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Tulsi grinned as she turned to Clem, relieved to see her daughter looking more alert this morning. “Well good morning, bossy pants. A please and thank you in there somewhere would be nice.”
“That’s okay,” Pike said, laughing. “I think you should get a break from saying please and thank you for at least a day or two after major surgery. If I have knee surgery, I’m not going to say please or thank you for at least four days. And I’m going to make you two bring me milk shakes for every meal.”
Clem’s eyes widened. “Can I have a milk shake for breakfast, Mama? And lunch?”
“I think you should have something easy on your stomach and healthy,” Tulsi said, smiling as Clem wrinkled her nose. “We’ll talk to the nurses, but milk shakes might have to wait for a few days. And any candy you win has to go into the stash to eat later.”
“Your mama and I won’t eat any candy, either,” Pike said. “In a show of solidarity.”
Clem sighed. “Okay, but can we watch a movie before we play? My brain is too sleepy for poker.”
Tulsi started toward the door. “I’ll go check with the nurses and see what movies they have for kids, but if there’s nothing you like, I can always run home to get your DVDs.”
“No, you stay, Mama,” Clem said, panic flashing across her features. “Mr. Pike can go.”
“Of course I can.” Pike cast a reassuring look Tulsi’s way before sitting down in the chair next to Clem’s bed. “I’ll go get you any movie you want, but I’ve also got some videos on my phone. You want to see the tree house on my ranch in Montana? It’s pretty cool.”
“Oh yes, please.” Clem smiled as Pike pressed the button to elevate the top of the bed, propping her up. “Mia told me all about it, but she always forgets to take pictures.”
“I know,” Pike said, leaning closer to Clem as they both looked down at the phone. “She says she gets too busy having fun to take pictures.”
“But you can do two things at the same time,” Clem mumbled before continuing in an awed tone. “Oh wow. That looks like a real house! Do you live in there?”
“I visit sometimes, but it’s mostly for my little cousins when they come to stay,” Pike said. “They have slumber parties in there almost every Christmas.”
“I want to have a slumber party,” Clem said, lifting her eyes to where Tulsi stood in the doorway. “Can we go to Mr. Pike’s next Christmas, Mama?”
“I hope you’ll come before then,” Pike said, meeting Tulsi’s gaze, the love in his eyes enough to melt her heart from across the room. “I can’t wait to have you girls up for a good long visit.”
“Can we, Mama? Can we please please please?” Clem begged, but she already sounded more tired than she had a moment ago.
“Let’s concentrate on resting and getting well for now,” Tulsi said, pushing on when Clem frowned. “But as soon as you’re better, we’ll plan a trip.”
“Really?” Her daughter’s pale brows lifted. “All the way to Montana?”
“All the way to Montana,” Tulsi promised, silently adding,where we’re going to stay and be a family, the way we should have been for the past six years.
“Now you two take it easy,” she said aloud. “I’ll be back in a sec.”
She left Pike and Clementine with their heads close together, talking softly about all the different parts of the tree house and returned, with a selection of movies, a few moments later to find them watching videos of the horses on Pike’s ranch.
“Oh, I want to see,” Tulsi said, unable to resist a horse video.
“Then come over here, little mama,” Pike said, holding out one arm. “You can sit on my lap.”
Tulsi settled into his lap, not missing Clem’s curious look, but knowing now wasn’t the time to talk about anything serious. “Oh, she’s lovely,” Tulsi cooed when she saw the big-eyed filly on the screen. “How old?”
“Not quite two, but this was filmed a while back.” Pike hugged her close with one arm. “Her name’s Strawberry Sunshine.”
“Aw, that’s cute,” Clem said, watching the two of them out of the corner of her eye for a moment before she added in her most polite tone, “Mr. Pike, my mom’s short, but she’s not a kid you know.”
Pike chuckled. “I know.”
Clem cleared her throat. “What I mean is, she doesn’t usually sit in people’s laps.”
“She does mine,” Pike said, holding Tulsi tight when she tried to stand up. “Because I love her a lot and like to keep her as close as I can get her.”
Tulsi opened her mouth to say that now wasn’t the time to talk about that sort of thing, but Clementine surprised her with a smile.
