would hate knowing that his private affairs had been the topic of a drill team meeting. “My dad is kind of funny about that kind of stuff.”
“Your dad needs to accept the fact that neighbors take care of one another,” Linda proclaimed.
“Probably,” Liv said on a sigh, realizing that stopping Linda from doing what she thought was right was probably a lot like trying to stop Shae from choosing the most expensive dress on the rack. The conversation was apparently over, because Linda mounted her buckskin and headed for the arena gate, blowing her whistle to signal the rest of the team to follow.
Liv mounted Beckett, thinking that once Tim was strong enough, he could fend off those who wanted to help him. It might give him an incentive to take care of himself.
The practice was intense since they had a rodeo performance the next day and Liv was thankful to have something to focus on other than the men in her life. The rodeo was close to Dillon, so she could perform and still visit Tim before going home—if they managed to keep him in the hospital that long.
The difficulty there was driven home when she got a call early the next morning from Andie, asking her to stop by the hospital on her way to the rodeo. Tim, it seemed, was giving the staff grief. He wanted out and he wanted out now.
“Dr. Bates wants to keep him one more day than originally planned just to play it safe.” Liv could hear the stress in her friend’s voice and figured she’d probably already gone a couple rounds with Tim. One more day. Thousands more dollars. Her father was probably having a fit.
“Be right there.”
Twenty minutes later she met Andie in the waiting area.
“Is there no way around this? I mean, he’s going to be so stressed out calculating finances, wouldn’t it be best to get him out of here ASAP?”
“Got to make sure there’re no complications. Bates isn’t taking any chances.” Andie hugged her clipboard to her chest. “If he’d come in sooner...”
“Yeah. I know. But he didn’t.” And now he had consequences. “Okay. I’ll talk to him.”
“Try to explain to him that one extra day won’t be that much what with the rest of the costs being covered.”
Liv stopped in her tracks. “Covered by what? The ranch policy doesn’t pay for this kind of stuff.”
Andie’s eyebrows inched up. “Covered by the person who paid his bill. In cash.”
Liv swallowed drily, wondering if she was hearing correctly. “That’s...that’s not possible. Who would do that?”
Andie looked both directions then lifted her clipboard to shield her face as she whispered. “Margo Beloit. Didn’t you know?”
“Didn’t have a clue.” Liv started down the hall toward Tim’s room, her mind racing.
“Does he know?” Liv asked, pausing at the door.
“He does,” Andie said. “I thought it would make him relax and stay another day without a fight. Should have known better.”
Liv snorted as she reached for the door handle.
“Not that I’m chicken,” Andie said, “but I think you two need to work this out alone.”
“I agree,” Liv said, giving her friend a weary smile before opening the door.
“I am not taking charity,” Tim said through gritted teeth as soon as Liv walked into the room. He was wearing a hospital gown and was tethered to an IV, thinner and grayer than before, but he looked as fierce as Liv had ever seen him. “Margo can take her money and—”
“If you don’t calm down, you won’t be going home,” Liv growled. “You’ll have a stroke or a heart attack.” She took a couple paces at the foot of his bed, then asked the question she didn’t want to get the answer to. “Why did Margo pay your bill?”
“Damned if I know.”
“Bull.”
Apparently, Tim wasn’t used to his daughter talking to him that way because his pulse rate jumped on the monitor. He rolled his head sideways, but Liv walked around the bed to make eye contact. “Trust me, Dad, I really don’t want to know, but I can’t help you if I don’t know what’s going on.”
He closed his eyes briefly, clenching his jaw as he did so. When he opened them his expression was one of resignation.
“We almost married once. I walked out on her.”
Liv did her best to look shocked since she wasn’t supposed to know how close Tim and Margo had once been. Actually, it wasn’t that difficult to appear stunned, since it was the first time her father had told her