A Cowboy Comes Home by Barbara Dunlop Page B

mother was the only person allowed to see her father, and the nurse would let her into his room for only a few minutes.
    The doctors were medicating him and monitoring him closely to watch for additional strokes. They told the family they needed to keep him calm. The initial prognosis was for a slow, potentially limited recovery. There was no way to tell how much of his speech and mobility he would regain. A doctor told them the first few days were critical.
    Although Abby had booked regular rooms at the Denver Emerald Chateau, a word from Caleb to the front-desk clerk had Mandy, Abby and her mother in a luxurious, two-bedroom suite. Caleb and Seth had taken an identical suite at the opposite end of the twentieth-floor hallway.
    It was nearly three in the morning before Mandy’s mother finally got to bed. Thankfully, she fell asleep almost immediately, and Mandy joined Abby, Seth and Caleb in the suite’s living room.
    Abigail was handing Seth her cell phone. “Your brother wants to talk to you.”
    “Thanks, tons.” Seth scowled as he accepted the phone.
    The only vacant seat was on a small couch next to Caleb, and Mandy sat down. She felt his gaze on her profile, swore she could feel his energy through her pores, but she didn’t turn.
    “Must we do this now? ” Seth was asking into the phone.
    Mandy gave her sister a quizzical look.
    “Seth was talking about dropping out of the Lyndon mayoralty race,” Abby explained. “Travis disagrees.”
    Mandy disagreed, as well, strenuously. Her oldest brother had been planning this political move for over two years. “It’ll be weeks before he even needs to campaign.”
    Abigail huffed as she crossed her arms over her chest. “That’s what I told him. And that’s what Travis’s telling him.”
    Mandy shook her head. “Dad won’t want him to drop out.”
    Their father had been totally supportive of Seth’s decision to run for mayor. The ranching community was slowly being pushed out of the economic framework of the district as tourism operations and small businesses moved in and began to lobby for their own interests.
    “Who’s going to run the place?” Seth demanded into the phone. “You?”
    He listened for a moment, then gave a cold laugh. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”
    Caleb leaned toward Mandy. “This is a terrible time for them to have this conversation. They have absolutely no perspective at all.”
    She knew he was right and nodded her agreement. They were all exhausted and their emotions were raw.
    Caleb rose to his feet. He moved in front of Seth and motioned for him to hand over the phone. Seth scowled at him, but Caleb persisted. When Seth finally complied, Caleb put the phone to his ear.
    “Travis? It’s Caleb. You need to go to bed. So does Seth and so do your sisters.”
    There was a pause.
    “In the morning. No. You listen. I don’t care who started it. I’m the only one here who’s not operating on grief and fear, and I’m telling you to shut it down.”
    Caleb paused again. “Yes. I will.” His gaze slid to Mandy for a brief second. “Of course not.”
    Abigail rose from her chair to lean over and give Mandy a quick hug. “I’m beat,” she whispered in Mandy’s ear. “Mind if I use the bathroom first?”
    “Go ahead.” Mandy squeezed her sister tight, grateful to have her siblings close to her tonight.
    “We’re going to have to call Katrina in the morning.” Abigail referred to their youngest sister who lived in New York City.
    “It’s almost morning there now,” said Mandy.
    “When we get up is soon enough. I’m sure it’ll be early.”
    “Yeah,” Mandy agreed on a sigh. It was going to be a long day tomorrow.
    Abigail made her way to the second bedroom and its en suite bathroom.
    Caleb put the cell phone on the coffee table.
    Seth rose. “I’m ordering a single malt from room service,” he told Caleb. “You want one?”
    “Yeah,” said Caleb. “I’m right behind you.”
    Mandy came to her