9781631052323ForeverKindofCowboySullivan (15 page)

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Callie
waited for Jeremiah at Anne’s diner. He’d called her on his way home from the
doctor’s office to say he wanted to see her. She was surprised he’d picked
here, somewhere in public. They should be alone for this, she figured, but
apparently he didn’t think so.

When
she saw him walked through the door, she smiled.
Damn, he looked good, tall, broad-shouldered, and tough.
Whatever
this was wouldn’t tear them apart. She wouldn’t let it.

He slid
into the booth seat across from her and took her hand in his. He closed his
eyes as his lips brushed her palm. Her heart did a little staccato rhythm at
the touch of his mouth. He could totally turn her inside out with nothing more
than a look or a touch.

“Hi.”

“Hey.”

“Why
did you want to meet here?”

“I
figured it was best.”

“Best
for whom?”

“Us.”

“Why?”

“Hey,
kids. Can I get you anything?” Anne stopped at their table with a bright smile.

“I’ll
take a Coke,” Callie replied as Jeremiah shook his head.

“Be
right back.”

After
Anne brought her drink and Callie retrieved her hand reluctantly from
Jeremiah’s grasp, she sat back in the seat waiting for his words to start
flowing.

“We
need to break this off.”

“Break
what off?”

“Our
relationship.
I don’t want to see you anymore.”

“What
the fuck, Jeremiah? You can’t just shut me down like this.”

“I can
and I will to protect you.”

“Protect
me from what? You aren’t making sense.” Trepidation ripped through her at the
look in his eyes. He wasn’t kidding. The seriousness of his expression made her
angry.
Stubborn man!
“I won’t let you
do this. Whatever it is—”

“It’s
MS, Callie.”

“So?”

“I
can’t.” He shook his head. “I won’t let you live your life with a man who can’t
be a hundred percent for you. You already have to deal with your father having
this terrible disease and now your future husband?”

“You
will
not
make that decision for me.
I’ve lived with my dad’s disease for the last several years. I’ve seen what it
can do and I’m not afraid of it.” She grabbed his hand, but he pulled it back
out of her reach. “I love you, Jeremiah. Why can’t you understand that? Why
can’t you see it doesn’t matter to me? You are my life.”

“I
refuse to strap you to a man who won’t be able to take care of you.”

She
slapped her hand on the table causing him to jump. “I don’t care, you stubborn
jackass! But if you want to turn your back on our love because you’re afraid,
then so be it, but don’t use the excuse you don’t want to strap me with a
crippled man because that isn’t going to fly. Loving you means we are together
forever no matter what. Obviously you don’t love me enough to want to be with
me.” She leaned in with her elbows on the table. “What if I had MS? Would you
turn your back on me?”

He shook
his head and refused to look her in the eye. “No. I would be there for you.”

“Then
why are you pushing me away?” she asked, fear making her all the more angry
because he wouldn’t face that they were meant to be together. “We can fix this.
Don’t let us die. The love of a lifetime is worth at least a million tries.
What we’ve got is too good for good-bye.”

When he
looked back up, she could see the terror, loneliness, and desperation in his
gaze. “Don’t you see? I’m supposed to be the one taking care of you, not the
other way around.”

“Listen
to yourself. You can justify it all you want to in your head, but it’s not
going to work. One-sided love isn’t for me. If you love me, you’d see this is
crazy talk, Jeremiah. Please, don’t shut me out.”

“I’m
sorry, Callie. I refuse to put you through this.” He got out of the booth and
walked out without another word.

Tears
welled up in her eyes as she watched him leave.
How can he do this? How can he turn his back on me? I thought he loved
me.

Anne
came over and sat down next to her, wrapping her in a one-armed hug as she
cried ugly, sobbing tears into her shoulder.

“He’ll
come around, honey. He’s a Young. They do this kind of thing.”

“What
am I going to do?”

“Give
him time. He’s in shock, I’d imagine. I also know Jeremiah is one of most
stubborn of the boys, and that is saying a lot because the whole
lot of them are
stubborn. He’s about the most like his momma
out of all of the boys. She’s got the stubborn streak down to a science. Trust
me.” She patted Callie’s shoulder as she reached for a napkin to dry her tears.

“Thanks,
Anne.”

“You’re
welcome, honey. If you want to talk, you call me.”

“I
will, but right now I think I need to talk to Peyton and Paige. They are
married to two of the brothers. They might know more about how to handle this
than anyone.”

“I’m
sure they can help, but remember, I’m here for you.”

Callie
dug out her phone to call her friends to meet her at her house in an hour.
Peyton, Paige and Mandy all converged on her living room with wine, chocolate,
chips, and cookies to discuss this new development.

“I need
you all to promise not to tell your husbands about this. I don’t know if
Jeremiah has told his brothers what’s going on or not. I don’t want to break
his confidence. This concerns me and him right now.”

Peyton
nodded as Paige replied, “Okay.”

“Jeremiah
has been diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis.” She went on to tell them what she
knew about the disease, how her father had it as well, and how things
progressed if left unchecked by medication. She explained all she knew about
the disease before she went on to tell them about her conversation with
Jeremiah at the diner. “I don’t know what to do. He’s shut me out.”

Mandy
sat forward on the chair, resting her elbows on her knees. “I didn’t realize
you two were even serious, but he’s being a typical Young from what I know
about the family.”

“True,”
Peyton added. “It sounds very much like what my husband would do.”

“Mine
too.” Paige put in her opinion, which is exactly what Callie thought they would
say.

“What
am I going to do?”

“Give
him time,” Peyton said. “He needs to come to grips with the diagnosis first.
Let him talk to the neurologist and find out his life isn’t over because of
this disease. He’ll come around.”

“God, I
hope so. I wanted to punch him.”

They
all laughed as Paige replied, “I bet you did. He’s worse than some of the other
brothers in his stubbornness. I think it comes from handling all the family
finances. He has to be such a hard-ass to be able to tell them no they can’t
buy a new horse or purchase a new fifty thousand dollar tractor.”

She
swiped at the tears on her cheeks, sniffing to clear her plugged nose. “Thanks
everyone. I knew I could count on you three to help me.”

“Honey,
you know we are here for you no matter what. We all know what dealing with
those boys is like,” Mandy said even though she didn’t have a brother herself
yet.

“Shall
we watch some sappy movie tonight?” She looked at Paige. “What did you do with
the twins tonight?”

“Daddy
is watching them for a change.”

“Wow, I
bet that is interesting.”

“He
does pretty well with them. They’re getting so big, they’re two little terrors
on the loose, but he’s such a sucker for their little smiles and cuteness.”

“What’s
he going to do when Hannah starts dating?”

“He
won’t even talk about that right now.”

“How
are you and Jason doing? Any baby news yet?”

“Oh,
hell no.
We
are waiting for a bit before we start trying for a little one.”

“I bet Grandma
isn’t happy about that.”

“She
already has enough grandchildren for now. She can wait a few more years.”

“How is
she taking being laid up at home with the broken leg?”

“Not
well. She wants to be up and doing this and that, although we have managed to
get her into her office so she can handle some stuff even with a broken leg.
She’s doing well with the rehab though. The physical therapist is coming out
three times a week to work with her.”

“That’s
great. I was so worried when I heard about her accident.”

“As we
all were.”

The
rest of the evening passed with the girls getting pretty drunk, laughing at
their men, and just spending quality time with each other. Callie needed this,
needed the companionable silence as they watched
The Notebook
on television and cried big, ugly tears. The cleansing
feeling of being with like-minded women, helped her to understand Jeremiah’s
feelings and let him go to find his own way, so he could find his way back to
her.

Chapter
Fourteen

Callie
decided to confront Jeremiah after his neurologist appointment on his own turf
with his brothers watching. She managed to get Peyton and Paige to gather the
brothers as well as his mother and father in one of the lodge’s main rooms. He
hadn’t told them about the disease yet that the girls could fathom so she
wanted them to confront him with that fact too.

As she
drove to the ranch, fear gripped her. What if this backfired? What if he got
angry with her for doing this?

When
she’d made this plan, she really hadn’t thought of the consequences of her
actions, but what could it hurt? He’d pushed her out of his life anyway, so
pressing him more couldn’t hurt any worse.

When
she pulled into the front of the lodge, Peyton stood outside waiting for her.

“Ready?”

“As
I’ll ever be, I guess.”

“The
boys are all in the main room. We’ve put a sign on the door to keep the
visitors out until this is over. Jeremiah is in his cabin. Jeff went to get
him.” She put her arm around Callie. “I did tell him what was going on so he
knew why the secrecy and the meeting. He’s pissed that Jeremiah didn’t tell
them, but he understands. He’s on your side.”

“Good.”

When
they walked into the lodge, every eye turned toward her. She could see the
questions on their faces and in their eyes, but she had to wait to confront
Jeremiah.

Jeff
practically dragged him into the room several minutes later.

“What
the hell is this all about?”

“Why
don’t you tell us, Jeremiah?”

“I
don’t know what you are talking about.”

“You
went to the doctor. Tell us what is going on so we can help you.”

Jeremiah’s
gaze swung to her as she stood in the corner waiting for him to speak. “It’s
nothing.”

“Bullshit.
Spill it.”

Jeremiah
inhaled before he forcibly exhaled. “I have Multiple Sclerosis.”

“What
is that?” Jackson asked.

“It’s
an auto-immune disease affecting the nerves in my brain. I went to the
neurologist today. He started me on a medication which is supposed to dull the
symptoms and make it easier to deal with. Basically, it makes my limbs go numb
at times and messes with my vision. For now, those are the symptoms, but
eventually it could put me in a wheelchair.”

Jeff
put his arm around him. “We are here for you, Jeremiah.
No
matter what.
You know that.”

The
other brothers did the same as they all got together in a group to give him the
support he needed. It brought tears to Callie’s eyes. She knew they would react
this way. Now only if she could convince Jeremiah they belonged together. “I
need to say something, please, and I hope you all will bear with me for
interrupting your family time, but I feel this is important to say in front of
you so you can beat him over the head in my defense.” She stepped toward the
group. “Jeremiah and I have been seeing each other. We have professed our love
for one another a couple of weeks ago, but when he got the diagnosis of this
disease, he shut me out claiming he didn’t want to burden me with a cripple for
a mate. My father has this disease as well. I’ve been living with it for
several years. I know what it can do. I’ve done the research and I want him to
realize it doesn’t matter to me. He’s my life. Please help me convince him we
belong together no matter what life brings.”

“What’s
this all about, Jeremiah?” his mother asked from her wheelchair off to the side
of the group.

“I
don’t want to stick Callie with a cripple for a husband, Mom. I refuse to do
that to her.”

“She
loves you and you love her, right?”

“Yes.”

“Then
quit being a dumbass and ask that girl to marry you.”

“But—”

“But
nothing.
Life is short. We never know when we’ll leave our loved ones behind. I’ve
learned
this myself the last several weeks as I saw your father
and you boys deal with my accident. I could have been killed. I know it would
have left you all devastated, but it’s not something we can control. If you
love her, then cherish the time you have together by being together and loving
each other like your life depends on it.”

Callie
watched as Jeremiah turned back toward her. His grey eyes reflected love and
acceptance as the words from his mother finally sank in.

Jeremiah
stepped out of the circle of his brothers to approach her, taking her hand in
his as he stopped in front of her. “I’m sorry, Callie. I do love you, but I’m
scared.”

“I
know, Jeremiah. I am too. I don’t want to lose you. I don’t want to have to
deal with your disease, but I’m a strong woman who knows how to handle
adversity no matter how much you want to protect me. I love you.”

“I love
you too. I’m so sorry I put you through this.” With tears shining in his eyes,
he got down on one knee. “I don’t have a ring for you right this minute, but
will you marry me?”

She got
down on the ground so they were face to face. She grasped his cheeks in her
hands as she whispered
a
exuberant, “Yes!” She threw herself into his embrace, kissing him all over his
face while he laughed.

His
brothers slapped him on the back in congratulations until she managed to get
him down on the floor, lying across his chest.

“This
is a precarious position, darlin’. Not that I mind, you see, but I don’t think
you are into exhibitionism, are you?”

“Jeremiah!”

He
laughed as he rolled her under him and kissed her full on the mouth. When they
came up for air, the room had cleared of his family. He threaded his fingers in
her hair, bringing one small bunch around to tickle her lips. “I love you.”

“I love
you too. When do you want to get married?”

“I
don’t care. I want something small though.
Only a few friends
and family.”

“Sounds
good to me.”
A twinkle in his eyes told her he was up to something. “Ever been to Hawaii?”

“Nope.”

“Let’s
get married there. I can fly everyone out there. We’ll have a wedding on the
beach.”

“I love
that idea, but how can you afford to fly everyone out there? Won’t it be really
expensive?”

“We
need to talk about finances, darlin’, but don’t worry, I can afford it and then
some.”

“If
you say so.
I’ll leave that to you.”

“Trust
me when I say you won’t have to worry about money for the rest of your life.”

“Are
you rich?”

“Let’s
say comfortable.” He kissed her full on the mouth, letting his tongue slide
along the seam of her lips in an erotic dance until she opened for him on a
groan.

When
they parted, she said, “We are going to have to find somewhere else to live.
Although I love your little cabin, there isn’t room for both of us.”

“I’m
already planning on a house on the hill overlooking the valley. I’ll show you
the plans after we make love.”

“Oh, I
like the sound of that.”

“Good.”
He climbed to his feet and held out a hand to her, dragging her up before he
tossed her over his shoulder to head to his room.

“Jeremiah?”

“Yeah.”

“This
caveman behavior is perfect.”

He
laughed all the way to the cabin as her hair hung down his back and her hand
had a firm grip on his buttocks.