Healing The Md's Heart. Nicole Foster

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ it why you’re here?”

      Noah, oblivious to the tension, asked, “Are cousins like brothers and sisters?”

      “Kind of,” Duran answered, his attention on Lia momentarily diverted. “But cousins don’t usually live in the same house as you, like brothers and sisters would.”

      “They can be especially good friends, though, because they’re friends and they’re family,” Lia tried to explain, which was difficult, because for her it was only theory.

      “I want to meet them,” Noah insisted again, his mouth pulled in a stubborn line as he looked at his father. “You said I could.”

      “I know I did. But—” Duran pushed a hand through his hair and blew out a breath. “It’s not that simple.”

      “Why?” Noah demanded.

      Duran’s frown accused Lia of pursuing a subject he’d wanted to avoid for as long as possible. “For a lot of reasons.” He stopped, seemed to consider for a minute, then finally came to a decision. “I promised you’d meet them and you will. But it might not be right away and I don’t know if staying in the same house with them is a good idea right now.” This last was aimed at Lia and she flushed, knowing she probably deserved the reprimand but was unwilling to back down.

      Before she could come back with a defense, the door pushed open and they were confronted with the morning nurse, followed by Cort.

      Duran’s eyes snapped to her, but Lia shook her head in denial she’d had anything to do with Cort’s appearance.

      “It’s not her fault,” Cort answered Duran’s unspoken question. “I invited myself.”

      “Thinks he doesn’t have to follow the rules like everyone else,” the nurse grumbled. Toting a breakfast tray that was about as wide as she was, the nurse took one look at the stack of empty dishes on the table beside Noah and scowled at Lia. “I see someone’s already done my job.”

      Lia hustled to explain. “I got here early and—”

      “Oh, save it. I’ll take the oatmeal home for Cruiser. Don’t know what that dog sees in mushy oatmeal, but he gets plenty of it.” She flung an accusatory look at Lia. “I suppose you’ve taken the boy’s vitals, too?”

      “I did, earlier, but I’m going to release him soon, so if you wouldn’t mind checking them again, I’ll have a quick word with Mr. Forrester and Cort outside.”

      “Fine, let me earn my keep, then. You three give me some space.”

      Heeding the older woman, Lia gestured Duran and Cort toward the door. “We’ll just be a few minutes,” she reassured Noah, who was eyeing the nurse doubtfully. “Don’t worry, she’s only cranky with adults.”

      “Forty years and I still get no respect,” the sassy, rotund nurse muttered as the others left the room.

      “Is she—?” Duran nodded to the door.

      “No worries,” Lia said. “She’s the best pediatric nurse we have. She just saves her bedside manner for the kids.”

      Duran didn’t seem convinced but looked to Cort. “I would have called.”

      “I’m sure you would have,” Cort said easily. “But I figured it would be harder for you to turn down my offer in person. This way you can’t hang up on me. So before you give me all the reasons why it won’t work, I’ll tell you that we’ve fixed it so you and Noah can stay at the ranch. My brother Josh used to live in one wing of the house. It’s three rooms and more than big enough for the two of you.”

      “I don’t doubt it,” Duran said. “But this is all happening pretty fast. I’m not sure it’s the best place for Noah right now.”

      “Trust me, the place is huge. You won’t have to see Jed or Del—my stepmother—if you don’t want to. Jed doesn’t get around much these days, and Del—” Cort grimaced at his mention of Jed Garrett’s wife. “Well, let’s just say she’ll be more than happy to stay out of your way.”

      “Noah would probably love being around all the animals,” Lia put in.

      Flicking a look at her, Duran said nothing for a moment. “You told Jed about me—us?”

      For the first time, Cort looked uneasy. “Yeah, I told him everything. The timing wasn’t ideal. He’s been in Albuquerque for the past few days, seeing some specialist and won’t be back until late this afternoon, so I had to do it by phone. But he knows.”

      “And?”

      “And it was a shock. But like I predicted last night, once he got past the surprise, he was more than ready to bring two more sons into the family fold.”

      Cort’s words and the troubled thread in his voice eroded Lia’s previous confidence that staying at the ranch would be best for Duran and Noah. She’d been thinking of his brothers, instead of remembering who their father was. Jed Garrett might be sick, but it hadn’t softened him, hadn’t, as far as she could tell, caused him to repent his life of taking what he wanted, discarding anything and anyone that had stood in his way of building Rancho Piñtada into one of the biggest and most successful ranch operations in New Mexico. That had included wives, lovers and his own sons, and it was only recently that there had been a tentative attempt on his part to reconcile with the family he’d had no use for.

      Duran, though, seemed strong enough in his resolve to save his son to face down any challenge without blinking, even the devil in the form of his newfound father. She’d no doubt that although it might be an awkward and even contentious first meeting, he’d be more than a match for Jed.

      “What do you think?” Cort asked her pointedly.

      Not liking him putting her on the spot, especially when she was already at odds with Duran over this, Lia forced an even tone. “I think the decision is up to Duran.”

      She thought she saw a flash of surprised gratitude in Duran’s eyes, replaced quickly by a conflicted hesitation. “It’s not that I don’t appreciate this—”

      “I understand,” Cort said. “We all do, in one way or another. But you don’t know how long you’ll be here. Do you really want Noah living in a hotel for a month or more? Give it a night or two. If it doesn’t work, then we’ll figure out something that will.”

      “You know why I’m here,” Duran reminded him. “If staying at the ranch doesn’t work out—”

      “Then it doesn’t work out. It doesn’t have anything to do with helping Noah.”

      “That’s all any of us want,” Lia couldn’t help adding. She didn’t know what to say that would convince Duran of his brothers’ sincerity. There wasn’t an easy way to describe the family the five of them had become despite the sins of their father that had nearly broken them apart forever.

      She admired them, Sawyer, Rafe, Cort, Josh and Cruz. Somehow, against the odds and despite Jed, they had reconciled and become a true family. Lia envied them that, the bond they had.

      And yet it would be tested once again, in a way none of them had expected. There were two more Garrett brothers СКАЧАТЬ