She’d opened up a little about her family, sharing about a sister who had died four years ago and how her parents hadgiven up on their marriage of thirty years. He’d sensed the hurt the topic still caused her and hadn’t pushed her to say more than she’d wanted to, which hadn’t been much.
He’d enjoyed telling her more about his siblings, because he was so proud of each of them and how hard they worked. None of them were perfect and each had their own struggles, but he loved them. At least once a day, Emberly and Kade came by the house to see Dad and check on his progress, and it was clear the two of them both liked Kinsey too.
Whatever the case, the camaraderie with Kinsey was one of the best parts of his day, something he was starting to look forward to more than he should.
Whenever he worried about his feelings toward her escalating, he reminded himself that her time at the ranch would soon be drawing to a close. She’d been there for almost one month, and Dad was getting stronger with each passing day. The incisions from his surgery were healing well. He was regaining an appetite and had actually sat down at the table for a meal last night. He was getting around the house more, and over the past few days, Kinsey had taken him for short walks outside.
Kinsey had indicated that Dad could possibly be strong enough for chemotherapy in two or three weeks. By that point, Dad wouldn’t require a full-time nurse any longer. If he needed any help at all, Kinsey had suggested they look for a home health aide or certified nursing assistant who could visit every day.
When both he and Dad had offered to keep paying her to stay, she’d laughed and told them that as much as she’d enjoyed her time at the ranch, she wasn’t paid the big bucks to babysit. She wanted to go where she would be needed.
Tyler understood what she was saying. Or at least he was trying to. She’d said that she loved being able to help people, and once she finished with Dad, she wanted to move on to the next complicated case and bring hope and healing to someone new.
“Go ahead and deal again,” Dad said as he sat forward and began to press the buttons of his hospital bed. “I’ll play the next hand and make sure Kinsey doesn’t cheat anymore.”
Kinsey smiled warmly at Dad. “You know I never cheat with you. I only do it with Tyler because he cheats too.”
Tyler scoffed and began to gather the cards.
Kinsey stood and took the cards from him. “Hand them over or you’re going to be late for your date.”
Tyler paused and glanced at his watch. In the next instant, he jumped up from his chair. “Shoot. I’m already late.”
Kinsey continued to collect the stray cards from the table. “I’m sure Nettie won’t mind. You could tell her you’re flying out to lasso the moon, and she’d tell you that’s a grand idea.”
He’d already gone out on one date with Nettie the night after the dinner and dance with Kinsey. He’d taken Nettie to a local restaurant in Healing Springs, and they’d had a nice time. Nettie had been nice. The food had been nice. And the evening had been nice.
Nice.
He was satisfied with nice. Nice was all he needed. He didn’t want the fireworks that had been going off inside him during his dinner and dance with Kinsey. Those fireworks had been hot and exciting and even pleasurable, but he only had to think back to the fireworks that he’d had with Stephanie to remind himself that the spectacular colors and the dazzling lights fizzled out eventually, leaving only ashes.
“Nettie wants to take me to the VFW for their Friday night fish fry.”
“The VFW?” Kinsey’s bright blue-green eyes fixed upon him and filled with a hundred questions, and not just about what a VFW was.
“The American Legion.”
Her brow just quirked higher.
“It’s a club for veterans, and they serve food.”
“Oh.” Her one-word answer said everything, particularly that she still didn’t think Nettie was right for him.
“It’ll be fine.” He’d been trying to convince himself of that all week after Nettie had suggested the VFW for dinner and shopping at an antique store afterward. “I’m sure no matter what we do, it will be fun.” At least, that’s what he was hoping for. It wasn’t necessarily about what they did but that they were together and getting to know each other.
“You’re right.” His dad sat forward and swung his legs over the edge of the bed. “You go have fun with Nettie, and I’ll keep Kinsey company tonight.”
Kinsey laughed lightly as she moved to Dad’s side. She wasn’t helping transfer him anymore, but she did position herself close by in such a way that, most of the time, Dad didn’t even realize she was hovering.
Dad rose and Kinsey pretended to keep shuffling the cards as she stayed by his side. She was very good at what she did. That had become abundantly clear over the weeks of watching her work.
Tyler inwardly cringed at how judgmental he’d been the first couple of weeks. He’d been a donkey. Not many women would have put up with his chauvinism and shown him as much grace as she had.
Kinsey Wingrove was a classy woman. That’s all there was to it.
He needed to find a way to officially apologize and say thank you before she left the ranch. But how?
“Go on now,” Dad said with a wave of his hand. “Enjoy your night. Who knows? Maybe you’ll fall in love with Nettie tonight, and we’ll have a wedding to celebrate soon.”
