Wilde Love (Forever Wilde 6)

“Yeah. I did. Another medic got sick, and I was too jacked up to sleep.”

I shrugged and sipped my beer. “You did the right thing, as much as I would have forbidden it had I been in my right mind at the time.”

Doc’s eyebrows shot up. “Forbidden it?”

I loved it when he got feisty, but we were getting off topic.

“Doc, why are you here? Not that I’m not happy to see you, because I am. And you know you’re welcome here anytime. But what’s going on?”

Chapter 13

Liam “Doc” Wilde

Did I even know the answer to Major’s question?

“I don’t know really. I just… I’m tired. I’m overwhelmed. I need… I need someone to talk things through with, you know?”

I held my breath in hopes he wouldn’t ask the question, but he did anyway.

“What about Betsy? Can’t you talk things through with her?”

I sighed and tossed the half-eaten bag of chips on the table before leaning back on the thin sofa cushion. “I have. I mean, I do. But she’s so damned agreeable, I feel like I can’t get a straight answer out of her.”

“Answer to what?”

“Medical school.”

Major’s face lit up. “Great.”

I held up a hand. “Now, wait. I don’t know if I can swing it yet. The UT Southwestern is expanding their medical school, and there’s a new program where they’re trying to encourage people to finish medical school in three years instead of four.”

“That’s great. Plus you won’t be so far from the ranch.”

I ran my hands through my hair. “Yeah, that’s the thing though. I’m trying to convince Betsy to come with me. She’s always wanted to live in the city.”

“Doesn’t she want to go?”

“I think she does, but she’s afraid of leaving our parents with no help.”

Major leaned forward and put his elbows on his knees. “Doc, you know I’m only an hour away from Hobie. For the time I’m still here, if something comes up, you know all you have to do is call.”

I hadn’t realized how much an offer like that would mean until I heard it. “Thanks. That’s… thanks, Major.”

“I think maybe you should think about what Betsy would want,” he said, reaching for his beer again.

“How do you mean?”

“Well, what’s she into? What does she like? Is there anything she’s always wanted to do or study or become?”

“In high school she talked about becoming a nurse, but I think that was just because it was something her parents would support,” I said, trying to think.

“Does she have any passions. Besides the kids, I mean?”

I smiled. “She loves to plant roses. Always has. She was in 4-H like most of us were, and she learned how to hybridize two of her favorite kinds together. I call her my Texas Rose.”

“Maybe you should encourage her to take horticulture classes at the university while you’re there. I mean, if she can swing it with the kids. Or even biology classes if you think she might want to get a degree. I remember you said she didn’t go to college because of Billy.”

I nodded and smiled, remembering something she’d told me a few weeks before. “Yeah. She actually joked recently that Billy saved her from having to do any more homework. So I’m not sure she wants the degree, but I think she’d really like the horticulture classes. Or, hell, even joining a garden club would probably be enough to give her something all to herself.”

Major snapped his fingers. He told me about a man he’d served with whose wife ran an in-home daycare in Dallas. We talked through some more ideas for how I could juggle med school and my family’s ranch, including how the hell I would break the news to my parents without giving them a heart attack. When it was finally time for me to ask about him, he dropped a bombshell.

“I’m going back.”

I didn’t understand what he meant. “To Bakersfield? To your family?”

He shook his head, his thick dark hair sticking up where he’d run fingers through it. “Nam.”

The word sat there like a grenade with the pin pulled.

“No you’re not,” I said between clenched teeth. “No you’re goddamned not.”

Major sighed. “I wasn’t going to tell you until I was already there.”

My heart plummeted into my stomach. He was going to die over there. I knew it as well as I knew my own name. And what if he’d gone over there and died before I’d even had a chance to talk him out of it?

“No. You’re not.” This time my voice was unsteady. I wanted to punch the stubborn son of a bitch. “You asshole! No you’re not. Tell them you’ve gone through enough over there. A fifth tour? Are they crazy? Tell them they can’t have you. No. No way. Tell them—”

I didn’t really realize I’d started yelling and banging my fist on his chest with every sentence until he grabbed my wrist and turned me around, hauling my back to his front and pinning my arms to my chest. I felt the scrape of his beard stubble on the side of my face.