The Ranch

She followed the doctor into the recovery room and put on a gown, there were half a dozen nurses standing around, and twice as many machines from what Tanya could see, but he lifted his head and smiled at her when he saw her.

“Hi, baby,” he said, and she leaned down and kissed him.

“You scared me to death,” she said.

“Sorry… I was trying to keep him away from the horses, and he got me.”

“You're lucky he didn't kill you,” she said, still shaken by the entire evening.

“The doctor says you saved me.” A long look passed between them that no one could mistake and she kissed him again.

“I love you,” she whispered.

“I love you too,” he said, and then turned his head toward her and closed his eyes for a minute. She asked the doctor if she could stay, and he said she could, if she wanted. And she went out and told Zoe.

“Are you sure?” Charlotte Collins asked. “I can bring you back tomorrow.”

“I'd like to stay,” Tanya said quietly, and then she looked at Gordon's employer apologetically. “I'm sorry about what's been happening… about him… I don't mean to create trouble for him.” But there was no way to hide it now, and Charlotte nodded, smiling.

“I know. Don't worry about it. Everything's all right. Just be careful.” Like Zoe, she was concerned about Tanya. Zoe said something to her before she left, about being mobbed by the press. And Tanya told her not to worry. No one had the least idea who she was at the hospital.

The two women left, and John Kroner went home, and she went back to Gordon. He was sleeping. And they set up a small cot in the recovery room for her, and at six in the morning, they moved him to his own room and she went with him. He was awake by then, and claimed that he was fine, but he looked pretty rocky.

“I feel fine, let's go home,” he said, but he was too dizzy from the loss of blood to sit up, and Tanya shook a finger at him.

“Yeah, you look great. Lie down and be quiet.” She scolded him and he laughed. This was a golden opportunity to push him around, and he loved it.

“Just because you saved my life doesn't mean you get to tell me what to do for the rest of my life,” he said, looking peevish, but he couldn't help looking at her and grinning. “You look tired, Tan,” he said then, looking worried.

“You scared the hell out of me.” But she had one more thing to do on the way home before she could sleep. And she was disappointed, she had wanted to go on a ride with him. She had Tom coming for him, and he could lie down in the back and take it easy.

The doctor said he could leave at noon, because he had developed no complications and had no fever, and Tom came for them, as Tanya had asked. Gordon whistled from the wheelchair as he saw the bus arrive.

“Subtle, aren't we?” He grinned. “How am I going to explain this to Charlotte? Or are we totally blown out of the water?”

“I'd say she got a small clue last night, while I was clutching her arm in the waiting room, waiting to hear from the doctor. Actually,” Tanya said seriously, “she was very decent about it. I think she understood completely.”

“I hope so. Getting slashed in the middle of the night with you around wasn't exactly in my plans,” he said, still looking a little unnerved by it. But he seemed reasonably healthy, although she could tell the arm hurt. He wouldn't admit it, but he winced when he moved it. They had given him painkillers to take home, but he claimed that all he needed was a shot of whiskey.

She settled him in the back of the bus in one of the beds, and propped his arm up comfortably on pillows, and he grinned at her as she handed him a Coke, and they took off for the ranch, but after a while he glanced out the window and looked puzzled.

“I hate to tell you this, Tan, but your driver is going by way of China.”

“I thought you'd like a little scenic tour on the way back.” He didn't want to tell her he wanted a scenic tour of his bed, he was afraid to hurt her feelings, so he nodded, and kissed her.

“I just want you to know, I'm not going to let this affect our sex life,” he said, and she laughed.

“Let me tell you, about midnight last night, your sex life was the least of your problems.” Neither of them could believe what had happened.

She noticed just then that they had almost reached their destination. She glanced out the window and saw it. They had come around a bend, and were looking out over a bluff, just beneath the mountains. It was a place she had gone to with him the week before, and he recognized it as he looked out the window.

“What did you want to come back here for?” He looked amused and sat up, as he looked outside. “I love this place,” he said. He wondered if she was just being sentimental, and he leaned over and kissed her, but she was laughing.

“I hope so,” she said.

“Why?”

“Because I own it.”

“You what?” He looked completely confused by what she was saying. “You do not. This is the old Parker Ranch. I've known it for years. I brought you here last Sunday.”