18

Sparrow parked her sedan in the closest spot she could find to the door then made her way into the emergency room registration area. A few more trips and she’d have a spot with her name on it by the front doors. Picking up members of the Hearth family from the hospital seemed to be an ongoing thing. She knew it was a bad choice of words, but she couldn’t help but think how dead the place was this morning. One lady in scrubs barely gave her a glance when she entered.

Gabriel was nowhere in sight. She sent up a little prayer of thanks that he wasn’t seriously injured, but it had been a close call. She’d talked to him on the drive over and found out the details. She prayed that they were finished stitching him up and she could take him home quickly. Her legs felt as wobbly as gelatin as she approached the woman in scrubs.

“Can I help you, ma’am?” the lady asked.

“I’m looking for Gabriel Hearth. He was brought in for stitches earlier.”

“Ah, yes. He mentioned a young woman would be picking him up.” She pointed off to her right. “Go right through those doors. You’ll find Mr. Hearth behind the third curtain on the right, Room 3.”

Sparrow followed directions, which led her straight to Gabriel. She pulled back the curtain and froze. The blood drained from her face. She hadn’t expected to see Gabriel looking so helpless and vulnerable on the gurney. She couldn’t stand seeing him this way. He’d come so close to....no! She forced the thought from her mind. “Gabriel, my word. Are you trying to give me a heart attack?” She moved around to the side of the bed and dropped into a chair.

Gabriel was stretched out on top of the thin, white sheets, one arm behind his head and the other, bandaged arm across his stomach. Blood stains splattered his shirt and jeans. Dirt smeared his face, neck, and hands.

“Nice to see you, too.”

Sparrow finally regained control of her brain-to-mouth function. “I’m sorry. My head knows that you walked away from this just fine, but my heart keeps replaying what could have happened. When I pulled the curtain back, I expected to see you sitting up and—well, pretty much normal. Not lying down with blood and dirt all over. You’re a wreck.”

A mischievous grin split his face. “I look pretty good considering I’ve been half-trampled and gored in the arm by a dairy bull, thank you very much.” He pushed himself to a sitting position with his good arm. In spite of all he’d been through, his smile was as warm as ever, and he hadn’t lost his gift of sarcasm. “Those are my walking papers on the counter. Let’s get out of here.”

Sparrow picked up the papers and slipped them into her purse. “Do you need help?”

“Nah, my legs aren’t broken.” He rose and started down the hallway.

“Phoenix and another man got your truck for you.”

“They were supposed to take me back too. Why did you come all the way out here?”

“Phoenix called to let me know what happened, and I insisted on picking you up. No sense in taking employees away from their jobs when I’m available to help.”

Gabriel nodded his approval.

She opened the door for him when they got to the car, even though he had one good arm, and then tried her best not to hit too many bumps on the way home. When she did hit a bump, he didn’t flinch. His arm wasn’t bothering him nearly as much as she’d thought it would, but it was probably still a little numb from medication. “You picked a bad day to get injured.”

“What do you mean?”

“The birthday get-together at Garrett’s house for Micara.”

Gabriel stared at her blankly for so long she started to think something was wrong with him. Then he scrunched up his face and laid his head against the seat. “I forgot.”

“How could you forget? He’s been going on and on about it for weeks. And I put the invitation on your fridge.”

He rolled his head over to one side and smiled. “I’m glad I have you to keep up with stuff like this.”

“I’m happy to do it. Are you feeling up to going tonight? I’m sure everyone will understand if you don’t.”

“Yes, I’m going. I may not stay long though.” He looked down at his injured arm. “I’ll have to figure out how to shower and dress one-handed, but I’ll be there.” He paused a moment, looked at her with puppy dog eyes, then added, “Don’t worry. My arm is fine.”

“What is that look for?”

“I know you, and I can tell you really don’t think I should go.”

Sparrow nodded as she drove. “You’re right. I think you should stay home and rest and let me take care of you.”

“Let’s make a deal. We’ll go for one hour, and I promise to take it easy. I don’t want to leave Slade home alone for that long anyway. His friend is staying the night so he won’t be going to the party.”

She contemplated for a moment before relenting. “Deal.”

That evening, she played chauffeur once again for Gabriel. She didn’t ask how, but he’d managed to bathe and dress with an arm full of stitches. He looked a bit worn out though, and she caught him wincing often. His bad arm hugged his chest, and he covered it protectively with the other. The medication must have worn off.

“There’s the cripple,” Garrett called as Sparrow and Gabriel approached the house.

“Ha. Ha. Very funny.”

When they entered the house, heads turned in their direction. By now, everyone had heard about Gabriel’s run-in with the dairy bull. Concerned expressions crossed their faces.

Hank Barnes called out, “You sure taught that bull a lesson!”

The room erupted into laughter.

Even Gabriel chuckled. He placed his good arm around his future sister-in-law’s shoulder and squeezed. “Happy Birthday, Micara.”

“Thanks, Gabriel. Glad y’all made it. We didn’t expect you to come after what happened. Scary.”

“Wouldn’t miss it, but I’ll enjoy the party from the couch if you don’t mind. I don’t want to take the pain pills they gave me, and my arm is killing me.”

They all followed him to the sofa.

“Anything I can do for you, big brother?” Garrett asked.

Gabriel’s mischievous grin returned. “I haven’t eaten all day. I’d really love a sandwich.”

It seemed like such a simple request, yet Garrett cocked his head to one side and said dismissively, “Make it yourself.”

Sparrow’s lips parted in stunned silence, but the grins on their faces assured her that there was something more to the situation. After a few moments of laughter, the brothers filled her in on the joke, retelling the story of Garrett’s injured leg. He’d asked Gabriel for a sandwich and been told the same thing.

To her infinite relief, Garrett didn’t repeat the rude action. He fixed his one-armed brother a sandwich…eventually.

~*~

Sitting at her kitchen table after the party, Gabriel seemed determined to keep the good times going. He was still in a humorous mood and having a great time—at Sparrow’s expense. “You should have seen your face when Garrett told me to fix my own sandwich. Classic.”

Busy shuffling cards for their next game of War, she rolled her eyes at this comment.

“You know, it’s easy for me to make jokes and be sarcastic. It’s the serious part I have trouble with. I need to work on it.”

She dealt some cards and placed the rest in a stack in the middle of the table between them.

“I want you to know that it’s because of you I have my son back. Things are really looking up.”

“I really didn’t do anything, just offered advice.”

“More like shoved it down my throat, but who’s keeping track anyway?”

She playfully tossed a card at him. He picked it up and laid it face up on the table. A six. Then he took the top card off his stack and laid it beside hers. Another six.

“War.”

They each turned over three more cards and added the total sum. Twelve points for him. Twenty-four points for her. “I win.” She gathered up all the cards and added them to the bottom of her deck.

Gabriel seemed in no way inclined to drop the subject and continued on his conversational course. “You’re on a winning streak. And not just with cards. You reunited your family too. Your brother and father are back on speaking terms. Phoenix is doing well. You did everything you could to save him and never gave up. You see people differently, Sparrow. You see me differently, too.”

Somewhere in the middle of his speech, she’d laid down her next card, but Gabriel wasn’t taking his turn. She couldn’t do anything but look into his eyes as he spoke. Where was this outpouring of emotion coming from?

“You see me as a person much better than I am. You see me as I should be, and because of that, I’ve done everything I can to be that better person. I only hope you feel I’ve achieved that.”

Sparrow couldn’t bear to listen to him talk about himself in this way any longer. “You are so wrong, Gabriel. I don’t see this better person you should become. You already are that person. And you didn’t have to become anything. All these wonderful traits I see were already there.” She grinned, trying to lighten the mood. “I won’t deny they were trapped inside a pretty hard shell, though. It took some pushy woman to crack that shell open with a hard knock on the head.”

“You’re definitely pushy.”

“Ha. Ha.” She used one of his favorite sayings. “Seriously though, I probably shouldn’t have interfered, but I did because I cared about Slade…” She paused and then decided to be completely honest. “And I felt drawn to you. It was worth every minute of my time.”

“I’m so happy God brought you into my life.” Gabriel’s voice had gone soft.

“You believe God brought us together?”

He nodded.

“Me, too.”

“Being with you has opened my eyes to a lot of things. I’ve had to deal with feelings I haven’t dealt with in a long time. Ever.” He gazed out the kitchen window at the driveway that led to his house. A house that had stood in shambles not too long ago, a house they’d worked on together to bring back to life. “I guess what I’m trying to say is...I mean I should’ve told you a long time ago...I just didn’t know how to...excuse me.” He spun and walked out the front door.

Concerned, she followed right behind. “Are you OK?”

“I need some air. Give me a minute.” He stepped down into the yard.

She moved to follow him, but he held out his good hand to stop her. “Don’t come down here in those heels. If you fall flat on your face, you’re on your own. I only have one good arm.”

Sparrow looked down at the shiny black shoes with chunky heels that she often wore with jeans and then kicked them off. When she looked up, over six feet of cowboy stood right in front of her, looking down at her with eyes so blue they could melt steel. Her heart didn’t stand a chance—it dissolved into a puddle.

Gabriel slid his good arm around her waist and drew her in close. “What I need to tell you, and I mean it with all my heart, is that—” He sucked in a deep breath and pressed his forehead against hers. “Sparrow Walker, I love you.”