The Mechanics of Mistletoe - Liz Isaacson Page 0,74

the truth would work. “Doesn’t feel like it.”

“I just….” She exhaled heavily. “I’m still getting used to the idea of having help.”

“Hmm.” Bear didn’t think that was it at all, but he was tired. He didn’t want to argue with her. He wanted to offer to pick up Lincoln from school and take him to the ranch so Sammy wouldn’t have to worry about him. He wanted to tell her he’d bring them dinner later. He wanted to hold her hand and kiss her and assure her that everything would be all right with her father.

He said nothing.

She looked down at her phone. “Mom says they’re going to keep him overnight.” She stood up. “We should go in.”

Bear looked up at her. “You go. I have to get back to the ranch.” He stood too, and she tracked him with her eyes.

“I—”

“Let me know if you need anything,” he said, smashing his hat further down onto his head. “I apologize for overstepping my bounds.” He walked away, half-expecting her to call him back. She didn’t, and that only drove home her message. With every step, he heard her telling him that he made her feel weak, and she didn’t like that.

He stewed on the way back to the ranch, and when he pulled to the house and stopped, he sent her money for the food she’d brought him. He faced the house, and he didn’t want to go inside.

Ranger had covered his chores, and Bear needed time and space to think. He got out of the truck and went to the stables. He could escape out onto the ranch with Bertha for the afternoon, and hopefully, when he returned, things from that morning would make sense.

Chapter Twenty-Three

About three o’clock, Sammy ducked out of the room where her father slept to call Jason. “Lincoln is getting off the bus soon,” she said. “Can you guys handle him for a little bit? We can close early, and maybe you can bring him to the hospital on your way home.”

Jason lived on the north end of town, and he drove right past the hospital to get there.

“Sure,” Jason said. “What time do you want us to close?”

Sammy sighed and closed her eyes. She lifted her hand to her face, catching a whiff of grease and cardboard. “Whenever,” she said. “Honestly, it doesn’t matter.”

“I’ll take care of it,” Jason said. “How’s your dad?”

“He’s okay,” she said, looking back toward the room. “He’s asleep right now. The x-rays didn’t show anything. No broken bones, and the new hip is still in the right place.” That alone was a miracle, and one of Sammy’s biggest concerns had been alleviated.

“What a miracle,” Jason said.

“Yeah,” Sammy said. “We’re still waiting to look at the MRI, as that takes at least a week. They’re keeping him just to watch him for signs of a concussion, and we’re just sitting with him, so he doesn’t have to be alone.”

She wouldn’t be able to stay all night. Once Lincoln arrived, she’d let him say hello to his grandfather, and then she’d take everyone home, feed them, and try to do their normal nightly routine.

Homework, baths, dishes, bedtime.

Tears pricked her eyes, but she refused to let them come out. She’d already cried enough for this month, and in front of other people too.

“I can bring dinner,” Jason said. “Gina would be all over that.”

“We’re fine,” Sammy said, unsure of why she was refusing help.

“I’ll call her,” Jason said. “She’ll be thrilled, Sammy. She’s been so restless waiting for this baby to come. Please, let her make you dinner.”

Sammy’s frustration grew, but it wasn’t with Jason. It was with herself. “All right,” she said. “But nothing extravagant. Literally, frozen pizza is fine.” It was what she’d been feeding Lincoln a lot lately.

Jason chuckled and said, “Thanks, Sammy. She’s really going to be so happy. I’ll let you know when Link and I leave the shop.”

“Thanks,” she said, letting the phone drop to her side as the call ended. She didn’t want to go back into the hospital room. She didn’t want to go home. She didn’t want to go to the shop.

She didn’t know where she wanted to be, but it wasn’t here. A seething, insatiable need to get in her truck and drive as far as she could, as fast as she could, began to boil in her stomach.

Could she do it?

Who would notice that she’d left town first?

Her mother would be busy caring for her father for the foreseeable future, so