The Rancher's Homecoming by Arlene James Page A

Callie directed. “After lunch, you can take a nap.”
    Meredith looked at Rex. “Dad’s right. She’s pure gold.”
    Callie laughed. “I don’t know if Billings’ standards are just low or if you’ve all simply had to do for yourselves too long. Either way, thank you. Now, go away and let me work while my baby is sleeping.”
    â€œYou don’t have to tell me twice,” Rex said, turning down the hallway toward his sister’s room. Meredith followed, but by the time they reached her room, both cats had joined them, appearing seemingly out of nowhere.
    Tux, the black-and-white tom, hopped up onto the love seat while Tiger, the yellow-striped fellow, paced back and forth in front of the armchair, as if to say that Rex must not sit until their mistress had chosen her spot. She took the love seat, and both cats claimed space around her. The bed sat on a raised platform behind them, while the television hung over the dresser in front of them.
    â€œTalked to Ann lately?” he asked conversationally. Their sister rarely contacted him, but to be fair, he wasn’t very good about staying in touch with either of his sisters.
    Meredith nodded. “She called last night to ask what I think Dad’s chances are.”
    â€œOf beating the cancer, you mean.”
    â€œYes.”
    Rex tried not to ask, but he couldn’t help himself. “So what do you think his chances are?”
    Meredith petted her cats, one with each hand. “Better than fifty-fifty, I’d say.”
    Only better than fifty-fifty? Rex felt as if a fist closed around his heart. “I thought, because they didn’t find it in his pancreas...”
    â€œIt’s tricky,” she told him softly. “Besides the liver, every one of the lymph nodes that they took was positive for cancer.”
    Rex sighed and pushed both hands through his hair. “No wonder they insisted on starting the chemo so soon after surgery.”
    â€œI wish it could’ve waited a few weeks,” Meredith said. “My leave still hasn’t come through, and I’m not sure it will until the next hiring rotation.”
    â€œWe’ll manage,” Rex assured her. “You’ll run interference for us this week, and Callie will be there when we go home.”
    â€œI’m so thankful you have her because you’re going to need her,” Meredith warned.
    Rex nodded and tried to focus on more pleasant subjects, such as how much of the cat paradise in the front room Meredith intended to move to the Straight Arrow with her. They were arguing good-naturedly about where she could build her cat playground at the ranch when Callie came to tell them that lunch was ready. The three of them sat down to a light meal and casual conversation.
    It was the last truly easy moment of the week. Rex didn’t expect the accommodations at the hospital to be hotel quality, and he was tired enough to sleep well the first night. But the reality of his father’s disease made itself felt in a new way repeatedly throughout every day. Even as they steadily pumped the chemotherapy drugs into his body, one specialist after another came to Wes’s room, including a dietician, who asked to speak to Callie after learning they had a cook. They arranged the meeting, and Rex went down to the common area to play with Bodie while Callie met with the dietician.
    He hadn’t realized that babies could be so engaging. Bodie, of course, was incredibly bright; she was much brighter than the average child, he felt sure. She mimicked his facial expressions, laughed when he made funny sounds and gave slimy, messy kisses that completely melted his heart even as they turned his stomach a little. Fear tainted every moment, however. What if he dropped her or scared her? What if she filled another diaper before her mother returned to deal with it? What if she started to cry?
    His relief warred with his disappointment when