by Mary Leo
The one problem with relenting happened to be the fact that those evenings at the bar, laughing with his friends, never even came close to the euphoria he felt wrapped in Cori’s arms or sitting on a train next to his grandfather or saving Hailey. No amount of whiskey could replace those moments, nor did he want to ever believe it could.
He believed in Gramps, in his ranch, in cowboying and in his love for Cori Parker. He didn’t know if any of those beliefs could ever be his to share on a daily basis, nor did he know exactly how difficult it might be to try to make that happen. He only knew they were what made him feel whole again, as if his life had purpose, meaning.
He didn’t move for a full minute, remembering how powerful and relaxed he felt with each glass of wine or shot of bourbon. He remembered a scene from a movie with Jimmy Stewart, and how his character described a shot of whiskey as a slap on the back. Gage needed a strong slap on the back right about now. In all honesty, he needed several slaps on the back in order for him to escape all the guilt and fear he was feeling. He wanted nothing more than to be in one of his favorite bars in Manhattan with his friends surrounding him, getting progressively more and more inebriated, laughing about the ups and downs of the market, allowing himself to sink into that hole he would get into and never leave.
Life got a heck of a lot easier after several slaps on the back.
“Can I help you?” the woman behind the counter asked once Gage stepped inside the shop.
Chapter Eleven
Buck’s hip surgery was a complete success. Cori’s initial diagnosis of a stable fracture of the femoral neck had been correct, and because she’d told the EMTs, the ER staff was able to give him the proper care from the time of his arrival.
Now, as Buck rested in the private recovery room, Cori wondered if Gage would ever make an appearance. So far he’d been completely absent and never responded to any of the text messages she’d sent.
Her instincts told her he had probably stopped in that liquor store and was busy getting wasted somewhere, but her heart wanted to believe he’d been caught up in something far less reprehensible.
In the meantime, only Cori and her gram were allowed in the recovery room at one time. The amazing thing about it had to be her grandmother’s reaction to seeing Buck flat on his back hooked up to various machines.
She cried.
“Gram, he’s going to be fine. It’ll take a lot of physical therapy, but he’ll be all right with the proper care,” Cori told her as Gram walked to Buck’s beside.
Before Gram could answer, Buck held up a wobbly hand and to Cori’s amazement, May took it.
“That was some scare, my pet,” Gram said as she gazed down at Buck, who couldn’t seem to take his eyes off her.
At first, Cori thought she hadn’t heard her grandmother correctly. Why would someone who supposedly had a rivalry going with Buck Remington suddenly refer to him as “my pet”?
She couldn’t have heard her correctly.
“They say I’m going to be fine, darlin’,” he answered, his voice soft and weak from the trauma of the surgery.
Cori didn’t want to break up this loving moment, but she had to know what happened to cause them to be so sweet to each other.
“Okay, what’s going on? Did I miss something? Since when did you two get to be so...loving?” Cori didn’t care which one answered. She just needed an answer, now.
“Since Buck asked me to marry him.”
“What?” Cori asked, feeling her knees buckle. She couldn’t have heard that correctly. Boisterous Buck Remington had asked feisty May Merriweather to marry him?
“Sit down, dear, you look as a bit peaked,” Gram cajoled.
Cori did as she was told and plopped down on a plastic chair at the foot of the bed. “You want to tell me a few more details, Gram? When did this happen? Better still, how did this happen? And are you?”
“Yes, Corina-May, I am. I don’t think I have to tell you how, but our love affair began right after Gage bought the fishing rod out from under me. Buck and I were both so angry at Gage that we forgot to be angry at each other.”
“Love affair?”
“Yes, dear. Our love affair. We can hardly keep our hands off each other.”
“Thank you, but I don’t want to know.”
“She’s a spitfire, if I ever knew one,” Buck said, hardly able to speak or stay awake. “Can’t let a woman like that get away from me. Life is too dang short.”
“But Grandpa hasn’t been...” Cori stopped herself from going any further, but the fact remained. Her grandpa had only been gone for less than a year.
“I know, darling, but he wouldn’t want me to be alone, and when Buck and I started talking, we realized just how much we had in common. When you get to be our age, you don’t know what the next day can bring.”
“Or the next night,” Buck said, interrupting May’s explanation.
“Right,” May said, agreeing with Buck. “So we decided to act fast.”
“Not fast enough,” Buck said as his eyes closed and he fell asleep.
Gram walked over and sat down next to Cori.
“You and Buck are getting married?” Cori asked as her grandmother made herself comfortable on the only other chair in the room.
“Yes,” she said and reached over and took Cori’s hand in hers. At once Cori felt warm and safe, a learned reaction from years of trusting her grandmother.
“When?”
“As soon as we can get a license. Of course, now that he’s had this little misstep, so to speak, we may have to postpone it for a few weeks.”
“A few weeks? Buck won’t be ambulatory for a couple months, and even that will take a lot of intense physical therapy.”
“That’s okay. He’s going to need me to help him through this time. If I left him alone at a time like this, he might never recover.”
Her eyes were clear and calm, as if she knew exactly what she wanted and how to get it. Not a smidgeon of self-doubt.
“Gram, do you know what you’re getting yourself into? He may not recover.”
“Sweetheart, I love you dearly, but you sometimes dwell on the negative instead of the positive. Yes, I know he may not recover. That’s a given. However, with my help, he may recover sooner and be riding again in six months.”
Cori knew the odds of that happening were slim to impossible.
“Gram, that’s wishful thinking.”
“When I was a young girl, growing up in horrible poverty in the Midwest, the only thing that got me through each day was wishful thinking. I couldn’t have survived the loneliness of farm living without wishes and hopes and dreams. A lot of my wishes came true, my daughter, you and Hailey being some of them, and of course your dear, sweet grandpa. When you were a little girl, you and I would wish for a hundred things before breakfast. You ought to try it again sometime. You might find that wishes really do come true.”
Cori knew she couldn’t win the argument, and was in no mood to try. Not when her grandmother was being so unreasonable. She only hoped that wherever Gage might be hiding, he’d surface, completely sober and ready to deal with this new situation.
* * *
GAGE STROLLED INTO Mountain View Hospital knowing he’d made the right decision for everyone concerned. He only hoped his grandfather felt the same way.
He’d kept up on his grandfather’s progress with updates from Steve Court. The man turned out to be a great friend to both Gramps and to Gage—something Gage never would have guessed from his initial reaction to him.
Now as he stepped off the elevator and headed to his grandfather’s room, he felt confident, almost buoyant, that he had the entire situation under control, a trait he admired about himself. No matter what went on around him, if the situation warranted immediate attention, Gage could always ta
ke a look at the problem, make a calculated decision and act on it accordingly, at least when he was sober. And right now, he was stone sober.
This moment in time had demanded that he step up and take action, and he’d come through with flying colors. Now all he wanted was for everyone else to go along with his ideas.
He’d picked up some flowers and a vase at a nearby florist and held them in one hand as he pushed open the door to his grandfather’s room with the other. He wasn’t particularly surprised to see Cori in the room, but May?
“Wow, this is a surprise. I never expected to see you here, May. How’s the ‘old goat’ doing?”
“He just fell asleep. He’s doing really well,” Cori told him, taking the flowers and placing them on a shelf near the TV.
“Are you okay?” Cori asked, seemingly studying his face.
“I’m fine, why?”
Then she walked in closer, as if smelling his breath. He instantly caught on. She was checking to see if he’d been drinking.
“I’m as sober as a judge, although I’ve seen my share of inebriated judges. And if you’re wondering if I had anything to drink, the answer is no, I have not.”
“You have not?”
He shook his head. “Not a drop.”
“Then why are you so happy?”
“I’ll tell you, but first I want to know how Gramps is really doing. Don’t sugarcoat it. Give it to me straight. I called the hospital and a nurse told me that he’s doing fine, but that was all she would say.”
“Please don’t call your grandfather an ‘old goat.’ He’s a wonderful man who needs our positive thoughts and prayers,” May grumbled.
Gage looked to Cori for some answers, while heading her way. May had referred to his grandfather as a lot of things, but a wonderful man had never been one of them.
“Who is this person, and what happened to your grandmother?” he whispered as he walked in closer.
“Gage,” Cori began, “since your grandfather is indisposed at the moment, my grandmother has something important to tell you.”
Cori turned to her grandmother, offering her the floor.
“It can wait until Buck is awake again,” Gram countered. “I don’t want to take away the satisfaction he might be counting on when he tells Gage the big news.”
“I don’t think it can wait,” Cori insisted.
“There’s big news? Is this good big news, or is Gramps in worst shape than I’ve been told?”
“Buck came through the surgery like a champ. Aside from a fractured femoral bone, the man is in amazing shape. The doctors can’t believe how agile he is,” Cori assured him.
“Then what is it?” Gage demanded.
“It’s nothing really. Just a little change in plans,” May offered.
“What kind of change in plans?” Gage wanted to know. Cori caught a look of concern on his face.
May shrugged. “It’s just that Buck and I will be getting married as soon as possible.”
“What?” Gage said as Cori slid the chair she’d been sitting on closer to him.
“Have a seat. It helps,” Cori told him.
Gage plopped down in the chair as if his limbs were made out of rubber.
“Married? Why?”
“Because we’re in love,” May said while smiling down at Buck, who looked completely peaceful.
“At your age?” And as soon as he said it, he realized he’d made a terrible mistake. The old Gage would have thought that, not the new Gage, who didn’t drink anymore and had a new respect for the elderly.
“What?” May began, looking as if she would bite off his head if she could. “You think a person can’t fall in love in their seventies?”
“Of course they can, but I thought you two hated each other?”
“Hate? Now there’s a nasty word. No, no, I didn’t like him. But even then, I never completely disliked Buck. I simply didn’t like how he would buy up all the Zane Grey memorabilia and then we’d never see it again. Of course, he didn’t like that about me either. Now that we’re getting married we can share everything. That includes all our Zane Grey loot, and believe me, I’ve collected more than he realizes over the years.”
“I’m sure he has, too, but...have you decided where you’ll live?”
“We haven’t made the final decision yet. His ranch is on the market and my house is too small.”
“May I make a suggestion?” Gage asked. In truth, he thought their love nuptials would fit perfectly into his plan.
“Certainly, but this matter is between your grandfather and me. You two have nothing to do with it.” He caught the fire in her eyes and knew he had to tread lightly.
“Well, that’s not exactly true,” Gage said.
“Yes it is. We’re old enough to make up our own minds, thank you very much.”
With May being just as ornery as his grandfather, married life between the two of them was beginning to take on a whole new meaning.
“You certainly are, but I just bought my grandfather’s ranch. That may have a slight impact on your decision.”
Cori moved another chair under her grandmother. She plopped down into it. “But that’s not possible. Buck would have to agree, and he would never allow it. He wants it to go to someone who will work it. Matter of fact, we did discuss keeping it for a few more years and working it ourselves. I love ranching. Farming, not so much, but ranching is exciting.”
“You can’t buy that ranch unless your grandfather accepts your offer,” Cori said, a look of total disbelief on her face.
“Gramps left that decision up to his attorney. I offered a price he couldn’t refuse, and he accepted while Gramps was in surgery. I know Gramps may still fight me on this, but I’ll argue my position until my last breath. That ranch means too much to me, to Gramps, and now that I know you like ranching, it’ll mean too much to you, as well. I did what I thought was right, what I think Gramps secretly wanted me to do but wouldn’t say out loud. I had to figure it all out on my own. The paperwork is being drawn up as we speak.”
“Now we’ll have to move to my place, and I don’t want to live there anymore. Way too small. Cori and Hailey can hardly fit in the guest room.” May said.
“Then don’t. You and Gramps can live on the ranch like you planned.”
“He told me if you ever got your hands on it, you’d sell it. Why the change of heart?” May wanted to know.
“Because I found that my heart is the only part of me that knows what I need, and I need that ranch. It’s who I am, who I’ve always been—a cowboy.”
* * *
“DID YOU MEAN what you said about your being a cowboy?” Cori asked, as she and Gage walked into the Strater Hotel. It had been a taxing day, and Cori was wiped out. All she wanted was to slip into bed next to her daughter and sleep until noon. “I mean, you weren’t making that up for my grandmother’s benefit, were you?”
“I gave my landlord notice on my apartment this morning. I’m not going back. Aside from some personal things, which my ex-wife can have, and some clothes, which I won’t need anymore, there’s nothing back there for me.”
“So you’re moving to...where is the ranch again?”
“Briggs, Idaho. It’s in the Teton Valley. A beautiful little town. You and Hailey would love it. I could teach her how to ride. Who knows, maybe she’ll grow up and become a rodeo star.”
“Instead of a fashion designer? That’s her latest ambition, but cowgirl was right up there on the list.”
“She can design fashion for cowgirls, or some such thing. I really want you to come out. I know you’ll both love it.”
It was all happening too fast. Her grandmother was leaving tomorrow on a private air ambulance that Gage had hired. He was moving his grandfather to Teton Valley Hospital so he’d be closer
to home.
“What are you saying?” Cori asked him, concerned over the speed with which her life and that of her grandmother’s were changing. She had left New York and her job at the ER for something new, but she’d never thought that “something new” would include another man.
“I’m asking you to move to Briggs. Or at least come back with us tomorrow and check it out. You don’t have to stay with me, unless you want to.”
“I have to think of Hailey,” Cori told him. “I can’t run off with a man I’ve only known for a few days.”
“I understand, but at least come for a couple weeks. It’s a big ranch house. I don’t know what kind of shape it’s in, but there are at least five or six bedrooms.”
“Hailey’s just getting used to her grandmother’s house. How am I supposed to move her again?”
“You told me that was only temporary. A place for you to rest until you decided what to do. Well, you look rested to me. Why not decide what to do while in Briggs? It’s a great town. Hailey will make friends in no time.”
Gage pushed the button for the elevator, the door opened and they stepped inside. Cori kept her distance and her arms crossed over her chest. When the elevator stopped, they got out and walked through the hallway until Gage stopped in front of a door. That’s when Cori realized they weren’t on her floor.
“This is your room. My room is on the second floor. Hailey’s waiting for me.”
“This could be our last night together. I want you in my bed, where you belong. You’ve got the rest of your life to sleep with your daughter, or whomever you choose, but tonight you’re mine.”
“But I haven’t decided anything yet. I should talk this over with my grandmother, with Hailey. I can’t...”
He smiled and stepped closer to her. She could feel the heat swirling through her body. She wanted him now more than ever.
“You can’t what?” he asked, his lips only a hesitation away from hers.
“I can’t love you. You’re all wrong for me, despite what Audrey says.”
