Love Inspired January 2016, Box Set 1 of 2 Page 8

  “I could use a break,” Saul said, lowering the horse’s hoof and straightening. He patted the horse on the rump and walked over to join them. “I think we could set down right here.” He hauled a couple of square bales together, making an impromptu sitting area. “You just set yourself down here, Chloe. Grady, you can drop down here.” He grunted as he pulled over another bale. “And me and Josh can park ourselves right here.”

  Grady was now boxed in. Chloe to his right, the piled-up bales to his left and no escape.

  He was fairly sure Saul had arranged that on purpose, so with a resigned sigh he sat down.

  “So what kind of muffins are they?” Saul asked as he did the same.

  “These are carrot pineapple,” Chloe said, handing the muffins to Grady. “Can you unwrap them while I get some plates out for everyone?”

  His stomach growled as he carefully took off the plastic, memories assaulting him as he inhaled the scent. His mother in an apron while he and Ben ostensibly helped by cracking eggs, grating carrots but mostly making a nuisance of themselves, he was sure. The warmth of the kitchen, the giggles he and his brother had shared.

  His heart hitched as he thought of the fight they’d had before Grady shipped out, his brother’s anger at Grady’s condemnation of his lifestyle.

  “You okay?” Chloe asked, handing out the plates to Saul and Josh, who had quickly rejoined them.

  He shook off the sorrowful memory, adding yet another prayer for his brother to come out of his coma. To give them another chance to be together.

  “Yeah. I’m okay.” He took a muffin and returned the plate for her to pass around. “These are my favorites.”

  “I got the idea from your grandmother,” Chloe said as sat down beside him, the plate of muffins balanced on her lap. “She said you would appreciate them.”

  Grady took a bite and sighed. “These are as good as the ones my mom made.” He took another bite, closing his eyes in bliss.

  “You look happy,” Chloe said.

  He gave her a sidelong glance. “You sound as if that’s important to you.”

  “It is, because I’m softening you up.”

  “Whoa, here comes the favors,” Saul chortled, slapping his knee.

  “What do you want?” Grady asked, feeling wary.

  “To start physical therapy with you. Tonight. We already did the assessment, but you’ve been avoiding following through.”

  He stopped chewing, the muffin in his mouth suddenly tasting like sawdust.

  “Besides, that’s why your grandmother hired me,” she continued, her hands folded primly on her lap, her head tilted to one side as if studying and analyzing him.

  Her hair glistened in the light and the smile edging her soft lips resurrected a memory of her when they had been in school together. When he’d thought maybe there might be a chance for him.

  He pushed that back, along with other dreams he’d had to discard along the way in his life.

  “I don’t need physical therapy,” he said after swallowing the rest of the muffin. The last thing he wanted was Chloe seeing him more vulnerable than she already had.

  “I know you do, and I know it will make a difference for you.”

  Grady quickly got to his feet. He didn’t want to have this discussion, and he especially didn’t want to have it in front of his hired hand and his farrier.

  “I can take care of myself,” he muttered, grabbing the crutch from the bale beside him.

  Don’t hurry, don’t hurry, he told himself as he made his way down the alley of the horse barn.

  The last thing he wanted, after that, was to fall down in front of Chloe.

  And as he left her words seemed to taunt him. He had his injury, and what woman can live like that?

  * * *

  Chloe could only stare as Grady slid the heavy barn door closed behind him, effectively shutting her out.

  Suddenly her little bribe seemed rather pathetic and ill thought-out. Had she really thought that waltzing in here with his favorite muffins would make this proud and stubborn man change his mind?

  Josh jumped to his feet muttering something about the horses, leaving Chloe behind with a plate of still warm muffins and Saul’s quiet company.

  “Sorry about that,” Saul said, reaching across the distance between them and covering her hand with his. “Grady hasn’t been the same since he came back from Afghanistan. He would never admit it to me, let alone you, but I’ve known that guy since he was a kid. Always proud and self-sufficient. Always trying to be better than he was. I think he was always trying to make up for Ben’s antics. Sometimes I think he took on too much. Joining the army was, I think, his way of bringing honor to the Stillwater name. It became a large part of who he is, and now he can’t do that anymore.” Saul leaned forward, stroking his handlebar moustache as he pursed his lips. “I think he sees himself as weak. For someone who has always tried so hard to be strong, this is a difficult thing. Especially with someone like you.”

  “What do you mean? Someone like me?”

  Saul gave her a wry grin. “You haven’t noticed how he acts around you?”

  She didn’t want to blush, thinking of that moment they had shared in the nursery.

  “Doesn’t matter,” she said with a decisive note. “He needs to do the exercises or his muscles will pull his bones crooked, and we’re looking at potential dysplasia and a host of other complications.” She caught herself, realizing that Saul didn’t need to know all that.

  “I’m glad you’re passionate about this,” Saul said, patting her on the knee. “’Cause I think you will need every ounce of that persistence to get that man to agree. But just remember, he has a lot of pride. If you can find a way to work around that, you’ll find a way to get him to agree. And if that doesn’t work, just turn on your charm. I know that will be the ticket.”

  Chloe gave him a wan smile as she thought of the moments when their glances met and she’d felt an arc of awareness. But with that came a glimmer of sorrow. She wasn’t the same innocent girl he had once cared for.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  “I’m going to town today to see Ben,” Grady announced after breakfast the next day. “Would you like to come along, Grandma?”

  He thought if he kept himself busy today, he could stay out of Chloe’s line of sight. Yesterday, when she corralled him in front of Saul and Josh, he had felt taken off guard. And that wasn’t happening again.

  Right now she was upstairs, busy with Cody. Even in the kitchen he could hear her singing as she bathed him, her voice as clear and true as it had been in church.

  And as appealing.

  His grandmother looked up from her breakfast and reluctantly shook her head. “I don’t think I will. I didn’t sleep well last night.”

  “Oh, no. I’m sorry to hear that,” Grady said, rethinking his plans. He had counted on his grandmother driving him. He might have to get one of the guys to do it, though he hated to keep them from their work while he visited with Ben.

  “Sorry I can’t help you, but Chloe can come with you and take Cody along.”

  Grady frowned at that. “Why?”

  “It would be good for Ben to spend time with his son,” Mamie said, her voice firm, clearly misunderstanding his reluctance.

  “You’re right,” he conceded. This would solve his transportation problem, but not the proximity problem. It was growing harder and harder to ignore Chloe. Harder and harder not to give in to the attraction he felt around her.

  Well, it looked as if they would be spending the next few hours together. He slowly stood, stacking his bowl on his plate when his grandmother stopped him, as she always did.

  “Here, let me take that.”

  “Grady can manage,” Chloe spoke as she came into the room, Cody on one hip, her arms hol
ding him close to her.

  “But he has his crutch,” Mamie protested.

  “He can manage,” Chloe said, her voice firm as she set Cody in the high chair and buckled him in.

  Grady shot her a frown, wondering what she was up to.

  “He doesn’t seem to think he needs physical therapy, so I don’t think he needs any help, either,” Chloe said. “Clearly, he can take care of himself.”

  He grinned as she tossed his words of yesterday back at him. “I guess I can,” he said. He held the plate, balancing it precariously as he limped over to the counter. He had to focus to make sure he didn’t drop anything. No way was he making a fool of himself in front of Chloe.

  “I’m leaving in a couple of minutes to visit Ben, but I’ll need a ride,” Grady said, turning to Chloe. “Would you be able to do that for me? And I was thinking we should take Cody, as well.”

  “If you can give me five minutes, I’ll be at the front door.”

  He nodded, then worked his way down the hallway to his room, thankful it was out of sight of the dining nook. At the door to his room he took a moment to massage his leg. The past couple days the pain had been getting worse. He knew part of it had to do with all the walking around the ranch he’d been doing, checking on the cows, supervising the maintenance of the equipment that happened over the winter months, working with the girls in the Future Ranchers program.

  Just do the therapy already.

  Grady let the thought linger a moment, still not convinced it would make a difference.

  But it won’t hurt. And maybe you could go riding again.

  Which was a consideration if his brother never came out of the coma.

  He couldn’t think that. Couldn’t allow that to enter his thoughts.

  But as he got ready to leave, it nagged at him.

  * * *

  “Has anyone told you about your brother’s progress?” Dr. Searle, the neurologist, stood at the end of Ben’s bed. He flipped through Ben’s chart before glancing over at Grady and Chloe.

  “No. We just got here,” Grady said, looking from the doctor to his brother, who lay just as still as he had the first time Grady had visited. If there had been progress, he couldn’t see it.

  “We are seeing signs of Ben coming out of the coma,” Dr. Searle said making a note on the chart and putting it back. “Last night he opened his eyes for a few seconds, then again this morning. That may not sound like much, but given how unresponsive he’s been, it’s significant.”

  “So do you know if he’ll be...normal?” Grady hated to ask, but he needed to know.

  “We have no idea of his mental or physical capacity as of this moment, but we are much more hopeful after the past twenty-four hours.”

  “So will he wake up if I talk to him?”

  Dr. Searle simply shrugged. “We have no idea, but I think you should talk to him as if he were conscious. Just act normal.”

  Grady looked down at Ben, feeling awkward. Talking to someone who didn’t talk back still struck him as odd. “I feel kind of foolish doing that,” he muttered.

  “Just remember, it’s not about you. It’s about him,” Dr. Searle said. Then he glanced at Chloe. “And how are you managing?”

  “I’m working for the Stillwaters now,” Chloe said, brushing a strand of Cody’s hair away from his face.

  “I was sorry to hear the hospital let you go. I hope you can eventually find something in your field.”

  Chloe just nodded, then looked back at Grady. “I’m thirsty. I’ll go grab a coffee so you can talk to him alone.”

  Grady shot her a grateful look, thankful for her consideration. She gave him an encouraging smile and left with Dr. Searle. Grady dragged his attention back to his brother.

  Ben looked pallid. The weeks spent in the hospital seemed to have shrunken him down. The tubes snaking in and out of him created a panic like an icy fist. What if his brother never fully regained consciousness? What if the angry words Grady had thrown at Ben just before he left were the last memory Grady would have of him?

  “I’m sorry.” He touched Ben’s shoulder, then grasped it more tightly. “I’m sorry I said what I did. I know I sounded judgmental, but I said what I did because I cared...no, care about you,” he corrected. “You’re my brother, and I didn’t want to see you throwing your life away. You’ve always been the only one who gets me, understands me, and I hope you get that I just wanted the best for you.” He stopped there, feeling his throat thicken as he looked down at his brother, once so vital and alive, now seemingly inanimate.

  He wondered if he should pray. Though he had enjoyed being in church, he still wasn’t sure what to make of God’s seemingly erratic answers to prayer. Had God truly been listening, He would have kept his fellow soldiers from being injured.

  Would have kept him from being injured.

  Yet as he stood by his brother’s bed he felt two words rise up.

  “Please, Lord” was all he whispered, and as he did, he gazed more intently at his brother, as if waiting for an answer.

  But there was no change. No movement, just the steady beep of his heart monitor, the whirring of the IV machine. He could hear the muted chatter of the nurses beyond the ICU. The coming and goings of a hospital.

  He should have known.

  He stood a moment, looking intently at his brother’s eyelids, willing Ben to open his eyes, but when the silence grew more difficult than talking, he started telling Ben about the ranch, the program he’d begun and how well it was going. He brought him up-to-date on the goings on—the thefts and the gifts, puzzling aloud why the Stillwater ranch hadn’t been hit.

  “Maybe it’s because they feel sorry for you,” he said with a light laugh. He chatted a bit more, slowly feeling less and less foolish.

  Fifteen minutes later Chloe joined him, Cody still smiling and reaching out to him. “Ah, da, da, da,” he burbled.

  “Does he think I’m his dad?” Grady asked, suddenly alarmed.

  “No. It’s just a sound he makes. Apparently, that and ah are one of the first ones they make, so don’t panic,” Chloe said with a grin.

  “Okay. Just to be clear. There’s been enough confusion as to who this baby’s father is,” Grady said, relieved.

  “I’m sure you’re wondering who the mother is.”

  Grady looked back at Ben. In spite of his apology, Cody’s presence only underlined the erratic and irresponsible life his brother had been living. “I wouldn’t even have the vaguest idea,” Grady said. “Ben had so many girlfriends and because I was gone so much I couldn’t begin to keep up.”

  “In spite of being twins, you’re very different,” Chloe said.

  “We weren’t when we were younger. Dad always called us the Terrible Twos, and I think Mom’s hair got grayer after we were born. But things shifted when we hit high school. I got more serious and Ben got wilder.”

  “I remember that,” Chloe said, shifting Cody on her hip. “It got easier and easier to tell you two apart because Ben was the one always teasing me.”

  Grady just shook his head, not sure he wanted to know what Ben would be teasing Chloe about. “I just hope he knew when to quit.”

  “He quit when he got a rise out of me, so I learned to fake some anger or hurt or something so he could laugh and walk away.”

  “Was he mean?”

  “No. Never mean.” Chloe gave him a shy smile.

  Grady held her gaze and his thoughts ticked back to that time. Ben used to tease him as well, telling him that sweet Chloe Miner had a huge crush on him. But she’d never indicated that she did. Then Vanessa had come on to him and they started dating. Which had only lasted a couple months—until graduation. Chloe had moved away after that and he never found out if it was true or not.

  “I know he liked to exaggerate,” Grady
said. “He seemed to have this idea that you had some kind of crush on me.” He added a laugh, as if to show her that he didn’t believe his brother.

  To his surprise Chloe blushed.

  Was it true?

  “What can I say? I was young and impressionable and had a thing for cowboys.” Chloe laughed it off, but Grady felt his own heart quicken at the thought.

  He held her gaze, unable to look away, and before any second thoughts could assail him he said, “I wanted to believe my brother, but you never gave me any idea.” His voice was quiet, sincere.

  Chloe just stared at him, her blush deepening. But she didn’t look away. “I was shy. And Vanessa told me that she liked you and that I better back off. I didn’t think I stood any chance against her.”

  “You stood more than a chance,” he said. He took a step toward her as if to close the distance between them. However, he didn’t shift himself enough to raise his foot properly off the floor and he stumbled. She moved so quickly and caught him so easily, it was as if it hadn’t even happened.

  Except Grady knew it had and he couldn’t stop the flush heating his cheeks.

  He knew part of it had to do with the humiliation of almost falling in front of her, but he also knew it had as much to do with Chloe’s proximity. The warmth of her arm around his back. The scent of apples that he guessed came from her shampoo. The warmth of her breath on his cheek. He shifted and their eyes met again and it seemed his resolve weakened again. He couldn’t allow himself to be distracted by Chloe and her gorgeous green eyes. Her sweet and gentle nature.

  He pulled away and moved closer to his brother, resting his hand on his arm, creating a connection between them.

  “It must be hard for you,” she said, moving Cody to her other arm. “Seeing your brother like this.”

  “Do you think he’ll come out of it?”

  “I wish I could tell you one way or the other. I’m not a doctor.”

  He just nodded, releasing a harsh laugh. “I was just talking to him like you suggested. Apologizing for what I said to him before I left for my last tour.” He tightened his grip on Ben’s arm as if hoping by force of will to wake him.