Page 8

Chapter

Four

K elby woke up, disoriented. Then she realized she was in her childhood bedroom. The sun was shining into the room, and she picked up her phone, seeing it was almost nine o’clock. She couldn’t remember the last time she had slept so late, but her body felt good, her mind clearing now.

She had moved from the motel room she had been staying at in Decatur to the ranch late last night.

It had been easier to remain in Decatur in order to be close to her father while he was in the hospital.

She spent every day with him, observing and making notes of the medications he was given.

The various doctors who stopped by. The exercises the different therapists put him through.

She had fed him every meal the first few days, but one of the therapists told her to let him try.

It had been painful to watch that first time.

Dad was right-handed, but the paralysis had remained on that side of his body.

He was having to learn how to do everything with his left hand, and she could see the frustration in his eyes.

At least he was eating on his own now, for the most part.

Kelby had cut up some meat for him the other day since he couldn’t hold a knife and fork.

He’d glared at her, so she’d put the cutlery down.

Dad simply picked up the chicken thigh in his left hand and ate it that way, giving her a satisfied look as he did so.

He still wasn’t speaking. He had difficulty swallowing, as Dr. Brock had mentioned might occur, but his therapists were working with him on it.

She hoped he would be able to talk with them soon.

It had to be tiring not to be able to communicate, answering yes or no questions with a nod of the head or blink of the eyes.

Thankfully, yesterday’s transfer to a rehab center, located halfway between Hawthorne and Decatur, had gone smoothly.

Dad would be a live-in patient for an undetermined amount of time.

Kelby and Chance had met with the head of the center before the transfer occurred, learning what their father would be going through.

They were given a sample schedule, one which applied to patients who had experienced strokes, but Mrs. Paulson said this would change.

They would tailor the schedule to Dad’s needs once they evaluated him during the next couple of days of therapy.

The director also asked that neither of them come to the facility today, saying that Dad needed time to adjust without either of them hovering over him.

Even when they came tomorrow, Mrs. Paulson explained that they wouldn’t be allowed to go to the therapy sessions.

Kelby had wanted to argue about that, but the director remained firm on this point, explaining that patients did better when they worked with their various therapists in privacy.

Since Dad would be in therapy off and on throughout the day, Mrs. Paulson suggested they could visit him around noon each day.

He would finish up a session about a quarter till twelve, and he wouldn’t go to another one until one o’clock, at least for the first few days.

Or they could wait and come around suppertime, which was between five and five-thirty.

Kelby had thought her days would be spent as they had been for the past ten days, but she didn’t want to sit in Dad’s room at the rehab center all day, waiting for him to return.

Chance had told her after taking off all today, she could go to see Dad at noon each day.

If she wanted to accompany him, they could go back together for supper.

It would be a new pattern to settle into, after the last ten days of being at the hospital around the clock, only leaving to shower and sleep.

At least having somewhere to go had kept Kelby occupied.

She had barely looked at her phone. The texts and emails were stacking up.

As for what was happening with Bax, she couldn’t care less.

She rose, stretching, feeling a bit sluggish. It had been too long since she’d worked out, and she felt an itch to do so. But her belly growled, so she headed downstairs to get something to eat.

Tammy was in the kitchen, kneading dough. “Hey, baby girl. Did you sleep all right?”

“I really did,” she said, turning on the coffeemaker and pulling out a hazelnut pod.

“Can I get you some breakfast?”

“You’ve got your hands full. Cereal will be fine.”

“I’ve got some fresh blueberries you can put in it.”

She laughed. “You sound like Darby. She’s the health nut.”

“How is Miss Darby? She still with that cheer association?”

Her longtime friend had called a couple of times, and Kelby planned to return the call today now that she had some time to herself.

“She is. Got a promotion last fall. She’s hoping she won’t have to travel so much and teach camps.”

Tammy flipped the dough over and began working it again. “I suppose I shouldn’t bring up work or that lazy ass ex of yours.”

Chuckling, she set the pod into the coffeemaker. The instant aroma of coffee filled the air as the hot liquid began dropping into a coffee mug. “You just did. You’ve never minced words, Tammy.”

As she ate breakfast, Kelby explained what had happened with Wyndham & Warren pushing her out.

“Sawyer Montgomery took care of everything for me.”

“That basketball player? The handsome one all you girls mooned over?”

“That’s the one. He’s been working in Dallas, but he’s moved back to Hawthorne. Or at least that was his plan when we talked a couple of weeks ago. He’ll take over Isaiah’s practice. I assume Dad will still use him.”

She removed the pod and turned off the coffeemaker, doctoring her coffee with sugar and cream and pouring cereal into a bowl.

“Sawyer read the termination agreement and severance package documents, as well as the NDA. He fine-tuned them a bit and countered. My boss brought in the big guns, and it took a couple of days for the lawyers to hash things out, but Sawyer did well. I have a nice lump sum which will tide me over until things get better with Dad and I can find another job.”

Tammy covered the dough with a cloth, leaving it to rise. She washed her hands and joined Kelby at the table.

“You know I’ve visited Mr. B, Kelby. I know he’s improved a lot, but I can’t say things will get much better.”

“You don’t know that for certain,” she said quickly, her own thoughts now being voiced aloud by Tammy. “Dr. Brock said we might be surprised by how much movement Dad will recover.”

Tammy gave her look which caused tears to spring to Kelby’s eyes. “I know you’re hoping for the best, but Mr. B will only be able to do so much. I’ve talked some with Chance, and we think it might be a good idea to hire a fulltime nurse.”

Anger spiked within her. “Why did you talk about this without me?”

“It was just talk, baby girl. One conversation. You know absolutely nothing would be decided without your input. But Mr. B is not going to be able to run this ranch anymore. Chance’ll step up.

He’ll see things get done. Your daddy, however, will need someone to help him.

I won’t be able to. I’ve got the house to run and meals to put on the table.

Besides, I might be tough, but there’s a limit to what I can lift.

Mr. B is six-three and outweighs me by a good hundred and fifty pounds.

Or at least he did before the stroke,” Tammy added quietly.

“We’ll need someone who can help him address his needs.

Bathing and dressing him. Doing all that therapy.

You and your brother need to start looking to the future. ”

That was the last thing Kelby wanted to do. While she’d been at the hospital, she’d been able to remain in a cocoon, unaware of everything happening beyond the doors of her dad’s hospital room. Keeping occupied with his health crisis had let her ignore the world outside.

Once Dad came home from the rehab center, however, she couldn’t stay at the ranch forever. She would need to see him settled and then get back on the horse, as she’d been taught to do. Big Jim Blackstone expected no fear in his children. He would want her to go back and conquer the world.

“I think I’m going to go for a ride,” she told Tammy, taking her breakfast dishes to the sink and rinsing them before placing them inside the dishwasher.

Riding had always been her favorite activity. It was exercise. It was escape. It was freedom. When she was young, it had been the gateway to a new world she created as she flew across the ranch.

She returned to her room and dressed in a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved shirt, placing her hair in a ponytail. She slipped on a pair of sunglasses and took an old hat which hung in the mudroom and made her way down to the stables.

Entering, she saw Dusty, one of their ranch hands, and greeted him.

“Hey, Miss Kelby. Want to go for a ride?”

“I need to clear my head. There’s no better way.”

“How about I saddle Echo for you?”

“Please do.”

Echo looked almost exactly like the horse Kelby had ridden growing up. Dusty had suggested the name since the two horses favored one another so closely, and she had thought it perfect.

Taking the reins Dusty offered to her, Kelby led Echo from the stables and then mounted her.

She let the horse become familiar with her again since it had been a good while since she had visited the ranch, much less ridden.

Once they’d warmed to one another, though, she let Echo have her head, and off they went, practically flying.

She rode for almost two hours, slowing down after that first gallop, trotting around various places on the ranch. At one point, she saw Chance and waved to him. He looked busy, so she continued on her way, enjoying the feel of the sun on her back, even as the end of February proved cool.