Page 30 of Rancher's Heart

You think she’ll be happy if she hears this from someone else?I get it it’s never easy having to tell your mom you’ve been in a fight - the look of disappointment and then the lecture. I didn’t envy the position he was in.

No.Parker hung his head as he shook it.

Right, so let’s go get her treats. A lot, maybe.

A truck pulled up and blocked me from getting out of the parking spot. “Who the fuck do you think you are dealing with my son and pulling him out of school?” An irate man stood at my window.

Dad, I thought you were gone?Parker’s hands flew.

I got back last night. What’s going on? The nurse said you were in a fight.

It’s nothing, Griff dealt with it.

Yeah, well I’m your Dad I’m the one that deals with things.

You didn’t tell me you were home, and you’re never home.Parker let his hands fall into his lap. Troy took a step back like he’d been slapped by what Parker said.

“Look, we didn’t know you were back. I’m not trying to step on anyone’s toes. Just wanted to get this all sorted out.” I signed and spoke, so I didn’t leave Parker out.

“Get out of the truck,” Troy said without signing.

No, Dad, I’m going to see Mom.I had to admire the boy for standing his ground. It would be easy enough to want to do what his father wanted but he needed to be the one to talk to Elle.

Parker, let’s go.

No.Parker snapped his fingers together.

“Who the fuck are you anyway?” Troy asked me.

“Elle’s working for me, and I’ve given her and Parker a place to stay since their place was sold.” The man’s face blacked when I mentioned the Hays place selling. It was an interesting turn of events that I needed to look into.

“No, she’s working for an old man, rehabbing his shoulder.”

“Well, I take offense at the old man part, but the rest of it’s true.” I frowned. This was getting slightly irritating.

The man’s phone buzzed in his pocket, and he took it out and read what was on it. Looking up past Parker and me, he suddenly changed his mind. “Fine, go see your mom. We’ll talk about this later,” He said and signed before he climbed back into his truck and drove away. Looking over, I saw the school nurse in the window of the office.

Ready?I asked, and Parker just nodded.

CHAPTER 18

ELLE

Seeing my son and Griff walking into the ER wasn’t exactly what I thought was going to happen today. My eyes went from Parker to Griff and he just shook his head slightly.

Hey, Mom got a minute?Parker signed.

“Yeah, of course, come on back. Sarah, can you keep an eye on my patients for a few minutes?” Why was he signing?

“No problem, it’s quiet, we’ll be fine.” I groaned, and my shoulders slumped. She used the Q word, I was going to have to have a talk with her about that. She was sweet and good at her job, but she was new and didn’t know that word was forbidden around here.

Hitting the button under the desk, the doors that separated the department from the waiting room slid open, and they walked through. I fell into step beside Griff, but his eyes were locked on Parker, and that’s when I noticed his broken implant. Pushing them both into an empty room, I closed the door and turned Parker to face me. “What happened?”

Parker looked from me to Griff. “He’s fine, other than his cochlear implant. There was a small tussle at school.”

“Wait, how’d you get involved?” I asked as I turned to look at the cowboy, who was holding his hat in his hand and leaned up against the counter with his legs crossed at the ankles.

“You forgot what we got for your mom. Run out to the truck and get it.” He dug around his pocket for the keys and tossed them to Parker. He pulled open the door, and I waited until the soft thud when it closed.

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