My True Cowboy Read Online Free Page B

the boy’s eyes.
    â€œHank, are you ready?” a nurse asked as he approached.
    â€œSure.” Hank grimaced. “Sorry, but I’ve gotta go. I’ve got to go pee in a cup.”
    â€œGood luck with that.”
    Hank grinned. “Thanks,” he said as the nurse escorted him down the hall. “See ya, Mom.”
    â€œOkay.” She smiled at him and the nurse until they were out of sight. Only then did the full extent of her worries cross her face.
    Making Cal feel another tug toward her. As he knewfrom his experience with his little sister, Ginny, nothing was harder than worrying about the health of a child. “Well, ma’am. You take care now, Susan,” he said, nodding as he stepped away.
    â€œWait.” She swallowed. “I forgot to ask. How’s your father?”
    â€œTruth is, I don’t know. His double bypass ended up being a triple and, as you can imagine, he’s having quite a time.”
    â€œI’m so sorry about that.”
    â€œThank you.” Unbidden, a lump formed in his throat. His father’s operation had felt never ending. And he’d looked so pale and lifeless in the recovery room, tears had formed in Cal’s eyes. Now he was waiting for more information, but he was having to wait and wait for answers—something that rarely happened in his life. Usually the Riddell name got things done.
    â€œHow old is he?”
    â€œSixty-two.”
    â€œAh.”
    â€œYeah. Too young for the condition his heart was in, I’m afraid. And, of course, he’s not afraid to complain loudly and, uh, colorfully. The air’s pretty blue.”
    Again she surprised him by laughing. “I work at the Electra Lodge, so I know all about ornery senior citizens. By the time folks get to be a certain age, they seem to have decided that watching their tongue is overrated.”
    Her words surprised a chuckle. “They might be right about that. My dad now says whatever’s on his mind. No filters. It’s all I can do to shield my poor sister’s ears.”
    â€œSister?”
    â€œGinny. She’s only six.” When she blinked in surprise, Cal decided to do some explaining. “My father, he was remarried for a time.”
    â€œOh, my.”
    â€œYeah, we were shocked to silence when she came along, too.” They’d been really shocked when Ginny’s mother, Carolyn, decided to take off without a backward glance.
    Again, pain from the past threatened to reach out and strangle him. Seeing his dad so sick reminded him of his mother getting cancer. Thinking about his sister spurred a memory of their father trying to explain to him and his brothers why his new wife had left.
    He cleared his throat. “I better get going. If my dad’s awake, he’s likely to be causing some poor nurse to blush. Saying he cusses like a sailor is pretty much an understatement.”
    Susan murmured, “Don’t be too tough on him. Bodies don’t recover easily at that age.”
    â€œI guess you see that a lot at work?”
    â€œUh-huh. It’s not just a retirement home, you know. The full name of the place is Electra Lodge and Rehabilitation Center.”
    She sounded like an advertisement. “I’ve driven by it. It, uh, looks like a nice place.” He’d passed by the redbrick building often but had never gone in. “Is it?”
    â€œI think so. Though, I’m kind of new.”
    â€œAh.” As he eyed her full lips again, Cal knew something bad was happening to him. He was starting to think about her as a woman instead of someone really irritating.
    He wasn’t pleased.
    Fact was, he couldn’t recall ever meeting another woman who’d gotten him so hot and bothered so fast. Well, not since Christy—and he’d thought no one would piss him off the way she could. Just the memory of her deceitfulness created a hurt in his belly that no amount of Rolaids could ever