Jake Winters is a wealthy man.
He pulled to a stop in front of the house. Hopping out, he carried her in and was about to set her on the couch when Faith stepped through a swinging door.
“She needs to go to bed and rest.”
Jake straightened and followed Faith down a long hallway to a room where she placed something on the nightstand before pulling down the covers on a queen-sized bed.
Jake laid her down. “I’m sorry,” he said when Emily gasped in pain.
Emily tried to smile to assure him she was okay, but it probably looked like a grimace. Her whole body hurt.
Faith slipped her shoe off and tucked the covers around her. After shooing Jake out of the room, she turned to the nightstand.
“Dr. Young prescribed you some pain meds as well as a few sleeping pills in case you find it hard to sleep with your casts. We’ll start with a pain pill. It’ll probably knock you out as it is.”
Emily couldn’t muster an argument as Faith handed her a pill and waited for her to slip it in her mouth before handing her the water. She couldn’t believe how much getting dressed and making the trip to the ranch had exhausted her.
Faith stepped to the window and closed the Americana-themed curtains that matched the homemade quilt on the bed, darkening the room.
Faith’s lack of chatter surprised Emily. She took her nursing responsibilities very seriously. That or Emily looked as bad as she felt.
“Thank you,” Emily said as Faith stepped to the door. “I can’t thank you and Jake enough.”
“Don’t you fret, dear. You just rest now.”
After Faith walked out, Emily closed her eyes and tried to relax, despite the pain pulsing through her body. How strange that she was at the mercy of strangers, yet she felt welcome and safe, despite not knowing who she was or what had happened to her.
* * *
Jake leftRobert’s old room, where he’d laid Emily, to pace the great room. He wasn’t needed; his mother was capable of caring for her patient, but he couldn’t get the concern he’d seen on Emily’s face when he arrived at the hospital out of his mind.
She’d quickly hidden it, but by the time they arrived at the ranch, she looked defeated and exhausted.
His mother came out of Emily’s room. “Don’t you have work to do?”
“I do... I’m just making sure you don’t need me for anything else.”
“We’ll be fine.” Faith lifted her chin. “I already got your father’s wheelchair and your old crutches out of storage.” Jake detected a slight tremor in his mother’s voice. “It will be best if she’ll let us push her around in the wheelchair, but I suspect she is a strong, independent woman.”
Jake put his arm around his mother’s shoulders. “I know it’s difficult for you to be back at the ranch nursing an invalid again, Mom. I know being at the ranch at all is hard.”
She hugged him. “It is hard because there are so many happy memories here.” She grew misty-eyed. “But it’s not the same without him.”
He squeezed her shoulder. “No, it’s not.”
His mom had moved in with his Aunt Charity after his Uncle Rich died suddenly a little over a year ago. She said it was because she didn’t want Charity to be alone, but Jake suspected she needed to get away from the ranch.
Jake didn’t blame her. Some days, working the ranch, trying to fill the void left by his father, Jake felt overwhelmed.
She leaned away enough to look up at him. “You should have moved into the master bedroom like I told you to.”
“No, Mom. That’s your room. This will always be your home.”
“It’s time for it to become your home, son. It’s time for you to find a wife and have a family of your own.”
“You can save your breath.” Jake dropped his arm and stepped away. “Lottie gives me this lecture on a regular basis. I’m too busy to devote time to a wife and kids.”
“You’re only as busy as you choose to be, Jake. If you found something... or someone you cared about as much as you do this ranch, you’d find a way to make time.”
