Page 54 of Trails of Temptation

ChapterTwenty-Six

George

“Ididn’t want you to worry,” Mom said with a heavy sigh. Her eyes were barely open as she sat up against the pillows in her hospital bed. She’d woken up earlier this morning for a very brief moment before falling back into a stupor. It was the only shred of hope I’d had in the last twenty-four hours that she’d come out of this alive, even if it were just for a little while. Now, she’d been mostly awake for the past hour or so and Doctor Abbot had come in to talk to both of us. She’s hadn’t been surprised at all that she was dying. She’d joked about it, in fact, saying the news wasn’t new, and she was grateful she didn’t have to suffer much longer.

It had cut me to the core.

“You should have told me,” I argued in a low whisper as I sat beside her bed, my elbows resting over the starch white knit blanket covering her lap. “I would have come down to Florida the second I knew—”

“And done what, George? Do you really think I wanted you to pause your life to come tend to your old, sick, and dying mother? You would’ve been bored out of your mind. And you worked so hard on that ranch to just give everything up for me.”

“You’re my mother,” I pressed, my heart cracking in my chest. “I should have been there.”

“I’ve lived a long life already,” she said in a broken laugh. “I knew it was getting close to the time when I’d get to see your father again and I’ve been looking forward to it, honestly.” She exhaled deeply, her mouth twitching into what could have been a smile. “I wish you would’ve tried to settle down again, though. Had a few grandkids—” She opened one eye fully, taking in my appearance. “But I see you’re still up to no good, George. What happened to you?”

“I don’t want to talk about this right now.”

“Well, you have to. It’s my dying wish.”

I snorted despite the reality of her words and shook my head, leaning back in my chair with my hands crossed behind my head.

“If you don’t kick the bucket you’ll be able to meet your future grandkids, because I’m going to ask the love of my life to marry me.”

“Did she do this to you?”

“No, her—uh, her brother did. Remember Pete?”

“Unfortunately.” She chuckled, shaking her head. “Is that who you’re marrying? Pete? You know I support you—”

“Jesus, Mom, no,” I cut in, laughing despite myself. “His sister, Keely.”

“Keely Greenway,” she said softly, a smile touching the corners of her lips. “Well, what a surprise. She’s a real beauty, George. A very generous girl. I was good friend with their mother, you know, before she passed.”

“You were one of the only people who were kind to them after Keely showed up, I remember.”

“Yeah, well, no sense in fueling the fire and getting into someone else’s business. They were good people, good, churchgoing folks. People make mistakes but life is short.” She shifted her weight a bit, grimacing. “So, I take it Pete didn’t like the idea of you two being together?”

“No, he didn’t.”

“Does he look worse than you do right now?”

“I wouldn’t know. I doubt we’ll ever speak to or see each other again.”

“That’s it, then?”

“That’s it, Mom. He can’t be happy for us, and all I can do is support Keely through this.”

“And where is she now?”

“Back at the ranch. I… I didn’t have a chance to tell her what happened—”

“You just left the poor girl up in Hot Springs and came down here to watch me die?” Her laugh rippled through the air as she reached out to swat me with surprising strength. “You’re an idiot, George.”

“You’re in a great mood for someone with a death sentence hanging over their head,” I griped, rubbing my arm.

“Then you proposed to her?”

“I bought her a ring, yeah.”

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