Page 62 of Omega's Refuge

Uneasiness shifted through me. “But you’re fine now?”

“I am. In fact, I was okay then too, but they misdiagnosed me and scared the shit out of me.” He shook his head. “I thought I was going to die until they figured out their mistake.”

“Theymisdiagnosedyou?” I growled. “How the heck did they do that?”

His jaw was tense. “I don’t know, but they did. I went in to see the doctor because I’d had a persistent cough and some difficulty breathing. Next thing I knew they were diagnosing me with lung cancer.”

“Jesus,” I grated. “They told you you hadlung cancer?”

“They did.” He stared down at his clasped hands. “In truth, I had what’s called sarcoidosis, but they initially misdiagnosed it as lung cancer. I guess that happens sometimes with sarcoidosis.”

I blinked at him, feeling sick. “I’m so sorry. You must have been terrified.”

“I was devastated,” he said quietly. “Thinking I had months to live changed me profoundly.”

“Yeah, I’m sure.” I reached over and squeezed his hand. I was startled at how completely gutted I felt at the idea of losing Rex. Even if he wasn’t really mine, I felt sick thinking he might have died.

He smiled weakly. “It’s a dramatic story, right?”

“It is. I’m so glad you’re okay.”

“I’m perfectly healthy.” He thumped his fist against his chest. “Healthy as an ox.”

“I can’t believe they put you through that.”

He glanced up at the stars. “It was the worst few days of my life. I won’t lie, I spiraled for a bit. When the doctors finally told me they’d made a mistake, I immediately quit my job.”

“Did you?”

“Yep. I couldn’t make myself go back. Not even if they paid me, and they would have. I was very good at what I did. They tried to bribe me back with obscene amounts of money, but I’d had enough. When I thought I was going to die, I saw how empty my life was just chasing the almighty dollar. I wanted to change my life completely, and so I did.”

I scratched my head. “I understand now why you quit your job, and I think you made the right choice. But I’m still fuzzy on how a big shot lawyer ended up working on a dude ranch.”

He smiled. “I can see why. The two jobs aren’t at all similar.”

“No, not at all.”

“I spent summers on my granddad’s cattle ranch in Montana growing up. My grandfather was very different from yours. He was warm and accepting of people. Those years on his ranch were some of the happiest of my life. But once I went to college and law school, I sort of forgot about those times. Then I got that mistakendiagnosis and I was filled with nothing but regrets.”

“Of course,” I mumbled.

He said softly, “You always think you have more time. But if someone tells you it’s game over soon, you’d be surprised how easy it is to get rid of all that stupid shit you thought was so important.”

His words resonated with me more than he could know. I’d been spinning my wheels for years, hating where I lived and constantly chasing down jobs. If I was honest with myself, I’d known all along that my relationship with Steve was doomed. I’d let him back into my life just to postpone the heartache. And look where that had gotten me. Rex’s story was forcing me to face the facts—if I were told I only had months to live, would I stay in Billings? Would I change my job?

“It makes you think, doesn’t it?” Rex watched me closely.

“Yeah. It does.” Of course, there was no way he could know what I was thinking, but the way he looked at me, I felt like he did.

He sighed. “Anyway, when I thought I was dying, I started thinking about how I wished I’d lived my life. I started remembering all the things I’d wanted to do that I’d always put off. I didn’t want to live like that anymore. I wanted a happy, fulfilling life.”

“Seems like a worthy goal,” I murmured.

“I thought long and hard about when I’d been the happiest. I realized it was my summers as a kid on my grandfather’s ranch. That’s when I was most content.”

“Maybe that was just because you were a kid? You had your whole life ahead of you.”

“Nope.” He shook his head. “I wasn’t happy because I wasyoung. I was happy because my life was uncomplicated and straight forward. Working on a ranch is kind of like that. The job is cut and dried. You do what needs doing. You help out where you’re needed.”

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