Jacob fought the urge to roll his eyes and instead brought Hallie’s fingers to his lips. He kissed her soft skin and sighed. “Dr. Drake is the best in our area. But Kai wants me to consider seeing someone out in New York.”
She frowned. “Would you have to move out there for treatment?”
He wasn’t sure she meant to ask the question aloud but there was no way he was going to let her get in her own head about this. Jacob grasped her chin. “Dr. Drake is excellent at what he does. If anyone can confirm I’ll be ready to get back in the saddle, it’d be him.” The words tasted like a lie as they spilled from his lips. He’d continue keeping his pessimistic thoughts to himself. He didn’t want Hallie to be his cheerleader. He just needed her to be his.
“Good. Then I think we can both agree that with how hard you work, everything will turn out exactly as it’s meant to.”
He didn’t voice the fact that her statement could mean either outcome. If this was his wakeup call to settle down, then he’d be forced to accept it.
“I’ve lookedover your charts and your x-rays. The breaks you suffered have healed well and to be honest, they aren’t in high strain locations for the kind of work you do.”
Jacob snorted into the phone. “You’re kidding, right? My body is thrown in all kinds of ways when I’m on the back of a mean bronc.”
Dr. Drake’s chuckle came through the speaker loud and clear. “I know you’re skeptical because of what you’ve been through, but I’ve worked with several rodeo stars over the years. Your bones have healed up nicely and Dr. Smith agrees. Right now, we’re just wanting to make sure there is no permanent damage regarding muscle and ligaments. We need to assess your abilities after you get out of your cast and that brace. It’s going to be strange after being dependent on them for the last couple ofmonths, but I have confidence that as long as we don’t push too hard too fast that you’ll make a full recovery.”
There wasn’t an ounce of hesitation in the man’s voice. Jacob almost allowed himself to believe that this man knew the future. But that was where things got dangerous, wasn’t it? He’d been disappointed in life before. Those small moments hadn’t broken him, but this one would.
Had he been floating through this injury with a grain of hope that all wasn’t lost? He didn’t want to think so. Perhaps he’d buried that grain of hope so deep and something was finally stirring. The end was in sight. His cast and the brace would be coming off in a matter of days. Then he’d start the arduous journey of healing and…
And what if he could actually compete in December as planned?
“Thank you for your call,” Jacob murmured at the end of the conversation. “I’ll call your office and set up my first appointment.”
“Looking forward to working with you,” Dr. Drake said. “Have a good day, Mr. Hines.”
The cabin was quiet. Hallie had run to the store to pick up a few things they needed for dinner and that left Jacob alone with his thoughts. The war in his mind continued to rage. He hadn’t ever let anything stand in his way before. Granted, he’d never had a setback quite like this one. While he’d been angry with Hallie, with himself, and with the world, he was forced to admit that he hadn’t channeled his energy in the best ways.
No, he wasn’t playing the victim. He was being a realist. Jacob knew his limits, and he wasn’t going to walk down a road that would only hurt him further.
Things had changed. Both doctors had agreed that he had a really good shot at returning to his career. It wasn’t a guarantee, he knew that. There was only one question left to ask himself.
If he put forth all his effort and drive into getting back what he’d lost, would he be able to survive the hard truth of failing?
He swallowed, the lump in his throat not budging.
Without thinking, he reached for the remote and scrolled through the programs he’d recorded. Finding one from several months ago, he clicked on it and the screen filled with one of his more recent competitions. It wasn’t difficult to fast forward through the recording until he found what he was looking for.
“… look at him go, John. Jacob Hines has a flawless technique. We’ve seen it a hundred times before and he only seems to be getting better….”
Jacob leaned forward, watching, the seconds ticking by excruciatingly slow. The buzzer went off and he leaped from the back of the horse and ran toward the edge of the arena. His eyes shifted to what was likely the scoreboard and then he smiled as Kai clapped him on the shoulder. He’d won that competition. It had been one of his best.
The click of the door getting unlocked startled him and he fumbled with the remote to turn the television off then he stood. Hallie was already in the room and she glanced from him to the television. His jaw tightened as he waited for her to attempt to talk to him. He might be ready to start having hope again, but he wasn’t ready to talk about it with the woman he was starting to fall for.
She must have read it in his eyes because all she did was smile and hold up the bags she’d brought inside. “Hungry?”
He nodded.
“I was thinking we could watch a movie tonight. Brought one from home. It’s in my purse.”
She moved toward the kitchen to get started on dinner and he hobbled over to the movie. More than once, he cut a look in her direction, watching her, waiting for her to ask him why he was watching his past competitions.
But she didn’t.
This was just one more reason why he needed her in his life. She was getting really good at reading him and knowing when to wait versus when to drag a conversation out of him. Smiling to himself, he opened her purse and pulled out the movie. A flash of color caught his attention. It was a wrinkled sheet of paper, and he tugged on it.
His head snapped over to where Hallie was already pulling pots and pans from the cupboards. Then he dipped his focus to the information regarding a photography competition. This was perfect for her. It would allow her to share her talent with others and explore the possibility of something more when it came to her passion.
He nearly pulled the flyer free to ask her about it but then changed his mind. She hadn’t told him about the competition, which meant that she wasn’t sure she wanted to participate. Nor had she asked his opinion on the matter. And if he wasn’t prepared to explore the possibility of returning to his rodeo career, then did he have any right to push her into talking about this?
