Page 39 of Forbidden Cowboy
We both knew Eliana would be here soon.
I just wanted a few more minutes to stay in this place where Sierra and Anna and I were happy and together, without any worries.
Chapter Thirteen
Sierra
We fell into a new routine.
I would get up early and prepare breakfast for everyone. We would all eat together, and then Wyatt would head off to work, complaining the entire time that we were going to have fun without him. After that, I would tidy up a little bit, and give Anna time to get dressed. If she came downstairs in jeans and boots, I knew she wanted to go riding. If she was in a swimsuit, we’d be in the pool. Anything else, and we’d look up something fun to do in the area. It was the summer break, and the world was one very rich little girl’s oyster. In the evenings, Wyatt would get home, and the three of us would either pile into the ATV and cruise around the ranch to check on all the animals and staff, or we’d take a walk to either the dairy or the barn where the beef cows were held. Anna would pet them and scratch their great, lowing heads, and Wyatt would exchange a few words with whichever of his employees was settling the animals in for the night.
And then we’d go home. I felt so, so grateful to have a place I could call my home, but that didn’t make seeing Eliana there any easier. She treated me like some sort of pariah. I hadn’t mentioned the cruel sort of ways she had spoken to me in high school, making jokes about me being either a boy or a slut, because my only real friend aside from Beau was Wyatt. Her attitude made me want to hit her, but Anna was slowly, so slowly, opening up to having her mother around, and even if she didn’t particularly like the woman, I saw that familiar need to be appreciated, and she craved every ounce of attention that Eliana gave.
After dinner, Eliana and Anna would have half an hour to an hour to themselves. It was a mix of wanting to give them mother-daughter time, and Wyatt needing to escape his own home. He would drive me to the hospital, and then pick me up two hours later. I had been perfectly content with calling for a taxi every night, especially given the ridiculously large amount of money I now had at my disposal, but I couldn’t blame Wyatt for needing space, and if that was his way out, then so be it.
Beau continued to do well, even if he didn’t wake up. He didn’t have any more major health crises, and every day that I visited, I told him about my life.
“Anna is getting really good at doing handstands and flips in the water, I swear that kid is half fish,” I laughed one night.
Beau had lost muscle mass and weight since his accident, and it was weird looking at my once very strong brother and seeing a shadow of that. I still held his hands, even if the callouses had faded and they were now soft and smooth.
“I really need you to wake up, Beau,” I said, like I did every night. “You need to see how well I’m doing. Being back in Gunnison has been like some sort of dream.”
I pressed his hand to my forehead, and thought for a moment. They had said he might be able to hear me, so I always kept talking. I also heard rumors that shocking news could bring someone out of a coma.
“I’d be lying if I said I’m not a little lost, though,” I said, watching his face for any kind of change. “Eliana being back in town has made everything really confusing. She’s here because of something that happened with her job, and she’s not staying at the house, thank goodness, but even when she’s not here, I feel this weird sense of guilt. I know that Wyatt doesn’t like her; I’d even go so far as to say he hates her, sometimes, but she’s still Anna’s mother, so the two of us are putting up with her for Anna. I love that kid so much. It’s only been a few months, but I can’t imagine my life without her anymore. I don’t know what I’ll do when it’s time for me to move back to Denver. Maybe I’ll visit more. You’d like that, wouldn’t you, Beau?”
I took a deep breath, and finally said what was really on my mind.
“I’m in love with Wyatt, as well,” I said.
There was no flicker of movement, and whatever small flame of hope I’d had of him waking at me confessing that fizzled out.
“I’ve been in love with him since high school,” I continued, “I never told you that’s why I left. I know you thought it was something to do with some boy, and I know you thought it was stupid. I even remember you thinking I was pregnant, and had run away to hide in shame. There really was no secret baby. I kind of think, at this point, I’m destined to grow old alone in my little apartment in the city. There was… a time, recently, when I thought things might have been different, but with Eliana invading every happy day, I don’t think that’s a possibility.”
“You’d have killed him, right? If Wyatt had reciprocated my feelings in high school. You were never the overly protective type, but it was almost like you thought you’d lose us if we felt anything for each other. I remember the jokes, Beau. They never landed quite right, though. I hope you know that if he had ever loved me back, neither of us would have left you in the dust. Wyatt’s a truly good man. He’s going to help me look after you once you wake up, in whatever ways you need. And he’s been paying me way more than my rent costs, so I’ve been putting money away for any of your medical bills that aren’t covered by insurance. So, you just need to wake up, because then we can start figuring things out, and I’ll have someone I can complain about Eliana to—I know you never liked her, either.”
A knock at the door interrupted my monologuing, and I placed Beau’s hand back on the bed, resting by his side. A couple of nurses stood there, and behind them, Wyatt.
“It’s just time for us to reposition Beau, Sierra,” one of them said kindly, and I smiled.
“Of course,” I said, stepping away from the bed. “Come on in.”
“Hey,” Wyatt said as he entered the room. “You ready to go?”
“Almost,” I said, “one last thing.”
“Would you like to say goodbye before we start repositioning him?” One of the nurses asked.
I nodded, and walked to the head of the bed, petting Beau’s hair, which had grown much longer than his usual ear-length curls.
“I’ll be back tomorrow,” I said. “Rest up, please, and open your eyes soon.” I straightened up, before smiling and leaning down so I could whisper to my brother. “And don’t tell anyone what I told you about Wyatt.”
I left the room and heard the nurses behind me working in tandem to move Beau.
* * *
Driving home in the passenger seat of Wyatt’s truck, there was just the gentle sound of some country music playing quietly over the radio, and the headlights illuminating the unending strip of asphalt we traveled down.