Second Chance Ranch (21 page)

“I love you, Jen. I should have told you long ago, but I knew I had to break away from the Davidson name -- do it all myself — and make it through school, make it on my own. You’ve always been my friend, but you’ve been my crutch, too. I learned the importance of self-motivation and discipline from you, but I had to see if I could hold myself to the line.” He grazed the pads of his thumbs beneath her eyes, reveling in the softness of her skin. “I thought I had done so much and come so far, only to find out you still run laps around me when it comes to responsibility.”

“You did what you had to do and I faced the obstacles that were put in front of me.” She sniffed and rubbed her nose. “I know our lives would be different if we’d kept the baby and I guess we’ll never know if it would’ve been better or worse. All I care about is that God brought us together again now.” She squeezed him tightly. “I’ve missed you, Zac. So many times over the years I wished I could’ve called to ask your advice or opinion on something. Or just to talk. You were always my best friend.”

He smiled. “Yep, Bean. We were definitely two of a kind.”

She laughed. “Quit calling me that. I’ve filled out.”

“You most certainly have. And I love the new and improved Bean just as much.”

She hugged him. “I’m glad you’re here.”

He bent and captured her lips again, her sigh enough to let him know she felt the same. Her summery scent drifted around him. So many memories seeped back, he couldn’t keep it all straight.

She broke the kiss and searched his face. “Zac? Are you scared?”

His conscience nipped at him again. He’d scoured the social site for every bit of information he could glean about Carli Seacrest. He saw love in a family that God had pieced together - all the Seacrest children had been adopted - and accepted the fact everyday life was good for his daughter. He felt a bit uncertain about the transplant - having never been one to relish the unknown, but still, the outcome of the procedure didn’t scare him as much as telling Jen she wouldn’t be buying the Trails’ End. He couldn’t bring up the ranch now. He’d find a way to tell her after the procedure. When they could give the matter their full attention.

He tightened his embrace. “Only that you might leave me again,” he whispered in her hair.

She pressed her fingers along his ribs as if counting them, her palms pressing him closer to her. “I couldn’t leave you if I tried.”

* * *

Cheers floated in through the open health room window. Jen grinned knowing the kids were having fun as she stared at the stack of papers scattered around her. Maybe she wasn’t cut out to be a paper pusher. Health forms and reports vied for her attention, the monotony of legalese and standard issue directives from the hospital board a counterbalance to her whirling emotions. She wanted to get it all done so she could spend the day with Zac tomorrow and not feel guilty about leaving her work undone.

The echo of another whoop floated into the office. “Sounds like the kids are having way too much fun. I don’t see a ballgame going on. What are they doing?”

Tina Fenwood looked up from the box of meds she was inventorying. “Last time I looked, there was a crowd along the corral fence. Maybe Patrick has some sort of jousting competition going on.”

“Hmm.” Unscheduled activities caused alarms to go off in Jen’s brain. She backed from her desk, uncertain she wanted to discover the source of excitement. “I’m sure it’s nothing.”

Stepping out of the health office, an errant breeze bathed her in pine scent. Another cheer went up as she turned and headed toward the corral. Even from a distance she could tell Patrick had nothing to do with this excitement.

Zac sat atop a sorrel horse, both horse and rider focused on a group of steers across the corral. His lips moved and the horse turned to the left. Up a few paces and quick reflex action, the pair skillfully cut a bald-faced steer from the herd. The steer angled back only to have the horse sidestep in the way. Zac held the reins yet allowed the horse to work the prize to the back corner of the pen before pivoting around and setting the steer free.

The campers loved it. Zac grinned like a kid who’d scored a grand slam for the home team. The horse looked pretty proud, too.

Zac urged the horse to the fence and caught her eye across the compound, his triumphant smile giving a crooked tilt to his lips.

That was all it took? One look from the back of his horse, one guileless grin, and her heart melted like winter ice on the Gunnison River in spring thaw. She couldn’t begin to wonder how she’d avoided seeing him all these years.

“Alright, everyone. Show’s over. Thanks for being a great audience.” Zac urged the horse to the gate. “I’ve got work to do before the boss lady fires me.”

She looked up as heat bathed her neck. “I’m not the boss lady, and you’re not the entertainment. Last time I looked, that was Patrick’s job.”

“Are you going to work with him tomorrow?” A tall, thin boy with glasses stood on the bottom rail of the fence panel, arm stretched out to pet the horse. “This is cool.”

“Not tomorrow, Brett, I’ve got something going on.” Zac winked at Jen. “But if all goes well, I’ll be back Saturday to see you guys before you leave.”

Always the optimist, Jen had to give him credit. They’d said harvesting the cells was day surgery, but that didn’t mean Zac would be ready to party with his new BFFs. “Okay everyone, snack time in the barn. Mr. Zac needs to get back to work.”

“See?” Zac winked at Brett. “Boss lady.”

Brett giggled and ran off after his friends.

“Why are you commandeering the kids? Patrick has the schedule all worked out.”

“And who do you think gave me permission to entertain the troops?” Lifting his leg over the saddle, Zac hit the ground with grace, his denim jeans molding over his long legs like a second skin. Reins in hand, he stepped over to the fence, his cowboy walk better than any swagger.

Heat raced up her neck. Fine thoughts to have just before surgery. “Didn’t the doctors tell you to take it easy or something today?”

Tipping his cowboy hat back, he grinned causing the dimples she loved to run deep. “I had to prove I was a cowboy.”

She cleared her throat. “Why? I told them you’re a cowboy.”

“Goes with the mystique of the ranch.” He indicated his body with a sweep of his fingers. “Riding jeans, western shirt, cowboy hat. Gotta look the part. What self-respecting cowboy wears ball caps and hiking boots? Besides, Shiner here hasn’t been worked much. I thought I’d give him a run.”

The smell of sweat and dirt woven with the scent of healthy male drifted over her. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath--for composure. She didn’t want to get drawn into his twisted logic. She just wanted to get surgery over with and figure life out from there. Opening her eyes, she leaned against the fence and look into his sweaty, grimy, handsome face. “You are too much.”

He leaned closer until the brim of his hat bumped her forehead. His strong jaw tempted her until she couldn’t help but run her fingertip along the smooth skin, stopping as his shaggy hair curled over his ear. “You need a haircut, cowboy.”

Peppermint scented breath warmed her cheek. “I think I need more than a haircut.”

Firm, gentle lips captured hers. Jen didn’t care she stood in the open, beside a corral, in broad daylight. She kissed him back with a hunger that belied her earlier words of caution and taking it easy. There was nothing easy about her feelings for Zac Davidson. If anything, they confused her more than anything she’d encountered her entire life.

The scuff of reins hitting the ground came moments before his palm cupped her jaw and Zac deepened their kiss. Jen looped her arms around his neck and pressed against the corral fence that separated them. A low growl rose in Zac’s throat as he snaked his arm through the rails and rested his hand on the curve of her hip.

Tangling her fingers in the fringe of his hair, Jen inhaled the scent of horse, leather and strong, healthy male. She’d always loved the way Zac smelled, no matter how hard he’d worked or good he looked. She gripped his collar and couldn’t get enough of his kiss.

“Don’t mean to interrupt.”

Like a sharp syringe pointed the wrong way, Jen released Zac and backed up against fence. Heart pounding, she drew a breath and tried to steady her shaky hands. Tina stood beside her with a grin that could ignite embarrassment from a mile away.

“Nice you two are catching up on old times, but Patrick just called. He wants to know why he’s serving a snack when the kids just had lunch?”

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

“Have you eaten anything in the past 12 hours?” Dr. Jenkins studied his file.

“No.”

“Anything besides water to drink?”

“No.”

The doctor peered over the paperwork and pointed the eraser of his pencil at Zac. “Did you sleep well last night?”

“No.”

Jen grinned at Zac’s curt answers. For all his calm appearance to the world, she knew him well enough to recognize the stress steeped through every fiber of his being. Fear of the unknown brought even the strongest people to their knees. She’d done her best to distract him, but he continually snapped back to silence — his way of dealing with what he couldn’t control.

She stood beside Zac in the prep room. He sat on the bed in his hospital gown, his long legs dangling as he crossed his ankles. Holding his hand, she felt the tension in the more than occasional squeeze of his cold fingers. She’d tried to rub some warmth into them. No luck.

“As a show of solidarity, I haven’t eaten anything since last night either.” She peeked over Dr. Jenkins’ paperwork as he made notes in his file.

“That’s very good, Jennifer. You always were a thoughtful one.” He stopped writing and looked at her. “We miss you around here. Are you coming back soon?”

“Not unless I have to.” Jennifer smiled as the doctor stood with his back to the door, his white coat open revealing a dark blue shirt and a Garfield the Cat tie. “My plans for the camp are coming along great. I’ll know in the next week or so whether my loan has been approved.”

“Well, your plans sound exactly like what the kids need. Someplace safe to be a kid.” He took his glasses off his nose and slipped them into his breast pocket. “You had a way of calming down our more fearful patients, they didn’t seem as anxious when you were around. If you find being a camp director isn’t for you, you can’t always come back here.”

She didn’t see that as a possibility. “Thanks, Dr. Jenkins. I’ll keep that in mind.”

He nodded and turned to Zac. “The attendant will be here soon to take you to surgery. I know I’ve told you before, Zac, but just to recap, this is a very cautious procedure. We’ll be under sterile conditions to avoid any and all contamination of the marrow. There can be complications, although extremely rare for the donor, the onus of complications lie with the recipient. I have your signed consent forms. Do you have any other questions?”

Zac cleared his throat, his voice obviously dry. “Will I be out for this?”

“Some doctors use local anesthesia, some general. I prefer a middle of the road “twilight” dose. You’ll be alert during the procedure, but won’t feel anything, but if you do, tell us. Coming out of the lighter anesthesia and the recovery afterwards is easier on you.”

Zac nodded. Jen wanted to wrap her arms around him like she had her pediatric patients and reassure him everything would be fine. “I’ll be beside you when you wake up, hopefully before you wake up.”

Shaking his head, Dr. Jenkins offered Zac a kind smile. “It’s not a lengthy procedure. We’ll have you back in recovery in no time at all. Once we know you’re stable, you’re free to go home.” He looked at Jen. “Are you driving back to Hawk Ridge this evening?”

“I think he’ll rest better at home.” She tugged on Zac’s hand. “I promise to pull over and feed you if you’re hungry.”

Skepticism arched his brow. “That makes me feel better.”

Dr. Jenkins nodded. “Zac, I’ll see you on the other side of the procedure.”

“I can’t wait.”

After the door closed behind the doctor, Zac released her hand and held his arms open to Jen. She slipped into his embrace, all her maternal instincts on high alert. “It’ll be fine, Zac. I know it’ll be a lot easier than stabilizing pneumonia.”

“I was ten. I don’t remember much of that.” A catch in his voice belied his nonchalant dismissal. The winter he’d suffered pneumonia almost killed him. He held her tighter. “Is this really going to help, Jen?”

“It will.” Jen scrambled for any encouragement she could think of. “This transplant of cells will give Carli a fighting chance. Once her blood cells begin to rejuvenate, she’ll be on the up side of this battle.”

“Doesn’t she have to be here for this to happen?”

She brushed her fingers over the warm skin of his back between the edges of his gown. “In most cases, donors are found through the bone marrow registry - it’s national - so more often than not, the donor and recipient are in different states.”

“Mind boggling.”

“The miracle of modern medicine. They extract bone marrow here, ice it down, put it on a plane and next thing you know, they’ll be prepping the recipient for a transplant.”