that she would come back, but he wouldn’t have bet on it. Not that he could blame her; he hadn’t been the best father in the world.
Then a truck pulled up about an hour ago. He held his breath and watched Garrett Temple get out, then lift Josie out of the passenger seat and carry her into the house. He heard the footsteps that went right past his room.
He tensed. What had happened? Had she been in an accident? Finally, Ana came in and explained about Josie’s mishap at the construction site with Temple. He wasn’t sure he was happy that those two were together again. That man had hurt Josie so badly. He’d wished he could have been there for her back then.
“Will you stop worrying? You’re going to end up back in the hospital.”
Colt glanced at his friend, Wade Dickson in the chair next to his. Dressed in his usual business suit with his gray hair cut and styled, his friend and lawyer knew all the family secrets.
“I can’t stop worrying about Josie,” Colt admitted.
“Hey, things worked out with Ana, so there’s hope with Josie, too.” Wade stood up. “I’ll go see what’s going on, then I need to get back to my office. Some of us have to work.”
Colt nodded. “Thanks for everything, Wade.”
“I love those girls, too. It’s about time you realize what you have.” He turned and walked out.
Alone again, Colt started having doubts again. Would Josie finally come to see him now?
He stood, grabbed the walker and made his way to the sideboard in the dining room. Now it was his exercise area, since he’d been released from the rehab center. He pulled open the drawer and dug under the stack of tablecloths until he found the old album.
Setting it on top, he turned the pages, trying to ignore the ones of his wife, Lucia. He should have burned those years ago, but something kept him from erasing all the past.
He made it to the picture of his four daughters together. The last one taken before their mother walked out the door. His hand moved over the photo. Josie was the one who was a miniature version of her mother, petite and curvy, although her hair was lighter and her eyes were definitely Slater blue.
He frowned, knowing he’d been unfair to his girls. He couldn’t even use the excuse of being a single parent. Kathleen, the longtime housekeeper, handled most everything while he worked the ranch. He sighed, recalling those years. Since the day Lucia left, he’d closed up and couldn’t show love to his four daughters.
He studied the photo. Analeigh was the oldest. Then came the twins, Josefina Isabel, followed five minutes later by Vittoria Irene. The memory of him standing next to his wife, and encouraging her as she gave birth to their beautiful daughters, Ana, Josie, Tori and Marissa.
He felt tears gathering in his eyes. Would he get the chance to fix the damage he’d done?
“Hello, Colt.”
He turned and saw his beautiful Josie leaning against a crutch in the doorway. He’d just been given a second chance, and he wasn’t about to throw it away.
CHAPTER TWO
JOSIE FELT STRANGE, not only being back in this house, but seeing her father after all these years.
“J...Josie. I’m gl...glad you’re home.”
Colt still stood straight and tall as he had before his stroke. Thirty years ago, he’d been a rodeo star, winning the World Saddle Bronc title before he retired when he married Lucia Delgado and brought her back to the Lazy S to make a life, raising cattle and a family.
Now in his mid-fifties, he was still a good-looking man, even with his weathered skin and graying hair. His blue eyes were the one thing she’d inherited from him. Her dark coloring was what she’d gotten from her Hispanic mother.
“This hasn’t been my home for a long time.” With the aid of her crutch, she bravely made her way into the room.
“You had an accident,” Colt said.
“It seems I got in the way at the construction site.” She nodded to her ankle. “In a few days I’ll be as good as new. Looks like you’re stuck with me for the duration anyway.”
“Hap...happy to have you.”
