Parker (6 page)

“You fainted. Out cold. Twice.”

“Twice? I can’t imagine why… Oh.”

“Oh?” She glanced up to see Parker looking at
her in the rearview mirror. “You know why you passed out?”

“I might be dehydrated,” she said. “And the
altitude still bothers me a little.”

“Oh my God, Reba. Here.” Callie twisted the
cap off the water bottle and handed it to her. “Drink up.”

She turned to Callie and said, “Thank you. I
still feel a little weak and fuzzyheaded. I probably need to eat
too.”

Parker queried from the front seat, “You
haven’t eaten?”

Reba caught his eyes again in the mirror. “I
did. Yesterday. Sometime.”

“Sometime?”

She shrugged a little. “Well, it was a busy
day. I was taking care of all the food at your house, and people
were coming and going, and I don’t really remember when I ate or if
I—”

“Stop. I get it.”

“I don’t think you do.”

Parker huffed out a breath. “So, let’s see.
You’ve hit your head and might have a concussion, you could be
dehydrated because you haven’t drunk enough water, and you’re not
sure when you last ate? Do you need someone to take care of you,
woman?”

Reba felt her eyes grow big. “That’s none of
your concern, Mr. McKenna!” The hell. Who did he think he was?
“Just turn around and take me home. I don’t need to see a
doctor.”

“No. We’re almost there.”

Reba rolled her eyes. Crap. “I don’t have
insurance yet. It’s complicated, and I just moved here. This is
going to cost me an arm and a leg, and right now, I can’t afford
it.”

Parker didn’t miss a beat. “I’ll pay for
it.”

Reba bristled. “You most certainly will
not!”

“I will. You wrecked on my property, and now
you are telling me you didn’t eat or drink yesterday because you
were too busy taking care of things at my house, after my father’s
funeral. Seems I owe you.”

Callie nudged Reba with her elbow. “Don’t
argue with him, Reba. It will only get worse.”

She sighed. “I’m serious. Really, Parker.
That is all not necessary. Take me back home. I will be fine.”

He ignored her, stared straight ahead, and
accelerated.

Reba looked out the window. He was definitely
not turning around. “Parker?”

“They are expecting us at the hospital. I’ve
already made arrangements for you to see my friend Mike.”

Reba couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
“Excuse me? I really don’t want to go. I appreciate your concern,
truly, but I want to go home. I have work to do and—”

Parker interrupted. “We’re here.”

“Where?”

“Livingston. The hospital. It’s right around
the corner,” Callie said. She turned to Reba and looked into her
face. “It’s okay, Reba. Let’s pop in and have Dr. Attaway check you
out, and then that will satisfy that stubborn brother of mine and
he can take you home. Okay?”

Reba took in a deep breath, glanced to
Parker’s eyes glaring at her in the rearview mirror, and said, “All
right. But like I said, I have work to do today, so let’s make this
fast. Got it?”

The corners of Parker’s eyes twinkled a
little. She glanced to the side of his face then and noticed his
lips were definitely spreading into a grin.

Oh hell. He won this round. I have to be on
my toes.

Chapter Six

Parker wasn’t accustomed to sitting around
and waiting. Doing nothing. Twiddling his thumbs. And he was about
to go stark-raving mad waiting for some nugget of news from
Mike.

Callie had left with Murphy, his ranch
manager and her fiancé, an hour earlier. Murphy had been in town
for supplies and had swung by to check on things. Parker suggested
his sister go on back home. That he could handle things here.

Can I? Handle things with Reba Morris?

He’d known her less than a day, and it felt
like weeks. First impressions aside, the biggest realization he had
about his new neighbor was she was a pretty tough cookie to
handle.

A challenge? Perhaps. But he was up to
it.

He’d drank all the coffee he could stand and
had watched way too many minutes of politically-charged news
programs on the ER waiting room television—a television set for
which one had to ask for permission to turn down the volume or to
change the channel.

He was certain there was a reason for that,
but he’d be damned if he’d ask for the remote control just so he
could flip through soap operas and talk shows and not land on
anything at all of interest. So he got up and stepped outside for
some fresh air and ended up scooting closer to the smokers so he
could inhale some second-hand smoke and engage in small talk.

He’d bum a cigarette and a light, but
quitting smoking was the one thing he’d promised his father he
would do several months ago. And he had. He didn’t want to pick
that bad habit up again.

Even though, he could use a long, deep drag
off one about now. Might calm his nerves.

He glanced at his watch and then inside the
waiting room as someone exited the large double doors.

Parker dodged the closing doors and jogged
inside. “Mike. I’m here.”

His old friend turned and acknowledged him
with a nod. Parker and Mike had gone to one year of college
together at the University of Montana in Missoula and had become
fast friends. Parker ended up coming back to the ranch, and his
heart, after a year. Mike continued and ended up in medical school.
They kept in touch, and Mike became a regular visitor to McKenna
Ranch over the years. When it came time for him to settle somewhere
and open his practice, he chose Livingston rather than Chicago,
where he grew up.

“Parker. Hey, man. Walk this way.”

Shit. Something was wrong. Mike let him into
another corridor.

“How is she?”

Turning, Mike said, “She’s going to be just
fine, Parker. Just inconvenienced for a little while.”

Parker exhaled, and the stress melted from
his shoulders. “That’s great.”

Mike cocked his head to the right. “It looks
like a broken elbow, but it’s difficult to tell quite yet. Bone
fractures generally show up better on X-ray after about ten days,
so I’ll set up an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon to take it
from here. The bump on her head will be okay. She’ll be sore,
swollen and bruised around her eye for a while, but nothing is
broken there.”

“Great.” He sighed again.

“She was dehydrated, so we pushed some
fluids. She’ll need to stay until we take out the IV. Her blood
sugar was low, but that’s probably because she hadn’t eaten. She’s
had a sandwich and some fruit but probably could use a good meal
when she gets home, and of course, water. What she told you and
Callie was probably right—her body is still adjusting to this
altitude. Kentucky is barely above sea level in most parts. It’s a
bit of a change for her, especially up in the foothills where she
lives. But she’ll adjust. The water will help. That’s about
it.”

Parker didn’t know how to thank him and said
so. “I’ll see to all of that.”

“Of course, you realize I’m telling you all
of this unofficially.”

“What?”

“You can’t act like you know any of this. Let
her tell you. She didn’t indicate on her paperwork that I could
share this information with anyone, but seeing that you brought her
in here and evidently spent the night with her at her house last
night, I’m making an exception. Although, when I asked her if she
wanted you to come in, she flat out said no.”

Parker grimaced. “She did?”

“Yes, she did.”

“I see.”

“So what gives?”

He shrugged. What does give?

“Are you two dating?”

Parker shook his head. “No. I just met her
yesterday.”

“Is this the same woman who was in your
kitchen yesterday taking care of all the food?”

That question took Parker aback. “Actually,
yes. You saw her?”

He nodded. “I thought I recognized her. I
went into the kitchen for water at some point. She was bustling
about.”

“Yes, she made herself quite at home. I think
she just wanted to be neighborly and useful. She bought the
Crandall cabin down the road. You know the place?”

“I do. And yes, she told me she lived
there.”

“Oh.” Parker rubbed the stubble on his jaw.
“She was heading there last night and flipped her SUV leaving the
ranch. I got her out, took her home, and the rest I think you know
about….”

“So just to be clear—this is a casual thing
between the two of you?”

Parker nodded. “Sure. Casual. Neighbors.
We’re just friends.”

It was Mike’s turn to sigh. “Great. Because I
want to ask her out to dinner.”

Parker stood there.
What?

Mike backed up a few steps. “Hey, I have to
run. One of the nurses will get with you when Reba is ready to be
dismissed.”

Mike wants to ask Reba out?

That did not sit well with him. Not at
all.

****

Three hours later, Reba found the silence in
the truck cab almost deafening. Oh, they had shared a bit of small
talk on the way out. Parker had asked how she was feeling, what the
doctor said. She avoided his questions with simple, one-word
responses. He didn’t need any more details than what she wanted to
supply.

She was still a little miffed at his
insistence that she see a doctor, and even more so that she’d just
had to fork over two hundred and fifty big ones for the emergency
room visit, with the promise of a bill to come.

It wasn’t that money was super tight. It was
simply that she had pretty much depleted the funds in her account
with the move and the renovations, and she was waiting on another
check to come from Jack’s pension any day now. She didn’t like to
run things so close to a zero balance.

The quiet between them in the truck cab was
unnerving, though. She didn’t want to be rude, but what was
Parker’s problem?

He had been cordial, of course, and very much
a gentleman—always the quintessential cowboy, she had noted—but his
disposition had turned into one of those
moody man moods
she
found so incredibly unbecoming.

Just wallow in it,
Mr. Personable
.

Not her problem. For a few more miles,
anyway.

Oh, hell…
“I suppose I should thank
you for getting me to the hospital and sticking around to take me
home. Even though I didn’t want to go in the first place.” She
didn’t look at him but spoke to the windshield.

He pretty much did the same. “Just being a
good neighbor, Ms. Morris,” he said.

Hmm
. When had she become
Ms.
Morris
? “I wasn’t going to let you pay for my bill, Parker. So
you can just get over that.”

He didn’t respond.

“I realize you are used to being in control,
getting your way and all that. Big tough alpha cowboy who likes to
ride up, swoop in, and save the damsel in distress. But I’m here to
tell you, I don’t need saving. I can take care of myself.”

Reba glanced over to look at his profile.

Parker huffed. “Never said I was any of those
things.”

You don’t have to say it. You ooze it.
“Well, it’s more than implied. It’s the way you carry yourself, the
way you walk. The way you look at a woman like you could…”
Devour her
. “Never mind.”

She jerked her gaze back to look at the road.
His
gaze was now fixed on her face. She could feel the
heat.

“Anyway, I don’t need saving,” she muttered
again, softer.

“Maybe not. Maybe just someone needs to look
out for you.”

She whirled. “Oh, really? And you think you
are that someone?”

He looked straight at her. “Maybe.”

Reba clamped her lips shut tight and looked
out the passenger-side window. A strange little tingle shot up
inside her and settled behind her breastbone when he’d said that
single word.
Maybe
. What did he mean by that? “I’m perfectly
capable of taking care of myself. I’ve done it for a very long
time, and I’ve turned out fine so far, thank you very much.”

“That so.”

She twisted back to look at him. “Yes. That’s
very so!”

He glanced her way. “Look in the mirror,
Reba.”

“What?”

“Look at yourself. You have a splint on your
arm, your eye is black, you passed out cold from lack of food and
water—and you don’t need protecting?”

“I don’t! I am capable!” Why did she feel the
need to justify herself to this man?

“Look in the mirror.”

“Why?”

“Just do it. Pull down that visor and have a
look at yourself. Have you lately?”

Frustrated, Reba did what he said. She jerked
at the visor, sending dust and a few receipts flying, and then
snapped open the mirror. And gasped.

“Oh, my God. My eye. My face!”

Her entire left eye was encircled in
black—except for the purple eye shadow effect above it. The bump
above her eyebrow was still prominent and puffy, and her eyelid was
so swollen she feared by morning it would be totally closed.

“Yeah. See? Can’t you just let me do
something for you? I feel responsible for this. The wreck, at
least. It was on my property!”

He was shouting, and Reba’s one good eye grew
wider at his words. Why was he so angry?

She glared at him and wanted to cry. Like
everything she’d been through in the past twenty-four hours was
suddenly bearing down on her shoulders. “Why are you angry with me?
It was no one’s fault. Blame the damn deer and the sun.” At that
point, Reba shoved the mirror closed and looked out the window. The
last thing she wanted to do was have him see her cry.

Out of her one damn good eye!

She didn’t want to cry over this. She didn’t.
It was a vain and stupid thing to do, to cry over a black eye. Not
to mention her arm in a sling down to the first joints of her
fingers. How was she going to be able to type? Or edit the
video?