Page 18 of Rancher's Heart

“This looks good, thank you.” I smiled at him and took a bite.

“Can you recommend a good jumping-off point to start learning ASL? I found a site the other night, and I started but I don’t know if it’s a good one.” He asked so easily like he was asking what color socks I was wearing.

“We can teach you, and I’ll get you a list of online places to learn. Thank you for wanting to. With his implant, he doesn’t need to use it as much as he used to…”

“He might not need to, but if he wants to, I need to know how to communicate with him.” Dropping my fork, I hopped off the chair and threw my arms around him.

“Thank you.”

He slipped his hand over my lower back and pulled me tightly to him. “When he’s here, I want him to feel at home.”

I couldn’t stop the tears, and I sniffled and he held me tighter. “How can someone who doesn’t even know him care more about my son than his own family?”

“Well, you’re going to end up with more family than you know what to do with, and you’ll meet them all tonight.” Pulling away from him, I frowned. “Everyone from the ranch is meeting over at Nash and Fallon’s tonight.”

“I’ll just stay here, and I don’t want to intrude.” Meeting new people wasn’t really my thing. An extrovert at work but a painfully shy introvert outside the walls of the hospital. I’d had very few friends over the years because of it, and the people I did let in, I kept very close.

“Nope, I’m not leaving you here alone.” He shook his head.

“Afraid of me being in your house alone?” Arching my brow, I wondered what he had to hide.

“Nope, not at all; go ahead and snoop around; I won’t stop you.” He shrugged. “The place is yours. You’re free to go anywhere.”

Well, that backfired a little bit. It was fun teasing him, but not when he wasn’t even concerned. “How’s your arm this morning after moving all those boxes? I should have worked on it last night.” I got back on the chair putting the slightest of space between us. It wasn’t enough and too much all at the same time.

“It’s fine.” He looked away from me and reached for his coffee with his “good” hand.

“It’s not. You’ve hardly moved it at all.” I took another bite of the bacon he’d made me and arched my brow.

“Okay, fine, the feeling didn’t return to my fingers like it usually does. This is the first time I’ve woken up without them functioning like normal.” He rolled his eyes.

Hopping off the chair, I stood behind him. “Relax,” I huffed. His shoulders looked like they were about to mate with his ears. I waited for him to let them fall before I reached out. Nothing would help him if he was so tense all the time.

Letting my fingers glide around his shoulder, I worked on a knot that had formed along his scapula. It wouldn’t be the cause of the numbness, but if I could get his muscles to relax, he might have some hope of more normal function today. “Is this the reason you woke me up?” I asked quietly while watching the side of his face to gauge if I was causing him pain. He’d winced a few times but seemed to be relaxing more and more as I was working.

“No, but it is a perk. I needed some help with the horses, and I couldn’t do it alone today. Well, that’s technically not true, I could have, but it’s way better-having someone to help me, and it doesn’t hurt that you’re so damn pretty.” He turned to look at me, but before anything could happen between us, he groaned and tried to pull away from me.

“Easy, big boy, I’ve almost got it.” My voice was soft, like I’d use with a horse who was jumpy. I kept him firmly in my grip and continued to work.

“They’re tingling now,” he informed me as he moved them around and opened and closed his fist. The discouragement in his voice was easing, and the light aura that had usually surrounded him was returning.

Feeling the knot release under my fingers, Griff grunted one more time, and I stepped back from him. “Well, did I earn my keep?” I watched as he rolled his shoulder and looked down at his fingers as he moved them.

“More than your keep.” He grinned, and I sat back down on my chair.

“You have to let me know if things get bad, and we need to get you an appointment with your doctor to get a referral to see someone about this.” I started rambling, and I watched his eyes glaze over. “Griff, do you have a doctor?”

“Yeah, I see Jake,” he said as he picked up his coffee again.

“I think you need to go ask him to consult an orthopedic surgeon. There’s something funky going on, and I can try to keep it at bay, but it’s not going to work forever.

“Yeah, I probably should.” He nodded but I wasn’t convinced he was going to do it. I would give him some time to come to terms that this wasn’t something he could ignore anymore before I started getting on his case.

“So, what do I need to help you with today?” A change in subject wouldn’t be a bad thing. I’d given him enough to worry about, and I didn’t need him to tense up again.

“I just need to exercise some horses. You up for it?”

“Always.” I downed the last of my coffee and waited for more instructions.

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