Page 10 of 40 and (So Over) Fixing It
His gaze glanced off hers. “Someone has to do it.”
She knew he didn’t mean it the way she took it, but she winced anyway. “I’ll take care of the horses and Bessie until I can hire someone else.”
“But Gary…”
Ruth’s voice faded as she caught the flash of anger in Erin’s eyes. “Gary should’ve shown up when he was supposed to. Scott could have been seriously hurt.”
The thought almost brought her to her knees. If something serious had happened to him, if he’d suffered a heart attack like Stephen…
The memory flashed in her mind without warning—Stephen lying in a hospital bed just like this one. The nasal cannula that had provided him with oxygen was slightly askew, the BP cuff tight across his arm as it assessed a heartbeat that was no longer there. The sheet covering his pale skin was mussed, the gown pulled open to reveal a muscled chest that should have protected a healthy heart. But Stephen’s heart hadn’t been healthy, and in that moment in her memory, neither had it been beating. Her handsome husband had died in a hospital bed just like Scott’s, and it was a moment that would haunt her for the rest of her life.
She shoved the memory deep down, along with her pain over her husband’s too-young death, and focused on Scott. “I’ll take care of it, Dad. I promise.”
“And I’d like you to see me to follow up,” Dr. Marshall inserted.
“Thought you said I was fine,” Scott grumped.
“I said you are fine for now.” He made a note on the electronic tablet in his hand. “I didn’t say you would stay fine if we don’t get that BP and heart rate under control.”
His patient scowled. “I don’t like to take medicine.”
Dr. Marshall pointed Ruth and Erin’s way. “Do you love them?”
Scott glanced at them, and Erin could read the memories in his eyes as sure as she could feel them hovering just below the surface of her mind. Scott and Ruth knew very well how serious heart problems could get. Stephen had suffered from a congenital heart defect no one had detected until he went out for high school football, but you didn’t have to have something wrong from birth for a problem with your heart to kill you.
The lines in Scott’s face relaxed as he searched her eyes, then latched on to Ruth’s. “I do.”
“Good.” Dr. Marshall nodded sharply. He took a pad of paper out of the breast pocket of his coat and began to scribble something on it. “Then you’ll take the medicine.” Tearing off the sheet, he handed the paper to Scott. “Call my office tomorrow.”
“Thank you, Doctor,” Ruth said kindly.
“You bet.” With a quick, warm smile, Dr. Marshall exited the cubicle, leaving Erin grateful. Dr. Barnard had tried for a couple of years to get Scott on BP meds, but the man was as stubborn as an ox. Maybe the scare of the ER visit had combined with just the right words to finally get through to him.
A nurse bustled in to get Scott ready to leave, and Erin excused herself to run outside and call Lily. No way would she be returning to the work site today. She had a dad to get home and get settled, and a hired hand to fire—and two old horses and a grumpy cow named Bessie to feed come dark.
ChapterFive
“Come on, Dad!”
“He has way too much energy in the mornings,” JD said beside him as they trudged up the muddy path toward the build site.
Carter couldn’t say anything. He’d already traversed the paved portion of the drive down the mountain twice this morning to get his run in now that the rain had finally stopped. Yesterday they’d stayed inside, listening to the rain and playing board games until Thad had retreated to his tablet to read. At that point Carter had picked up the thriller he’d brought along and they’d spent several hours reading and napping in the warmth of the living room until it had been time to help with dinner.
Those quiet moments with his son soothed his heart. Those were the moments he missed more than anything when Thad was spending his required weeks with his mother. He didn’t think he’d ever get used to only being physically with his son part-time, although he strove to be an everyday part of his son’s life no matter where Thad was.
But this morning had broken with a brilliant sunrise. After his run, he’d spent a messy hour teaching Thad to make pancakes—why were flipping those floppy, flat disks so hard?—and then they’d donned some galoshes JD had the foresight to buy and come outside to explore. Because of the rain, it would be a couple of days before any outside construction could continue, which made it the perfect time to tour the resort site.
Thad was a bit more anxious to get there than the adults.
“I think you’ve gotten too used to being away from the office,” Carter said.
JD hmphed. “Hey, why not take advantage of flexible hours while you have them.”
And a beautiful fiancée to spend them with.Not that Carter envied JD and Lily, but he remembered that stage of a relationship. Late nights and early mornings spent in bed but not asleep. He was happy for his friend, but he was currently content with having Thad wake him up early on Monday mornings instead of a woman.
He grimaced at the sucking sound his galoshes made as he pulled them from the mud. The expanded road would extend all the way up here to the lodge, but not until the ground firmed enough for work to continue. Thad was taking turns tromping along and using running starts to send him skiing along the surface of the mess. The sheer joy on his son’s face was worth the cleanup they’d face when they got back to the mansion.
“The permits took a while to secure,” JD was saying, “but we broke ground in August. There will eventually be multiple sites on the acreage, including a ski area—”
