“I had that accident card in my purse, the one you made me fill out with Mack’s name and phone number on it,” Natalie recalled. “I guess they found it when I was brought in.”
Vivian hesitated. “Do you remember what happened?”
“Yes. I saw two boys fighting on a basketball court. Like an idiot, I went in to stop it.” She smiled wryly. “One of them had a knife, and I was just in time to catch it in my chest. Fortunately it only cost me a little bit of one lung instead of my life.”
“Next time, call the police,” Vivian said firmly. “That’s their job, and they do it very well.”
“Next time, if there ever is one, I will.” Natalie caught Vivian’s hand as she moved it. “Thank you for coming all the way here. I never dreamed that any of you would—especially Mack.”
“When the boys heard, the first thing they said was that you belonged to us,” Vivian told her. “And you do. Whether you like it or not.”
“I like it very much.” Her lower lip became briefly unsteady. “I’m glad we’re still friends,” she managed shakily.
“Oh, Nat!” Vivian leaned down to hug her as gently as she could. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry! I’ll never, never be so selfish and horrible again, ever!”
Natalie hugged her with her good arm and sighed as the tears poured out of her, therapeutic and comforting, hot on her pale face.
Vivian drew back and found tissues for both of them to wipe their wet eyes with, and they laughed while they did it.
“Mack still has his apologies to make,” Vivian added. “I think he’ll welcome the opportunity. But it’s going to be hard for him, so meet him halfway, would you?”
Natalie looked worried. “He looks bad.”
“He should. He’s been driving himself for weeks. I won’t even try to tell you how hard he’s been to live with.”
“That isn’t anything unusual,” Natalie said with her first glint of humor.
“This has been much worse than usual. If you don’t believe it, try looking into the hall when he comes back. You’ll see medical people running for the exits in droves.” She chuckled. “We just stood and gaped at him when he walked into the recovery room and started throwing orders around. The army sure lost a great leader when he was mustered out after his tour of duty. He made captain, at that.”
“Did... Glenna come, too?” she had to ask.
“He hasn’t seen Glenna since you left town,” Vivian said quietly. “He doesn’t talk about her, either.”
Natalie didn’t comment. She was sure that Mack was trying to heal a guilt complex, although he had no reason to feel guilty. He’d made a wrong assumption and accused her of something she hadn’t done, but he hadn’t caused her to be stabbed. That had been her own lack of foresight in stepping into a situation she wasn’t trained to handle. It could have happened anywhere.
For the moment, she nodded and lay back. Vivian left her to find the nurses.
Mack came back with the boys just after lunch. He looked rested. They all did. She supposed they’d taken the opportunity to catch a little sleep in a real bed.
The boys only stayed for a few minutes, having discovered a mall near the hospital where they could look over the video games. Vivian went to the hospital cafeteria to get herself a salad for lunch. Mack sat in the chair beside the bed and looked at Natalie, who was much more animated than she had been the night before.
He reached out and caught her fingers in his, sending a wicked tingle of sensation through her, and he smiled at her gently. “You look better. How do you feel?”
“Like I’ve been buffaloed,” she said. She was shy with him, as she’d never been. Amazing, considering their history. They knew each other so well, almost intimately, but she couldn’t find anything to say to him.
He seemed to realize that. His fingers curled closer into hers and he leaned forward. “The surgeon says you can leave Friday,” he told her. “I can take you back on the Learjet if you’re not showing any bronchial symptoms.”
“The Learjet?”
“I chartered one to bring us down here. The pilot and copilot are staying at my hotel until we’re ready to leave.”
“That must be costing a fortune,” she blurted.
He smiled cynically. “What do you think I’m worth? In addition to a very successful cattle ranch and interests in several businesses, I own shares in half a dozen stocks that skyrocketed since I bought my first shares.”
She averted her eyes. “I’ve got an apartment here,” she began.
“You had an apartment here.”
She stared at him, confused. “What?”
“I told your landlady you weren’t coming back,” he said flatly. “I had your stuff packed up, carefully, and shipped to Medicine Ridge. I even had your mail collected and filled out a form for it to be forwarded on to you back home.”
“You can’t!” she exclaimed. “Mack, I have a job here!”
“Oh, yes, I spoke to the principal about that,” he continued, maddeningly calm. “They’re sorry to lose you, but considering the length of your recovery, they have to have someone come in to replace you. You can reapply if you want to come back. But you won’t want to.”
“Of course I’ll want to come back!” she exclaimed, stunned at the changes he’d created, the havoc he’d created in her nice new life. “You can’t do this!”
“I’ve already done it, Nat,” he replied, standing to loom over her, still holding her hand. “And when you have time to think about it, you’ll realize that it was the only thing I could do,” he added somberly. “Leaving you here alone was never an option, not even if I’d hated you.”
She dropped her eyes to his big, lean hand holding hers. It was tanned, like his face, from the long hours he spent working on the ranch. “I thought you did hate me, when I left.”
He
