Authors: Hope Navarre
CHAPTER TEN
“M
AY
I
COME
IN
?
”
“Of course.” Robyn stepped back from the door. Neal watched with interest as a tall, blond man stepped into the room. He was vaguely familiar, but Neal couldn't place him.
“Sounds like I'm interrupting a party,” the guy said with a smile meant for Robyn alone.
“No, nothing like that. I'm sorry you couldn't make it for supper. I was about to make coffee. Would you like some?”
“Please, don't go to any trouble on my account.”
“Oh, it's no trouble,” Robyn assured him.
“Well, if you're sure, then I'd love some.”
Robyn turned to Neal. “I don't think you have been formally introduced. This is Dr. Adam Cain. The man who saved your life.”
She didn't make it sound like the good doctor had done her any favors. Neal didn't understand the challenge in the look she gave him. He held out his hand and the young physician took it with a firm grip. “Pleased to meet you, Dr. Cain. I'm grateful for what you did for me.”
“It was a team effort, believe me. I couldn't have done it without the help of many others, especially Robyn.”
A faint blush stained her cheeks at his praise, and Neal felt a prickle of resentment. Just what was their relationship?
Martha spoke up. “Robyn, Chance is waiting for you to tuck him in.”
Smoothing back her hair with one hand, Robyn said, “If you will excuse me a moment, I have to say good night to my son. Make yourself comfortable, Adam. I'll be right back.”
Neal's vague sense of resentment grew as he watched the young doctor's gaze follow Robyn as she left the room. He recognized the look of a man interested in a woman. Very interested.
Martha turned around and reached into the cupboard. “Can I offer you a piece of apple pie to go with your coffee, Dr. Cain?”
“Yes, thank you, but please call me Adam. You have a very nice home, Mrs. O'Connor. Robyn has told me you're putting the place up for sale.”
“Yes. It's too much for me to run.” She set the pie on the counter and began to slice it. “Now that my husband is gone, there doesn't seem to be much point in holding on to the place.”
Neal knew how hard it had to be on everyone in the family. “Robyn loves this ranch. I know she doesn't want to give it up.”
“Her career doesn't leave her much time to gather cattle,” Adam said with a laugh.
“Herd,” Neal stated in a flat voice. “The term is
herd cattle.
”
Adam's smile faded and he changed the subject. “Mrs. O'Connor, has Robyn told you about the nurse-practitioner program scholarship she's eligible for?”
“No, she hasn't.”
“I thought as much. Robyn is an excellent candidate. The school is in Denver, but the program is only two years. I wish you would urge her to take advantage of this opportunity.”
Martha turned back to her pie. “We don't have the money for Robyn to go back to school. We're already wondering how we'll be able to afford the special schooling Chance will need. The sale of this ranch will cover our debts and what's left of my husband's medical bills and that's about all.”
“I understand that, but this is a privately funded scholarship program that would cover about eighty percent of her expenses. With her experience, she'd have no trouble finding a part-time job while she went to school. Denver has a fine school for the deaf, too. It would be a terrific opportunity for both of them.”
Martha glanced at him over her shoulder. “What does Robyn say about this?”
“She's thinking it over. I know she's very committed to this community. I'm afraid that commitment will keep her from making a wise choice. I want you to help me persuade her to make the right one.”
Neal gave a short bark of laughter, and they both turned to stare at him. “You don't know Robyn very well. Nobody can
persuade
her to do anything she doesn't want to do.”
Adam's eyes narrowed. “Maybe not, but she deserves the chance to be more than an underpaid nurse in a one-horse town.”
Neal crossed his arms and leaned a hip against the counter.
“What's it to you if she stays here?”
“Nothing. I mean, I know she has the potential to be a fine clinician. I don't want to see that skill go to waste.”
“You'll be leaving soon yourself, won't you, Dr. Cain?” Martha asked, sliding a large slice of pie onto a thick white plate.
“Yes, my contract with the hospital is up in a month, and my residency is finished in October.”
“What will you do then?” she asked.
“I'll be joining my father and my grandfather in their practice.”
Neal stood away from the counter. “In Denver, I'll bet.”
Adam's head snapped up. “That's right. What of it?”
“I can guess where the privately funded scholarship is coming from. Smooth but a little underhanded.”
Martha stepped between the two men and handed Adam the plate of pie. She laid a hand on Neal's arm. “Chance wanted to say good night to you, too. Why don't you go up now?”
Forcing himself to relax, Neal said, “Sure. Thanks, Martha.”
“Don't mention it.” A grin twitched at the corner of her lips, but she stifled it. Taking Adam by the arm, she led him to the table. “I make a mean apple pie, even if I do say so myself, Dr. Cain.”
“Please call me, Adam, Mrs. O'Connor.”
“If you'll call me Martha.”
“All right. I can assure you, Martha, there are no strings attached to this scholarship offer.”
“I believe you. Please, sit down and enjoy the pie.”
Neal climbed the stairs and tried to cool his temper. He wasn't even quite sure what it was about Dr. Adam Cain that irked him. Maybe it was because Neal realized he wasn't in a position to influence Robyn's life and Dr. Cain was. Or maybe he was just plain jealous.
Neal shook his head in disgust. First he was jealous of a dead man and now the good doctor, a man she worked with. The list was getting longer by the minute. Oh, he had it bad. He couldn't get Robyn out of his blood.
He stared down the long hall, wondering which room belonged to the boy. The closest door stood open slightly, and he glanced in.
The light from the hall threw a rectangle of brightness across the floor into the dark room. It illuminated the child where he knelt beside a low bed. He was signing as he looked at the ceiling. Neal realized Chance was saying his prayers with his strangely graceful gestures.
The boy's blond hair caught the light and held it around his upturned face like a halo. Robyn sat on the edge of the bed, watching her son. She clutched a ragged brown teddy bear to her chest.
When he finished his prayers, Chance scrambled into bed, and his mother pulled the covers up to his chin. She laid the bear on the edge of the bed beside him, but it slipped to the floor unnoticed as she leaned forward and placed a kiss on her son's brow. Her face came down into the light. Neal's breath caught in his throat at the love shining in her eyes. Gently, she smoothed a hand over her child's tangled curls and smiled at him.
Neal had known her since she was a child as young as Chance. He had seen her face bright with happiness and streaked with tears. He'd seen her eyes snapping with anger and sparkling with laughter. Until this moment, he'd never realized how much love she was capable of giving to another human being. It hit him in the gut like the kick of a mean bull.
He wanted her to look at him with love like that in her eyes. Was he crazy? To do that, he would need to earn back her trust. He wasn't sure that was possible, but he had to try.
She'd said her son was the most important thing in the world to her. Neal saw the truth of that now. If he wanted Robyn back, it meant he would have to accept this child, too.
Could he do it? Could he learn to love a child with a serious handicap, a child he couldn't communicate with? Feeling vaguely ashamed, he faced the fact that he honestly didn't know the answer.
He wantedâneededâRobyn in his life, but he had no idea what she wanted. Was it enough for her to be a nurse in a small town, or did she want more? Did she want what the good doctor had to offer, strings or no strings? Neal owed it to her to find out before he tried to become part of her life again.
He'd return to the rodeo circuit soon. He had to. His fear gnawed at him like the sharp teeth of a rat whenever he thought about lowering himself down onto the twitching back of another bull. It haunted his dreams and brought him jerking awake at night drenched in sweat. The longer he stayed away, the larger his fears seemed to grow. Soon he would have to prove he was still man enough to ride.
But the grueling pace of the pro rodeo circuit was no place to raise a child. Would Robyn be willing to wait for him to come home at the end of each season? Was it fair to ask her to do that? Didn't she deserve a full-time husband? Didn't his son deserve a full-time father?
He faced the unkind truth. He had some prize money safely invested. His brother, Jake, had a head for business, and he had seen to that. But what else did Neal Bryant have to offer? Certainly not a face as handsome as the man downstairs, or a future as secure.
All he had was his ability to ride the twisting, bucking bulls. A national title would bring him a measure of long-term security. Some cowboys could make more from the promotional deals than from riding, and they didn't have to break any bones to do it.
But the top-selling brands didn't want a runner-up to promote their sportswear and boots. They only wanted the winner. And Neal Bryant was still a two-time loser.
Chance caught sight of him in the doorway and waved. Robyn looked over and straightened. The glow faded from her face as Neal walked into the room.
“Your mother said Chance wanted me to come and say good night,” he said quietly.
Chance frowned at him, glanced at his mother and signed.
Neal saw Robyn's faint smile before she looked away, and he asked, “What did he say?”
“He wants to know why you can't talk?”
“Why I can't what?” he asked in confusion.
“Why you can't sign.”
“Oh. Tell him no one ever taught me.” He watched her sign his answer and saw Chance's quick response. She signed to her son again, and a mulish frown sprang to the boy's face. She didn't elaborate until Neal asked, “What did he say now?”
She stood and started for the door. “He said he could teach you, but I told him you weren't going to be around long enough to learn.”
Neal glanced at Robyn's retreating back and then to the boy's frowning face. She was right. He wouldn't be around long enough to learn sign language. But looking at Chance, Neal saw himself at the same age when his mother had just told him he couldn't do something he wanted. His own mother must have seen that same mulish expression more than once. In this instance, he had an advantage over Robyn. He understood what it was to be a boy.
Sticking his thumbs in his ears, Neal wiggled his fingers at Robyn's back and stuck out his tongue. Chance grinned and clapped his hands over his mouth. Some sign language was universal.
Pressing his palms together, Neal laid his cheek on the back of his hand in a gesture of sleep. Chance nodded and flashed him an impish grin as he settled under the covers. Stepping up to the bed, Neal picked up the teddy bear and tucked it in with the child.
He stared at the boy for a long moment. This was his son, the child of the woman he loved. Did it matter that people thought someone else was his father? Neal wanted Robyn to be part of his life again. To do that, he had to find a way to include this child.
Staring down at the face beside the ragged bear, Neal wondered if that would be so hard after all.
* * *
R
OBYN
HELD
THE
door open and watched as Neal gave Chance his bear. Bear had slept with her son since the day he'd been born. It had been a gift from Colin, something he'd bought on a whim one afternoon when they had been shopping for a crib.
Colin had picked up the homely little bear and declared he looked lonely and no one was allowed to feel lonely when he was feeling so happy.
She had smiled and indulged him and secretly hoped the ugly stuffed toy would sit on the back of her closet shelf and be forgotten. Two weeks later, Colin had taken a turn for the worse.
Together, they'd listened to the news that he was no longer in remission. His doctors had wanted to try a new and experimental treatment. Colin had squeezed her hand and consented. He had packed Bear in his suitcase and kept the toy beside his bed in the hospital, but he'd never come home again.
He'd wanted so badly to live until after the baby was born, but in the end, the cancer had won out. Chance had been born a month later. She'd given her son the two gifts Colin wanted him to have. One was Bear, and the other was his name.
Neal crossed the room, and Robyn stepped aside. He gently closed the door behind him. “You have a beautiful son, Robyn.”
“Thank you.”
His gaze roved over her face. Her cheeks grew warm under his close scrutiny. “I think he has your nose and your eyebrows.”
He leaned toward her as if to study those features more closely. The old hallway suddenly seemed too narrow as he loomed over her. Had he always been so broad and so tall? The scent of him, like leather and musk, surrounded her and filled her mind with a dozen memories of their nights togetherâwonderful passionate nights, tender loving nights.
A fierce longing grew in her, a longing to step into his arms and rest her head against his strong chest the way she used to. She swayed toward him, remembering the sweet way he'd made her feel when he held her, the way his chin rested on her head and how sometimes he had kissed the top of it. She had been so happy, untilâ