Colby (BBW Western Bear Shifter Romance) (Rodeo Bears Book 3) by Becca Fanning Page A

near his pillows. He was an efficient man, no matter what it was he did. “I really wish you two would get along.”

    “I know,” she said irritably, lacking her usual patience with her papa. “He’s the son you never had.”

    “Don’t say it that way. I don’t regret not having a son. You are better than any son. But I do regret that you lost interest in the rodeo. I miss having you there.”

    “I’m sorry I missed dinner last night,” she replied, unable to say more. She stood to leave, but her papa wasn’t finished.

    “You know I opened up the shop for you. I had hoped Ray Chaudett could be a project we could work on together, a fusion of your love for fashion and my commitment to the rodeo.”

    Mary Beth stopped in her tracks. “You never told me that before,” she said, stunned by the revelation. “How come?”

    “I didn’t want to push you into it. I thought you would naturally migrate towards it, but you hate it as much as you hate the animals in the barnyard.”

    “I don’t hate the shop,” she protested. “And I certainly don’t hate the animals in the barnyard. I actually kind of love the pigs.”

    He smiled, a joy in him despite his exhaustion. “Then I guess we both have things to learn about each other.”

    There was more he had meant to say, but as he opened his mouth to speak, his hand began to tremble, causing a sock he held to fall to the bed.

    “Daddy?” she asked, frightened by how pale he suddenly became. “Are you okay?”

    She stepped forward, but it was too late. Her papa collapsed to the ground and fell into unconsciousness.

Chapter Two

    Mary Beth disliked hospitals as much as she did the rodeo. Hospitals were full of fear and uncertainty, especially now. When her mama had been in the hospital battling cancer, they’d known she was going to pass. They had time to prepare and say their goodbyes. She wasn’t sure the same would happen with her papa. She sat in the waiting room of the ER, his fate uncertain, her last glimpse of him when the paramedics had wheeled him on the gurney into the back.

    A little boy sat next to her, his head down in his hands. “Tough day,” she said to him.

    “The worst,” he said. “My brother fell off his bike. He has to have a cast put on his leg. Now he won’t be able to play soccer with me.”

    “That is tough,” Mary Beth said, glad for the distraction. “But maybe you can still play. Ask your parents if they can get a pair of crutches for you too. That way you can both hop around on one leg trying to kick the ball.”

    The boy raised his head. “That’s a great idea! Thanks, lady.”

    She frowned. “Don’t call me lady. I’m not your grandma.”

    A doctor walked in looking as if he hadn’t slept in years. “Mary Beth Chaudett?” he called.

    Panicked, she quickly met him by the door. “Is my papa okay? Was it a heart attack? I told him those barbeque ribs would catch up with him someday.”

    “Walk with me,” the doctor instructed. “I’ll take you to him.”

    “Thank you,” she said, terrified as they walked. “Is he alive?”

    “For now. It wasn’t a heart attack, but it does involve his heart. We believe he caught a virus, which has been left untreated for awhile. With his age, we’re afraid it may have damaged his heart. We’d like to keep him in the hospital for a few days to observe him.”

    Mary Beth wasn’t sure how to handle the news; her relief that he was alive matched her despair that she could still lose him. His hospital room didn’t make the situation any easier to deal with. Her papa was hooked up to a herd of machines, and he remained ashen.

    “My girl,” he said when he saw her, lighting up. He hadn’t called her my girl since she was ten. “I’m sorry you have to see me this way.”

    “Don’t be stupid, Papa,” she said, trying hard to push back her tears. “You look very handsome, even strapped up like that.”

    “You could never lie as good as I could,”