Love Me (Coopers Creek #1)

by Bronwen Evans

  Brooke and Chase must have heard them because they came out into the hallway.

  Emily said, “Dr. Wright, this is Brooke Carpenter and Chase McIntyre. They’re very close family friends so we’d like them to be included. And Brooke is a nurse, so she’ll also be a big help.”

  Dr. Wright shook both of their hands in turn. “I have good news for you. There definitely is no subdural hematoma or bleeding anywhere in Hayley’s brain. It’s just as Dr. Zimmerman thought: post-concussion disorder.”

  Relief flowed through Emily with such force that it made her feel faint for a few moments. She couldn’t hold back her tears. “That’s so good to hear. You have no idea.”

  Tyler put an arm around her shoulders. “What’s Hayley’s prognosis since there’s no hematoma?”

  A thread of unease wound around Emily’s midsection when Dr. Wright’s expression sobered.

  “I think that with time and rest, Hayley will fully recover, but she’ll bear watching. She’s going to become frustrated with the situation, especially once she really starts feeling better,” he said. “Under no circumstances can she do anything that increases the risks of her sustaining another concussion until she’s fully healed.

  “No running, jumping, wrestling—those sorts of things. I’ll give you a booklet on all of this as well as detailed instructions. If she does well, she can go home the day after tomorrow, but I want to see her again next week. I’ll have my assistant call you to schedule an appointment. I’m going to check on her now, but she’ll be in good hands with our overnight staff.”

  Tyler’s shoulders sagged with relief. “Thank you. We really appreciate you fitting Hayley in today and moving on everything so fast.”

  Dr. Wright smiled as he walked into Hayley’s room. “Well, children are my life. My wife and I have fostered a bunch of kids over the years. Watching your child suffer is very difficult. Almost all of our kids are special needs, so I understand what you’re going through. Therefore, I always try to get patients in as soon as possible.”

  “I don’t know how we’ll ever repay you,” Emily said.

  “No thanks are necessary. It’s my job,” he said. “Anyway...” He went over to Hayley’s bed and smiled down at her. “Well, young lady, thanks for letting us take your picture so much today.”

  Hayley gave him a small smile. “Can I see them? I liked that one you showed me.”

  “Good. I’ll give your parents a DVD of them for you to look at when you get better,” he said. “Right now, watching TV and being on the computer a lot isn’t good for you.”

  Hayley rolled her eyes. “That again.”

  Dr. Wright laughed and began his examination.

  As Emily stood by Tyler, she glanced up at him and noticed that he seemed a million miles away. His brow furrowed as his concentration appeared to deepen further. Emily knew that look. It meant that he was formulating a plan of some sort. She left him alone for the time being, but she planned to find out what was going on in that brilliant mind of his later on.

  *****

  Emily was in the middle of emailing her client when Ric showed up. “Well, there’s Sexy Pants now,” she said with a wicked smile at Brooke, who glared back at her. “We wondered when you were going to show up.”

  Ric glanced around at all of them, confused as to why they were all laughing quietly. “Sexy Pants? What’s that supposed to mean?”

  Brooke huffed out a breath. “I might as well tell you before they do. That’s my nickname for you because you have a fine ass.” Her angry gaze encompassed the rest. “Happy now?”

  “Don’t say…you-know-what in front of Hayley,” Emily admonished her.

  Brooke said, “She’s still asleep, so stop your complaining.”

  A grin lit Ric’s chiseled features. “Sexy Pants, huh? I like it.”

  Chase crossed his arms over his chest and frowned. “How come he gets Sexy Pants and I get Hoss?”

  Brooke just smiled and shrugged.

  Emily rose and hugged Ric. “Thanks for coming. You weren’t supposed to, but thanks.”

  “Like I was going to stay put in New York.”

  Having her big brother there was an added comfort to Emily. After their father fell apart at her mother’s death, he’d been her biggest source of support, protecting her and helping her deal with all of the grief and stress back then. Their Uncle Johnny had only been around sporadically since he’d been in the Army and had been overseas most of the time.

  While most teenage boys were mainly concentrating on girls and sports, Ric had gone to school, played football, and worked on various ranches around Cooper’s Creek to save up money for college. She’d always been able to count on Ric to help in times of trouble and now was no different.

  “Well, we really appreciate it.”

  Ric smiled and released her, but he sobered as he looked over at Hayley. “What’s the word?”

  Emily loved how concerned he was for Hayley and always had been. Now that she knew how close he’d been with Lizzie, his attachment to Hayley made sense. She suspected that there was a part of Ric that wished he’d been the one with whom Lizzie had had a baby. Emily wished it had been, too.

  They quickly brought him up to speed on the situation and then Tyler stood up. “Have a seat Ric. I realize that this is a really unconventional place for a business meeting, but we’re going to have one anyway.”

  Ric looked at Emily, but she lifted her shoulders, indicating that she was just as baffled as him. He nodded and sat down in Tyler’s chair.

  Emily watched Tyler closely as he stroked Hayley’s hair. Worry lines were etched on either side of his mouth, but there was also an excited air about him. From the expectant expressions on the others’ faces, they sensed it, too.

  “Ty?” she prompted.

  He turned to face them with an intense look in his eyes and a determined set to his jaw. “I want to buy Cooper’s Creek Medical Center.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  The only sound in the room after Tyler spoke was the soft whir of Hayley’s IV machine. He couldn’t help smiling at the astonished looks on everyone’s faces. “I know you think I’ve gone bat-shit crazy.” He cringed as he glanced at Hayley after swearing. “Just hear me out.”

  Ric nodded. “Okay. Go ahead.”

  “We had to bring Hayley sixty-three miles to see a specialist because we don’t have a neurology department. I’ve been thinking about that ever since Emily called me about Hayley today,” Tyler said. “We don’t have a cardiology department, either. There are a couple of cardiologists over in Monroe, but last year Tucker told me that they’re backed up. The fact is that Cooper’s Creek is too small for specialists to be able to survive there financially. Just trying to make enough to cover malpractice insurance is a battle, let alone all of the other overhead.”

  Brooke crossed her legs. “That’s right. A lot of small doctors’ offices have gone out of business because they just don’t have enough funds to keep the doors open. Dr. Burnette used to have her own practice, but it went under and she took a general internal doctor position with Cooper’s Creek.”

  Tyler’s gaze zeroed in on hers. “She has management experience?”

  “Mmm hmm.”

  He filed that away for future reference. “I’d like to do some digging around to find out how financially solvent the hospital at home is and make them an offer they can’t refuse. Dr. Wright said that he knows that Cooper’s Creek’s radiology equipment is outdated. What else needs upgrading?”

  Brooke snorted. “Everything. We don’t have enough IV machines and some of them are broken. We’re always robbing Peter to pay Paul. It would take all day to list everything.”

  “I’d like you to do that over the next week. You’re our inside woman, Brooke,” Tyler said, his excitement growing.

  Ric held out a hand. “Whoa, Ty. Slow down. Nothing has been decided. What’s going on with you? You’re bold in business, but not rash. We can’t just go buying a hospital.”


  Willing himself to calm down, Tyler looked at Hayley and something inside spoke to him. Unlike Chase, he didn’t believe in spirits or God as a rule. However, if there was a heaven, he’d like to think that his mother and sister were there. And if spirits existed, maybe his mother was nudging him to do this.

  How many lives could be saved if they bought and updated the hospital? How many people’s quality of life would be improved by having specialists in the area? Too many to count.

  Tyler made sure Hayley was still asleep and then waved for the group to follow him out into the hallway.

  “When it looked like Hayley might need brain surgery, it scared us shitless. If that had been the case on the day she was hurt at school, there’s a real possibility that she might not have survived. I did some reading up on acute subdural hematomas.

  “Time is of the essence in treating that kind of injury and requires a neurosurgeon to perform the operation necessary to relieve the pressure on the brain.” He looked at each of them in turn.

  “Cooper’s Creek doesn’t have a neurology or neurosurgery department, which is why we came here. In the time it takes to get here, irreparable damage could’ve been done to Hayley’s brain if she’d had that kind of injury.” His eyes filled with tears. “Or she could’ve died. As hard as that is to face, that’s the reality of the situation. How many people have died because we didn’t have specialists to handle things that the ER docs couldn’t?”

  Emily sniffed and embraced him. “I know that I have nothing to do with your business and that my vote doesn’t really count, but I say do it.”

  Ric looked at the two of them with sympathy in his eyes. “Look, you all know how much I love Hayley, and I get what you’re saying, but we also have to be smart about this. Your emotions are running high right now, Ty. We can’t just jump into this without doing our homework. We have no idea how much money it would take to buy it, first of all, and then we have to update it, add on departments and pay doctors and other staff to run it.”

  Chase was tapping away on his phone.

  “What are you doing?” Tyler asked.

  “I just emailed Jake Logan. He’s the head of the hospital board of trustees in town. I told him that we want to meet him for drinks in a few days to talk some hospital business with him.”

  Ric smacked his forehead. “Why the hell would you do that?”

  Chase said, “It won’t hurt to just pick his brain a little. We don’t have to tell him why we’re interested until we talk to him. If we don’t like what we’re hearing, we can say that we wanted to donate some money to the hospital. But, if it seems like it might work out, then we could lay it on him. From my point of view, it’s an awesome marketing opportunity.”

  “What makes you say that, Chase?” Emily asked.

  His smile grew dreamy. “We turn it into a nonprofit facility, get government grants, tax cuts, donations. Hell, we got a lot of people in our business that we could hit up for cash. And for the wealthier ones who donate boatloads of money, we name something after them. Those people don’t care if they ever lay eyes on it. Their egos are so big that they just like knowing that shit is named after them.

  “I know the perfect people to help create TV and radio commercials, and all that crap. Full page write-ups in the newspapers all around here, including Denver. And, it would give Horizon a warmer look. You know, giving back and all that?”

  Ric stood with his arms crossed over his chest, thoughtfully drumming the fingers of one hand against the opposite bicep. “It could also benefit us even if we do run at a loss. We can write off whatever we would lose, but I want it to be a success.”

  A shadow passed over his face, making Tyler curious as to what caused it.

  “And I think, depending on what Jake says, that it could be. We wouldn’t cut corners, but we could keep the costs down as much as possible. We have to do it right and find the best doctors.” He smiled at Brooke. “We already have the best nurse.”

  “That’s right, and if y’all are going to be my bosses, I best be getting a huge raise for putting up with you,” she said. “Especially GQ here.”

  Warmth suffused Tyler as his gaze touched on his business partners. “So are we going to do this?”

  Chase said, “I’m in.”

  The rest of them stared at Ric. “Why the hell not? I’m in,” he said.

  Brooke clapped a little. “Yay! We’re buying a hospital. I mean, you are, but I’m still excited because I’m getting a big, fat raise.”

  They laughed at her and went back into Hayley’s room. She woke up after a little while as they were all talking quietly about the new venture. She was as thrilled to see Ric as she had been Chase.

  The more Tyler thought about buying Cooper’s Creek Medical Center, the more convinced he became that he was doing the right thing. As he watched Hayley converse with Ric, he vowed to make a difference to ensure that other parents with sick kids could have the peace of mind from knowing that their child would receive the best care possible.

  He wanted to help injured and ill children get better so they could go on and live happy, healthy lives. Although he didn’t have a medical degree, he had plenty of money to hire people with medical degrees who could make a huge difference in the lives of others. Shouldn’t he use the vast wealth he’d amassed to do good instead of just hoarding it? Definitely.

  He turned his gaze on Emily, the woman who’d captured his heart years ago. It had been hers all this time. No matter how hard he’d tried to break that bond, no matter how far he’d run, his love had remained, lying dormant inside him, but always there.

  Seeing Emily again at his mother’s funeral had blown the lid off the box of emotions in his heart with her name on it. He’d fought it tooth-and-nail, but he hadn’t been able to put his love for her back in the box and seal it up again. When he’d concocted the crazy idea of him and Emily raising Hayley together for a year, had he secretly been hoping to reunite with her?

  Be honest with yourself. You know you were. Why else would you want to live with her? Needing to touch her, Tyler took her hand and smiled into her gorgeous eyes, trying to silently convey his love to her. Her answering smile said that she read him loud and clear.

  He used to have a clear-cut, meticulously crafted ten-year plan. That plan had gotten blown out of the goddamn water like an ocean liner being hit by a torpedo when his mom had passed. Had exploded into a million pieces. But other than constantly feeling the huge, unfillable hole in his life her death had left, he was happier than he could ever remember.

  Tyler knew that there really was no longer a deadline to their arrangement, but what they had together was no longer just an agreement. They had a life together. He, Emily, and Hayley were fast becoming a family. He didn’t want to go back to New York. Hayley was happiest in Cooper’s Creek and to be honest, so was he. No longer did he live to make money and accumulate successful ventures.

  Now, he would count making Emily and Hayley as happy as he could as the biggest accomplishment he could ever hope to attain. And by doing that, he would also secure his own happiness. It was time to make things permanent, and he wasn’t going to waste time in doing it.

  *****

  Besides being the best mechanic in Cooper’s Creek, and maybe the whole state of Colorado, Tucker McGee was the sort of man everyone should have in their lives. He was old enough to have accumulated plenty of wisdom, but also able to change with the times.

  Like a bartender, Tucker had a way of making people feel comfortable in divulging personal information to him. Tucker never minded telling people what he thought or giving them advice. He was a straight shooter, though, and he didn’t pump sunshine up anyone’s ass just to make them feel better. While he was kind and caring, he didn’t hesitate to tell someone that they were acting like an idiot.

  Tyler always looked forward to seeing Tucker and often stopped in just to say hello if he was going by his garage. A week and a half after Hayley had come home from the hospital, Tyler took
the Beast to Tucker’s for an oil change. When he pulled in, he heard the sound of an air compressor whining.

  Stepping into the front office, Tyler found it empty. Tucker’s sister, Prissy, who ran the office wasn’t present. Tyler went on into the garage and saw Tucker just putting the tires back on an old Cadillac.

  “Hey, old-timer,” Tyler called out.

  Tucker looked over at him, his slightly bushy gray eyebrows drawing together. “Fuck you. Old timer, my ass. I could run circles around you. While you sit on your keister all day in some fancy office, I’m out here doing real work.”

  Tyler laughed as he came over and held out a hand to Tucker, who shook it, greasy palm and all. “Well, we all have our talents. Mine just doesn’t include fixing cars. I brought the Beast for an oil change. Do you have time today or would another day be better?”

  “Nah, I can do it. How’s Hayley doing?” he asked with concern in his dark eyes.

  Tyler blew out a breath. “So far so good. She’s still having headaches and getting confused now and again, but she’s better than she was.”

  Tucker clicked his tongue. “Poor thing. I’ll get over to see her tomorrow night.”

  “Great. I’ll let her know that you’re coming. In fact, why don’t you plan on coming for dinner?” Tyler suggested.

  “All right. I’ll do that.”

  Tyler fiddled with the loose change in his jeans pocket. “I need some advice about something.”

  Tucker eyed him. “From the looks of you, it’s serious. Shoot.”

  “You’ve been married a couple of times.”

  Tucker started up the lift, lowering the Cadillac down to the floor. “Yep. Can’t believe I buried two wives. Fucking sucks.”

  “Yeah, I know.”

  “So what sort of advice do you need?”

  Just talking to Tucker about it made Tyler nervous. “How did you propose?”

  Tucker let out a bark of laughter. “You’re finally gonna do it, huh? About time you put a ring on Emily’s finger. You shoulda done it when you two were together the first time.”