Page 39 of No Place Like Home (Orlinda Valley #3)

Rowan

B y the time I got off my phone interview and back inside the hospital, everyone had gone, and my mother had just been moved to her room for the night. Jamison sent me a text and I took the elevator to the fifth floor.

It wasn’t hard to find her room. I just followed the cackling laughter that reverberated through the halls. Mom was already making friends with the nurses. “Hey, Mom.”

“Rowan, baby. You found me.”

“Yeah, it wasn’t hard. I just followed the laugh.”

Bryson rolled his eyes while Jamison shook his head.

Tonya sighed dramatically. “Well, I got to make the most of my next twenty-four hours. There’s no reason to be a stick-in-the-mud. When life gives you lemons . . .”

“Enough of the stupid sayings,” Bryson said. “Look, you’re just fine. If it’s okay, I’m going home to check on my wife and your grandkids.”

“Sure, baby. Go ahead. All three of you don’t need to stay. It’s getting late. ”

Bryson gave her a hug. “I’ll be here tomorrow. Don’t cause too much trouble, Mom.”

He left and Jamison followed, since he also had a child to get to bed.

“I guess you’ve just got me, Mom,” I said. “I don’t have any kids to get home to.” Hell, I didn’t even have a home to get home to.

“Sit and tell me about your interview. How’d it go?” she asked.

I sat and told her the basics. It was a good interview, and a great company. “They offered me a position.”

Her brow ticked up, but she didn’t say anything—her way of letting me know she was listening, and I should continue.

“I have my choice of Dallas or Nashville. I’ve got to let them know by Tuesday.”

We were quiet. She nodded and looked around, processing this new information.

I hated when she was deep in thought like this, because I wanted her to respond to what I’d told her.

But Dad always said the best thing to do was to wait her out.

This was her way of taking in news and digesting it, and she’d talk when she was ready.

I’d learned the hard way that interrupting her could result in an eruption of epic proportions. So, I waited.

Her gaze finally met mine and she said, “Well?”

My shoulders slumped. I waited for that? That was the result of her deep thoughts? One word? “That’s all you have to say?”

“I’m waiting to hear what you decided.”

I shook my head. “I don’t know. What do you think?”

She shrugged. “Not my rodeo. ”

Fucking seriously? Who was this woman, and what had she done with my mother, who’d always been in our business and had something to say about everything?

I covered my face with my hands and breathed deeply, then raked my fingers through my hair, linking them behind my head and leaning back to stare at the ceiling. “Why, when I need you to give me some amazing words of wisdom, you’ve got nothing? What do you know about rodeos, anyway?”

She cackled softly. “Look, Rowan, you’ve got to talk to Summer. Hell, I don’t know why you’re having issues with things. She’ll eventually get over herself and realize she needs to be with you. You realized that a decade ago. Go make her see reason.”

I dropped my chin to my chest. Maybe her heart scare made her crazy. Did she just tell me to go after Summer, and that she’s known I’ve liked her for years? “Mom, are you sure you’re not dying?”

“ Pfft ,” she replied as she swiped her hand through the air. “Perfectly fine. I just don’t understand why you’re still here when you should be dealing with Summer.”

I stood and digested what my mother had just said. She had no issues with me and Summer. That was a surprise.

I leaned on the small windowsill for a moment, contemplating, then opened the blinds so I could look somewhere farther than these white walls. The view overlooked the roof, which totally sucked, but the darkness outside kept me from focusing my brain on anything else.

Maybe I should stay. Go fight for her and not run away because she’s pushing back on me. If Summer and I let this relationship between us grow, and it took off, would I be okay with the possibility of no biological children ?

My mother’s voice cut into my thoughts. “I know she probably can’t have kids. Her grandmother confided in me a long time ago.”

I turned and looked at her.

She tilted her head back and forth, looking as if she were mentally weighing her words.

“I’d be lying to you if I said that played no part in why I fought your feelings for Summer.

The thought of you spending your entire lifetime with someone who couldn’t give you a family bothered me.

You’d be such a great father.” She sighed.

“But then, tonight Summer said the exact words that I’ve always thought, and they sounded wrong out loud.

Yes, children are wonderful and precious gifts, but so is true love. ”

She stopped and I waited. I thought she might have something else to say, but she laid her head back. “I’m tired. It’s been a long day.”

I pulled the blankets up over her chest and kissed her cheek. “Thanks, Mom. Love you.”

She smiled a small, tired smile. “Love you bunches, baby.”

I walked quietly to the door and pulled it closed behind me. I had to go find Summer and finish our discussion.