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“We’ll go,” Keith said. “We just wanted to see you.”
“You don’t have to go,” the nurse said. “Mike might want you to when the physical therapist comes, because there’s usually a lot of cursing when that happens.”
“Mike?” Keith asked, chuckling. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard him say a bad word.”
“I’ve said them,” Mike said. “Things didn’t always go perfectly in the cockpit.” He picked up his roll with one hand and slowly moved his right hand to pick up a knife.
“Look at you,” Cord said. “Using two hands.”
“It’s hard,” Mike admitted. It looked hard, and Cord wanted to jump in and help him. That was the last thing Mike wanted, so Cord stayed against the wall and watched him struggle.
Keith had found his voice after his mini-nap, and he told Mike all about the new horse that had arrived that day. Cord was content to stay quiet, and then Keith said, “We ran into Jane this afternoon. She’s worried about you, but Cord—”
Then their eyes met, and Keith covered it up with, “Cord helped her saddle her horse so she could take a ride to clear her head.”
“I’ve called her,” Mike said. Thankfully, he hadn’t seen the exchange between Cord and Keith, and Cord’s jaw clenched. He was suddenly grateful Jane had stayed away from him, because that had made everything easier for both of them.
Lord, he prayed.Bless me to make the right decisions.
He wasn’t sure what those were right now, but he wanted to stay at the Hammond Family Farm, and he wasn’t willing to jeopardize that.
Not even for Jane?
The question rang in his head, and he had no idea where it had come from. He reminded himself he barely knew her, so no. He wasn’t willing to jeopardize his place on the farm—and with Gray—for a woman he barely knew.
Maybe if he got to know her better….
13
Gerty bustled around Mike’s cabin, spraying the countertop with cleaner and wiping it until it shone. The turkey pot pies he’d requested for his welcome-home meal baked in the oven, and she wanted everything to be perfect for him the moment he walked through the door.
He’d texted a little over an hour ago that he was on his way down to the parking lot, so he should be home at any time. She wasn’t sure if he’d get delayed over at the farmhouse, but that was likely.
Everyone at the farm had been into the city to visit him, herself included. She’d gone the first night and again the next morning. She hadn’t seen him yet today, but it wasn’t even noon yet. She’d been up since dawn, getting her work done at Pony Power so she could have a few hours with him before her riding lessons.
“Okay.” She drew in a deep breath. “What next?”
He’d told her about his physical therapy. How he needed to ice his shoulder. How much he still had to wear the sling. His meds had worn off after twenty-four hours, and he’d been in quite a bit of pain then. He hadn’t wanted to take too much, but he couldn’t do the exercises without the medication, and if he didn’t do the exercises, his new shoulder would never get out of the sling.
Gerty had seen the pain in his eyes, and she had not liked it. Not one bit.
“Lemonade.” She mixed that up and put the pitcher in his fridge. She’d vacuumed the rug in his living room, brought in a new blanket—one of her favorites—a heating pad, and the ice packs her mother had researched for her.
Karo syrup in a zipper bag, she’d insisted. It froze easily, but it stayed flexible and slushy, so Gerty would be able to form it to Mike’s shoulder straight from the freezer.
She’d spoken to his parents, and they had plans to leave town in a week. Gerty had assured them she could take care of Mike. There had been some discussion of having someone move in with him, and it had been Gerty who’d finally said, “No. He won’t like it, and just no.”
They’d all looked at her with wide eyes. His father and mother. His uncles and their wives. His brother and his wife. His sister.
Finally, Opal recovered and said, “I agree with Gerty. Mikey’s thirty-one years old. He has a phone. He lives literally three minutes away from this house, and there are tons of people on this farm, including Gerty. He doesn’t need anyone living with him.”
Together, the two of them had convinced everyone else, and Gerty had asked to move into one of the empty cabins here on the farm, just to be closer to Mike should he need help.
Gray had said, “I’ll do you one better. Wes and Bree are leaving. You can have the generational house.”
She’d only been able to stare at him while he’d chuckled. “Then you can have your lunches there too.”
So Gerty was packing up her stuff again, and she’d move in once Mike’s parents went back to Coral Canyon. She fully expected them to come visit their son as often as they could, but Gray said he and Elise had no plans to return to Ivory Peaks until September. So Wes and Bree could stay in the main house.
