Parker (5 page)

That was a relief. It gave her some breathing
space to figure out her next steps. It gave her some
space
from the hunky cowboy she had kissed.

Gah!
What got into her?

There was no room in her life right now for a
relationship. She’d just spent the larger part of the past three
years caring for a dying man—a man she loved very much. Her
husband. And she had no desire to spring forward so quickly into
another man’s arms.

She needed time. And healing. And the means
to
find
herself in the aftermath of
losing
herself.
This was her time, and she needed to be stingy with it.

Parker McKenna would be an infringement upon
that promise she’d made to herself and to her husband on his
deathbed.

The promise to fulfill her dreams, whatever
they may be.

She never told Jack what those dreams were.
She simply nodded and told him she would. After he passed and the
details were worked out with the insurance company, she realized
Jack had more than amply provided for her financially—and that
reaching her dream of quitting her going-nowhere administrative
assistant job of fifteen years was definitely a possibility.

No, it was reality.

So she had. And she’d bought the Crandall
cabin and decided to kick-start her small business into a higher
gear.

Her dream. Her gift from Jack.

Parker McKenna didn’t fit into this picture.
Too much like a love triangle. Having Parker in her head, and maybe
heart, would compete with Jack’s memory, which was very much still
alive in her spirit.

No. Not happening.

At her desk, she carefully opened her laptop
with her right hand and pulled her planner toward her.
Focus on
work, Reba.

Just as she thought. A blog post was due up
in forty-five minutes, a recipe to the Iron Pizza Chef Bake-off
Competition was due by noon, and some edits still needed to be done
on the
Making Fondant the Fun Way
tutorial to upload to her
YouTube channel by tomorrow afternoon. And that was only today.

No time for a doctor visit.

She sat and placed her fingers on her
keyboard to type in her password and winced. Her left forearm,
wrist and fingers hurt like nobody’s business.

She wanted to cry.

****

Liz would kill him if she found out he was
meeting with Tom Walker without her. He shouldn’t have mentioned
the meeting to his siblings. Damn, he hoped neither of them
mentioned it before he got back to the ranch.

Technically, he and Liz were co-executors of
his father’s will. And
officially
, any decisions and
discussions with Tom should happen together. But Tom wanted to talk
with Parker alone, and for what reason, Parker wasn’t certain.

He drummed his fingers on his thigh while he
waited in the attorney’s outer office.

Tom kept Saturday morning hours because he
could reach more clients who worked during the week. The
receptionist, his wife Caroline, picked up her phone when it
buzzed. “Yes?” She glanced to Parker and stood. “Tom will see you
now. I think you know the way.”

Parker rose, his hat in hand, and dipped his
head in a nod. “Yes, ma’am. Thank you.”

Tom’s office was all big wood and masculine,
with a desk so large that even Parker felt intimidated sitting
across from it. If he didn’t know Tom Walker so well—a friend of
his father’s since Parker was a kid—he might have been even more
intimidated. The distance between them was like a chasm. He
supposed that was a tactic of some sort. A lawyer thing, maybe.

Or perhaps a Montana lawyer thing. Big sky,
big desk, big attitude….

Tom Walker was all of that and more.

But he rose and rounded the desk as Parker
entered, putting out his hand. “Hello, son. I sure do wish we were
meeting under different circumstances.”

Parker agreed. “Yes. Me too.”

“Have a seat.” Tom motioned to the chair and
then sat in his large, leather desk chair. “Hell, I’ll just get
right to the point, Parker.”

Parker leaned forward. “Before you do, Tom.
Are you sure we shouldn’t have Liz here? I don’t want to do
anything to rock the boat.”

Tom shook his head. “No. We’ll talk with Liz
soon. There is just one thing to discuss now. I know you are under
a lot of pressure, and maybe this will help.”

Parker’s gut clutched a bit. What Tom said
sounded like good news but— “Go on, Tom.”

“You know that all of you kids need to hang
around for another week or so. Your dad wanted you together to work
out any relationship issues that were going on.”

“We do know that, and yes, I believe any
issues between us have been resolved.”

“What about any issues with Liz?”

“Liz?”
Shit.
What was this about?

“Yes. I know that Callie has always had a
thing going on with Liz. How is that?”

“Much better. They seem to be on the
mend.”

“Good.” Tom studied him for a moment.

“What else, Tom?”

He paused, glancing to the file on his desk.
“How is
your
relationship with Liz, Parker? I know it’s
always been decent but… Your dad wanted to make sure it was solid
before he disclosed the contents of his will.”

Parker’s back stiffened. “Solid? Liz and I
have always gotten along. Lately we’ve had some disagreements about
the dude ranch operation, and hell, yes, I’m a little worried that
whatever Dad had in his will is going to affect my livelihood. The
ranch. Our way of life. Liz and I don’t quite see eye to eye in
that respect. She wants to expand the dude ranch operation, and I’m
not interested in having any part of that. I run a working cattle
ranch. I don’t need vacationers in my way. I’m worried she’s talked
Dad into giving up some of the ranchland for her expansion
ideas.”

Tom stared at him and exhaled. “You need to
resolve that soon. In your head. With her. However you do it, just
do it. I want it resolved before we go over the contents of the
will with the family on…” He looked down to his calendar and put
his finger on a date. “Before June 17. That’s two full weeks from
the date of your father’s death. It’s about a week and a half from
now. I want you to think about how important it is for you and Liz
to get along. It is what your father wanted.”

Parker narrowed his gaze, and his heartbeat
kicked up a notch. “That’s it? That’s what you wanted me to come in
here for?”

Tom nodded. “For now. I’m following your
father’s wishes.” He leaned back in his chair and pushed the
speakerphone button. “Caroline, can you find a time to meet with
Parker and Liz McKenna on Friday? I’d say we’ll need about an
hour.”

Parker waited while Tom stayed on the line
and Caroline came back with a reply. “You have a two o’clock open
on Friday, Tom.”

Tom glanced Parker’s way. “That work for you
and Liz?”

“I’ll check with her.”

“Do that.”

“Set it up for now, Caroline.”

Parker stood. “I need to get back to the
ranch.”

Tom rose and put his hand out again. “I
understand. Unless I hear from you or Liz, I’ll see you on
Friday.”

Parker shook his hand. “Yes, sir. See you
then.”

About forty-five minutes later, and closing
in on the ranch, Parker contemplated what Tom Walker had told him.
His brain spun over and around their brief conversation, and he
attempted to rationalize and dissect every word. He figured it
pretty much boiled down to his father wanted what he always
wanted—for everyone to be happy and get along.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want that too. He
did. He just wanted to keep his ranch intact in the process.

In his shirt pocket, his cell phone vibrated.
Eyes on the road, he fished it out and swiped to see the message on
the screen.

It was a text from Callie.
At Reba’s. Says
she doesn’t need a dr. Looks like crap.

Parker frowned and thumbed in the words:
Convince her.

Almost immediately, his phone binged
again.

Callie:
Shit. Calling 911. Where are
you?

His foot hit the accelerator.

Chapter Five

People were fawning all over her again.

This was not something she would ever be
accustomed to. The last thing Reba remembered was standing in her
kitchen talking to Callie, protesting a bit because the feisty
young woman was practically insisting she take her to see a doctor,
and feeling a little woozy in her tummy and light in her head.
Wait. What had Callie said? That Parker had insisted she come and
fetch her to take her to Livingston?

Well, Parker McKenna was not the boss of
her.

But, oh, then this weird rushing sound
flooded her ears, followed by the chatter of a thousand people.
Sounded like. Those two sensations rode over her with lightning
speed and evidently, must have taken her to the floor in
seconds.

As she woke, someone called her name. From
afar. Way far. Like she was in a tunnel or a well. Or maybe
China.

Groggy and confused, she focused on the face
in front of her.

“Reba? Oh my God. You had me so scared!”

A girl. Woman. Brown hair.

“Wha—?”

“It’s Callie, Reba. You passed out. I’ve
called— Oh! Here comes help!”

There was some commotion behind Callie. Door
slamming. Footsteps. Voice. Voices again?

“In here!” Callie yelled.

Reba tried to sit up. The rushing came back.
“Ooooh.”

“Reba! Oh hell! She’s down again.”

Reba heard those words, but they sounded like
slow-motion talk, and try as she might, she couldn’t control her
body as she slumped back to the floor. She did register big arms
scooping her up and carrying her. Big. Strong. Arms.

Carrying her.

Talking to her.

Smooth. Raw. Sexy. Voice.

Deep voice.

Yes. Nice. Saying things. She didn’t know
what. Didn’t care what. Big, strong arms were a good thing.

Reba drifted and snuggled into his
warmth.

****

Parker leapt from his truck, crossed Reba’s
porch in two steps, and barreled through her front door. He started
barking instructions on his way in.

One look at Reba curled up on the floor
alongside a kneeling Callie made his heart jump. “Call Mike
Attaway,” he shouted to his sister. “Tell him I’m on the way to the
hospital.”

Crouching beside her, he slipped his arms
around Reba’s back and cradled her against his chest. “I’m getting
you some help, dammit, whether you want it or not.” He fussed at
her, hoping she couldn’t hear him. Hell, he didn’t care if she
could hear him.

“I’m coming with you,” Callie said.

“Fine. Good.” He’d probably need the help. He
headed for the door, then stopped short and glanced about. “Find
Reba’s purse. She might need her driver’s license, insurance cards…
Hell, I don’t know, a woman always needs her purse.”

“Okay. Will do. I called 911.”

“I’ll get us there faster.”

“Should I call them back?”

Parker halted again and stared at his sister.
“Get the purse. You can call them back in the truck.” Hell, Callie
was usually levelheaded.

And so was he. But right now his gut twisted
up in worry. He hoped he could drive.

Of course he could drive. He would get her
there safely. Faster.

He shouldn’t have left her this morning.
Dammit!

Kicking through the front door, he rushed to
his truck and then yelled, “Callie!”

An eternity passed while he waited for her.
Finally, Reba’s heavy pine front door slammed shut and Callie
tripped down the front steps, her phone to her ear.

“Mike said he’d meet us at the ER.”

“Great. Open the back door,” he said,
indicating the extended cab. “Slide in on the bench seat, and I’ll
lay her down beside you.”

“Okay. I got her purse, some ice in a baggy,
and a cold cloth. And a bottle of water. Maybe that will help.”

“Can’t hurt.”

He deposited Reba on the seat, swept the hair
out of her face and lingered for a brief moment looking at her
closed eyes and her bruised face. Something jerked inside his chest
and curled into this stomach, and then he glanced away, trying to
rid himself of a nagging feeling of… What was it? Fear?

Worry. Maybe. Yes.

Both. He was worried and he was afraid for
Reba.

He retreated and closed the door. Seconds
later, he was in the cab, had started the engine, and headed down
the lane toward the main road.

It was an hour’s drive to the hospital.
Probably a long one.

Eyes on the road, McKenna. Just get her
there.

****

Reba was in a vehicle. A moving vehicle. She
just didn’t remember how she got there or why. So, she lay still,
eyes closed, and listened.

All she heard was her heart pounding, and
that was a bit of a distraction.

After a moment, she slowly opened her eyes.
She was in the extended cab of a pickup truck, looking up at the
back of a headrest and a cowboy’s head.

“Where are we going?” she managed to get
out.

“Reba?” A woman’s voice came from her right.
She strained to look that way, but at the same time, the woman’s
face was suddenly next to hers.

“Yes,” she squeaked out. “Where are we
going?”

“To the hospital. You passed out.”

“Oh.” It was coming back to her. “In my
kitchen?”

“Yes. Here,” she said with a soft voice. “Do
you want to try to sit up?”

A voice barked from the driver’s seat before
she could respond. “Maybe she shouldn’t, Callie.”

Callie.
That’s right. Callie McKenna.
And the cowboy must be her brother. Parker. Whom she had
kissed.

Ugh.

Reba pushed up on an elbow. “Yes, help me sit
up please,” she said. As she moved slowly into a sitting position,
she added, “Pretty soon you all are going to start charging me a
fee for coming to my rescue. What happened?”