Page 31 of Single Mom for the Mountain Men (Mountain Men Why Choose #3)
T he hospital is always chilly. I don’t know why they can’t make it warmer in here. I glance over at Sophie, who’s sitting in the big chair by the window, having a conversation with her teddy bear.
“Do you need another jacket?” I ask the little girl, and she glances up from her conversation with her teddy to shake her head
Why are little kids always so warm? I wonder as I glance out at the snowy world outside the hospital windows. It’s been cold ever since that fateful night on the mountain, as if the world is frozen and waiting for Lena to wake up, just like the three of us.
Lena’s surgery went well, but she didn’t wake up when she came out it. The doctors have told us that sometimes the body knows that it needs extra time to heal, but with each day that goes by, I worry more about whether or not she will actually come back to us.
Sophie, for her part, has seemed completely confident that her mother will wake up, and something about her childlike way of handling the stress has made it easier for the three of us to cope with Lena lying here in the hospital, sleeping, while the world goes by without her.
The police asked about next of kin for Sophie when we were first being questioned about the incident on the mountain, but we quickly assured them that she didn’t have any that we knew of and that she wanted to stay with us.
There were probably other people on her father’s side of the family that she could go stay with, but we didn’t want to chance it.
Besides, any time that someone suggests to Sophie that she go anywhere without one of us, she starts shrieking about her mother wanting her to stay with the mountain men, and that ends the discussion.
I watch the little girl for a moment longer, a small smile on my lips.
She’s been such a blessing in my life ever since we first went to Lena’s cabin to help with the power outage.
She sees the world so simply, in beautiful ways, and she makes me feel complete in ways that I never thought could be possible.
I’ve even found myself wondering about having my own children since Sophie came into my life. That would depend on Lena, of course, but I wouldn’t mind having more kids to love.
“Still out, I see,” Brody says as he wanders into the room. “Hey, little soldier,” he says to Sophie, ducking down to kiss her cheek.
Brody has been the rock for our little family since Lena got hurt.
He’s done most of the work to take care of Sophie, and he’s been cooking each night because I just don’t have the heart to do so.
We were all worried that the incident with James would bring back his PTSD, but it actually seems like being so busy with caring for us is keeping his demons entirely at bay. He’s even been smiling more often.
“Gosh, I am so tired of meeting with lawyers,” Tanner says as he comes into the room. He wipes a hand down his face, then at Brody’s censorious look, he says, “Not that I don’t deserve to do so.”
The deeper that the police dig into Sophie’s father, the more dirt they turn up.
There are enough criminal acts in his past to keep him in prison for life once he gets out of the hospital.
The two thugs who worked for him haven’t been good citizens, either, but they helped themselves out by agreeing to inform the police about everything that James has been up to for the past few years.
It feels good to know that James is going to go behind bars and stay there.
Tanner’s lawyer is still trying to sort out how much money he owes and to whom, but Brody and I have told him that we will help him pay back his debts once he has a final number. He’s promised to go to rehab for his gambling addiction as well, just to be sure that he doesn’t relapse ever again.
“I heard from the insurance company about the house,” Brody says from his spot by the window.
“Yeah?” I ask eagerly. I’m finding that living in town in a hotel is not a very good fit for me. I miss our beautiful house on the mountains, and I miss the mountains themselves even more.
“Someone is going to meet us up there in two days to look at what’s left of the cabin and start the process of getting it rebuilt.”
“I can help build the house,” Tanner says. “In fact, I think it would be really cool to build our own cabin this time around.”
“I don’t know how to build anything,” I tell Tanner and shake my head.
“I can teach you guys!” he says eagerly, the idea clearly taking hold in his head.
“I bet it would help us with the claim as well. We’d be able to take all the money for the rebuild and devote it to supplies instead of paying people to do the work for us.
We could make a huge cabin that will fit all of us! ”
“All of us?” Brody asks skeptically. “What makes you think Lena will want to stay here after everything that you put her through?”
Tanner looks crestfallen, but he nods. “Oh, yeah. I didn’t think of that.”
“We won’t know anything until she wakes up again,” I say to soften the blow. I give Brody a stern look. Tanner has apologized so many times now that I’m getting tired of hearing it. Brody, however, can’t seem to resist leaning on him about his mistakes at every opportunity.
I open my mouth to say something about standing firm as a family when, suddenly, I feel Lena’s hand move underneath mine.
I look down in shock and excitement. “Lena?” I say and squeeze her fingers. “Lena?”
I almost think I imagined the movement of her fingers, but then, her head lolls a little on the pillow, and she frowns a bit.
“She’s waking up!” I say excitedly to the other men and Sophie. Everyone huddles around the bed as Lena starts to shift a bit, struggling to wake.
“Momma!” Sophie says loudly, struggling past Brody to clamber on the bed. I catch her before she can lay on top of her mother and help her to kneel beside Lena on the bed instead.
“Soph…” Lena starts to say, then succumbs to a fit of coughing. “Sophie?” she tries again, her voice weak as her eyelids flutter.
And then, for the first time in a week, Lena’s green gaze locks onto mine. Her long lashes flutter a few times, then she looks around at us with some confusion.
“Where am I?” she asks.
“The hospital,” Brody tells her while passing her a cup of ice. She sucks an ice cube into her mouth and lifts her arm, so that Sophie can cuddle in close to her. She winces as she moves her injured side and then frowns as memories start to come back to her.
“Oh…oh, I was shot,” she says, and we all nod. “Am I okay now?”
“Yes,” I tell her with a gentle smile. “The doctor says that you will heal up just fine. You just lost a lot of blood, and so, you didn’t wake up after your surgery like we all expected you to.”
She blinks. “What? How long have I been in a…coma?”
“A week,” I tell her gently, hoping that this won’t shock her too much.
“Oh,” she says again, that little frown still turning down her plump lips. Then, a wry little smile curls her mouth. “Well, I hadn’t been sleeping very well the past month, so I guess I got a chance to catch up on it.”
I grin at Brody and then at Tanner. What other woman on Earth could be as sweet as her? She can turn anything into an upside with ease.
“The cabin…” she says sadly as her memories start to come back.
“We’re going to rebuild it ourselves,” Tanner puts in, despite Brody’s quelling look. “I want to add more rooms…for you and for Sophie.”
“Do you guys know how to build a cabin?” Lena asks, looking away from Tanner’s eager face to myself and then Brody.
Brody rolls his eyes. “Tanner thinks he does, and he thinks that we’ll help him.”
“I do know how to build a house,” Tanner insists. “It’s not that hard and…”
“The insurance guy hasn’t even come to see what’s left of the cabin yet,” Brody says sternly. “We can cross that bridge when it’s time.”
“What about James?” Lena asks, her expression tight.
“He’s…not a very nice man,” Brody says, glancing cautiously as Sophie. “There’s more than enough dirt on him between all of his antics on the mountain and his shell companies and other crimes that he will be going to prison for the rest of his life.”
Lena sags with relief. “Oh, thank God.”
“I heard a rumor that you were awake and talking,” a male voice says from the doorway.
We all turn to see the doctor coming in with a smile on his face. He pulls out a stethoscope and listens to Lena’s heart and lungs, then checks on her vitals with the help of the various machines that she’s still hooked up to.
“Apparently, I’ve been out for a while,” Lena says ruefully, stroking Sophie’s hair.
“These three and your cute, little girl have kept you company the whole time,” the doctor reassures her. “They’ve told you all about what’s been happening, read books to you, held your hand…you are really lucky to have such a great support system.”
Lena’s eyes are shining as she looks at each of us in turn. Then, she says, “You’re right. I’m the luckiest woman alive.”