by Hart, Taylor
Ross hadn’t searched her; he’d just gotten here as fast as possible. “I don’t know.”
Troy shrugged. “The nurses found a can of pepper spray.” He tugged it from his pocket and handed it to George.
“Should have taken it off her person with gloves,” George said.
Troy scowled. “Been kinda busy running tests and talking with brain specialists.”
George nodded, turning the can over. “Can we see her?”
“Yes, if you come with me.”
George inspected the can of pepper spray. It didn’t have any writing on it. “After we see the woman,” he said to Ross, “can we go back to your place and check it out? I’d like to inspect it all for clues. Maybe she dropped a cell phone somewhere.”
Ross nodded. “I’ll take you there myself.”
They followed Troy through the ER, down a long hallway to the other public part of the hospital, and up an elevator.
Ross’s heart rate spiked as they walked into the woman’s room. A bandage had been wrapped around her head, but the blood on her face had been cleaned up. They’d also connected her to a bunch of machines. “Dang,” he said, nauseated.
Troy stared as if looking at Ross for the first time. “You okay, bro?”
“Honestly, no, I’m not okay. I . . .” He shook his head and turned away, holding the door open. “Why did this have to happen? Why am I at this freaking hospital?” His tone was quiet, but his hands felt clammy. It wasn’t just that his wife had died here nearly two years ago. It was all the memories of every hospital he’d gone to with her over the course of trying to cure her.
Troy’s hand was on his shoulder. “It’s alright. We’ll figure this out.”
George circled the woman, peering closely at her. “Nothing’s come through about a missing person.” He pulled blue gloves out of his pocket and picked up the clothes in the bag next to her. “This is what she was wearing?”
Ross nodded.
George tucked them beneath his arm. “I’ll take these back to the station with me, and we’ll do some tests off the blood, see if we can find anything.” He turned to Ross. “Go through the details of finding her again. What time was it?”
Ross took them through it all, hating that every time he told it, more and more worry for this woman filled him. He hated that someone had been found like this on his property, and he worried she wouldn’t pull through.
After an endless amount of questions, George sighed. “Ross, do you mind if we go search your truck?”
Ross felt put on the spot. “For what?”
George shrugged. “Fellas,” he said, speaking to both him and Troy, “I’ve seen these missing-person things go sideways, so just be prepared for the worst.”
Nervous energy sucker-punched Ross in the gut. He didn’t need this right now, not on top of everything going on with losing the ranch. But there was no getting out of it. “Fine, let’s go.”
“I want to go see the woman who got hurt, Daddy,” Kinley whined as she helped Ross put away the dinner dishes. It’d been a long day dealing with filling out reports and having the police come out to the ranch. Not only had they searched his truck and his property, but they’d also insisted on searching his home and Troy’s home a half mile down the street.
The last thing Ross wanted to do was go back to the hospital. “Sweetheart, no. I don’t think that would be a good idea.”
Kinley frowned. “I want to meet her.”
“She’s asleep. Now go get ready for bed.”
Kinley crossed her arms, sticking out her bottom lip. “She’s hurt, though, right?”
He nodded, reluctant to discuss this whole situation with her again. She’d been talking about it, understandably, since the moment he’d picked her up an hour ago.
“Daddy, you always say we’re supposed to help people.”
Frankly, Ross was at his help limit for the day. He knew his daughter didn’t understand, and it wasn’t her job to understand his problems. Bending down, he dumped her over his shoulder. “I want to play airplane, so that’s what we’re going to do.”
She giggled, but he could tell that she was trying to stay serious. “Daddy, put me down!” she yelled out, kicking her feet.
Rushing down the hallway, he made silly airplane noises, the same ones he’d always made when she was little and they would play this game. He got to her room and flipped on the light, gently zooming her to the bed and dropping her.
She bounced and giggled, “Don’t! I want to see the woman!”
It made him smile that she sounded so grown-up. Diving on her, he tickled her beneath the chin. “It’s bedtime, young lady.”
“Stop!” She sat up, finally putting her grouchy face back on. “I really want to see the lady that got hurt.”
Dang, the girl was stubborn. Just like her momma, he thought, but he wouldn’t say it out loud. He sighed. “Kinley, Uncle Troy says he will let us know if anything changes. The hospital is on alert to let him know first.”
Kinley frowned in disbelief. “But he’s going on vacation. He won’t know.”
He put up his hands. “Dr. Frank will let us know. I promise I’ll tell you when I know something.”
Begrudgingly, she stood, pulled her pajamas from the drawer, and headed toward the bathroom.
“Be quick, and I’ll tell you a story.”
“Okay.”
Ross knew that meant he was forgiven. If Kinley would beg for anything, it was a story at bedtime.
She was fast, turning off the light and jumping into bed beside him.
He laughed as she got beneath the covers and snuggled into him. “Once upon a time—”
“Is the woman going to be okay, Daddy?”
He was touched by her concern. Turning on his side, he smoothed her hair back and kissed her forehead. “I hope so, baby.”
Kinley hesitated, then sat up. “What if this were me, Daddy?”
“What?” Her question surprised him.
“Isn’t the lady somebody’s daughter?”
Bam! The question hit the center of his chest like a ton of bricks. “I guess she is.”
“Can we pray for her?”
He slipped off the bed and onto his knees, chastising himself for not having her say her prayers in the first place. “You bet. Why don’t you say it?”
“Dear Lord, please bless that lady at the hospital. Please bless her family if she has a daddy, brothers and sisters, or a husband and kids. Thank you for all our blessings, our home, food, the ranch, the animals, Uncle Troy . . .” She went through all the things in her life, which made it a long list. “And thank you for Daddy. Please take care of him. Amen.”
“Amen.”
Ross and Kinley sat at the airport with Troy and his family, waiting for them to go through security. He could tell that Troy hadn’t wanted to leave, protesting that he had a patient in a coma, but Kathy would hear none of it.
Ross agreed with Kathy. “There’s always going to be something keeping you back,” he said to Troy.
“Exactly,” Kathy said, glaring at her husband.
He gave her a superior look.
She threw up a hand. “Look, I feel bad about the woman, but we’ve never taken a vacation. And this one is free, so we’re going.”
“Yeah, a free vacay!” Bobby put his fist up but kept his focus on the iPad in front of him.
Kinley stood next to Bobby, staring at Ross and looking cross.
Kathy gestured to Ross. “He’ll take care of things.”
Ross nodded, wanting his brother and wife to have fun. “It’ll be fine.”
“We haven’t ever taken a vacation,” Kinley said. Her fingers wiggled in his grip.
“Hush.” Ross squeezed her hand, hating that she was right.
Kathy met his eyes. “I’m sorry,” she said to Ross, then she bent to Kinley, lightly taking her hand. “You guys will go on the next vacation, and we’ll watch your animals. Deal?” She lifted her brows, then held her arms open.
>
Unable to resist, because Kinley adored her, she dove into Kathy’s arms. “Deal.”
Ross tamped down his embarrassment that Kinley was making it so hard on them. He hadn’t even thought about taking a vacation since his wife had passed away.
Kathy stood.
Ross gave her a hug. “You go. Have fun. Everything will be fine.”
Kathy nodded when she pulled back. “Thank you.”
Ross looked at Troy. “I mean it.”
Troy sucked in a long breath and blew it out fast. “Fine, but you’ll let me know when she wakes up.”
Kinley piped up. “Daddy and I could check on the lady in the hospital, Uncle Troy.”
“Would you?” Troy glanced at Ross, well aware that Ross wouldn’t want to do it.
Ross wanted to chastise his precocious daughter, but he only sighed.
Kinley looked back at her father, her bottom lip pushing out.
“Of course.” Ross cocked an eyebrow at his daughter. “No problem.”
Troy grabbed him by the arm, tugging him away from the group. “I need to talk to Ross for a sec,” he said to Kathy.
Ross put on an all-is-well smile for his brother. “Have fun, and don’t worry about anything.”
Troy scowled.
Ross knew it wasn’t in either brother’s nature to want to take a vacation. Their father had instilled “work, work, work” into them. He remembered two family vacations his family had ever taken growing up, and both were because his mother had insisted. “Try to have fun.”
Troy sighed and nodded. “Look, I know we’re meeting with the bank the day I get back, but I’ve thought a lot about it. If it comes down to it, we move into town. You get a house and teach, and I get a house and be a doctor.”
Troy made it sound so simple, which only fueled Ross’s anger. “Oh, right, Mr. Doctor, forget the land we grew up on. Forget the land Mom and Dad loved.”
“What do you want me to do?” Troy asked, whispering loudly and backing them farther away from their families. “I’ve reached out to multiple people for help, and no one can swing it. I don’t want to do it either. But bro, we have to face the facts: if the bank won’t refinance, then the bank won’t refinance. We can’t pay the back payments.”
Ross knew that, and he knew his brother didn’t take all of this lightly. He shook his head, thinking about how he’d neglected to tell Troy about the latest letter. “That Jagger conglomerate group are wily buggers. They keep sending me letters, telling me they will buy if we give them the mineral rights straight out.”
“I know. They send me the letters too. I just worry they’re going to try to sneak in and buy the place out from under us if we don’t cave.”
Ross hated that he had no control of this situation. “I know. I would just hate to see everything Dad built turn into an oil-and-mining project.”
Troy put a hand on his shoulder. “I know Mom and Dad loved the land, and we do too.” He sighed. “That’s part of the reason I came back here—to raise my kids on it.”
Ross nodded, feeling hopeless.
“Remember, bro, sometimes all we have is two hands to rebuild whatever is taken away from us. And with the good Lord, all things are possible. We have to have faith.”
Ross grunted. “Quoting Dad now?”
“You know that’s what the old man would say—‘go, rebuild, and build it even better than before.’”
“‘Never say die,’” Ross said, quoting their father too. Thinking of his father’s never-ending optimism about life actually made him feel a little better.
Troy grinned, adding the rest of the quote. “‘Never quit.’”
Their father had been military, and he had been tough as nails. It had hit both Ross and Troy hard when their parents had passed in that car accident.
A second later, their flight was called. Troy hugged Ross and then headed away. “Bye.”
“Have fun,” Ross called out.
“Dad!” Kinley darted over, slipping her hand into his.
“Yes?” Ross squeezed her hand.
“Can we really go check on the lady?”
He nodded, although they’d need to get to the high school for his camp first. “Right after actor camp, we’ll head over.”
Kinley endured the drama camp well, sitting at the back of the theater for most of the camp, observing, drawing, and finally playing on Ross’s phone. Later, as they headed to the hospital, she chatted happily about all the possibilities of this lady. She made Ross explain exactly what the woman looked like.
When they walked into the hospital room, Ross was stunned. The afternoon sunlight poured through the window, highlighting the woman’s red hair and porcelain skin in a way that made the petite woman look unreal. Ethereal. Angelic.
Kinley rushed to her side. “She looks like a sleeping princess,” she said, her voice quiet and reverent.
Ross was thinking the same thing.
“Hello.” A nurse on Troy’s staff, Nadine, greeted them. She was an older woman in her fifties with salt-and-pepper hair and a warm smile. “How are we doing?”
Kinley grinned at her. “Hey, Nadine.”
Nadine opened her arms, and Kinley went into them easily. “I’m surprised to have visitors for this lady,” Nadine said.
“Daddy promised Troy we would check on her. I think she looks like a princess.”
“Oh.” Nadine glanced at Ross and then back to Kinley, squatting down. “A Sleeping Beauty princess. I like it. Maybe your dad is just the one to kiss her awake?”
Ross shot Nadine a horrified look.
Kinley clapped her hands together, overjoyed. “Yes.”
Nadine chuckled and stood. “Kidding.” She moved to Ross, leaning in for a hug.
“Sorry,” he mumbled. “Not the Prince Charming type.”
Nadine grinned as she pulled back. “But you are a Charm, so there’s that.”
He rolled his eyes. “You never change, Nadine.”
She wiggled her nose and turned back to Kinley. “I’m glad you came, because I just restocked the candy at our station. Want to come get some while we let your dad talk to Sleeping Beauty?”
Ross’s heartbeat picked up speed. “Not necessary.” He started to follow them out of the room.
Nadine was already pulling Kinley out the door. “Let us girls chat. We’ll be right back.”
Ross watched them go and listened to the two of them exchanging a million questions. Kinley adored older women. He didn’t know if she gravitated to women because she’d lost her mother, but he always felt culpable, like it was his fault.
He turned to face the sleeping woman. She was beautiful. He edged closer, wondering who she could be. Why had no one come for her yet? She looked like she could wake at any moment. The heart monitor tracked her heart’s rhythm, beeping repeatedly.
He studied her freckled face, grateful the blood had been cleaned up. He hadn’t really looked at a woman since Brook. Not in a detailed way like this. This woman couldn’t be past her mid-twenties, he thought. Could she?
All kinds of questions filled his mind. Why had she been out on his property? The investigation from the police had produced no car, no identification on her person, no phone. It was like the woman had fallen from the sky. He knew George would have called if there was news about someone looking for her.
She looked so peaceful. He hoped that she was okay, that whatever family she did have wasn’t too worried, and that it would all be resolved quickly.
Hearing laughter from the hall, he could picture Nadine gathering the nurses and telling Kinley stories from the past. He loved that about living in a small community and having roots. People knew each other and loved each other.
For a time, after Kinley’s mother had passed, he’d hated living here and seeing the pity in people’s eyes, but that had subsided. With his brother back in Casper, he knew he never wanted to leave. He loved this town.
He sat in a chair next to the woman and studied her face, wondering what
she would look like if she woke up and smiled. What in tarnation would have brought her to his property? There weren’t even commercial trails out there. Nobody came out to his property unless they were there to visit.
“What are your secrets, Sleeping Beauty?” he asked quietly, hating how much he wanted to connect with this woman, that he’d actually fallen asleep worried about her the night before. It’d been a monumental effort to keep Kinley away from her. He remembered Kinley’s prayer the night before, which had reminded him that this woman was alone here. No family. No husband. Where were they? Didn’t someone care for her? It made him sad to think she didn’t have anyone.
Before he realized what he was doing, he reached out, gently touching her hand. Her fingers were so warm and soft compared to his rough ones, which were callused from things like fixing fences. He bowed his head and muttered a prayer. “Lord, please help her. Please help her wake up and help her family to find her. Amen.” He tugged his hand back and stared at her again.
Suddenly her eyes fluttered open.
Startled, he jumped to his feet. “Wh—oh my gosh.”
She didn’t say anything, only stared at him.
“Nadine!” he called, taking a step back. “Nadine!”
Before Nadine could come rushing in with Kinley in tow, the woman shut her eyes again.
The next morning, Ross stood at the front of the high school theater room, lecturing his drama students. “When you play a really great character, the trick is to get in their head,” Ross said, pacing in front of the ten kids attending the camp. Today they were delving into character development. “You think about what they believe, because their beliefs always give you insight into what they want and what they can do.” He grinned at his students, trying not to let his mind wander back to those piercing green eyes that he’d fallen asleep dreaming about.
The woman hadn’t woken permanently, much to everyone’s dismay. They’d stayed another hour at the hospital before finally heading back to get all the chores done at the ranch. Kinley had incessantly talked about the woman and made him tell her over and over again what her eyes had looked like. This morning, before coming into town, Ross had called the hospital to check on her, but she was still asleep.
