Page 56 of Cowboy of Convenience
Evelyn stared at him, throat working as she swallowed. "That's how you make me feel."
He reached up to tuck her hair behind one ear, needing to touch her a little more. "I hope so."
Evelyn blinked a few times, her chin barely quivering as she pressed her lips together and inhaled sharply. "No one has ever made me feel like that."
He wasn't surprised. Gram-Gram certainly lacked any warmth. And considering Evelyn's mother hadn't tried to intervene in any of Gram-Gram’s bullshit, she couldn't be too concerned about Evelyn's happiness.
"That's a fucking shame." He leaned in, pressing his lips to her forehead. "But you know I'm not the only person who would be there for you if you gave them the chance."
He'd love to be the one Evelyn always counted on, but that wouldn't be right. No matter how much he wanted to be selfish with her, he couldn't be. She deserved to be surrounded by as many people who loved her as possible. "If the girls knew what Gram-Gram was trying to do, I can promise you they would hogtie her, pack her into a box, and ship her skinny ass back to New York."
Evelyn snorted out an unladylike laugh.
"Same for Amelie. I'm sure she knows more about this than anyone. If she thought you were ready to make a move, you can bet your ass she would throw down with that little baby of hers strapped to her chest." He could almost imagine the whole lot of them, ready to raise hell in Evelyn’s defense.
Hopefully it wouldn’t come to that. Moss Creek didn’t have enough holding cells to deal with the fallout.
Evelyn lifted her eyes to his. “I never really told Amelie about everything.” She shrugged one shoulder. “I felt bad complaining when her life was such a mess too.”
“You’re allowed to complain, Ev.” He wanted her to know she was allowed to be unhappy. She was allowed to wish her life was different. And she was allowed to share it with the people she cared about. The people who cared about her. “Life is hard no matter how unlimited the funding is.”
Evelyn sighed. “Believe it or not, the funding was never unlimited.” She went back to smoothing down his shirt. “I have a credit card with a monthly limit and that’s all I could spend. Granted it’s a decent amount, but it made it impossible to buy anything without my grandmother knowing.”
“I think Gram-Gram has control issues.”
Evelyn choked out a laugh. “No shit.”
Grady glanced up as Larry and Charlene came back from their trip to the cafeteria. “They have anything good to eat?”
"Definitely nothing as good as Charlene’s cookin’." Larry sat down. "Has anyone come out?"
"Just a nurse who said it would be a little while longer." They'd explained yesterday that sedating his mother was a risk and might result in further loss of her already diminished mental capacity, but there was no alternative unless he wanted to leave her bedridden for the rest of her life. Her broken hip had to be repaired.
"Hopefully they're just being extra careful." Charlene smoothed down her hair. "I'll feel just terrible if she’s having complications. I should have stayed right with her."
Grady had told Charlene it wasn't her fault a million times, but he understood the weight of guilt, so he offered it up again. "It's not your fault. You can’t physically be at her side every second."
"But I'm always so careful." Charlene continued to fidget, smoothing down the front of her pants as she tried to claim a responsibility that wasn't hers. "I thought the worst of it was over and she’d tired herself out. I stepped outside real quick to take a phone call and the next thing I knew she was sprawled down the back steps."
Larry patted Charlene on the shoulder. "She'll be okay. Darla's always been a strong woman. She'll come out of this."
Finally the door leading back to the recovery area opened and the same nurse from before waved him in. Grady took Evelyn's hand, bringing her along as he followed the nurse into a small room on the other side of the door.
Evelyn’s feet slowed as she glanced back toward Larry and Charlene. "Will they be upset that I'm coming back here and they’re not?"
"No." He was sure his father’s best friend and his mother’s caregiver wanted to hear how she was doing, but right now he needed a little privacy.
And he needed Evelyn.
Grady moved one of the chairs toward her, waiting until Evelyn was seated before sliding into the one beside her. The surgeon was still in scrubs when he came into the room, looking serious.
"I was able to get your mother’s hip replacement done, but she really struggled during the surgery. There were a few times we had to stop and wait for her vitals to even out, but she got through it." He focused on Grady, voice a well-practiced combination of pointed but also sympathetic. "As I told you before, there's no way to know how she’ll be when she wakes up. Some people come out of sedation with no lingering effects, but some people don't ever quite regain what they had."
"We understand." Grady’s hand slid into hers. "Will we be able to go back and see her soon?"
The surgeon nodded. "Of course. She's in recovery now. They’ll call you back two at a time as soon as she is awake and stable." The surgeon shook his hand and Evelyn's before directing them back into the waiting area.
Larry and Charlene were sitting a little closer when Grady opened the door. His mother's caretaker quickly shifted and crossed her legs, putting some space between them. Was this another thing he'd missed? Larry and Charlene? Was it possible they’d developed more than a friendship during their time working on the ranch?
