Hell on Heels (Hotel Rodeo #1)(19)

It was agony to see such a robust man laid so goddamned low, but he knew it was far worse for Tom to be seen in such a weak and helpless condition. So he’d stayed away to give him time to adjust and come to grips with the situation. In the meantime, Ty had done his best to focus on work and not worry about what he was going to do when his fifty-three days (and quickly counting down) expired. He still hadn’t a damned clue.

His other reason for staying away secretly shamed him. Since childhood, he’d had a bone-deep revulsion of nursing homes—the noises, the smells, the oppressive atmosphere. He remembered visiting his great granny when they’d had to put her in a facility after she lost her mind to dementia. Even now the recollections made his skin crawl.

He knew Monica would see that Tom had the best care, but he was still shocked to walk into the vaulted-ceilinged, marble-tiled foyer of The Oasis, with a reception area that wasn’t far removed from that of a luxury boutique hotel on The Strip. After he signed in at the security desk, a nurse escorted him to Tom’s room. She was fortyish and surprisingly attractive. He wondered in bemusement if they recruited ex-showgirls as nurses. He chuckled at the thought. Tom would like that.

Monica was just leaving Tom’s room when he arrived. “I’m glad you came,” she said, her forehead etched with worry lines.

“Oh? How is he?” Ty asked, instantly anxious.

She leaned against the door with a sigh. “Not good, I’m afraid. Not good at all. The doctors said there’s minimal damage to his cognitive functions, but he won’t cooperate with his therapists. He won’t even make eye contact with anyone. I know he can hear me, but he just stares off into space. I don’t know what to do, how to get through to him.”

She looked close to waterworks, which surprised him. The last thing he’d ever have anticipated from Monica Brandt was a tearful breakdown.

“First off,” he said, “you can’t ever help someone who won’t help themselves. Get that straight from the start, Ms. Brandt. He’s got to want it for himself. Maybe that’ll come in time, but right now he’d probably rather be dead.”

She glared back at him. “How can you say such a callous thing?” He was relieved to see her pupils flare. He could deal with her pissed off, but he wasn’t sure he could handle her softer side.

“Because it’s the truth,” he replied evenly. “I’m a like-minded man, and that’s exactly how I’d feel if I were in his boots.”

“But that doesn’t make any sense at all. At least he’s alive!”

“But what kind of life is he going to have? This man is used to greeting each day at sunrise. For over fifty years he’s worked his own ranch. Now he’s confined to a bed. Adjustment is going to be a process. It’s going to take him some time . . . if he ever does adjust at all. One thing’s for damn sure, you can’t force your will on him.”

Her face registered outrage, but then she suddenly crumbled, throwing herself against him with a sob. “I’m not ready to lose him, Ty. I can’t!” Just as he feared, her emotional reaction ambushed him. At a loss, he just held her in his arms and let her wail. “It’s not fair,” she bawled. “We’ve only had a few years together. We’re still getting to know each other.”

He cupped her head and stroked her back, making soothing noises he didn’t even recognize, but after only a minute or two, she managed to pull herself back together.

She pushed away, palming her red-rimmed eyes with a sniff. “That was damned embarrassing. I’m sorry I did that to you, Ty. It’s just—”

“There’s no need to be embarrassed,” he reassured. “You’re human. You’re allowed to feel. Hell, I’m damned glad to know you do.”

“Do you think you can get through to him?” she asked. “I sure can’t.”

“I dunno.” He gave a fateful shrug. “But I promise I’ll try. I told you he means as much to me as he does to you. We’re about the only family he has, you and me.”

“Thank you, Ty. I believe that now. I’m sorry I doubted you in the beginning—”

“I don’t hold grudges,” he stemmed the apology. “Let’s just move forward and try to cooperate from here on out, if only for Tom’s sake.”

She returned a fierce look. “Don’t mistake emotion with weakness, Ty. Don’t think for a minute that you can sweet-talk me into changing my mind about selling the hotel.”

She still tried to play tough, but her body language told Ty she wasn’t as self-assured as she pretended to be. On the outside Monica Brandt was all ballsy bravado, but once you got beneath the surface, she was nothin’ more than a mouse that roared.

He suppressed a smile. “I’d never make that mistake, Sugar.”

“Good. Then we’ll talk again tomorrow.”

Ty watched her walk away, enjoying the view. She was the most contradictory and confounding woman he’d ever known. Seeing more of what simmered beneath her surface only increased his fascination with her.

With a shake of his head, he knocked on Tom’s door. As Monica had warned, Tom didn’t even turn his head to acknowledge Ty’s entrance. He was staring out the window at the gurgling fountain in the middle of a small walled courtyard. Ty waited a minute or two and then walked around to the far side of the bed, inserting himself into Tom’s line of vision.