Page 92 of The Cowboy Who Came Home

“I asked her out, Momma.” He started to laugh, that wild thing inside him so giddy. “And she said yes. I can’t believe it, but she said yes.” He started the truck, everything settling. “I’m on the way to get dinner now.”

“Okay,” she said. “We can talk about this woman when you get here.”

“It’s okay,” Link said. “I just talked about it.”

“Well, I want to address the fact that you’re surprised she said yes.”

Link would let Momma talk about whatever she wanted. “Okay,” he said. “Be home soon.” He drove away from the grocery store and the coffee truck, still flying high that he had Misty Granger’s number in his phone.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Mitchell Glover pulled up to the hospital, reached for the white box with the blue bow that held the raspberry mousse he’d stopped to get. Without hesitation, he let his dog out of the truck and together, they headed into the clinic and went past a couple of other offices before he turned left to go around the corner, and then left into the doctor’s office where Lily Tyders had her appointment today.

After he’d found her in the fields, Mitch hadn’t been able to simply continue on without knowing how she was. He’d visited her in the hospital a couple of times. He’d found her bicycle and taken it to Aunt Sammy to see if it could be fixed.

When she’d delivered the news that it couldn’t, Mitch had gone down to the sporting goods store and gotten Lily another one. He’d been there when she’d gone home from the hospital, and he’d stood in her kitchen with her balanced on her one good leg while she cried over the new bicycle.

They’d been texting a lot recently, and today, Lily had an appointment to go over her latest MRI. Mitch didn’t think anyone should go through that alone, so he’d said he’d come. And he and Honor had done just that.

Lily looked up, her face brightening when she saw him, and Mitch grinned at her. He had no idea of the sounds going on around him in this office, so his attention remained on Lily as he crossed the room.

She didn’t know sign language, and Mitch communicated with her by typing out what he wanted to say on his phone and either showing it to her or having it read aloud. Once, that hadn’t worked, and Lily had fiddled with his phone until she could hear it.

Hey, she said, and Mitch read the word off her lips. You made it. She bent over to give Honor a pat, and then Mitch sat beside her, and Honor came to sit in front of him.

He typed quickly, and hit play on his phone. He held it between them, and he’d said, Your leg looks good. Only a brace now.

Lily nodded, her dark hair swaying with the movement. Yeah, my physical therapy is going well. She reached over and took his hand in hers. Thanks for coming, Mitch.

He couldn’t type nearly as fast with only one hand, but he didn’t want to pull away from her touch. He’d dated quite a lot this summer, if Link was to be believed, but no one made his blood flow like lava. No one made his heart beat faster and then faster and then faster.

So he went out with a woman here and there, once or twice, and nothing had become serious. Mitch definitely felt like something was missing in his life, and something big.

So much hinged on what he could understand. No, that wasn’t right. So much hinged on what he could say to others. He was very limited in who he could talk to, and that irritated and frustrated him. Sometimes it made him angry, and sometimes he shrugged it off like it was no big deal.

With Lily, it hadn’t been too irritating yet, but something seethed inside Mitch, and he knew it came down to his limitation to be able to communicate with her. For now, he sat with her and held her hand, and that brought a measure of peace and comfort to his life he hadn’t had this morning.

After a few minutes, Lily stood, and Mitch looked over to her in surprise. He had never come to a doctor’s appointment alone, because he couldn’t hear them call his name. His dog was trained to alert when she heard his name, but this was Lily’s appointment.

She said something, but Mitch didn’t catch it, as he wasn’t looking at her mouth. Still, he got to his feet as Honor did, and they followed Lily toward the doorway that led further into the office.

Honor wore a vest to indicate she was a hearing dog, and thankfully, no one touched her or tried to pat her. Mitch felt an even more imposing sense of silence in the smaller waiting room, and he steadied Lily as she turned to sit in one of the two chairs there.

Then he settled next to her, his smile back in place. Sometimes Mitch got so tired of smiling, but he sometimes didn’t know how else to express what he was thinking. He typed out another message and hit play.

How are you feeling? Do you think this will be good news or not?

She looked right at him, as he’d previously explained he could read her lips if she’d speak a little slower and face him while she did. I feel pretty good most of the time, she said. I’m back at work, though it’s just from home. So I can nap whenever I need to.

She reached up and tucked her dark hair away from her face. I’m hoping he says there’s nothing. I’m getting restless at home by myself.

I thought you had a cat named Cloudy, he typed out and played. He wished he could give the speaker on his phone a tone, because this one would be teasing. Instead, he had to cock one eyebrow and grin at her to get the message across.

Her face lit up then, and she laughed. Mitch sure would like to hear that, but he felt her joy as it flowed from her.

Yes, me and Cloudy, she said. Honestly, she’s not great company. She gave Mitch a coy look. Sleeps too much.

He laughed then too, and he wondered what his voice sounded like. He felt the big vibrations in his chest and down his throat, and he started typing before he finished. I’m better than Cloudy is what you’re saying. I at least don’t fall asleep when we’re together.

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