Tacker (Arizona Vengeance #5)(74)

Nora launches herself at me. Arms around my neck, legs around my waist, and her mouth fastened onto mine. I actually stumble from the weight of emotion I can feel between us, but it’s in her kiss that I can tell exactly how what I said makes her feel.

The kiss is the sweetest and most explosive we’ve ever shared. Within it are a thousand words we don’t really have time to speak right now.

That’s okay… we have a lifetime.

Nora’s mouth leaves mine. Her eyes are closed as if she’s trying to relish the last bit of what we just shared.

When they flutter open and lock onto me, her lips curve ever so slightly. “I love you, too.”

“Miss Wayne,” comes from behind us. We turn and see a young female doctor searching for someone to claim the name.

I let Nora slide to the ground, then take her hand in mine.

“Right here,” Nora says, and the doctor waves us over to her.

“I’m Dr. Mohan,” she says as she shakes Nora’s hand. I’m then introduced as her boyfriend.

“If you’ll both follow me, I’ll take you back to Mr. Vargas,” the doctor says, guiding us through the double doors. She talks over her shoulder as we traverse the hallways. “Based on the EKG, it appears Mr. Vargas had a heart attack, so we’re scheduling him for an angiogram to check his arteries. But for right now, we do have him stabilized.”

Nora’s hand reflexively squeezes mine, and I respond in kind. Even though the woman just told me she loved me, which is about the best thing a man such as myself could ever want, I have to admit… it’s much better hearing that Raul is holding his own right now.

“So he’s conscious?” Nora asks.

“He is,” Dr. Mohan replies. “And a little cantankerous.”

My own heart is admittedly beating incredibly fast because I’m worried about Raul. A heart attack is some serious shit, and I think there are some rough days ahead. But I have to believe if he’s acting cantankerous in the emergency room after collapsing and needing CPR, then he must have a lot of kick still left in him.





CHAPTER 32




Nora


“Glaring at that food won’t make it disappear,” I tell Raul as he glares at the tray in front of him. “Want me to cut it up and feed it to you?”

“What I want is some huevos rancheros,” he mutters, taking his spoon and poking it at his oatmeal.

“Not gonna happen,” I reply, settling into the vinyl-covered recliner in the corner of his hospital room. Hopefully, he’ll go home tomorrow. I sure will be thankful to get out of this chair, which I slept in the last two nights. It’s been murder on my back.

“In fact,” I continue as I hold my phone up for him to see. “I’m researching all kinds of new heart-healthy meals to make for you when we get you home.”

“Not changing my eating habits,” he grouses.

“You will,” I say firmly. “Or you won’t have a job at Sh?rim Ranch anymore.”

Raul glares, but I ignore him. Yes, he’s extremely cantankerous when he’s not feeling well.

Thankfully, he’s going to be okay. Well, as okay as someone who had a mild heart attack can be. It turns out he had a partially blocked artery. They were able to insert a stent to open it up, and he’s expected to recover.

Raul seems to think he’ll be returning right to work as soon as he gets home, but that’s a fight I’ll have with him later. As it stands, Tacker argued with him yesterday until he was blue in the face about it, but to no avail. Raul was being too stubborn to see reason.

Good thing I’m the boss. While I love the man like my own father, and he loves me in return just as deeply, when it boils down to it, I’ll pull rank if I have to. I’m not about to lose him just yet. He needs to give himself time to recover so this doesn’t happen again.

And he’s going to start eating better.

End of story.

But losing Raul at the ranch, even if temporarily, is a problem. I’ve had to reschedule riding lessons and hire temporary help for the horses, but I can’t keep that up forever. My business barely ekes into the black each month, and there’s no way I’m cutting Raul from the payroll.

“If you need to replace me,” Raul starts, and I jerk my focus from the grilled chicken and artichokes recipe I’d been perusing to him. “I’d understand. You know that, right?”

Was he just freaking reading my mind?

I school my expression, but my exasperation bleeds through. “Puh-leeze… you just said you’re coming right back to work.”

“Nora,” he chides, his deep brown eyes solemn. “I’m an old man. You have a young business. I would understand if you had to do what you had—”

“Just be quiet,” I snap. “Or I’m going to call MaryBeth Henson to come and watch over you this afternoon while I go feed the horses.”

A slight tinge of fear seeps into Raul’s expression. She showed up yesterday with a bag of knitting, then promptly sat in one of the other guest chairs and glared at Raul the entire time, almost daring him to get sicker. It was hilarious, and Raul had been on his best behavior. I still have no clue why she showed up. She’s shown nothing but disdain for him in the past.

Tacker and I laughed about it later while we ate dinner in the hospital cafeteria. He thinks MaryBeth is actually sweet on Raul, but doesn’t know how to act and resorts to her normal crusty personality.