Hibbets, she said to herself, you wanted to be connected to someone, to find some excitement. She smiled. Mission accomplished.
“GOOD MORNING, Mr. Graybow,” a cheery voice said, piercing the fog that surrounded him.
Doug slowly moved his head toward the sound, but he had difficulty lifting his eyelids.
“How are you feeling this morning?”
He struggled to hold on to his temper. Since he felt as though he’d been hit by a truck, he thought the sunshiny voice was highly inappropriate. “Terrible,” he muttered.
“Can you open your eyes?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Please try. The doctor will be here soon.”
What little patience he had suddenly disappeared. “You can tell the doctor—”
“Careful, Doug,” a male voice interrupted. “You’ll embarrass my nurse.”
Some of his tension disappeared as Doug recognized an old friend’s voice. “Jim, what happened?”
“Open your eyes and I’ll tell you.”
With monumental effort, Doug managed that task and then quickly shut them again as the bright lights brought pain surging through his head.
“The lights,” he protested faintly.
“Madge, turn off the overhead lights until his eyes adjust a little.”
Doug heard the click of a light switch and he tried again. This time he gradually got his eyes open and focused on Jim Kelsey, the doctor in Riverside. “What happened?”
“I’m not real clear. Moss and Curly brought you in a little before midnight, said you fell down your front steps and broke your leg. There’s also the matter of a slight concussion.”
“Damn. I remember now. That blasted woman!”
“Woman? Is your social life picking up?”
“Yeah, thanks to Ben and Will.”
“What do they have to do with it?”
“They put an ad in the paper to get me a wife. I’ve been advertising for a housekeeper for a month with no response. They thought they’d improve on my offer.”
The doctor laughed. “Get any responses?”
Doug could feel his face reddening. “Some you wouldn’t believe. Then, last night, this woman turns up on my doorstep. Came all the way from Kansas, expecting me to marry her, I guess.” A sudden thought made him frown and increased the pain in his head. “Did she come into town with me last night?”
“I only saw Moss and Curly. They slept here at the hospital ‘cause of the storm.”
“Damn! I bet she’s still at the ranch with the boys. Where’s Moss?” he demanded, rising as if to get out of the bed.
“Hold it, Doug. You’re not going anywhere. I’ll find Moss and Curly for you, but you need to stay here until tomorrow.”
“Jim, if that woman is out there with my kids, I’m going back this morning, if I have to crawl to get there. You don’t understand what these women are like. They’re desperate!”
The doctor frowned and reached for Doug’s wrist to take his pulse. Then he pushed the button to summon the nurse. “Madge,” he ordered when she appeared, “go find Curly and Moss and have them come here.”
Again Doug struggled to get up.
“Doug, you can’t get out of bed. We haven’t set your leg because of the swelling.”
Doug gave his physician a pained smile. “Well, Doc, I reckon I’d better find a way of getting around because there are some things that just can’t wait.”
The doctor smiled, as if enjoying himself. “That’s why Madge left that bedpan handy. If you hurry, you can take care of business before company arrives.”
Doug glared at him.
“BOSS, I STILL THINK this is crazy. The lady seemed nice last night. I’m sure the boys are fine.” Moss was following in the tracks of the snowplow down the snowy road to the ranch.
“One of the boys said she cooked dinner last night,” Curly added helpfully.
“Just hurry,” Doug ordered through gritted teeth. He didn’t feel like making conversation. His leg was in a temporary brace and he’d had to be carried to the truck. Jim had thrown in a pair of crutches at the last minute but had warned him to use them only for trips to the bathroom. At least he hadn’t offered a bedpan again.
In four or five days, Doug would have to return so they could put his leg in a cast. Until then he had to stay in bed. Great! Now, one of his cowboys would have to play nurse-maid, and they’d be two men shorter than they already were.
It was all that woman’s fault. Things had been going along just fine until she arrived. Honesty forced him to rephrase that statement. They’d been surviving until she arrived. They could’ve used a housekeeper, of course, but he’d just about given up on that plan.
“Who was that lady? The one you’re so worried about,” Moss asked, checking in the rearview mirror for his boss’s response.
“Uh, she’s a visitor.”
“Mighty pretty,” Curly said, turning to grin over his shoulder.
“She’s okay,” Doug muttered. He didn’t want to discuss her, or think about her, or remember her warmth, her curves, her cooking.
“Hey! Maybe she came in response to that ad!” Moss suddenly exclaimed, a big grin on his weathered face. “You know, the one Ben and Will—” His glance met Doug’s in the rearview mirror and he suddenly stopped talking. He’d known Doug long enough to recognize the danger signals.
Curly, too, looked at Doug and said nothing.
Moss cleared his throat. “Uh, want us to move the herd closer in, since the snow’s let up? It’d make it easier to feed them.”
Doug concurred with his suggestion, and any other conversation for the rest of the ride dealt with work. The drive seemed interminable to Doug, every jolt shooting pain through his entire body. Jim had given him pain pills, but he refused to take any until he made sure he had that woman out of his home.
He’d need his wits about him to get rid of her. Especially if she’d spent the past few hours charming his boys as she had done last night.
He’d checked himself out of the hospital long before he should’ve, according to Jim, who protested his decision, but Doug wasn’t going to let a little red tape interfere with protecting his children. When they reached the ranch house, Moss pulled the Jeep as close to the steps as possible behind the woman’s car. She was still here.
The two ranch hands both came to his door,
