Page 24 of The Cowbears of Curvy Bear Ranch

Dr. Landry chuckled. “Okay. I guess it’s enough that you’re both able to be civil to each other and that you’re working together to helpJimmy.”

Rachel groaned. Brady was going to kill her for revealing their estranged relationship to the doctor. Oh well, she’d deal with that during the two-hour drive home, a drive she alreadydreaded.

The second the needle penetrated Brady’s arm, he growled. The hair on his body started to grow and a few telltale pops sounded alonghisback.

Rachel jumped up and took his hand. “Hang on, she’s almost done. You can’tshiftnow.”

His eyes morphed from chocolate brown to dark mahogany. “You owe me,bigtime.”

“I’ll make it up to you, Iswear.”

He snarled and for a moment, Rachel wasn’t convinced he’d be able to stop the momentum of the shift. But when the doctor pulled the needle from his arm, he stilled. The fire in his eyes died and the gentle warmthreturned.

Rachel dropped his hand and stepped back. “See, that wasn’tsobad.”

He rolled his sleeve down over the Band-Aid and jumped off the table. “Arewedone?”

Dr. Landry said, “We are for now. I’ll test your blood and call you with the results. If it’s a match, we can start the pre-procedure medicationimmediately.”

“Let me know the minute you have the results,”Bradysaid.

“Iwill.”

“He’d better be a match,” Rachel said under herbreath.

Apparently Brady had heard it because he responded. “For your sake, my DNA had better matchJimmy’s.”

* * *

Brady slowedthe truck as he drove up a small grade on the way back to West Yellowstone. He hated doctors’ offices and couldn’t imagine what life had been like for Rachel during the past two years. He was still pissed that she hadn’t told him about Jimmy, but he couldn’t help but be a little sympathetic to the hell she must have gone throughwithhim.

He grappled with how to tell her that he was sorry he hadn’t been there for her. Then he realized thatshewas the reason he hadn’t been there. Still, the part of him that had loved her all those years ago wanted to do something tocomforther.

“When we get back, do you think I could see my son?” heasked.

She rubbed her hands together in front of the heater vent. “He was afraid of you the othernight.”

“Because I wasyelling?”

“Yes. He’s just a kid and he’s fragile right now. I can’t have youupsettinghim.”

“I’m sorry. I was shocked and mad.Reallymad.”

“I know. I don’t know what I can do to make things betterrightnow.”

As he navigated around a curve in the snow-covered mountain pass, he wrestled with the decision to forgive her. He wasn’t ready yet. If he did it now, it wouldn’t be the truth. But he also didn’t want his son to feel the tension between them, so he’d have to at least compromisefornow.

“Let’s just get through the next few days and see where things are. I can’t think about anything but Jimmy’shealth.”

“I get it,”shesaid.

“Have you told Jimmyaboutme?”

“I just told him that his daddy was away on alongtrip.”

“How long were you going to continue telling himthatlie?”

“Until he was old enough to understand that two people can love each other a lot and then one day all that love just…disappears.”

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