The Cowboy's Claim (14 page)

Nick frowned, wondering how the kid had gotten the hat from the nightstand without falling either over Nick or on his own head.

Garrett tumbled forward and grabbed Nick by the nose. “Nose,” he announced.

Nick grinned. “Yes, that’s my nose and my hat.” He sat up and pulled Garrett’s fingers away from his nose and his hat off the boy’s head. He glanced at the clock. Just a little after three. “And now it’s time to sleep,” Nick said.

Garrett closed his eyes, a delighted smile on his rosebud lips. “Sleep,” he said dutifully. His eyes flicked back open. “Wake!”

There wasn’t a trace of sleepiness in Garrett’s bright blue eyes. Rather, there was the mischievous glint of a child ready to play.

Nick fought against a tired yawn as he realized it was going to be daddy trial by fire. And the first challenge was what to do with a fully awake little boy in the middle of the night.

Chapter 9

C
ourtney hissed inwardly as she awoke to the morning sun shining through the nearby window. Disoriented and confused, she looked around the room. It was obvious she was in a hospital, but how did she get here? Why was she here?

She raised a hand to her pounding head, and her arms ached as if she’d fought a hundred rounds in the ring with a professional boxer. Her chest hurt, too, and she felt as if her brain had been wrapped in cotton.

Garrett! If she was here, then where was her son? She fought against a sense of wild panic as rational thought slowly made its way through her foggy head.

If she was in the hospital, then that meant people knew she’d been hurt. Nick and Sophie would both know, and one of them would make sure that Garrett was taken care of.

Nick had probably taken him home. Would he know how to feed him? Would he be able to handle the little guy for an entire night?

Would he get a clean diaper on right? What would he do if Garrett cried? A glance at the clock on the wall let her know it was just past six. Too early to call Nick, because if Garrett was sleeping she didn’t want to wake him.

“Ah, it’s good to see you’re awake,” Dr. Spiro said as he entered the room. “You’ve had us all a bit worried because you were unconscious for so long. How are you feeling?”

“A bit groggy. I have a headache. I feel like I’ve been run over by a truck. Other than that I’m okay. What happened to me?”

“You don’t remember?”

“I have no idea.”

Dr. Spiro wrapped a blood pressure cuff around her arm. “Sometimes that happens with a head injury. You were in a car accident and you were brought in last night.” He pumped the cuff. “You suffered a concussion, among other things. You have a bruised chest, and your knees were banged up. Overall, you’re going to feel like heck for the next couple of days.” He released the pressure on the cuff and watched the dial.

“Good,” he said as he unwrapped the cuff. “Blood pressure is normal. Can you tell me your name, the date and who the president is?”

She rattled off the information and Dr. Spiro grunted in satisfaction. “What you need most now is rest. Your body has been through a trauma. I’ll leave you alone now and you relax. Somebody will be in within an hour or so with some breakfast.” With these words he left her room.

So, what had happened to her? She frowned, ignoring the pain that sliced through her skull as she tried to remember the events of the night before. Why couldn’t she remember the accident?

She had no answers and she must have fallen back asleep, for when she opened her eyes again Dr. Spiro was at her side, asking her if she felt up to talking to Cameron.

It was just after eight, and even though she wanted to call Nick and check on Garrett, she had to trust that her son was safe in his father’s care. Cameron was here to talk to her now, and there was no question that she wanted some answers from him.

“I’ll bet you’re feeling pretty rough this morning,” Cameron said as he came into her room, a sympathetic expression on his face.

“And that would be an understatement,” she replied and tried to force a smile, but the simple gesture shot pain through her aching head.

“You want to tell me what happened last night?” Cameron said as he sat in the chair next to her bed.

“I was hoping you could tell me,” she said drily.

He frowned. “You don’t remember the car accident?”

“Not at all,” she replied. “Dr. Spiro said that with a concussion sometimes there’s also a bit of temporary amnesia about the event.”

“So, what do you remember about last night?” Cameron asked.

Courtney searched inside for anything she could remember that had happened the night before. “I remember working at the café. A bunch of teenagers came in at the last minute, and so I stayed later than usual to help Mary. One of the boys tipped me in gum wrappers.”

Cameron smiled, but the smile lasted only a moment. “And after that?”

She thought back, desperately trying to retrieve any memory that she might possess. A frantic kind of panic threatened to crawl up the back of her throat as she stared at Cameron. “And after that, nothing. Dr. Spiro told me I went off the road and wrecked.”

“Head first into that big old tree at the base of the embankment just off the curve,” Cameron explained. “You were lucky you weren’t killed instantly.”

Courtney fought off a shiver of what might have been. She might have never seen Garrett again, she might have never had the opportunity to see him grow, to watch him become a man.

“You don’t remember getting into your car?”

“No, I don’t,” she replied.

“Had you had anything to drink?”

“Cameron, you know me better than that,” she exclaimed. “Number one, Mary doesn’t serve alcohol. And number two, I would never drink and drive.”

Cameron held up his hand. “I know, but I had to ask.”

“So, what happens now?” she asked. “Are you going to write me a ticket or something?”

“For what? For speeding? If you were, I wasn’t there to see it. I’m writing it up as a weather-related accident and that will be the end of it. Your car has been towed to Buck’s, and I have to tell you the damage is pretty extensive.”

She nodded, ignoring the banging in her head. “I’m sorry I can’t help you more. I just don’t remember anything,” she said, and then her heart lifted in joy as Nick appeared in the doorway with Garrett in his arms.

“Mama!” Garrett exclaimed with a happy grin.

Cameron nodded to Nick and then looked back at Courtney. “I’ve got what I need, but if you think of anything else give me a call. And now you just need to get better.”

As Cameron went out the door, Nick came in. A quick once-over of her son let her know he looked as happy and healthy as he had the last time she’d seen him. The only thing she noticed was that his little white T-shirt was on inside out.

Nick, on the other hand, looked as if he’d had a rough night. His eyes were bleary with lack of sleep, his hat looked as if it had been mauled by a rabid dog, and dark whiskers covered his lower cheeks and chin.

“Good morning,” she said. “Rough night?”

“Probably no rougher than yours.” He sank into the chair Cameron had vacated as Garrett reached up and pulled his hat from his head.

“Hat,” Garrett exclaimed as he put it on his own head, the brim falling down to his nose. “My hat,” he said, his voice muffled. Nick took the hat off Garrett’s head and set it on the floor.

“This kid is obsessed,” he muttered. “And how are you?” His tired eyes gazed at her with a tenderness that suddenly made Courtney want to cry.

She swallowed against the impulse. “I’m okay. Definitely sore all over, but my head is feeling better and I’m hoping to get out of here by late this afternoon. You look tired.”

“I am,” he confessed. He pulled a couple of little toy cars from his pocket and gave them to Garrett, who immediately began to use Nick’s muscled arms as a highway. “He woke up at three this morning and decided it was time to play. I tried to get him to go back to sleep, but he was having nothing to do with it until about five this morning. Then he slept until seven, and here we are.”

“Has he had any breakfast?” Courtney asked worriedly.

“Two eggs scrambled, a half a piece of toast, a little sausage and a sippy cup of milk,” Nick replied. “Did you think I was going to starve him to death?”

“Of course not,” she replied, realizing that she’d underestimated Nick’s abilities where Garrett was concerned.

“I even managed to diaper the right end several times,” Nick added with a small smile.

Once again Courtney felt the press of tears at her eyes. She didn’t know if her raging emotions were because of the physical trauma she’d suffered or the fact that she knew without a doubt Nick would make a terrific father.

But for how long? She somehow felt as if they were in a honeymoon period, but sooner or later the honeymoon would end and real life would intrude.

It was obvious Garrett was already attached to Nick, but he was still young enough that if Nick walked away tomorrow there would be no scars. But, what about two months from now? Six months from now?

She couldn’t worry about that at the moment. In truth, she had no control over Nick’s future plans, good or bad, for Garrett. “If you give Sophie a call I’m sure she’d be able to watch him for the rest of the day. That way you could go home and get some rest until I get out of here and can take back mommy duty.”

“We’ll be fine.” Nick grinned at Garrett. “I figured we’d go to the park and play for a little while and then maybe have lunch at the Cowboy Café.”

Courtney looked at him in horror. “I’ve got to call Mary. She’ll be expecting me at noon today.”

“I already took care of it. I told her you’d be off today and then after the weekend we’ll see how you feel about going back to work on Monday.”

She tried to work up some anger that he had gotten into her business, but she couldn’t. She was just grateful that it had been taken care of. At least it was Friday and she would be losing only today’s work. Surely by Monday she’d feel fine.

“Then after lunch we’ll come back here and check in with Doc Spiro to see if he’s going to release you today,” Nick continued.

“Oh, he’s going to release me today,” she said firmly. “I’m not spending another night here.”

Nick grinned teasingly. “And you’re the boss, right?”

“That’s right,” she replied lightly. “And don’t you forget it.”

Nick stood and leaned over her with Garrett in his arms. “Kiss Mommy,” he said.

As Garrett laid his lips against Courtney’s forehead and smacked, she fought the impulse to pull the little boy into her arms. But her chest was so sore and her head still ached, and she knew a wiggling little boy would only make her feel worse.

“We’re off to the park,” Nick said as he straightened.

“Toys?” Garrett asked.

Nick nodded. “Toys, and you rest,” he said to Courtney. For just a brief moment his eyes darkened as he held her gaze. “You scared the hell out of me, Courtney. When I found you in that car unconscious...I’ve never been so terrified. For a minute I thought we’d lost you.”

She saw the depth of emotion that shone from his eyes, and it pulled forth the crazy longing she fought against each time they were together. “I’m here now, I’m fine, and by the time you have lunch and get back here, I’ll be more than ready to go home.”

With a quick flurry of goodbyes, they were gone and Courtney remained staring at the doorway, wishing she was going with them to the park. But, to be honest, all she wanted to do was stay in bed and rest her wickedly aching body.

It was odd, that she had been so afraid of Nick finding out about Garrett’s existence and it had taken only a little over a week for her to feel completely confident with Garrett in his care.

She hadn’t expected Nick’s love for Garrett. She hadn’t expected it to be such a visceral thing in him, but that’s what she saw whenever he looked at Garrett.

Was it enough to keep him in Grady Gulch? Was Garrett enough for Nick to change his ways and become the man she’d once believed him to be? That remained to be seen.

She thought again of the night before and tried to tamp down the lingering fear that had set up residency inside her. The lack of any memories at all of the night scared her.

What if it hadn’t been some sort of temporary amnesia from the accident? What if she’d blacked out for some other reason? What had happened to her that would steal all her memories of a significant period of time?

The rest of the morning and the early afternoon passed quickly. Several visitors stopped in to see her. Lizzy and Daniel arrived with a bouquet of summer flowers, Abigail Swisher brought a plate of homemade chocolate chip cookies on a red paper plate with a pink doily, and even Junior Lempke’s mother, Lila, arrived with a handmade card that Junior had made for her.

Courtney managed to visit and let everyone know that she was fine, but the worry about the missing memories simmered deep inside her.

It was after two when Nick and Garrett returned, and as Garrett played with a new toy that Nick had bought for him, Nick and Courtney made small talk while they waited for Dr. Spiro to write up her dismissal papers.

“I’m finding it hard to wrap my head around the fact that I can’t remember anything from last night,” she said.

“You took a pretty hard knock to the head,” Nick replied.

“I know, but if it was just a concussion, why was I unconscious all night long? Something feels off. Something feels wrong about the whole thing.”

Nick studied her intently. “What do you mean? What do you think happened?”

Just that quickly Courtney’s head began to bang again. She raised a trembling hand to her forehead as she tried to make sense of it all. “I don’t know. I’m sure Dr. Spiro is right and it’s just a result of the accident.”

“If Spiro is letting you go today, then you’re coming home with me,” Nick said with a firm voice that defied her to argue with him. “You’re obviously still in pain and you need somebody not only to take care of Garrett but to take care of you.”

She felt too sick both physically and mentally to protest. Besides, she wasn’t at all sure she wanted to be alone right now. Even if the doctor was right about the temporary amnesia thing, that didn’t take away the pain in her head, the ache in her arms and her overall feeling of being beaten half to death.