CHAPTER 4
KENDRICK
My hands are sweating as I walk back into the hospital to see my dad. He didn’t wake up when I stopped by last night before I was ushered from the room once visiting hours were over. That wasn’t until after the nurse taking care of him eyed me like a piece of meat.
I saw what she was offering in her eyes, but the last thing I was going to do was take her up on it. If we were in Reno instead of in my hometown where my father just had a heart attack? Maybe, it would have been different, but it wasn’t.
When I step off the elevator, the first person I see is the flirty nurse. But instead of considering taking her up on the offer left unsaid by the way her eyes light up when she sees me, I want to run in the other direction.
There’s no way I would touch her now. Not after meeting Eliza.
It’s impossible for me to put into words what happened the moment Eliza bumped into me, but something shifted. When she looked up at me, I got lost in her gray eyes. I was consumed with the thought of wrapping my arms around her and pulling her against my chest.
Hell, I wanted to throw her over my shoulder and take her away with me.
Walking away from her under the overly watchful eye of Mrs. Riley was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. I wanted to stay and find out everything about her.
But I recognized the look of judgement on the librarian’s face. She didn’t approve of me talking to Eliza, not even a little bit.
It’s not like I can blame her for it. I shouldn’t be talking to Eliza. She’s obviously a good girl.
But that sure as fuck isn’t going to keep me away from her. I have no idea how I know it, but I need her. I’m not going to stop until I figure out what the hell happened to me when she looked at me.
It was like a switch was flipped in my brain. Now, the last thing I want is to leave Seneca Falls again and Eliza.
I had no intention of telling her about my plans to stay here for her, especially considering I hadn’t come to any such decisions and had no clue if I would be welcome. The words came out of me without me realizing it and only after I uttered them did I realize they were sincere.
With a tight smile, I open the door to my father’s room instead of going to talk to the nurse with the come-hither look on her face. There’s only one woman I’m interested in, and she works at the market.
I keep my back to the bed while closing the door slowly and as quietly as possible. If Dad’s asleep, I certainly don’t want to be the one to wake him up.
“Why are you sneaking around?” My dad barks the question, and I don’t have to turn around to know he’s scowling at me.
With my back still facing him, I take a deep breath. When I turn towards him, I do it slowly. “Hey, Dad,” I murmur and take a step closer. I wave to the door behind me and explain, “I didn’t want to wake you.”
He huffs and tries to hold back his wince as he adjusts himself slightly in bed. I rush toward his side, but the look he shoots me has me pulling up short. Even though I won’t admit it out loud, my dad not wanting my help guts me.
I’m aware he’s not normally the kind of man who can accept help, but he just had a fucking heart attack. If there was ever a time to allow someone to help you, it’s now.
I should have known better.
After swallowing down the disappointment, I sit down in the chair still positioned next to his hospital bed. I rest my elbows on my knees and lean forward over my lap while studying Dad. He looks better than he did yesterday. He was so pale it was concerning but has more color today.
“How are you feeling?”
Dad gives me a long look, but when I simply stare back at him without backing down, because I learned how to be stubborn from him, he sighs.
“I’m fine,” he grunts. “You didn’t need to leave your fancy life in Reno,” he says with a wave of his arm as he leans forward like he’s about to shoo me from the room.
But his movements are slow, and it looks like he can’t lift his arm without it shaking. I don’t point out his weaknesses. He wouldn’t appreciate it, of that I have no doubt, but I also just can’t bring myself to do it.
Not to the man who has always been larger than life to me.
I don’t like the way this whole situation—my dad being sick, being back here suddenly, the state of Watts Ranch—sits in my gut. It twists this way and that. Nothing about this feels right, but there’s not much I can do about it.
Other than sticking around and cleaning up the mess my father would rather I never know about. The mess he’ll deny needing help with.
“I did need to come and see you, Dad,” I tell him, trying to keep the emotion out of my voice.
The thought of losing him before we had the chance to patch things up between us feels far too big to comprehend.
It’s the last thing I want to think about, but it’s impossible not to.
“Nothing is more important than being here.”
He swallows hard and just when I think he’s not going to say anything, he rasps, “That’s not what you said when you left and didn’t look back.”
“Fuck,” I grunt under my breath as I rub a hand over my face.
He’s not going to let it go. I’m not even sure he should, but the last thing I want to do is bring all this shit up.
“Now’s not the time for that, Dad. Aren’t you supposed to stay calm?”
He blows out a breath and leans back in the bed. “Thinking about you leaving doesn’t work me up, Kendrick,” he bites out the words, but I don’t believe him.
If he didn’t care, if it didn’t bother him, he wouldn’t have brought it up.
“Look,” I hold my hands up in surrender because the last thing I want to do is argue with my dad, “I’m not here to fight with you. I’m here to make sure you’re going to be okay and help you get back on the road to healthy.”
“Healthy?” He snorts out a raspy laugh. “I haven’t been healthy in years.”
I’m not sure if he’s joking or if he’s entirely fucking serious. Either way, it makes my stomach clench in a way I don’t like.
“Fine,” I grunt, “if you don’t care about your health, what about the ranch? You could use my help out there.”
He stares at me for a beat before looking away and lying through his damn teeth. “I don’t need your help on my land.”
I scoff and look him over. “From where I’m sitting?
You could use all the help you can get.” He opens his mouth, but I shake my head and lean a little closer.
“I’ve been out to the ranch, Dad. I know about the problems you’ve been having.
You’re running with a bare bones crew and you’re down a set of hands. ”
“Damn it,” he growls and leans his head back against the bed. His eyes slide closed like they’re too heavy to keep open for a second longer.
I hate him looking like he’s barely holding himself together. As much as I want to yell at him because I would have been here a while ago if I had known, I swallow it down. Of course, he wouldn’t have called me. Why put your pride aside for something as important as your legacy?
But it isn’t just his legacy. It’s mine, as well.
How much time did the man spend telling me all about the land being part of the Watts family? About how we could count on the land no matter what? That it was our duty to do right by the land and the animals entrusted to us?
It’s how I grew up. It’s how he grew up. And the generation before him. And the one before.
The land is in our blood, and I always knew I would hear its call no matter how far I went and no matter how long I stayed away. Being back in Seneca Falls has settled something inside of me I was far too fucking stubborn to recognize wasn’t right.
“I’m not talking to you about what is going on out at the ranch,” Dad bites out. I open my mouth, but he holds up his hand without even opening his eyes. “I mean it, Kendrick. You left and made sure it was no longer your responsibility. It’s why I didn’t call you.”
“But you did need help,” I insist.
Dad peels open one eye and looks at me. Well, more accurately he glares at me.
When he doesn’t say anything, I keep going.
“You barely have enough hands to keep things going,” I remind him as if he doesn’t already know.
“The cows are slimmer than they should be. The fencing issues have been a constant headache and even the stock you have isn’t getting the price you need per pound. ”
“So what?” He grumbles the question, but there’s not a lot of heat behind it. “We just need a little time, and we’ll get back on track.”
I look at him for a long time. Before I figure out what to say, because there is so much left unsaid and I have no idea where to start, the door to his hospital room opens and a doctor walks in. He keeps his focus on Dad after flicking his gaze over to me for a moment.
“How are you feeling today, Mr. Watts?” The doctor chirps the question with far too much enthusiasm.
“I’ve told you to call me Harold,” Dad’s annoyance is clear to hear in how he admonishes the doctor.
“So you have, Harold,” the doctor grins at my dad before turning his attention toward me. “You must be Harold’s son?”
I stand up and nod, while holding my hand out between us. “It’s nice to meet you, I’m Kendrick.”
“It’s good that you’re here, Kendrick,” the doctor says.
“In situations like this, the patient needs all the help and support they can get. It was really touch and go there when he first came in.” He shakes his head and glances at Dad.
“While the blockage Harold had wasn’t quite what we call a windowmaker, it was close.
We were able to stabilize him with medication. ”
He throws the words out there like they don’t have me slumping back in the chair while my head spins and spins. Widowmaker. It doesn’t sound good at all; it sounds fucking devastating.
“It’s going to take a while for him to fully recover. Part of that is getting him on medication and seeing a cardiologist regularly.”
“I don’t have time to be running around from doctor to doctor,” my dad grunts.
“You’ll have to make time. You’ll also need to change some things about your life,” he tells my dad while trying to hide the exasperation in his voice.
“You need to eat better; a balanced diet will be key for your heart health. Then there is the medication. Getting back to work will take time and I highly recommend taking better care of yourself by reducing your workload and your stress.”
My dad looks anywhere but at me. I don’t need him to look at me; it’s not going to stop me from staring him down. While he may not have wanted my help, he’s got it now.
And he does need it. While he is going to try and fight me every step of the way, I’m not going to pay him any mind.
“What kind of timeline are we talking about when it comes to recovery?” Even though I’m asking the doctor, I keep my gaze locked on my father. He winces because he knows the answer.
And he still doesn’t look at me.
“It’s going to take some time,” the doctor hedges.
“First, we’d like to keep Harold here for a while in the hospital to make sure the medications are working.
Then it’ll be bed rest at home before slowly starting to get back on his feet.
” His face is serious as he reiterates, “It’s a slow process, especially when it comes to certain lifestyle changes, but it’s necessary. ”
“I’m not staying in this hospital for weeks on end,” Dad grumbles. When the doctor opens his mouth, Dad holds up a hand to stop whatever he’s about to say. “I’ll see whatever doctors you want me to see, but I can’t stay here. I need to be back on the ranch.”
I notice he doesn’t say he’ll make lifestyle changes and won’t be out there on the land working himself into an early grave. The only way I know how to stop him from taking all the responsibility on his shoulders is to stay.
For Dad.
For Watts Ranch.
For Eliza.
Yeah, for Eliza. She’s a reason to stay in Seneca Falls while ignoring my father’s gruff bullshit. The man is going to dig his heels in, but I’m just as stubborn as he is. And I’m younger which means I have the stamina to wait him out.
I hope.
Once the doctor leaves, Dad is in a piss-poor mood. “You can go right on back to Reno,” he growls at me. “You’ve seen me and I’m alive.”
“Barely,” I throw back at him. His glare intensifies, but it does nothing to intimidate me. “You’re going to need my help on the ranch. You can’t hold it together with Cliff and a hand or two without you being able to put in the work as well.”
“I can put in the work,” he insists.
“No,” my voice is hard and filled with steel, “you can’t. You need my help. I get it’s not what you want, and you don’t want whatever bullshit gossip people spread about me to impact the business, but you will need another set of hands.”
“You have a life in Reno,” he angrily spits.
“It doesn’t matter. You need me here, and I’m staying.”
I lean back in my chair and cross my arms. There’s nothing else to be said about what is about to happen. Sure, I had a job I enjoyed and made a few friends to go out to the bar with, but after being in Seneca Falls it has become clear that Reno isn’t my home.
In Reno, no matter what, I couldn’t truly and fully relax. My shoulders aren’t up near my ears here. I can breathe easier.
And then there’s Eliza.
She’s a reason to stay in Seneca Falls. She’s a reason to prove to the entire town I’m not who they thought I was all those years ago. She’s a reason to try.
Eliza’s gray eyes, innocent gaze, and sweet soul, which calls out to me, is more than enough to fight for. My legacy, the land which has been in my family for generations, is a bonus.