secret are you going to tell me first?” Her son clutched the stuffed animal in one hand and the horse in the other. “Is it about riding broncos?”
“Yes it is, little buddy.” Tucker, his back to her, seemed focused on the boy. He radiated a strength and kindness that she didn’t want to believe in, although clearly Owen did.
Owen. Her heart warmed and her soul filled. Her son was all that mattered. She forced her shoes to carry her across the threshold and down the hall, giving her little boy the time he deserved with his hero.
Chapter Two
“What do you mean the flight is delayed?” Sierra tucked her cell phone against her shoulder and accepted the cashier’s change. Then she remembered Tucker’s comment about the planes being grounded at the airport. The implications hadn’t registered at the time, but they did now. Her knees buckled and she slid into the nearest chair. The hospital dining room and its rows of empty tables echoed around her as she dropped her bag onto the floor. “No, it can’t be.”
“It might even be cancelled.” Jeri Lynn Bolton was a sensible woman, the wife of a working rancher and mother of six kids. Sierra’s family hadn’t had a lot of resources when she was growing up, and they didn’t have a lot now. It was hard to hear her mom over the background noise in the airport. Jeri Lynn’s voice saddened. “Don’t worry, I won’t leave you alone. Your dad and I talked about me driving, but with the road conditions and a blizzard in the mountains I’m not sure what kind of time I could make.”
“No. I absolutely don’t want you driving on dangerous roads.” That made no sense at all. Her hand shook, and she set down her coffee on the table so it wouldn’t spill. She had to stay calm. Focus on the problem. See there was only one solution, whether she liked it or not. “You’ll fly in when you can. And if you can’t, then you stay where you are. I’ve got everything covered here.”
“I’m sure you do, dear, but you can’t go through this alone.”
“I’m perfectly fine.” That was a lie, but she prayed the good Lord would forgive her. She worried her mom would get in the car and come anyway. “I have everything I need here. Owen has great doctors and the nurses are wonderful. We’ll be fine.”
“You can’t wait through the surgery by yourself. I won’t have it.” Mom was upset. Worrying over her grandson’s surgery was enough.
“Don’t you worry about me, too.” Sierra set her chin, firmed her voice and prayed her own fears did not show through. She needed her mother, she really did, but she was strong enough to get through this on her own. “Besides, I haven’t heard from Ricky’s folks. The Bakers may have already landed and be settling into their hotel room right now.”
“You’re just saying that to calm me down.” A hint of relief. “I really want to be there with you, baby.”
“I know.” She bit her lip before she said anything that would reveal how much she’d been counting on her mom’s support.
“It’s killing your dad that he can’t come.”
“Someone has to stay and take care of the animals.” Her family grew mostly wheat but they had the usual collection of farm animals, which could not be left to fend for themselves. “You are not to drive under any circumstances. Do you understand me?”
“How did I raise such a bossy daughter?”
“I can’t imagine.” Sierra treasured the gentle trill of her mother’s laughter.
“Say, did Tucker make it in? Owen will be so disappointed if he has to cancel.”
“They are together right now. The two of them kicked me out of the room. I’m a girl and therefore not privy to their conversation.” She managed to keep her hand steady enough to take a sip of the hot, sweet coffee.
“How cute. Owen must be on cloud nine.”
“Pretty much.” She took another sip, but it didn’t steady her or calm the nerves rocking around in her stomach.
“Tucker comes from a fine family.” It was hard to miss that lilt of meaning in her mother’s voice. Jeri Lynn was an optimist. “Honest, hardworking folk. And he’s single.”
“He’s perpetually single.” Tucker Granger married? She couldn’t picture it. That was where the similarity between him and Ricky ended. Marriage had suited Ricky just fine, as he liked being waited on and tended to, until the going had gotten rough. She couldn’t picture Tucker settling down long enough to put a wedding ring on a woman’s finger. “His life is wandering from rodeo to rodeo. You’ll have to find someone a little more stable to marry me off to.”
“Then I’ll keep trying.” Beneath her mother’s breezy quip vibrated the worry for Owen she was fighting to hide.
Sierra knew just what that was like. She’d been battling to do the same for the last six months, as Owen’s health problems had gone from moderate to serious. “You’ll have to try pretty hard,” she quipped back. “It takes a great man to be better than no man at all.”
“I don’t know who quoted that saying to you, but it’s wrong. Your father isn’t a great man, but he’s better than nothing.” She burst into giggles, maybe from stress rather than her gentle joke.
Sierra giggled, too. The tension was definitely getting to her. “Dad is a good man.”
“I know. I just couldn’t seem to help myself.” Recovering, Jeri Lynn gave a sigh, as if she were prepared to compose herself. “Bad news. They’ve cancelled the flight. Unless the Bakers made it in, you’re on your own, baby.”
“I’m not alone, Mom. I can feel your love from here.”
“That’s right, and I’ll keep it coming.”
Silence fell, and Sierra knew what her mom was too choked up to speak. They were never alone, not really. She had never relied more on her faith than during the last few months, especially today. Tomorrow, her faith would be all she had to see her through the surgery to save her son’s life.
“I’m having second thoughts, baby. I can still drive. If I leave right now—” Her mother paused as if calculating time and distance. “I should be able to make it in time.”
“I said absolutely not.” She couldn’t stand the thought of her mom alone, driving through the night, battling ice, weariness and terrible conditions. “We already settled this. You’re staying home.”
“Maybe I can get your brother to come with me. We can trade off driving.”
“No. Don’t you see? I’m holding it together but if I have to worry about you, too, I don’t think I can do it.” She liked to think she was strong enough to handle everything, but it wasn’t true. She bounced out of the chair, grabbed her bag and her mocha and headed for the exit. “Go home and stay with Dad. You two can call me tomorrow as many times as you want. We can be together that way.”
“I don’t like it.”
“When the storm clears, you can fly in. It might be better that way. Owen will get to spend more time with you.” Her voice hardly cracked, and she was pleased. The last thing she wanted
