Cowboy Take Me Away (Rough Riders 16)

All three girls followed her out of the room. Keely started to say something but Carolyn raised her hand. “Say your goodbyes to your other friends—quickly—get your stuff and meet me at the car.”

They must’ve already been packed up because they piled in not ten minutes later.

Keely wasn’t the first to speak, which was surprising. Ramona leaned over the seat. “Straight up, Aunt C, you are my hero.”

Carolyn smiled.

“But how am I gonna explain to my parents that I got kicked out of church camp?”

“Good question. Because you know how my dad is, Aunt C. He won’t be happy,” Chassie added.

“Yeah, Daddy will lose his mind on me,” Keely said.

“You don’t have to tell them anything. There were only five days left. You girls can hang out at the ranch, watch movies, go horseback riding, bake cookies and do makeovers. Whatever you want. We’ll call it the Wild West Ranch Camp for Wayward Women.”

They started laughing, and giggling, and high-fiving each other. Finally Keely said, “But we’re not really wayward, because we weren’t in the wrong.”

“I know, sweetie, but that has a nicer ring to it than Catholic Church Camp Castoffs.”

Carolyn should be used to the ripping sensation by now, getting torn away from the fabric of her memory, but it jarred her, confused her and frightened her just the same as the image shimmered and she fell into the black hole of nothingness.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Hospital, Day 6—mid-morning

Carson saw a flash of red out of the corner of his eye and looked up at his sister-in-law, Kimi, aka the blonde tornado.

He’d wondered when she’d show up. He’d actually made a side bet with Charlie as to which day. Looks like he owed Charlie fifty bucks—Carson figured Kimi wouldn’t last two days without storming in.

They stared at each other, sizing one another up.

“Kimi. You’re lookin’ good.”

“Wish I could say the same, but Carson McKay, you look like dog shit.”

“So you’re here to insult me?”

“Yes. No. Maybe.” She sighed. “I’m just so frustrated with the situation that I need to yell at someone.”

“Poor Cal’s had enough of it and that’s why you’re here?”

“Got it on the first try. And before you ask, I haven’t seen my grandkids since this ICU germ shit went down, so I ain’t Typhoid Mary.”

“Bet you’re missin’ those kids.”

Kimi plopped into the chair next to him. “But that sacrifice ain’t gonna get me in to see her, is it?”

“Nope.”

“You are so damn stubborn.”

“You expected less?”

“No. So I did some online research about this.”

“Got your WebMD in the last couple days, did you?” he teased.

She nudged him with her shoulder. “Smartass. I just needed to know more information about her condition for myself. Of course they stressed that every case is different and to listen to your doctor.”

“No. Really?”

“Knock it off. And if you get up and do an I-told-you-so dance, I’ll trip you.”

“Then I’ll likely break my other hip.”

Kimi leaned her head against his shoulder. “We used to crack sex jokes. Now we’re cracking old people jokes. What happened to us?”

Carson put his arm around her. “Hate to break it to you, but we are old. The mind can fool us, but darlin’, the body don’t lie.”

“I’ll stick with the mental image I have of myself when I was twenty-five, thanks.”

Silence settled between them, not uncomfortable, just…there.

“This sucks. I need a damn cigarette.”

He smiled. “Got a pack in the truck if you’re serious.”

“You too, huh?”

“Yeah. It helped.”

“You never were addicted to them like I was.”

“True. Last time I bought a pack was after Keely’s emergency C-section with the twins. Caro never said a word. In fact she rustled up a pack of matches for me.”

“She’s the best.”

“No argument from me.”

Kimi’s voice was so soft he barely heard it. “I’m scared for her.”

“So am I.” Carson closed his eyes. “I’m scared for myself because I can’t imagine…”

“Me neither. Besides Cal, she’s everything to me. She’s been there through it all. Watching over me at Catholic school, playing referee in our screwed up family situation, telling me that falling in love with Cal so fast wasn’t a bad thing. Helping me through pregnancy even when she was pregnant herself. Showin’ me how to be a good mother and bein’ a second mother to my boys, lovin’ them as if they were her own…” She sniffled. “Caro’s been a daily part of my life for so long that even when I know she’s here, I picked up the phone this mornin’ to call her. As the line was ringing, I’m lookin’ at my geraniums, thinking they never grow as good as hers and what is taking her so long to answer the damn phone…and then I remembered she wasn’t there.” She sniffled again and her voice turned hoarse. “Goddammit. I hate that she’s not there. I just wanna talk to her.”

“I do talk to her,” Carson admitted. “From the moment I sit down in her room until the five minutes are up. In these last few days I’ve relived a lifetime of memories with her and it still ain’t enough. I want more time. I tell her that too.”

“Has she responded at all?”

“Like squeezed my hand or something?”

“Yeah.”

“Nope. The faceguard forces me to talk real loud, and I’m sure the nurses think I’m just an old fool. But I’m talkin’ to her as much for her as for me.”

“In some of the articles I read online while I was getting my WebMD,” Kimi said dryly, “it said patients who were in a coma remembered things that happened in the room that they shouldn’t have been aware of. So you talkin’ to her is the best thing you can do.”

“I hope so. It’s the only damn thing I can do.”

Kimi lifted her head and looked at him. The fear in her eyes matched his own. “I’m sorry for bein’ so difficult. Thank you for lookin’ out for Carolyn above all else.”

“Spent most of my life doin’ it, I sure ain’t gonna stop now.”