The Discreet Cowboy (Cowboys of Nirvana Book 6) (20 page)

He grabbed the chair, squeezing the wood until he thought it’d splinter. He loosened his grip, pulled off his Stetson and tore a hand through his hair. “I like the idea of marrying you.”

She blinked. “You do?”

“I do. How could you doubt that?”

She shrugged a slender shoulder and there went the other strap. Damn. Pure torment. “Just wasn’t sure.”

He took a step closer and took her hands into his. “But we have to do things a little differently. Now I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with a woman asking a man to marry her, but I have to do what’s right. Chase is not only my boss, but he’s my friend. It’s only the proper thing for me to get his permission.”

“Good luck.”

“Trust me, he’ll see how I feel.”

She tucked her bottom lip between her teeth and nibbled. “Maybe we should start with you telling me how you feel first.” She chuckled.

He shifted in his worn boots, his balance off and he had to lean against the table for support. “I’m going mad. In other words, I’m in love with you Felicia Sever. If you’ll have me, I’d like to make you my wife.”

Stepping against him, she wrapped her arms around his neck. “I’ll not only have you, but I’m going to love you every day for the rest of your life. Can you handle that, cowboy?”

“Not only can I handle it, but I’m willing to change every dirty diaper when we have our babies just to prove to you how much I love you.”

Laughing, she laid her head back slightly, showing off the slender line of her beautiful neck. He wanted to trace the curve with his tongue, but knew he couldn’t stop there. “I’ll remind you of those words one day.”

“Any advice for talking to Chase?”

“Don’t take no for an answer.”

“He was in a meeting, but I’ll speak to him ASAP.”

“Hey, you two.” Kaycee swept into the kitchen, arms laden with bags. She placed them on the counter and groaned. Her hair was half in the bun and half out, as if she’d just ran a marathon.

Felicia and Dade quickly parted.

“Are you okay?” Felicia asked.

Kaycee smoothed her misbehaving tendrils of hair away from her face. “I hurried as fast as I could. Everyone and their brother was in the market. You know, everyone’s right about something. When you first have a child, you have baby-brain. All I could think about was Isabella and wondering if she needed fed. Was she cranky? Did she miss me? I hope she wasn’t too much trouble, but who am I kidding? She’s precious and never any trouble.”

“She’s an angel, and now taking a nap, except, she did scare the hell out of me with what I found in her diaper.” Felicia flicked a look toward Dade who was quickly moving toward the door. “Okay, Captain Obvious. Where are you going?”

“I thought I’d let you two ladies talk, alone,” he muttered.

Kaycee didn’t even seem to hear the exchange between Felicia and Dade. “Isabella’s a breastfed baby. Pretty disgusting poos if I say so myself and the reason why Chase and I are on a rotating shift. It works out pretty good.” She pulled off her purse and laid it on the counter. She looked from Dade to Felicia. “Did I interrupt something?”

Dade and Felicia quickly shook their heads. “No,” they answered concurrently.

Kaycee smiled. “You both look like you’ve been in the cookie jar.” She looked at the table. “Or just the cake.”

“I had a hankering for chocolate,” Felicia muttered, realizing she sounded suspicious.

“I bet you did.” Kaycee winked.

Dade shifted and stepped toward the door, holding his hat pressed against his chest. “Do you have any more bags in the truck?” he asked.

“Nope. This was all.” Kaycee took out bags of apples and celery from a brown bag.

“Okay then. I’ll be on my way.” He smashed his hat on his head.

“See you later.” Felicia watched him leave, feeling her heart ticking wildly.

Once the door slammed behind him, Kaycee’s eyes were on her, a knowing expression on her face. “Well, well, just as I thought.”

“Is it that obvious?” Felicia went to the window and watched as Dade climbed into the driver’s seat of the cart.

“That you have the hots for Dade? I could feel the heat before I stepped into the kitchen.” She continued removing groceries.

Felicia helped by taking the celery and putting it into the refrigerator. “I wasn’t expecting it to happen, never would have believed it possible, but I love him. Deeply.”

“Well, let’s not let this chocolate go to waste. I could use a good dose of sugar.” Kaycee pulled out the chair and dug into the cake.

Felicia joined her, but couldn’t quite dip into the yummy looking cake yet. “How will Chase take it?”

“Like a bear with a tranquilizer dart in his butt,” she said around a mouth full.

“Seriously?”

Kaycee shrugged, wiping her mouth on a napkin. “You know how your brother is. He likes to keep personal and professional on two opposite sides of the fence. He’s already ticked that it seems he keeps losing his best hands to Cupid’s bow. He swears before he knows it, he will be hiring new hands every day.”

“I can understand his concern.”

“And there is that bit where you and Dade have kept him in the dark and lied, just a little.” Kaycee leaned back into her chair. “That could be the biggest issue.”

Felicia nodded. “Yeah, that.” She picked at a crumble of cake.

“Okay, don’t look so glum. What are the plans?”

“We’re getting married.”

“Are you kidding me? And you’re just now telling me?” She jumped up, the chair scraping the floor. “We have lots of planning to do.”

“Okay, speedy. Slow down there. We haven’t set a date.”

“But we have to get you on the schedule at the wedding venue. It’s booked solid, but you know me, I always keep several dates back for emergency purposes.” She turned to Felicia, a solemn expression. “That is unless you don’t want to get married here at Nirvana.”

Felicia laughed. “I haven’t thought about it, but now that you mention it, I think here would be perfect.”

“Oh, and we’ll have to talk to Jax and make sure she’s available to take pictures.”

“Sweetie, I think you might be getting ahead of yourself, and you’re scaring me. How is it possible you have this much energy with a newborn?”

She waved a hand through the air. “I had a jumbo cinnamon roll and an extra-large iced coffee while I was in town. Don’t judge me. The doctor said some caffeine is fine.”

Felicia shook her head. “I never would. I condone anything that keeps you this energetic.”

“I totally recommend breastfeeding when you have your own kids. I swear I can eat a horse and still lose weight.”

“Now we’re really moving fast.” She rolled the melting ice cream around the plate.

“Okay, you’re right. One thing at a time.” Kaycee grabbed Felicia’s hand and practically dragged her out of the chair. “Hurry. I have books left over from my wedding. Pictures and pictures, and more pictures of wedding dresses. I’d say we have thirty minutes before Isabella wakes.”

Felicia believed her sister-in-law would be a big help, if she could just slow her down a tad.

Kaycee turned, grabbing Felicia by the shoulders. “By the way, I love Dade. I think he’s a wonderful, kind, sweet man, and I, for one, think the two of you make a great couple. Don’t worry about Chase. He’ll come around.”

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

DADE WAS BRUSHING one of the chestnuts when he was tapped on the shoulder. He turned to find Dr. Cam Parker. “Hey, doc, what are you doing here?”

The tall man with dark hair patted the horse on the neck. “Chase has hired me to come out once a week to be available for guests and staff. Looks like you’ll be seeing more of me now.”

“Sorry, but that’s not what I was shooting for.” Dade liked the other man and Parker was a damn good doctor. He was partly the reason why Dade was as far in his progress as he was. He’d always been good at answering questions and telling it point blank, and Dade respected that.

“You missed your last appointment so I thought while I was here, we’d catch up.”

“Yeah, I’ve been busy.”

“You’re out on the land so the leg’s not giving you too many issues. Glad to see that. Can we sit down and go over some details?”

“Sure. Let me put her back in the stall. I’ll meet you over at the fence.” After Dade put the horse away, he found the doc leaning against the fence, his boot tucked up on the bottom rail, staring out onto the field.

“It sure is beautiful here. Chase has made some good changes.” Cam scrubbed his smooth jaw.

“Well, you’ll get to enjoy the place more.” Dade pounded him on the back. “I told Chase you’d be a great addition.”

“Thanks for the recommendation. I’m not much of a cowboy though.”

“Invest in a pair of good boots, jeans and a Stetson and you’ll be fine. No one here will ask you to muck out a stall or lift a bale of hay. The ladies might swoon a bit though,” Dade joked.

Cam shrugged. “I don’t have time for swooning women. Between my shift at the hospital and my new practice, I’m swamped. Coming out here a few hours a week will break up the monotony.”

Dade leaned against the top rail and removed his hat, hooking it on a fence post. “You must really want to speak to me to hunt me down like this.”

“It’s not an emergency, but since you didn’t make it into the office we still have to discuss the last X-ray of your leg.”

“What’s the verdict? You giving me the go ahead to get back on the land? Back to all of my duties?” Dade’s spine stiffened when he saw the narrowing of Cam’s eyes.

“I hate to say this, buddy, but the images didn’t look as good as we’d hoped.”

Dade blew out a long breath. “I feel fine though.”

“You’ve come a long way in a short time. None of us could have imagined the pace in which you’ve recovered, but it’s not unusual for a man that has suffered your injuries to have a setback.”

Dade clenched his fingers on the wood, not caring if he’d end up with splinters or a broken slab of wood. He didn’t believe in setbacks. “What exactly is the holdup you’re referring to?”

Cam hesitated, which only made Dade more anxious. “Looks like you’ll have to be scheduled for another surgery. Some of the bones in the ankle aren’t as straight as they should be. For now, things are fine, but long-term, as in not too long, you’re going to have a lot of trouble.”

“Hell no! We’re looking at another six weeks of recovery time.” He gritted his teeth.

“Dade, I’ve spoken with the best orthopedic surgeons and they’re all in agreement that we need to do this now because it’ll only get worse, to a point we won’t be able to do anything to fix it.”

“And then what happens after six weeks?”

“The recovery time will be a little longer because you’ll be in a cast for at least twelve weeks. Then physical therapy. Then I have no reason not to believe you will be walking without the cane in six months, working the land, doing everything you’ve set your mind to.”

Dade rubbed his brows. This wasn’t part of his plan. How could he stay at Nirvana another six months, sitting in the cabin, staring out the window? How could he expect Felicia to still want to marry him? He may never be where he wanted to be in recovery. This was all a shot in the dark, and yet, what choice did he have? He wanted to have full use of his leg and foot, and was willing to walk on water to get that. He’d come so far to stop now.

“Hey, I’m sorry to bring you the bad news. I wish it was different, but keep in mind, things could have been a lot worse. When you were first brought into the hospital the prognosis was poor. We didn’t know you’d make it out alive, let alone whether you’d walk again.”

“Look, I don’t want to seem like a jerk by complaining when I, above everyone, know how grateful I should be. I guess I just had my stubborn mind set on something different.”

“Don’t apologize for being stubborn, buddy. That’s partly what got you through this. You don’t have to decide now. Call the office in the next few days and let me know what you decide.”

“Doc, would you have the surgery?” Dade trusted and respected the other man.

“With everything I know, what the surgeons say, yes, I would. This is your best chance of having the best quality of life, a better future. Otherwise, you’re looking at a serious injury down the road and without the use of the leg.”

Dade soaked up Cam’s words long after he left Dade standing alone by the fence. Damn, he knew the doc was right. Even he thought he wouldn’t make it out of the hospital alive at one point, but pure determination kept him going and at least he had use of both legs, and eventually full use. He’d allowed self-pity to take root in his heart before and it wasn’t pretty, but this changed things, drastically.

He needed to speak to Chase, and see where things could go from here. Dade couldn’t give up on his future, or Felicia.

At the administrative offices, Dade walked in and the receptionist, Jennifer, was talking on the phone. She hung up and offered him her ever-friendly smile. “Hello, Dade. How are you?”

“I’m still kicking.” He leaned against the desk. “Chase available?”