Page 3 of Forbidden Cowboy

I nodded, and sat in one of the seats she had gestured to. The place was relatively empty, and I glanced around at the other occupants, idly wondering what was wrong with them while I jiggled my leg nervously.

Across from me sat a woman tapping away at her phone, a pre-teen boy in a soccer uniform holding an ice pack to his knee beside her. There was an elderly couple, the man in a wheelchair, holding the hand of a woman with yellowing skin and snow-white hair. Despite sitting in a wheelchair, he looked to be the healthier and more alert of the two, and would occasionally murmur to the woman beside him, to which she always returned a wan grin.

I thought that was it, until I noticed there was one more occupant in the waiting room, his head tipped down as he obviously napped in one of the less than comfortable chairs. He was dressed simply in an old t-shirt and jeans, with the logo on the shirt obscured by the bobbing of his head and his crossed arms, and a plaid button-up wrapped around his waist.

I still recognized him, and I thought my heart might stop. Why was he here? Why now, when I was already so overwhelmed with emotion that I could feel the panic at his very presence rising up inside of me like a tidal wave?

I stood, not sure if I wanted to go over to him or run away.

“Miss Carter?” A voice came from behind me, and I turned to see a middle-aged woman wearing scrubs standing at the door that led to the treatment area.

I tried to forget about the person in the chair behind me, and walked towards the doctor. I wasn’t here for the reason I’d left.

I was here for Beau.

Chapter Two

Wyatt

“Sir, I’m very sorry, but we can’t allow you to—”

“He hasno onehere!” I replied, indignant. “He’salone!”

“I understand your frustration,” the man in front of me replied calmly. “And we’ve informed his next of kin of the situation, but since you are not family, nor are you registered as one of his emergency contacts, I’m going to have to ask you to leave. If a family member arrives and grants you permission, of course we’ll let you in.”

I was furious. For all I knew, my best friend was dying just beyond the doors behind this nurse, and I was stuck arguing with this man. I wanted to growl and throw something, but I didn’t want security called on me—that was a one-way ticket to never seeing Beau.

My phone began ringing in my pocket as the nurse kept speaking.

“You can, of course, stay in the waiting room until his next of kin shows up,” he said. “We will tell them you’re here and allow them to make the decision as to whether you can go in.”

“I have to take a call,” I said, knowing I was coming off as rude.

I walked away from the nurse, who I could feel glaring at me, and stepped out of the ER waiting room and back into the parking lot to answer my phone.

“Hello?” I answered, almost barking the word.

I immediately felt guilty, because whoever was on the other end of the line didn’t deserve my ire.

“Mr. West?” I heard Jeanette ask nervously.

Jeanette was Anna’s newest nanny, and I hadn’t had high hopes when I hired her, but I was desperate.

“Jeanette, what happened?”

Because, I knew, something must have happened.

“I can’t stay anymore, Mr. West,” the young woman on the other end of the phone said squeakily. “We’re on our way to the hospital—I’m very sorry, but I quit.”

* * *

Twenty minutes later, a harried looking Jeanette pulled up outside of the hospital, and Anna stepped out carrying a backpack and the fakest look of remorse I’d ever seen.

“Anna Marie,” I said sternly, even as Jeanette sped away. “What did you do?”

She shrugged.

“I put bang snaps under the toilet seat.”