Katie smiled again. “I know! Isn’t it fascinating to see how much we have in common?”
He shook his head, grinning. Having always known where he came from and who he took after, he couldn’t fathom what it must feel like to just be discovering that at thirty-three.
“If she says yes, you’re going to have to set everything up for her—hospital bed, hospice care, in-home nursing. I’ll do whatever I can. Just don’t be disappointed if she turns you down or decides to back out for whatever reason. She may not want you to see her at the end.”
She pressed her lips together. “It won’t be a burden at all.”
“You have to convince her, not me.”
She held her chin higher. “I will. As soon as we go back to the hospital.”
“Just don’t worry about the farm. Whatever help you need, I’m sure Chelsea, my family, and I can help. And you have Miguel as well.”
If her mom was half as strong-willed and determined as Katie, the two were in for a dynamic relationship. But Travis admired the hell out of Katie for wanting to honor and care for her mother despite the past.
It was time for Travis to fish or cut bait; he’d call Jackson tonight. The thought of going back to Tennessee and leaving Katie to deal with all this on her own wasn’t an option. If only he’d decided to propose marriage again sooner, then there’d have been no question about his being there with her. But damned if he’d propose to her at a time like this. Besides, he didn’t need a marriage certificate to justify his right to be with Katie and Chelsea. As far as he was concerned, they were destined to be married. Just a matter of finding the right time.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
The following Friday, Kate held her mom’s hand as she helped her step down from Travis’s truck. Her hands were so thin that it felt like she held onto a skeleton with skin, but after making frantic arrangements for almost a week in order to bring her mother home to Midway, finally Kate could breathe.
Mom was home again.
Her mom paused to catch her breath and surveyed the house, arena, and barns. “I can’t believe everything you’ve done with the place, Kate. It looks busy and prosperous.”
“Well, I still owe a chunk of change to the bank, but the business should turn a corner in the coming year now that the breeding and training programs are taking off.” They started toward the house while Travis followed behind them with their suitcases. “Travis’s sister and his mom are here. They’ve been staying with Chelsea.”
At the steps, Travis set down the bags and reached for her mom’s other hand. “These steps are a little steep. Let me help, or would you prefer I carry you? I’ll work on adding a ramp as soon as we get you settled.” While the steps weren’t really steep, Kate appreciated his gracious way of offering assistance to her mom.
“No. Just let me lean on you a bit. I can manage.”
Together they guided her up to the porch and into the kitchen.
Loretta greeted them at the door with a smile. “Welcome back, everyone!” The words encompassed them all. A sense of peace descended on Kate. She was home, surrounded by family—including Travis and his.
One day, they’d make it permanent, but she was satisfied now knowing he’d chosen to be here with her during this difficult time. One thing she’d learned from this experience with her mother was that no one has an infinite amount of time. She wanted Travis to be a part of the rest of her life. And for her mother to leave this world knowing Kate was happy.
“Mom…”
Both Loretta and her mom answered, “Yes?”
Kate laughed. “I’ve done the same a million times around Chelsea’s friends.”
When her mother leaned more heavily on her arm, Kate said, “I’m going to take my mom into the living room to get her settled.”
“Everything’s ready,” Loretta said. “The hospital bed was delivered two days ago. We found a terrific shelf at Goodwill and set up a makeshift nurse’s station with the medical supplies the hospice folks indicated their nurses might need.”
Kate gave her a smile. “Loretta, thanks so much for all you’ve done.”
She shushed her words. “That’s what family does.” Kate sure was learning that was what the Cooper family lived and breathed, anyway. She was happy to be accepted as part of the family, unofficially.
Speaking of which… “Where’s Chelsea?”
“She and Emmy ran to the store for a minute to get some things for supper. Hope you’re in the mood for sloppy joes. Guess I was homesick for that man of mine.” Everyone but Kate’s mom got the joke and grinned.
Travis kissed his mom as they walked by on the way to the living room. Kate couldn’t help but think everything was going to be okay and that her mom’s final days would be filled with love and family.
She’d just managed to get Mom tucked into the bed with her earbuds in place so she could listen to the New Age music that seemed to help her relax. Travis was coming out of the office where he’d been checking his emails, smiling broadly.
“Spill. I can use some good news.”
“Just heard from Jackson. He accepted my offer.”
“Your offer to do what?”
He beamed. “He’s going to become my partner, with him being completely in charge of the Nashville operations while I open an office in Lexington.”
Lexington was only half an hour away, a shorter commute than the one he made now. But this had deeper implications. “You’re moving here permanently?”
“Well, that’s contingent on whether you’ll marry me or not.”
Whether!?! She launched herself into his arms hugging him around the neck. “I’m not going to make the same mistake three times. Yes, I’ll marry you!” He squeezed the air out of her before lowering her feet to the floor and his mouth to hers.
All too son, the kitchen door slammed. “Mom! Daddy! Are you here?” Chelsea was home. She’d missed her so much and couldn’t wait to share the news.
Pulling away from Travis, she overheard Loretta tell her they were in the hallway and to keep her voice down while her grandmother slept.”
Looking up at Travis, Kate asked, “Can we tell her now?”
“I think she’ll figure it out herself if we don’t, but sure.”
Kate smiled and turned toward the kitchen doorway as Chelsea entered. Soon they were enveloped in a group hug. After each of them dispensed a few kisses on their daughter, before they could tell her the news, Chelsea glanced toward the living room. “Is Grandma Michaels here?”
Kate nodded. “I just got her into bed. She’s resting now.”
“I’m awake! Bring me my granddaughter,” Mom said, her voice sounding stronger than it had been just a few minutes ago. “I want to see her.”
Kate’s eyes misted up as she took Chelsea’s hand. “Are you ready?” Kate asked Chelsea. She’d tried to prepare her for this moment over the phone these last few days.
“I think so.”
Kate hugged her. “Don’t worry,” she whispered. “Mom’s probably as nervous as you are.”
Kate led her into the living room, pride welling up inside her. She’d been picturing this moment since she’d first gotten Mom to agree to come home with her, which had been more difficult than even Kate had anticipated. But reminding Mom that Kate had a daughter back home and couldn’t remain in Portland indefinitely seemed to do the trick.
Mom had propped herself up in the adjustable bed and the earbuds lay on her chest. Apparently, she didn’t want to miss a thing.
Chelsea seemed hesitant at first, but when her mom extended her arms toward her, Kate squeezed her hand and encouraged her to go forward. Tears filled her eyes, but she could hear Chelsea’s meek voice.
“Hello, Grandma Michaels. It’s nice to meet you.” Kate couldn’t blame her for being a little reluctant. The woman was a total stranger to her. But when her daughter bent down to kiss her mom on the cheek, Kate lost it and let the tears fall. Travis appeared out of nowhere to wrap both arms around her.
He could always anticipate when she needed him to lean on.
Her mother patted the mattress, and Chelsea sat on the edge of the bed. “Honey, you have no idea how wonderful it is to finally set eyes on you. I’ve only known about you a short time and have only seen you in photos until now. I hope you’ll forgive me for taking so long to get here.” Mom glanced up at Kate, as though the words might also be intended for her.
Kate’s heart grew warm. Thank goodness she’d persisted despite the many times Mom had said she didn’t think the move was a good idea. Mom talked to Chelsea about her own childhood in southern California. Chelsea told her about Princess Jasmine and Chula. The two hit it off immediately.
Travis kissed the top of Kate’s head, and she turned slightly to press her cheek against his chest. “You okay?” he whispered.
“Surprisingly, yes.”
“Maybe tomorrow I can go out and watch you ride some,” Mom said.
“That would be awesome! Chula and I are getting ready for our next show. This time, Mom said I could enter in a regular class, not just academy.”
Mom met Kate’s gaze once more. “You named one of your horses Chula?”
Kate nodded, too choked up to elaborate, but happy that memory had stayed with her, even if she didn’t know where it had come from at the time.
Chelsea reached out and stroked Mom’s hair. “We have the same color hair.” The tender scene brought more tears to Kate’s eyes. Kate and Travis wouldn’t need to help Chelsea and Mom bond. And eventually to let go as well. Better to have loved and lost…
Bringing her mom here was the right decision. Her final days would be spent surrounded with love and family, and Kate couldn’t help but feel her father was here, too, perhaps waiting for Mom on the other side when the time came.
“Chulita, I want you to have the wedding ring your grandpa gave me when we married. Your mom will keep it for you until the time is right.”
Mom had made sure Kate knew about the ring when packing up her apartment, and Kate had brought it home with her rather than leave it in the boxes being shipped. She’d see that Chelsea had it when she was responsible enough to take care of it.
In a voice much weaker than the one Kate remembered from her childhood, Mom began to sing “My Chula” to her daughter, bringing back poignant memories for Kate.
Wanting to give the two of them a chance to be alone, she said softly to them, “We’ll be in the kitchen if you need anything.” Mom smiled blissfully up at her making Kate’s eyes sting yet again.
In the kitchen, she didn’t see Mom Cooper or Emmy and turned to Travis while they had a moment alone. “Thanks for everything, Travis. You’ve been my rock this past week.”
“You’re the one who’s been handling everything.” He placed a kiss on her forehead. “But you’d better let me know if you need anything at all,” he warned. “I know you aren’t one to ask, and I can’t always anticipate.”
“You’ve given me everything I need with just a touch or a shoulder to lean on.”
He tucked his finger under her chin and tipped her head back. Her heart tripped a beat. They’d been together every day for the past week, even sharing the same bed at the hotel, but were too exhausted each night to make love again. Whenever he’d come up from Tennessee to see Chelsea before that, he’d barely had thirty hours before having to turn around and go home again. Those hours had been consumed with Chelsea and her activities.
She wrapped her arms around him and welcomed his kiss. His lips were warm and reassuring, giving her energy to keep up her own strength for whatever was coming.
“Now that’s a sight that does my heart good,” Loretta said as they turned to watch her and Emmy set four bags of groceries on the table. She hadn’t even heard the door open. “Son, when do you plan to ask Katie for her hand? I’m not getting any younger.”
“Neither am I!” Mom shouted from the living room. How on earth had she heard Loretta’s words? Was Daddy relaying messages between here and the living room? Kate smiled at the thought of the two of them making amends. Perhaps it was never too late.
Everyone in the kitchen shared a laugh before Kate became serious. “Oh, he already has, Loretta. And just a little while ago, I finally gave him my answer.”
Kate turned to Travis, whose eyes smoldered. She poured her heart out to him. “There has never been anyone but you, and I’d be honored to go through the rest of my life with you by my side.”
Chelsea’s footsteps came bounding down the hallway into the kitchen. “You’re getting married?” Kate and Travis caught her as she launched herself at them. “I can’t believe this. Now you’ll not only be my mom and dad but we’ll all be family.”
At last.
* * *
When the congratulations and hugs faded away, Travis asked, “Can we help?”
“Nope, this is everything,” Emmy said as she began putting groceries away.
Katie went over and gave his sister a hug. “Thanks for being there for Chelsea this week.” Travis was happy that the initial tension between the two of them was gone now. And with Katie’s agreeing to marry him, and Jackson becoming his partner, Travis couldn’t think of anything else that needed to fall into place.
He crossed the room to Emmy, too, hugging her and planting a big-brother kiss on the top of the head. “You’ve been great, Em. First with Jackson, and now Chelsea.”
“Believe me, Chelsea is a lot more fun to be with. Jackson was a pain in the—”
“EmmyLou!” Mom said. “The man was injured and probably not himself.”
Emmy rolled her eyes, probably a habit she picked up from spending so much time with Chelsea. Travis had no clue what had happened between the two of them, but didn’t really want to know, either. He credited Emmy for getting Jackson on his feet faster than the doctors had anticipated, probably because Jackson wanted to show her he didn’t need any help so he could send Emmy back to Louisville and out of his hair.
The next couple of hours were a whirlwind of preparing and eating dinner, catching up with Chelsea, and meeting with the hospice nurse. When it came time to go to bed, he wasn’t quite sure yet where he’d be sleeping. Yeah, they were engaged, but with his mom, sister, daughter, and future mother-in-law in the house, he didn’t think joining Katie in her bed was a prudent idea.
Alone with Katie in the barn after mucking the stalls, he asked, “Would you prefer I sleep in the apartment out here?”
She hung the stall fork on the wall. “Your mom and Emmy have the guest room, so it’s probably best.”
But he wanted to sleep with Katie again, truth be told. He’d never slept better than those nights they’d spent at the hotel in Oregon together, exhausted and curled up in each other’s arms.
“But we can change that arrangement in the coming days, if you’re open to what I want to suggest,” she said.
He turned to face her, setting his gloves on the table in the tack room. Perhaps a little romp in the tack room? “What’s that?”
“How would you feel about us marrying in the next few days, here at the house, with Mom and whoever from your family is able to attend on short notice?”
Well, not exactly what he’d expected to hear, but he worried about pulling it off on such short notice. Clearly, Kate wanted to have her mom there to witness the occasion, and he had no problem with that. “Are you sure you have enough time to pull it all together?”
She grinned as she walked toward him. “I’m a simple country girl. As long as we have a bride, a groom, a couple of witnesses, and a minister, that’s all we need. Unless you want a church wedding or something, Lidia is an ordained minister and can perform the ceremony.”
He framed her upturned face with his hands. “When I’m this close to you, I can’t think logically, but I think you’ve covered all the bases. Whatever you want, I’ll do. Weddings are more for the brides and if you don’t mind the minimalist approach, let’s do it.” That didn’t come out sounding the way he intended, but he lowered his
head and captured her lips in a kiss to seal the deal. Moments later, he heard running footsteps down the barn aisle.
“Mom, Daddy! Come quick!” Chelsea ran into the tack room and glanced from one of them to the other, worry in her eyes. “Grandma Michaels is in pain, and we don’t know what to do.”
Katie took off running first, but he took a moment to make sure Chelsea was okay.
She nodded. “We were just talking and then she gasped for breath, grabbed her right side, and screamed in pain.”
“You did the right thing to come and get us. Your Mom has instructions from the hospice nurse on what to do in times like this.” Sadly, there were going to be many more of these times in the days to come as the disease took its toll on her body. “You okay, Sunshine?” He worried how Chelsea was going to handle being this close to death. If he and Katie felt it was becoming too much for her to handle, they’d send her to Louisville to stay with Shania.
“I’m okay. It’s Mom I’m worried about. She’s going to be really sad when Grandma Michaels dies.”
He hugged her again. She had a big heart and empathy for those around her. “We’re going to be here for your mom and together we’ll get through this. Now, let’s see if there’s anything we can do tonight.”
Inside the house again, they made their way to the doorway to the living room.
Kate bent over her mom’s bed. “Take this. It will help with the pain.” Katie measured the correct dose into the oral syringe and Mrs. Michaels opened her mouth to take it, squeezing her eyes shut as she swallowed. The narcotic patch they’d put on two days ago must be wearing off early, unless the dosage wasn’t enough to keep up with the pain any longer.
Travis turned to his mom who stood looking on, clutching a wet washcloth. Was she remembering back to taking care of her own mother in her final days? To Chelsea, he said, “Why don’t you go up and listen to some music for a while? Everything’s under control here.” He wished he could shelter her from witnessing what was coming.
Chelsea shook her head. “I want to sit with her until she falls asleep.” He gave her a hug. She had a lot of compassion. “Grandpa Michaels told me she likes having me hold her hand.”
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