It Takes Two: Deep in the Heart, Book 1 (15 page)

“I am tough too, right, Mama?”

Annie managed a nod and a smile for her daughter, seeing only the delicate bones in the child’s face and the innocence in the wide, questioning blue eyes. “Yes, sugar. You’re as tough as a corncob.”

“Ooh, gross.” Mary giggled.

“Well, you could be as tough as Grandpa Travis’s toenails, and that’d be grosser,” Cody commented with a grin.

Mary squealed and Annie managed a slight smile. Cody pulled up in front of the hospital. “You two go ahead and get out. I’ll park the car.”

Annie slid out, helping Mary onto the sidewalk. They clasped hands together and walked into the hospital, Annie barely aware of Mary’s questions about how the sliding doors worked and why couldn’t she bring her toys inside with her. The child became quiet as they walked into Travis’s room.

Mary ran straight into the outstretched arms that were waiting for her. “Gosh, Grandpa, this place doesn’t look like much fun.”

“It ain’t Disneyland, that’s for sure. When am I getting out of this jail, Annie?” he demanded.

“I need to reconfirm with the doctor, but I think tomorrow, Papa.” She walked toward the bed, fluffing the pillow behind his head and trying to straighten the thin blanket covering his body.

He waved her away impatiently. “Don’t start fussing after me like I’m a corpse, girl. I can do for myself. I’m right as rain and ready to get home. If I stay here any longer, all these ignorant nurses and doctors are going to kill me.”

It was plain to see Travis was chafing to resume his independent lifestyle. Annie sighed, knowing he had every right to complain. She patted his arm before sitting on the foot of the bed. “I know it hasn’t been pleasant for you. Maybe we should take you home today, if we have to sneak you out in the night.”

“Who’s sneaking out of here?” Cody asked, coming into the room.

“We may need to borrow your car, Cody,” Annie said. “Papa can’t take another minute of all this peace and relaxation, or he’s going to explode. I guess we could pretend you’ve come from the mortuary and need to pick him up—”

“Hell, no,” Travis cursed, interrupting her attempt at black humor. “I ain’t sneaking out of here like some dog that got caught in the chicken coop. I’m walking out of here like a man, and anybody doesn’t like it, can kiss my—”

“Good afternoon, everyone,” a plump, wiry-haired nurse said, stoically entering the room and pinning Travis with a no-nonsense stare. Her demeanor was stern, but her eyes lit with playful affection as she looked at her patient.

“Hi, Gert,” Travis grumbled.

“I hear you’re ready to go home.”

“How’d you guess?” he asked, his expression surly.

“I could hear you bellowing about it down the hall. So could every other patient in the hospital. Did you know that getting upset like that isn’t recommended for a man who’s just had bypass surgery?”

“Mind your own business. You ain’t giving me any more lip after today, Gert.”

“Since you’ve been reading your chart, you know it doesn’t say the doctor’s releasing you.”

“I’m releasing myself,” Travis growled. “The doctor can bill some other fool for his services. The hospital’s going to be the death of me.”

The nurse shrugged, throwing Annie an I’ve-done-my-best look. “Well, it happens to be your lucky day, anyway, you mule-headed patient of mine. I just saw the doctor in the hall, and he says it ain’t doing you any good to stay around here when you’re so all fired up to leave.” She shot him a playful grin. “So, do you think you can get dressed in civilian clothes by yourself, Mr. Cade?” she asked.

“Keep your claws away from me, Gert. I’m more than capable.”

Ignoring his outburst, Gert stepped away from the bed. “Fine. I’ll go get a wheelchair for you.”

Indignation furrowed his forehead. “I ain’t going out of here in a wheelchair.” He jabbed a finger at the nurse. “Don’t you even think about it.”

“I’m sorry, Mr. Cade. All patients leave the hospital in a wheelchair.” She turned her back on him, directing her attention to Annie. “Could I see you in the hall for a moment, please?”

“Cody, will you keep an eye on Mary?” Annie asked, knowing he would have anyway. It wasn’t a question that needed to be voiced. Yet she felt like nothing could be taken for granted; the day would come when she no longer had to ask favors of anyone, she swore.

She followed the nurse into the hall. Then the nurse gestured toward the waiting room. Annie followed her inside, relieved to see that the room was empty for once.

“Ms. Aguillar, there are a few things I want to go over with you about the care your father will need.” At Annie’s nod, she pulled a list from her pocket. “It’s important that these precautions are followed to allow for proper healing, since the veins that were used for the bypass were taken from Travis’s—I mean, Mr. Cade’s legs.”

Annie took the paper, scanning it carefully. “This all seems pretty simple,” she said.

“You’ll also note that he’ll need some therapy. It’s important for him to try to walk a little every day. Not too much at first, of course, but building gradually as he gets stronger.”

At Annie’s silent nod, the nurse leaned forward, her gaze penetrating. “I want you to be aware of one other thing. Don’t be surprised if Travis’s recovery is difficult. He thinks he’s stronger than he actually is, and unfortunately, the surgery isn’t the hardest part of solving the problem. The patient’s recovery is almost always the most difficult link in the process.”

“I see,” Annie murmured. “Thank you for your advice.”

The nurse stood, her no-nonsense expression back in place. “The healing process can be emotionally traumatic for the patient, and in this case, you’re dealing with a very stubborn, independent man.”

The nurse’s candor made Annie smile. “Yes, I am. Papa isn’t going to be an easy case, I know. I don’t expect any less of him.”

After a moment, the nurse nodded, her smile understanding. “I’ll go get that wheelchair now.”

Annie walked back into Travis’s room, not a bit surprised to see her father sitting on the edge of the bed, dressed in street clothes. Mary was sitting beside him, contentedly swinging her legs, while Cody lounged against the door frame.

“We’ll have you home within the hour, Papa,” Annie said.

“It’s about time. I’m beginning to molder around here. I want a hot meal that has some substance to it, no more of this disgusting baby food crap. I hope you’ve got some of your salsa made up, Annie. My taste buds are like to die of disuse.”

She nodded, walking around the room, opening drawers to make certain nothing was left behind. “There’s some salsa I made a few weeks ago on the pantry shelf.” She turned around, pinning him with a worried stare. “Is salsa okay for you to eat? Aren’t you supposed to be on a special diet, or something?” Worriedly, she dug the list out of her pocket, scanning it. “This is about therapy, but I don’t see anything about food you’re supposed to avoid. I should ask the nurse.”

“Don’t do that!” Travis bellowed. “I had a heart attack, dammit, not an ulcer or something. Besides, if you ask that ornery woman, she’ll say, ‘No spicy food, no fatty food’”—he mimicked the nurse’s voice—“just to irritate me. I’ve been complaining for days about the food around here. I swear they send it over from the nursing home when the old folks turn it down.”

He crossed his arms and glared. Annie sighed. Although she suspected her father’s diet was important, he was a grown man. If she fixed him the kind of meal he enjoyed tonight, it was one less thing to argue about, thereby keeping his blood pressure down.

“Okay,” she said. “For dinner, I’ll fix something you’ll be able to taste.”

“Good. I want some more of that cow Cody butchered. I feel like having fajitas for my coming-home dinner.”

Cody grinned. “I can get you some of that real easy if you’ve run out.”

“Just make sure there’s enough for Cody to eat dinner with us, Annie,” Travis commanded.

Cody looked to Annie with a raised eyebrow. Hurriedly, she seconded her father’s gruff invitation. “By all means, have dinner with us, Cody. It’ll seem like a celebration for Papa.”

“I’d like that a lot.”

Mary slid off the bed, clapping her little hands. “Hurray! A party!”

Annie laughed and Cody joined her. Travis nodded his pleasure. In her mind, Annie began ticking off the ingredients she had at the house that hadn’t been ruined when the electricity had been turned off. The doubt that her father should have so much excitement on his first night home from the hospital began to wear off. He could sit in his easy chair and watch television, after all, and being pent up in the hospital had been far more stressful to him than having a hot meal for dinner would be.
I’m getting to be like one of those women who worry about everything
, Annie thought.
When did I turn into such a gray cloud, anyway?

“Okay, a homecoming party it is,” Annie said, “but just dinner, and no excitement. Understood?”

She threw her father a daunting glance, but he shrugged it off. “A real meal is excitement enough for me,” he answered. “A quiet, cozy family event and an early bedtime sound like heaven.”

“You’re sure you don’t mind me horning in?” Cody asked. “We could do this another time.”

“Hell, no,” Travis replied. “You’re not horning in, Cody, you’re family. If I didn’t feel like a mile of torn-up track, I’d be up to more company and your mom could come over too. We certainly owe her a month of paybacks. But I believe even if Archangel Gabriel showed up at my door for dinner tonight, I’d have to ask him to come back another time.” He sighed and rubbed his wrists in a tired motion that concerned Annie. “Heck,” he said quietly, “I’m actually starting to feel like Father Time’s ticking down on me.”

Loud knocking at the front door that evening startled Annie. She got up from the dinner table with a frown. “I wonder who that could be?” she murmured. “We weren’t expecting company, and no one knows you’re home from the hospital yet, Papa.”

Walking down the hall, she opened the door. For a moment, she couldn’t speak for the astonishment flooding through her. Butterflies jumped into her stomach at the uncertain look in Zach Rayez’s eyes. “Well, you’re certainly the last person I expected to see,” she told him, trying to keep the tingle of excitement she felt from her voice.

Her tone made him grimace. “I should have called—”

“Yes. You should have.” Because then she would have had time to gather up her tattered emotional reserves to see him again.

Zach shifted on one foot, then jammed his hands into his jeans pockets. “I think I needed the element of surprise on my side to make myself come do this. I’ve been wanting to see you, to see how you’re doing, but I was afraid if you knew I wanted to come, you’d say no.” His grin was reluctant, somewhat unsure. “And we didn’t get too far over the phone.”

Annie placed a hand against her midsection, trying to calm the quivers twisting in her stomach. Happiness? Nervous excitement? Fear of what Cody and her father would do to Zach once they discovered him here? A firestorm of emotions was assaulting her, but for the first time, Annie admitted to herself that she was genuinely glad to see this troublemaker of a man.

“Come on in,” she said.

He obeyed, following her down the hall to the kitchen. Cody laid his fork down silently, but it was her father she was worried about. With a hand out as if to ask for tolerance, Annie forestalled Travis’s explosion. “I’m sure everyone remembers Zach Rayez.” Nobody moved. She then turned to Zach. “I’d offer you something to eat—”

Zach shook his head, immediately refusing. The last time he’d broken bread at Annie’s table, all hell had busted loose. With the old man staring daggers at him, and Cody looking like he might leap over the table and try to strangle him, Zach figured he was better off making himself scarce. Even little Mary, who he’d thought liked him, was giving him a startlingly cold shoulder for one so young.

“I’ll wait in the car until you finish,” he said.

“Oh, no, don’t do that,” Annie said. “At least sit on the porch, or take a walk down to the fish pond. We’ll be finished soon.”

Zach nodded and showed himself out.

“Have you lost your mind, Annie?” Travis roared. “Inviting that son of a bitch to eat our food when you know what he wants? Haven’t you ever heard of somebody bitin’ the hand that fed him?”

Annie seated herself and began eating her beans. “Upsetting yourself is only going to make you sick again, Papa,” she said calmly. “Zach says he wants to talk to me. I handled what he had to say the first time he came. Don’t you think I can handle him this time?”

Travis pursed his lips, obviously not liking it one bit. Cody shrugged and went back to eating. Mary inched closer to her on the plank bench.

“I don’t feel like eating anymore, Mama. May I be excused?” she asked.

Annie ran a loving hand over her daughter’s hair. “Sure, sugar. Are you feeling all right?”

Mary nodded. “I’d like to go play.”

Annie hesitated. There could be snakes out there, specifically the granddaddy of all snakes, which was still an escapee. “I don’t know. Can you wait until I’m through eating?”

“Okay, Mama. I’ll go play with my dolls in my room.”