Caught by the Cowboy Dad

by Melinda Curtis

  “Dad...” Devin put his hand on Holden’s shoulder, as if he was the mature one and was giving out much-needed advice. “You said yourself that I need real-life experiences to be a better doctor. A gap year will give me that. And I want to do it.”

  “No.” Holden didn’t have to think twice.

  Devin stood, a fierce expression on his normally good-natured face. “What’s right for you isn’t right for me. Just because you want to cling to the traditional path of nose to the grindstone doesn’t mean that I should.”

  “You’re seventeen. All you’ve talked about for the past three years is jumping ahead to college. Three years, Dev.” Holden got to his feet slowly, choosing his words with infinite care. “And now, after a handful of days, you want to put all that on hold? I wouldn’t be doing my parental duty if I allowed that to happen. Come on.” He led him out the door.

  Devin dragged his feet, all the way to the inn, all during packing, all the way out the door and to the motor home.

  Holden put the rig in gear but slowed as they approached the fork in the road at the stop sign. A right turn headed toward Boise and the necessary airport. That was his first priority—getting Devin back on track. Going straight took them to Ketchum and Bernadette’s practice. That was his second priority—using his negotiation skills to win over Bernadette.

  “Dad.”

  Holden came to a full stop at the intersection, turning to look at Devin.

  “I’m going to take a gap year.”

  Holden expected the elephants to march across his chest. “Some kids who take gap years never go to college.” He wasn’t sure that was true, but that was his fear.

  Where were the elephants?

  “I have a plan.” Devin spoke slowly and confidently. “I called Myrna while you were with Shane. I’m going to work at the Standing Bear Silver Mine.”

  “Dev, that won’t do either one of you any good.” Dev or Frankie. “You’re letting your heart rule your head. You have dreams of finding a cure for cancer.”

  “I want to save people, Dad.” Devin’s gray gaze was soft and determined at the same time. “Remember what Dr. Carlisle said about finding her path in medicine based on what makes her happy? Maybe my path isn’t to charge full speed ahead. In one year, I can make a difference in two lives.”

  “She’ll get pregnant,” Holden blurted, unable to leave that unspoken.

  “It’s not like that.” Devin frowned, compiling his argument. “It’s like...it’s like you and Dr. Carlisle. You’re better together, even when you’re talking from opposite ends of the conversation.”

  And there came the elephants, pressing down on Holden. He slouched in the driver’s seat, thinking. He was stressed about his future and his love life. What did that say about Devin’s choices?

  Someone came to a stop behind them and tooted their horn. It was time for a decision.

  Holden’s booted foot was planted firmly on the brake. He wasn’t ready.

  But Devin wasn’t finished. “It’s like you bickering with Shane, Dad. I know he rubs you wrong, but you’re family. You came back here for him. I have to go back there for them. I feel a connection, an important one. I have to honor that.”

  “An old woman and a teenage girl.” Holden shook his head. “I’m fond of them, too, but—”

  “And a stubborn old horse,” Devin said desperately. “Don’t forget Shortcake, Dad.”

  The car behind them honked again.

  Holden relived the cold plunge in the river when Shortcake had thrown him. The stomach-dropping flip. The oxygen-stealing cold water.

  “Dad, you have to listen to me.”

  “Listen.” Holden rubbed his arms and then turned down the air conditioner. “Choose. Act.”

  “Dad? Are you sure we don’t need to see Dr. Carlisle?” Devin scrunched down to look out the side-view mirror.

  Holden made a decision. He drove straight toward Ketchum. “I am listening, Dev. And now you’re going to listen to me. Sometimes life doesn’t turn out the way you plan or dream. And when that happens, you have to pivot to keep moving forward.” Holden hadn’t been moving forward for months. He’d been drifting without so much as a dog paddle. “You’re learning about pivots now, by wanting to stay and help someone in need.”

  “There is no want. I’m going to stay.” Devin spoke calmly. “I know I’m only seventeen, but you and Mom trusted me to graduate early. You and Mom trusted me when I applied to MIT.”

  Holden nodded. They had. “And we’ll trust you if at the end of the summer you still want to take a gap year.”

  “What? Do you mean it?” Devin’s grin was quick to blossom. And that smile sent a shaft of joy through Holden. “I can stay? What are you waiting for? Turn this thing around.” Dev bounced excitedly in his seat.

  “Not yet.” Holden kept to the road ahead. “We’ve got someone else to take care of first. Someone with business in Ketchum.”

  Devin settled, turning serious. “Dr. Carlisle.”

  Holden nodded.

  “Dr. Dunce.”

  Holden nodded again.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  BERNADETTE WASN’T GOING to lie to herself: the recliner in the living quarters of Second Chance’s medical clinic was a comfort to a pregnant woman.

  And after days spent helping out at the Standing Bear Silver Mine, she hadn’t realized she needed to slow down. How draining would it be to keep up with her practice in Ketchum and this one in Second Chance? A responsible mom-to-be would realize she couldn’t do both. But being a responsible doctor, she was hesitant to let her practice go to someone who wouldn’t offer the quality of care her patients deserved.

  Instead of making a decision, Bernadette drank water and stared out the plate-glass window toward the Sawtooth Mountains. The first time she’d drunk in that view, Holden had been by her side.

  A heaviness tried to fill her heart. She refused to let it. She wasn’t going to be a melancholy mother just because the one man she’d given her heart to had left her and the town, presumably for good. She’d seen him and Devin drive away two days ago.

  She ran her fingers over the soft yarn of the cap Devin had partially knitted for her. She remembered laughter by a campfire, and she thought about Holden’s kisses.

  No more of that, Dr. Carlisle. Think about the vegetables you’re cooking for dinner.

  Broccoli.

  Odette marched in the door and went straight to an exam bay. She sat on a low examination table, the paper on it crinkling. “I’m dying, Doc.”

  She looked hale and hearty to Bernadette, who took her time getting out of the recliner, relieved that the bout of morning sickness was beginning to recede. “What are your symptoms?”

  “I’m not hungry. My fingers could barely hold my knitting needles just now. And I just want to close my eyes.” Odette gave a low, wry chuckle. “I know what that means. It means my body’s shutting down.”

  Bernadette sighed. From her window, she could also see the Bent Nickel. And just an hour ago, she’d seen Odette and Roy occupying a front booth and eating a large lunch. But she did her due diligence—pulse, blood pressure, temperature. And then she checked Odette’s legs and fingers for water retention. “Everything looks good.”

  “How can that be?” Odette curled her fingers into loose fists. “I get the tingles if I try to clench any tighter.”

  Bernadette took those fists in her hands. “Odette, you ate meat loaf and garlic fries for lunch. Not only is that loaded with salt, which can make your fingers bloated, but you cleaned your plate which can make you feel tired.”

  Odette blinked. “So...I’m not dying?”

  “No. But given the aftereffects, I want you to go get Roy and take him for a walk.” They could both use the exercise.

  “You’re good, Doc.” Odette got to her feet, gaze roaming the medical clinic. �
��Where’s your knitting? I should check your stitches while I’m here.”

  Bernadette pointed to a bag near the recliner. “I’m afraid I didn’t get as much done as I should have while I was gone.”

  “Plenty of time before the baby comes.” Odette may always suspect the worst healthwise, but she was spry for her age, quickly finding the bag and examining its contents before Bernadette could stop her. “You’re starting to get the hang of it.”

  It was Devin who had the hang of it. She’d probably rarely see Devin again. He’d be busy at medical school. And perhaps when he came to Idaho, he’d want to visit Frankie more than his younger sibling and his father’s former doctor.

  Dr. Carlisle prescribes one small square of chocolate for symptoms of melancholy.

  “Odette, I’ve lost my motivation for knitting.” It would only remind her of early mornings and late afternoons spent by the river and dinners around the campfire. Of Devin’s reticent smile and Holden’s booming laughter. Her gaze caught on the red cowboy boots by the door. “Why don’t you take this knitting and yarn back? You can probably unravel it and make something a lot nicer than I ever could.”

  “That’s true, but I thought...” Odette scrutinized Bernadette’s expression. “I’ll make that baby a fine knitted cap and a baby quilt for you to remember Second Chance.”

  Bernadette scoffed. “What are you talking about? I’m going to be the town doctor for years to come.” Years and years. Time stretched before her without Holden. “It might take a few more months to sell my practice in Ketchum, but after that I’ll be here full-time.” She had this last day of vacation. Tomorrow, she had to be back in Ketchum and make a decision about a counteroffer or a refusal.

  “We’ll see. You don’t look like you have the patience for this small town.” Odette’s gaze turned crafty. “Or should I say you don’t have the heart for it?”

  Bernadette felt her cheeks heat. “I’m staying.”

  A rumble came from the highway below. Bernadette was too disheartened to look.

  Odette opened the door to peek. “Looks like Holden’s back, still driving that big rig. He must have taken Devin to the airport, like Gabby said.”

  “What? Why would Holden come back?” The old woman was right. A familiar motor home was parking in front of the Lodgepole Inn. Her pulse foolishly increased, as if it were possible that Holden had returned to Second Chance for her.

  Bernadette went back inside the clinic.

  “Aren’t you going to go down and greet him?” Odette asked, still watching from the porch.

  “No. I’ve got things to do.” Like inventory her freezer. Dust the television remote. And...she couldn’t think of anything else, except to drink water.

  She shut Odette out and kept away from the windows.

  But she couldn’t stop herself from wondering why Holden had returned.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  DURING HIS NUMEROUS visits to Second Chance over the past few months, Holden had noticed that most people opened the medical-clinic door without knocking.

  Holden knocked.

  And then he waited until Bernadette gave him permission to enter. He balanced a large box in his arms and entered her domain. It had changed a lot since he’d last been inside in February. The remodel Bernadette had supervised had brought the medical side up-to-date. There was a new couch, but the two-chair dinette set and recliner were the same. But Bernadette...

  She looked different. Worn down. Her hair drooped, and her glasses were smudged. And she didn’t say anything. She looked in need of some TLC.

  He set the box down on the dining table and then hung his cowboy hat on the hook by the door, resisting the urge to walk over to Bernadette and sweep her off her feet with a long kiss and a heartfelt promise of everlasting love. He’d asked her to marry him more times than he cared to admit. This last time had to count. He was going to present his case the way he approached a delicate business deal.

  “I brought you something.” He opened the box flaps and pulled out a small box of bakery-made chocolate-chip cookies. He held it out to her. “I know how much you like chocolate.”

  “A whole box worth?” Bernadette was keeping her distance, a wary look in her eyes. “Broccoli,” she murmured, staring at his red cowboy boots.

  Those had been the hardest item of this campaign to find.

  He set the box of cookies on the corner of the table and cleared his throat. He hadn’t anticipated his reception to be this cold. “In case you’re wondering, Devin and I went to Ketchum to take care of some legal matters that took a few days. As you know, cell-phone reception is more reliable down there.” That, of course, wasn’t the only reason they’d left town. “I put my apartment in New York City up for sale.”

  “Why?” She crossed her arms over her chest.

  “I need the capital for some investments.” He lifted a bouquet of flowers from the box—red rosebuds, fragrant and ready to bloom. Just like their love.

  Or not. She was smirking.

  “That’s not exactly true. I’m going to live on some of that. I need to spend more time thinking about the next phase of my life, and I didn’t want anything to tie me down to New York.” He presented her with the bouquet.

  She frowned, arms still crossed. “Why are you giving me flowers? I gave you a bouquet and a note already.”

  “As was fitting for the old me.” Holden took a deep breath and a moment to drink in the sight of her, riled because the flowers represented endings, not beginnings. “But I’m like a slow caterpillar breaking free of my chrysalis. Everything is different. Or maybe it’s me that’s different and just now stopping to buck the trend. Flowers should signal affection moving forward, not coming to an end.”

  Bernadette adjusted her glasses as if trying to see his transformation through the smudged lenses.

  He was beginning to suspect she wasn’t going to accept this bouquet just as she hadn’t accepted his cookies. “I didn’t give you roses when you told me you were pregnant. That news should be celebrated.” He put them on the small dining table.

  If this had been the opening negotiations of a business deal, where it was important to establish interest and trust, it was turning into one big fail.

  Bernadette’s cell phone rang.

  Holden checked the time. “Perfect.” At least this was going as planned.

  She answered. “What, Eric?” She turned her back on Holden. “Really?” And then she sent Holden a confused glance over her shoulder. “Really? But how could she afford it?”

  “I’ll call you back.” Bernadette hung up, turning to face Holden. “Another offer for my practice came through, as you well know, because you arranged a weekend meeting with my lawyer to present said offer. I don’t know how you did it. You hunted down young Dr. Carrie at the hospital and arranged for my partners to cosign a loan so she could buy my practice.” She put a hand on her hip. “You had no right.”

  He rushed to explain. “Sometimes, it takes a little creativity, mediation and negotiation to find the right terms to close a sale. Take right now, for instance. You’re upset at me for meddling without your permission. A proposal of marriage would be ill-timed.” But how he wanted to get down on one knee.

  Her cheeks bloomed with color to rival the roses. “My lawyer shouldn’t have talked to you. I didn’t authorize you to be my agent.”

  Holden held up his hands. “I met with Eric as a consultant working for Dr. Carrie.”

  “Bending the rules—”

  “Are you saying you’re going to turn this offer down? Perhaps you’re reconsidering the offer from Dr. Dunce.”

  She scowled.

  Devin burst in, earlier than planned. “Did I miss it? Did she accept?” He looked from one to the other. “Oh.”

  “I told my lawyer I’d think about it.” Bernadette gave Devin an understanding smile. “And give
him my answer later.”

  Devin frowned at Holden. “Um...”

  Holden knew Devin had been excited about the marriage proposal, not the business deal, but he let that miscommunication stand.

  “I’ve been sitting here, thinking,” Bernadette said, unexpectedly pensive. “What if Dr. Dunce’s offer is a sign? I mean, what if I’m supposed to keep my practice, keep delivering babies? I could do it if I hired a nanny.”

  “Are you saying that you’re wondering what to do with the rest of your life?” Holden asked softly.

  “Exactly.” She frowned at him. And then she sighed and faced Devin. “What are you doing here, Devin? I thought you were going back to Boston?”

  “Change of plans.” Devin glowed with happiness. “I’m spending the summer working at the Standing Bear Silver Mine Tour.”

  “Oh.” Bernadette managed to smile. “Your mom and dad are okay with that?”

  “Dad convinced Mom it’d be good for me, like he said, to garner life experiences. And it turns out Mom was afraid I’d burn out if I charged right into college. Plus—”

  “We’ve been talking to Myrna and Tom,” Holden said, jumping back in. “I’m going to cosign a loan for Tom and his wife to purchase the place. It should close by the end of the summer, which will give Myrna the support she needs and allow Frankie to focus on her studies.” He put a hand on Devin’s shoulder. “Dev, why don’t you step outside and call Myrna to make sure you can still park the motor home down by the river?”

  “She said yes already, Dad.” There was a trace of teen scorn in his answer. “She’s not going to go back on her word.”

  “Then step outside and call your mom.”

  It took Devin a moment to process the underlying request Holden was making to get lost. “Oh. Yeah.” Grinning, his son darted out.

  “But...” Bernadette looked perplexed “...you’re investing in people again. I thought you said—”

  “I was wrong. People need investments. They need hope. And they need to keep their promises.” Like the one she’d made to her father. He lowered his voice and took a rose from the bouquet, handing it to Bernadette. “I’m going to stay in Second Chance.”