“What will her recovery be like?” For some reason Luc’s question surprised Cate, but then, he had the right to be involved. He was here, wasn’t he? She should be thankful that he was committed to Ruby—that her daughter could depend on him—instead of being so panicked by what his presence meant.
Pull yourself together, Cate. Even if you can’t trust him, you can trust God. The mantra that had gotten her to the Wilder ranch in the first place eased a smidgen of uneasiness.
“With cardiac catheterization, the recovery is minimal,” Diane answered. “Nothing like open-heart surgery. Rest is needed while the incision site heals, but many children bounce back at a fast rate.”
“And will there be a lot of follow-up visits?”
Cate’s brow furrowed. What was Luc fishing for? Was he really this interested? Or was something on his mind?
“If things go as planned, we’ll do one about a month after and then we won’t need to see her for another year.”
“So, if she was living forty minutes outside Denver in a quiet place where she could recuperate—no germs being shared at day care—you don’t think that would be a problem? She wouldn’t be too far from medical care?” Luc’s questions came out in a rush, and Cate’s jaw lunged for her toes.
What was Luc doing? What was he thinking? Was he attempting to take Ruby from her?
Had she said those thoughts out loud earlier? Or had Luc plucked them from her mind? Eerie. It was as if she’d allowed the truth to surface for one moment, and Luc had immediately set about making her nightmares come true. Her throat closed off, and she couldn’t speak over the lump of outraged tears she refused to release.
“We’ll know more after the procedure, but I don’t think Dr. Thom would have any issues with that. Our patients come from all over the place. Not everyone lives in town.”
Cate resisted a hiss at her answer. At Luc’s audacity.
And one look at Ruby made it all a thousand times worse. Her headphones were looped around her neck, not on her ears. By the way her face perked with interest, she’d heard everything Luc had just asked. Ruby might not know exactly what Luc was saying, but she knew it involved her.
Who did Luc think he was, throwing out preposterous ideas in front of Ruby like he was...like he was her father and had a say in her life? Ruby couldn’t just be uprooted. She had a schedule. Day care. Friends. Luc might not see those things—or Cate—as important, but she did.
Ruby bounced with excitement. “What is it, Mommy? Are we going somewhere?”
Red flames had to be shooting out of the top of Cate’s head. Her face radiated with heat, now likely the shade of a scarlet crayon.
Cate sought with everything in her to manage a calm tone. “We’ll have to discuss it, sweets.” Gaze bouncing from Ruby, she raised a menacing eyebrow at Luc. “As a family.” Voice wobbling with barely suppressed anger, she focused on breathing as Diane wrapped up the visit and left.
At Cate’s direction, Ruby grabbed her small backpack of supplies from the corner of the room.
Gripping Luc’s arm, Cate lowered her voice. “What are you thinking? That I won’t care if Ruby comes to live with you? She has a life, Lucas. I realize I kept her from you, but trying to take her from me isn’t the answer.”
Stunned silence came from Luc. His mouth hung open, much like Cate’s had only minutes before.
“I got the big hostable door open!” Ruby stood with her back propping open the wide door, pride evident.
They exclaimed what a good job she did, then followed Ruby down the beige hallway, friction wedged between them like a third wheel.
Luc pulled her behind Ruby’s pace. Out of earshot. “I’m not...” His head shook as if he was clearing away cobwebs. “You think I’m trying to take her from you?”
What else was she supposed to think?
“I don’t want to separate the two of you. Even I know that’s out of the question, Cate. What kind of ogre do you think I am?”
Thankfully, he didn’t wait for her to answer.
“I’ve just been thinking that if you and Ruby would be willing to live at the ranch, even for just a few weeks or a month, it would allow me time to get to know her. We have guests six days out of the week during the summer. If you don’t, it will be really hard for me to get away and spend time with her. I’ll make it work, somehow, but...it was just a thought.” His voice lowered. Hardened. “And I am not such an idiot or jerk that I think she’d be coming alone. I do realize that she’s young and the two of you are a package. I wouldn’t do that to her.”
Now it was her turn to fumble for words. Luc caught up with Ruby, leaving Cate a few steps behind. Good. She needed the space to deal with...everything. Luc’s absurd suggestion. Her desire to scream no at his back. Or maybe throw something at those annoyingly broad shoulders filling out a cornflower blue short-sleeved button-down.
He was wrong, right? She didn’t have to truly consider what he was asking for, did she?
Not one part of her wanted to uproot their lives to live at the ranch, even for a short amount of time. But since Luc was acting so...so calm about all of it—even logical, if she wanted to give him credit for that, which she didn’t—Cate probably should try to be, too.
Or at least pretend to be. Right before she told him absolutely not.
The smell of hospital antiseptic assaulted Luc’s nostrils. He hated the scent of anything bleached or overly sterilized. Growing up on a ranch with dirt under his fingernails and dust on his boots, he firmly believed that being covered in or even ingesting a little of God’s good earth wouldn’t harm a person.
Of course, the fact that he was in the hospital waiting for his daughter to get out of surgery could probably explain his current aversion.
Cate had been as quiet as a teapot just under boiling all morning. He kept wondering when she’d blow. Tears. An outburst. Any show of emotion. But so far, not one crack in her shell.
When they’d prepped Ruby for surgery, they’d given her something to make her groggy and almost fall asleep before doing the anesthesia. He and Cate had been allowed to walk her back to the catheterization area, and then the medical staff had taken Ruby from there.
Luc had thought Cate would crumble in that moment. And it had looked like she was about to. Her shoulders had slumped, eyes glazing over with pain and moisture. He’d been ready to catch her. To comfort her. No matter what had happened between them, he wouldn’t hold their history against her at such an agonizing time.
But then Cate had stitched herself together like a desperate woman out on the trail. Bleeding and alone with no other choice.
Even though he’d been standing right next to her.
It had been like watching a storm roll over the mountains, dark and menacing, only to see it morph into white, harmless clouds that floated by without wreaking havoc.
Cate had stridden by him, shoulders back, stubborn chin thrust out. Down the hallway and into the waiting room she’d gone. She’d dropped into a chair and hadn’t moved yet. Not even to use the restroom.
Now she sat next to him with her eyes closed in the unforgiving chairs that boasted cushions but didn’t offer comfort. He knew she wasn’t sleeping. He’d guess she was coping about as well as one of the consistently used children’s books Emma had for Kids’ Club. Battered. Worn. With the pages