The Rancher's Secret Child

“It did. They said I wasn’t uncon...uncon...” He sounded like a boy trying to be brave.

“Unconscious?” Marcus supplied.

“Yeah. So I’m okay.”

“Nothing else hurts?”

“Nope,” Oliver said on a sniffle.

“Is Lissa okay?”

More sniffling and then, “Yeah, I think. She says her shoulder hurts. She’s not crying, though. Doc said she’s tougher than a bull rider. I think you’re a bull rider.”

“I am a bull rider,” Marcus told his son. His son. “Listen, I’m going to see you in a few minutes. You’re tough. You’ve got this.”

“Yeah, I’m tough.” The boy sounded like he meant to convince himself.

“I’ll be there in a few minutes, so you keep being tough and you take care of Lissa. She’s not as tough as she’s pretending to be.”

He ended the call.

“Let’s go,” Alex said. “I’ll drive.”

“I can drive. I want to grab a couple of blankets from the house.” Marcus headed for his truck.

“They’re fine,” Alex called out to him. “If they were in bad shape, Doc would send them to Killeen.”

“I know that.” Marcus opened his truck door and found his keys in the ignition. Alex climbed in on the other side.

“You should take your keys out.”

“Yeah, I know. But spare me the lectures.”

“So you don’t want me to tell you that you care about this kid and you shouldn’t let him walk away?” Alex reached to turn up the heat.

“I want you to stay out of my business.”

Alex gave him a thumbs-up. “Right.”

“Don’t talk.”

His twin zipped his lips.

Marcus might have grinned at the ridiculous gesture, but he didn’t have an ounce of humor in him. He had sent his kid away in this weather. His reckless decision had put Oliver and Lissa in danger.

It took fifteen minutes to get to the scene of the accident.

Flashing lights and scattered emergency vehicles lined the road. Marcus pulled behind a first responder and got out. The rain had picked back up. He saw Lissa sitting in Doc Parker’s car. Oliver sat huddled against her, his face pale and a bandage over the right side of his forehead. Doc leaned in talking to them.

The car she’d been driving now sat on the back of a tow truck. The driver’s side was dented and the tires on the passenger’s side were flat. Alex said something to him about seeing where they would tow the car.

When Marcus appeared behind Doc, Oliver noticed first and big tears rolled down his cheeks. Marcus pushed away memories of his sister looking much the same way. He hadn’t been able to help Lucy, but he could help Oliver. At least for today he could handle things and make sure the child wasn’t frightened and didn’t feel alone.

And then he made eye contact with Lissa and he could see in her blue eyes that she was being strong for Oliver. He recognized the flicker of pain that flashed across her features, tightening the lines around her mouth. But she managed a smile as she raised her left hand in a half-hearted wave.

“The roads are a mess,” she informed him with a hint of humor in her voice.

“Yeah, I’ve heard.” He leaned against the side of the car. “How are they, Doc?”

“Oh, not too bad all things considered. I think Miss Hart has a dislocated shoulder. Actually, she’s a nurse and that’s her diagnosis. I would concur. Mr. Oliver has a good bump on his head, but I think he’s okay. I’ll take them back to my office. We’ll get that shoulder back in place and I’ll turn them over to you.”

Turn them over to him? He started to object. He was the last person they should be relying on. But Oliver looked happy with the news. And Lissa Hart looked...relieved?

* * *

Lissa kept her left arm around Oliver. Her right arm she kept at her side. Every bump jostled it and sent a shooting pain to her shoulder. She cringed and Oliver snuggled closer.

“It’s okay,” she encouraged, trying to smile.

“Marcus is going to be with us.” Oliver said it with satisfaction, as if Marcus Palermo solved all of their problems.

The way she looked at it, Marcus was just another problem. He was too handsome. He was too much of a loner. He didn’t need or want anyone in his life. And the little boy sitting next to her wanted and needed a father. He would have to be told the truth, and when that happened, she knew he would want to stay with Marcus.

“I know he is going to be there.” She bit down on her lip as they hit a few potholes. The first responder had warned her that a ride with Doc Parker could be worse than the accident. She now understood the warning.

The car stopped at what appeared to be an abandoned convenience store. “What is this?”

Doc had already gotten out and was opening the door to help her. “My office.”

“Oh.”

“Don’t worry, it’s better than it looks. I know, an RN like yourself, you’re used to city clinics and hospitals. This serves us just fine.”

“I’m sure it does.” She eased herself out of the car and waited for Oliver. He had been so brave, but he now had big tears in his eyes. One broke loose and slid down his cheek. He swiped it away and managed a fierce look.

“Are you okay, sweetheart?” She leaned close to the little boy.

He nodded and sniffed away the tears. “I’m good. I’m going to be a bull rider someday. Like Marcus. So I have to be tough.”

She wanted to sigh at that revelation. Oliver needed male role models. That was all. He was attaching himself to Marcus not because of the connection but because he represented everything a kid like Oliver wanted. Marcus was tough. He had lived an exciting life. He was a world champion. Of course Oliver wanted to be like him.

Doc cleared his throat as he looked from her to the little boy. “We’d best get you inside and put that shoulder back in the socket. Marcus will be here any minute. He just had a hard time keeping up with me.” The last was said with a grin and, she thought, a bit of misplaced pride.

He led them through a dismally decorated waiting room to a small exam room. Lissa gave Oliver what she hoped to be a reassuring look.

“Oliver, do you want to sit out in the waiting room? I bet Dr. Parker has a book you can look at.”

Doc rubbed a hand through thinning gray hair. “Books. Yes, I should have books. I keep meaning to get more. I have young ones that come in and books are something they love to take home with them. I can’t deny a child a book. And it’s Doc, not Dr. Parker.”