by Mary Leo
“Just make sure nothing happens to that stubborn goat.”
Her grandmother’s statement caught Cori by surprise. “I thought you didn’t like Buck.”
“Whether I do or don’t isn’t the issue. I’m used to seeing his craggy face at this conference and I’m not ready to hang up our rivalry.”
Cori chuckled. “I promise to do everything I can to make sure you two can keep up the contention for many years to come. Now I’ve got to run if I’m going to catch up with them.”
As she rushed for the bus, Cori scolded herself for making such a tenuous promise. Already the self-doubt was creeping in. She had very nearly misdiagnosed a female patient who had come in with what the husband thought was severe anxiety, but because of her own chronic fatigue, Cori had almost overlooked an important factor. The patient had vomited when she first came in. Fortunately, Cori was able to administer the proper treatment in time and prevented any damage to the patient’s heart.
That episode had so shaken Cori, that she’d been struggling with that incident ever since.
When the bus came into view, parked perpendicular to the train tracks with its door open as if waiting just for her, she realized what getting on that bus meant: all their plans to be alone that night had to once again be abandoned, and more importantly, she would be diagnosing a problem for Buck that could be life-threatening.
She stopped walking.
* * *
GAGE TRIED HIS best to pretend that his insides weren’t rattling with fear over his gramps’s headache and dizziness. He knew altitude sickness could be fatal if it wasn’t treated promptly—something about your heart or your brain retaining water. Neither of which seemed like a good idea for his aging grandfather.
He hadn’t heard back from Cori after he’d sent his text. Unlike some of his other messages, he knew this one had been delivered, but what he didn’t know was if she would look at her phone in time. He hadn’t come right out and asked her to join them on the bus ride back to the hotel, but he’d hoped she would.
If anything serious happened to him, Gage wouldn’t be able to recover. Between Cori and his gramps, Gage’s nerves were raw.
After last night, he realized just how much he truly cared for Cori. He knew she didn’t want a long-term relationship, and for all the right reasons. Neither did Gage, but he could no more ignore his growing feelings for Doctor Cori Parker than he could ignore his grandfather’s disappointment in him.
“What’s she doing here?” Gramps asked looking straight ahead at the front of the bus. “I told you I don’t need no doctor.”
Cori’s enticing smile lit up her face. “Hey,” she said as she approached. “What are you two handsome guys doing on this bus?”
The bus driver closed the door and the coach started to move.
“As if you don’t know,” Gramps mumbled.
“Am I supposed to know something?” Cori asked, while holding on to the back of the empty seat in front of Gage and his grandfather.
Gage didn’t want Gramps to get any more riled up, so he thought he’d put the problem on himself. “I started feeling a little light-headed, so we decided to catch the bus back. And you?”
“Same thing. Nine thousand feet can take its toll on a person if you’re not used to it. I knew the bus would get me down the mountain in half the time. How are you doing, Buck?”
“Never felt better.”
“That’s great, because if you weren’t feeling well, you’d tell me, right? Altitude sickness can be dangerous if it’s not cared for properly.”
“I said I feel great. Ain’t no need for either one of you to fret over me.”
“We’re not fretting, Gramps, we just want to make sure you’re comfortable,” Gage offered, hoping Gramps would buy the explanation.
“I’m as comfortable as a human being can be while sittin’ on a bus. Now you go on and sit with Doctor Parker, so I can stretch out on two seats. No need for you to be babysitting me when there’s a pretty girl on this here bus.”
“Thanks, Gramps,” Gage said. “Would you like some water? A protein bar? Aspirin? I think I have a couple in my pocket. I grabbed a few from your stash this morning.”
“That would be perfect for you, Buck. Not that you have anything wrong with you, but sometimes two aspirin will help with any swelling in your body. Not that you have anything going on visibly. I’m just saying, if you did, they would help.”
Gage stood up in the aisle, digging the tiny white pills out of his pocket, glad he’d been clear-headed enough that morning to grab them.
“Fine, give ’em to me if it will get the two of you to stop needling me.”
Gage handed him the pills along with the bottle of water and one of the protein bars that Steve’s wife had given them.
“But you have to take them,” Cori insisted.
Buck immediately knocked back the medicine, washing it down with several gulps of water, surprising Gage by being so cooperative. “Do you want to look under my tongue as well?”
“Nope. I trust you,” Cori told him then took one of two empty seats in front of them. Moments later, Gage plopped down next to her, looking completely exhausted.
“Thanks,” he told her, as soon as hey were settled. “Staying up until two in the morning, debating literary styles and then worrying about—” he rolled his eyes, gesturing back to his grandfather “—is apparently too much for me now that I’m sober. I used to be able to party all night long, go into work the next day and not sleep again until that night without so much as a yawn.”
“Sobriety will do that to you.”
“Do what?”
“Give you limits. Alcohol does the opposite. You believe you can do almost anything, even though your body and your mind are telling you otherwise.”
She slipped off her shoes, pulled her legs up under her bottom and struggled to get comfy. Gage could tell she was tired as well.
“You sound like you have firsthand knowledge.”
She hesitated answering for a moment, as if she was withholding something major. It made Gage uncomfortable.
“Hailey’s father was killed in a car accident,” she began. “The driver died as well. His girlfriend lived, but is wheelchair-bound for the rest of her life due to a spinal cord injury. She was nineteen at the time. The driver, Daniel Martin, a renowned chef, had been out celebrating the grand opening of his new restaurant. His best friend knew how much he’d been drinking and tried to take his keys but, in the end, couldn’t hang on to them. From what the police could piece together, Daniel had twice the legal limit of alcohol in his blood when he decided to pass four cars and a slow-moving motor home on a busy wet road only three blocks from our house. My husband, Jeremy, had just made the right-hand turn onto that street and literally had nowhere to go and no time to get out of the way. Daniel was evidently traveling close to a hundred miles an hour. The two cars disintegrated, and both drivers passed away at the scene. It was a miracle that Daniel’s girlfriend survived.”
Gage sucked in the breath he’d been holding while she spoke. He’d heard drunk-driving stories over the years and had always told himself he was above all of that. He’d never get behind the wheel drunk, but, God help him, maybe he had on a couple of occasions.
Never had he truly considered the cruelty of the aftermath of an accident like he had while listening to Cori.
“That must have been horrific for you, and everyone involved. I’m so very sorry.” He wanted to say more, but couldn’t think of the proper words.
“Thanks. I’m slowly learning how to take my life back. Hailey deserves as much.”
She drank from the bottle of water she pulled out of her purse, and rested her head on his shoulder. His heart broke for her, and for Hailey, who lost her daddy before she really had a chance to get to know him.
&nbs
p; And all because someone had chosen to abuse alcohol and then drive.
The thought caused him to be disgusted with his past behavior and vow that he would never drink again.
“We should both try to catch some sleep,” Cori said. “Buck will be okay now that we’re going down the mountain. The aspirin will help him relax. He might even sleep. By the time we get back to Durango he should be as good as new.”
Gage stroked her hair as she sighed. “Are you sure this isn’t more dangerous than you’re making it out to be? He seems pretty shaky.”
She shrugged. “I’m not sure of anything. There was a time when I knew exactly what I wanted and how to get it. I used to be confident whenever I diagnosed a patient. Now, ever since I almost messed up due to my own fatigue after working too many hours, I second guess everything, even a common cold.
“Buck’s color is good and he isn’t any more cranky than normal. It might have just been a combination of a lack of sleep, a lack of real food, the altitude and whatever else is on his mind.”
Gage hoped her assessment was correct. Anything more than what she diagnosed and he would never be able to forgive himself for not insisting Gramps see a doctor in Silverton.
“I’d hate for it to be something more dangerous.”
“Unless I can give him a real physical I can only go by what’s in front of me, but from observing him, he seems fine now.”
Gage closed his eyes for a moment and tried to relax. He felt a lot less anxious about Gramps, knowing Cori was on board.
“By the way, not that it matters now but I reserved a room for us in Silverton for tonight,” Cori said, shifting in her seat.
Gage could hardly believe what she’d just said about the room. “I did, too, at the Grand Imperial.”
She snickered. “The Wyman. I thought it was more masculine.”
“The Grand Imperial seemed more feminine. I thought you’d enjoy it.”
“Aren’t we the couple who likes to please.”
He chuckled while he caressed her face, kissing the top of her head. “The best laid plans...”
They sat in silence for a while, watching the lush scenery slip by through the extra-large windows, her head resting on his shoulder, their fingers intertwined.
“I don’t think I’ve ever felt this comfortable with a woman before, ” he said, stroking her silken hair. “Even with my ex, I always felt compelled to be doing something. We shared very little downtime, and even then, we’d both be working on our laptops or tablets or checking our phones. I always thought being with a woman meant I had to entertain her somehow, and if I couldn’t do that, then I worked. But being with you feels totally different, almost as if just being together is enough.”
She kissed him, stirring up warm thoughts down deep within him. If this was how she handled friends with benefits, he could only imagine how amazing it would be if she loved him.
She settled back down on his shoulder again, as he stroked her hair and gazed out the window thinking that giving her up was going to be tough.
“Did you have a plan on what we’d say to our families?” Cori asked.
“We wouldn’t say anything. We’d simply miss the train and we’d text our grandparents with our apologies.”
“My plan exactly.”
They fell silent once again, gazing out at the noble mountains and rushing streams that passed by their view. It had been years since Gage had been able to turn off his erratic thoughts and not stress over something he still needed to do. The last time he remembered sitting with nothing to do was on his grandfather’s porch. Gage had been around fourteen or fifteen, and he and his gramps had just come in from a morning ride to check on the livestock, something his gramps and his ranch hands did each morning.
He remembered how the two of them had sat on that porch for almost two hours each morning, chatting about the blue sky, the horses in the barn or what they would have for lunch. Most of the time they were silent, Gage rocking in his favorite chair and Gramps comfortable in the wooden chair he’d crafted from an old birch tree he’d chopped down with Gage and his dad.
Those were the times when his grandfather would tell him how much he hoped Gage would one day take over the ranch. How he knew Gage’s dad never took to ranching, but that Gage was a natural cowboy who could rope and ride as good as any ranch hand. He remembered how special his gramps had made him feel, and how he wanted to grow up and do just that, take over the ranch...until college and being “successful” and trying to stay successful got in the way.
Now, as Gage reflected on his past and snuggled with Cori, he longed for those days on the ranch, longed to be back with his grandparents. He wished he could introduce Cori and Hailey to his grandma, and show them around the ranch his grandparents loved so much. He knew both Hailey and Cori would love it as much as he did, especially Hailey. He would teach her how to ride, and his gram would have loved to teach her how to make her famous strawberry pie. She would have had such fun with a great-grandchild to dote over like she’d doted over him when he was young. He remembered the sound of his grandmother’s raspy laugh, and how they’d sometimes laugh so hard they’d cry. How she loved to be silly with him, and dance around the kitchen. And how loving she was, not only with him, but with everyone she came in contact with. Her kindness and generosity were well-known throughout the Teton Valley. There wasn’t a person that Gage had ever met in Briggs who had anything negative to say about Rose Pryde Remington.
The woman was an absolute angel, and it finally dawned on him what a totally self-centered, arrogant jerk he’d become.
He’d missed his own grandmother’s funeral, and for what? Because he thought he’d be famous with one appearance on a TV show. He’d been an egocentric idiot. In the end, his boss had cancelled his trip and Gage never got the opportunity.
“What the heck was I thinking?”
Cori stirred and gazed up at him looking all sleepy eyed. “Are we there?”
He gently slid her hair off her face.
“No. Sorry to wake you. I was thinking about something and got carried away.”
She stretched and sat up, putting her feet on the floor.
“What’s wrong? You look gloomy. Buck is going to be fine, I promise. Don’t worry. I’d tell you if I thought his situation required immediate action.”
He forced a grin, but it didn’t help his degenerating disposition. She looked so beautiful and innocent against the backdrop of the mountains. He knew he didn’t deserve her interest, even if it was for only a short time.
“I’m a real jackass,” he said. “You really shouldn’t have anything to do with me. I missed my own grandmother’s funeral because of a misguided idea that fame was more important. I was such an inconsiderate fool. Maybe I still am, and you should run away from me as soon as possible.”
“I’ll doubt that, thank you very much.” And she stretched up and gently kissed him with all the warmth and compassion he hadn’t earned.
“We all do things we regret. It’s whether or not we learn from our failures that matters. Have you told your grandfather how sorry you are?”
“Not yet.”
“You have time. When you’re ready, I’m sure you’ll tell him, and when you do, you’ll both be better for it.”
When she rested on his shoulder again, he could barely keep his emotions from pouring out. She truly did remind him of his grandmother Rose, exactly like Gramps had said. It was her honest nature and her ability to make him feel decent and whole again.
* * *
WHEN THEY ARRIVED back in Durango, Buck seemed to be in good spirits and was feeling a lot better.
“I’m gonna relax in my room for a while, maybe do a little reading,” he said as they crowded together in the small elevator inside the Strater Hotel.
“Mind if I join you?” Gage
asked. He didn’t want to leave him alone.
“You don’t need to be worried about me, son. I’m feeling much better.”
“It’s not that, Gramps. I just thought we could sit and read together like we used to when I was a kid. Compare thoughts on the story. You know, critique Zane’s work.”
Some of the best times Gage remembered from those summers happened in the evening when everyone would find a book to read, mostly Zane Grey books, and spend a couple hours each night after dinner reading and discussing the stories. They didn’t watch TV or disappear into a room to be by themselves. Summer on the ranch was about hard work, riding, family activities, and spending time together, talking, exchanging ideas, telling bad jokes and laughing.
“You want to do that now?” Gramps asked, his eyes watery.
“Yes. Why not? Seems like a good time to read.”
“Mind if I join you guys?” Cori asked. “I haven’t read a book in I don’t know how long. Hailey and my grandmother won’t be back for a few more hours.”
“If you two are sure this is how you want to spend your afternoon, then come right on over. I’ve got me an assortment of books, some I just bought during the auction, some first editions that Gage picked up and some been given to me by friends.”
The elevator doors opened and Gramps led the way back to his room.
Once inside, Gage and Cori sorted through the stacks of books on various surfaces in the room, each picking a classic tale. Gage couldn’t believe all the books Buck had bought at the auction, many of them first editions with their jackets. He would love to one day have a house with an expansive library that would hold all these books, not only written by Zane Grey but by other famous Western writers like Elmore Leonard, Conrad Richter and Larry McMurty. When he was a kid, Western books and cowboying were all he could think about. Somehow he’d like to get back to those thoughts and dreams.
Gage ordered a couple cheese boards from room service, while Cori walked to the vending machine at the end of the hallway for a few sodas. Once they were settled in, with Cori all comfy on the spare bed, and Gage on a chair with his legs propped up on Cori’s bed, each of them having chosen a Zane Grey book to read, Gramps said he had an announcement to make.
