Tyler’s stomach bottomed out. Silence descended over the room as he and Kade and Emberly stared at the doctor.
Tyler’s mind began to spin. He could find a solution to the problem. He always did. “It’s all right. Cancer is treatable. There’s so much now that can be done to cure it, right?” He didn’t know much about treatments, but cancer research had come a long way over recent years.
“You’re right.” The doctor’s expression remained anything but hopeful. “There have been many advancements, and your father’s oncologist will have suggestions.”
“We’ll go to the best cancer hospital,” Tyler continued, “hire the best physicians, pay for the leading cures. Anything. We’ll do it.”
A hand on his arm brought his rambling to a halt. Emberly had risen, was standing beside him. “What is his prognosis?” she asked quietly.
The doctor rose now too. “The endoscopic ultrasound is scheduled for tomorrow, and we’ll find out more after we get pictures of his digestive tract and nearby organs.”
“But…” Emberly persisted. “What is your professional opinion?”
The doctor was silent for a beat too long. Long enough for Tyler to know they wouldn’t like the answer.
Emberly didn’t shift her gaze from the physician. “Doctor, please be honest.” At twenty-five, Emberly was turning into a strong woman. She’d been a little down lately because of the recent breakup with her boyfriend. Tyler and all his brothers had realized the guy wasn’t right for her. She would see that soon enough too.
The doctor met Emberly’s gaze. “It’s our hope we’ve caught the cancer early enough that we can remove it with surgery and chemotherapy. But we won’t know what stage he’s in until after we get more test results.”
“If you had to take a guess,” Kade persisted, “what would it be?”
“I’d prefer not to speculate at this point. But I do suggest lining up palliative care at your home so that your father will have the help and comfort he needs when he’s discharged.”
“Palliative care?” Kade stuffed his hands into his pockets, his shoulders slumping. “Sort of like hospice?”
“We’re not giving up and having hospice.” Tyler didn’t care that his voice was belligerent.
“Of course not,” the doctor responded almost too placatingly. “Palliative is the step before hospice to manage the treatment and pain. And since you’re a fair distance from the hospital, you’ll want to have the appropriate care in place to see your dad through the difficult days ahead.”
Emberly was already pulling out her phone. “We’ll line it all up. I’ll find someone today.”
“Only the very best,” Tyler insisted.
Emberly slanted him an exasperated look that warned he needed to stop being so high-strung.
When it came to his dad, though, he wasn’t about to loosen up. Not even a little.
“Dad’s a fighter. Whatever this is, he’ll beat it.” Tyler wouldn’t give up. He’d do whatever it took to overcome the odds. It didn’t matter the time or money or effort. He’d find a way to save his dad if it was the last thing he did.
3
Colorado was just as beautiful as she’d imagined.
Kinsey Wingrove peered out the helicopter window to the mountains below, the highest rocky peaks still covered in winter snow, even in May.
“Almost there, Miss Wingrove.” The pilot’s voice resounded in her headphones.
She gave him a thumbs-up from where she sat in one of the back seats. Then she craned her neck to see the expanse of land spreading out between two ranges that ran from north to south—the one in the east that they were flying over and then the one in the west that rose up just as majestically.
The valley between the two ranges was called Park County and was home to several little Colorado towns including Fairplay, Como, Alma…and Healing Springs, which was the town closest to the ranch where she was headed to start her newest traveling nurse job.
As soon as she’d been called with her assignment, she’d researched the town only five miles from Healing Springs Ranch. Apparently the ranch had been in existence as a homestead from the early days of Colorado in the 1860s, not long after people had flocked to the area for the gold rush. With a hot spring on the land, the owners had opened an associated inn.
Eventually, as the cattle ranch and inn had grown and succeeded, a town had sprung up to cater to the needs of the people living in the area. Now Healing Springs was a posh resorttown where people from all over the country came to ski on nearby slopes in the winter and to hike and camp at the reservoir in the summer.
According to everything Kinsey had read, the ranch was even more elite than the town that had been named after it. When she’d first pulled up the website page and seen the prices, she’d choked on her latte and sprayed it over her laptop. Vacationing in one of the beautiful homes at the ranch during peak season cost $16,000 to $20,000 per night. The smaller, but no less elaborate, cabins cost $5,000 per night.
She couldn’t imagine who would ever be willing to pay such steep prices for a single night. Obviously people were willing because according to the website, the ranch had no availability for the rest of the year, and accommodations were already filling up for the following year.
