Patricia Thayer - The Cowboy She Couldn't Forget

He drew a calming breath.

Ana had never liked him much. Too bad he couldn’t feel the same about her. “It’s you who needs to be there when he wakes up.”

Vance watched as she straightened, her shoulders rigid.

“Look, Ana, you’re the only family here to make the decisions.”

He thought about the other Slater sisters, Josie, Tori and Marissa, scattered after college. Not Ana. She might have left the ranch, but only to move into town and take a counseling job at the high school. Close enough so she could come out and check on the old man. On occasion, she saddled a favorite mount and went riding.

Ana finally turned around to face him. He expected to see anger, but instead he saw sadness mixed with fear in her eyes. Again his body reacted. After all these years this woman still had an effect on him.

He thought back to the day Colt Slater had taken him in, twenty years ago. He’d been barely thirteen. The man gave him a place to live. Vance’s first home. Slater had only two rules: work hard and keep your hands off his daughters. No matter how difficult, Vance had kept those rules.

“Do you really think Colt Slater is going to listen to me?” Ana asked. “Besides, I’m not even sure if he can hear me.”

“That’s why you need to be there. Talk with the doctor and find out what you need to do. A stroke doesn’t always mean he can’t recover.” Hell, Vance had no idea what he was talking about.

She shook her head. “You should be there, Vance. Dad will want to see you.”

Although Colt was as close to a father as he’d ever had, he couldn’t overstep any more than he already had. Whether Colt knew it or not, he needed his daughters.

“No, he needs his family. You have to get your sisters back here and fast. It’s way past time.”

* * *

It was an hour later when Ana and Vance got the horses back to the barn. Then he’d driven her into Dillon to the hospital, where her father had been airlifted just after dawn that morning.

Ana stood in the second-floor waiting area. She’d just left a voice message for her baby sister, Marissa. Tori and Josie at least took her call. The twins told her to keep them informed, but didn’t offer to fly in from California. Both had made excuses about their jobs. So that left any decisions about their father’s care up to her. She couldn’t blame them. How many times had Colt Slater overlooked, rebuffed and just plain ignored these girls?

“Miss Slater?”

Ana turned around and saw the neurologist, Dr. Mason, walking toward her. “Has something changed with my father’s condition?” she asked anxiously.

“No, he’s remained stable since he was brought in this morning, and the test results are encouraging. I’m not saying that the stroke didn’t cause damage to his right side and his speech, but it could have been much worse. He was lucky he got to the hospital so quickly.”

Ana was relieved and thankful to Vance, since he’d been with Colt. “Thank you, Doctor. That’s great news.”

“He’s not out of the woods yet. He’ll need extensive rehab to bring him back completely. We would like him to go to a rehab facility to help with improving his motor skills and his speech.”

“Good luck with that,” Ana said. “No one gets Colt Slater to do anything he doesn’t want to do.”

“Then you’d better start convincing him he needs this,” the doctor suggested.

Before Ana could say any more the elevator doors opened and Vance stepped off.

As much as she hated that he was around, she knew if her father would listen to anyone it would be Vance. Sadness washed over her as she recalled the times Vance had gotten the one-on-one attention she and her sisters had begged for.

He strolled toward them with confidence; add in a little arrogance and you’ve got Vance Rivers, Ana thought.

“Ana. Doctor.” He looked back at her. “Has something happened to Colt?”

“No, in fact it’s better than I’d hoped.” She went on to explain the doctor’s rehab plan. “You need to get him to agree to go.”

Vance just stared at her. “What makes you think I have any influence?”

“Well, he sure doesn’t listen to me.”

The doctor raised a hand. “When the time comes, whoever talks to Mr. Slater had better explain how important rehab is to his recovery.” He said goodbye and walked away.

Vance wasn’t sure why he was involved in this. He had enough to worry about taking care of the ranch. And he needed Colt’s input on so many things. For one, he didn’t know how to deal with the daughters.

“Look, Ana. You shouldn’t have to handle this on your own. When are your sisters getting here?”

She shook her head. “They aren’t coming back for a while.”

“What do you mean?”

“Just what I said—they can’t get home...right now. They want me to keep them informed.”

Vance knew deep down that Colt had never been close with his girls. He more or less let Kathleen handle anything that had to do with the females. The housekeeper and one-time nanny had been with the family for over twenty-five years.

“Then let’s go see Colt,” Vance said. “For the first time ever, I’m hoping he’s his usual cranky self.”

* * *

Colton Slater blinked and opened his eyes, trying to adjust to the brightness. He glanced around the unfamiliar room. He saw the railing on the bed, heard the monitor. A hospital? What happened? He closed his eyes and thought back to his last memory.

It had been dawn. He’d walked out to the barn to feed the livestock. His arm had been hurt like a son of a bitch since he’d gotten out of bed; then he’d started to feel dizzy and had to sit down on a straw bale. Vance was suddenly beside him, asking him if he was okay.

No, he wasn’t okay. Not when he woke up to find that he was in this bed with a needle in his arm, monitors taped to his chest. Worse, he couldn’t move. What the hell was going on?

He tried to speak and the only thing that came out was a groan.

“Mr. Slater? Mr. Slater?” He heard a woman’s voice. “You’re in the hospital, Mr. Slater. I’m your nurse, Elena Garcia. Are you in pain?”

Again he could only groan.

“I’ll give you something to help you.”

Colt blinked and focused on the raven-haired beauty, and his breath caught. Seeing her heart-shaped face, those almond eyes, he sucked in a breath and opened his mouth to speak. “Luisa...” he whispered, then there was nothing.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, Ana walked into her father’s hospital room. She held her panic in check on seeing the monitor and the IV connected to the large man in the bed.

She made her way closer. Colt Slater had always been bigger than life to her. The one-time rodeo star was nearly six feet tall, and muscular. The years of ranch work had kept him in shape. His brown hair was now streaked with gray, but even with the tiny lines around his eyes, he was still a handsome man. And she loved him. Maybe in his own way he loved her and her sisters, too. She felt a tear on her cheek and brushed it away.

“Oh, Daddy.” She reached out and took his big hand, thrilled that it felt warm. She wanted another chance to get close to this man. Would he be around for that?

A nurse walked in and smiled. “Hello. It’s good to see Mr. Slater has a visitor.”

“How has he been?” Ana asked.

“He was awake not long ago.”

Ana felt hopeful. “Really? Did he say anything? I mean, was he able to speak?”

Again the nurse smiled. “He said the name Luisa. Is that you?”

Ana gasped at hearing her mother’s name. “No, it’s not.” She released her father’s hand and hurried out of the room. Oh, God. He still wanted her mother. Ana couldn’t stop the tears once she reached the visitors’ room and found it empty. She finally broke down and began to sob.