Chapter 29
“I saw the bill sitting on his dresser when I went to check the kids for Phoebe.” Tobias paced back and forth in the small room Ezra used as an office. He’d been thinking about the hospital bill he’d seen in Tillman’s room for several days since the rodeo had ended and they’d tallied their net profit.
It was more than enough to get the ranch in the black and keep it there for the rest of the year.
“You’re sure the insurance isn’t covering it? Sometimes they send out statements with the breakdown included.”
“I thought I might have seen wrong, so I just casually asked Tillman while we were taking the parking fence down if he’d switched his insurance from Montana to North Dakota, and he said Nicole had let the insurance on the kids run out after she left him.”
“Ouch. So it’s not even his fault.”
“No. He could barely get her to let him see the kids, let alone have any say in anything, including their insurance.” Tobias stopped in front of the bookshelf, staring at the spines of the books there but not actually seeing them. “I know we’ve struggled for a long time with the ranch, and this seems like the lift we need to finally take the burden away, but...I feel that we should pay that bill for Tillman, even if it means we don’t have anything left for ourselves.”
“We’d have to ask the rest of the siblings. I couldn’t just do that without their permission.”
“I know. I know what Phoebe will say. And I have a feeling that Phoebe has done so much for everyone else, all the time, selflessly, that no one would keep this from her. Especially since they’re getting married this morning.”
“Does she know about this?”
“I think so. I didn’t ask her outright, but she said something about being with Tillman was more important than money. I think she knows and she wanted him anyway.”
“That sounds like Phoebe. I would be concerned about a normal couple since money issues are one of the top things that lead to divorce, but Phoebe has never insisted on anything for herself, and she’s always given sacrificially. This is our opportunity to give something to her—Tillman is the one thing she wants.”
“I hope he knows what a treasure he has.”
“I think he does. It’s hard to work with Phoebe the way he has and not see it. I knew that when I put them together. Of course, I didn’t realize this was going to happen with his daughter. I agree with you. They deserve the money from the rodeo more than anyone I know. We’ll call a meeting while they’re in town and see what everyone else says.”
Tobias nodded and pulled out his phone on his way to the door. He wanted to get everyone together and make a decision before Tillman and Phoebe got back. If the decision didn’t go in their favor, it would be better for them not to know they’d considered it at all.
He needn’t have worried. The siblings took less than five minutes to unanimously decide that Tillman and Phoebe should have Erin’s hospital bills paid. Someone also suggested if there was anything left over, they should give it to them so they could find a small place close to the ranch or build a house on the ranch property, since the bunkhouse wasn’t exactly a newlywed paradise.
Tobias felt a little like his chest would burst, even though he had the dread of what he knew he needed to do hanging over him, still. Mrs. Wells was expecting him to save her granddaughter, and he’d promised the old woman he would. Unfortunately, there was only one clear way to do that, and it entailed him leaving his family and marrying a stranger.
He wouldn’t have even considered it if he hadn’t gotten that strange letter in the mail. He’d looked into it, the best he could, talking to some of Sweet Water’s wiser citizens, and he’d been assured by Sawyer Olson and Ford Hansen that the letter was, indeed, real.
Which meant Tobias could keep his word to Mrs. Wells and next week this time, he could be married to someone he’d never met.