The Rancher's Homecoming by Arlene James Page B

Callie finally returned. Then Bodie both thrilled him and broke his heart when she tried to hang on to him rather than go to her mother.
    â€œBodie Jane Deviner, behave yourself,” Callie scolded, pulling the child away from Rex. Bodie huffed such a pathetically false wail of protest that even Rex knew she wasn’t really crying. Callie had to disguise a smile of her own in order to deal with the babe. “That’s enough now.”
    Bodie rubbed her eyes with both fists, showing the true source of her distress. She obviously knew that if she went with her mom, at some point she’d have to take a nap. No doubt that apartment seemed pretty small to the two of them by now, and Bodie was too young for the playground in Meredith’s complex.
    â€œThere’s a park we could take her to after dinner, if you’re interested,” Rex heard himself say.
    Callie smiled. “That might be a good idea if it’s shady enough.”
    â€œI think it is.”
    â€œOkay, but first someone needs a n-a-p.”
    He chuckled. “We’re spelling now, are we?”
    â€œOh, yes.”
    Definitely brighter than average, and a bright spot in an otherwise dark week. Just like her mom.
    * * *
    The heat felt absolutely suffocating, even after dinner, but just seeing something green made Callie feel better.
    â€œWhy is the city so much hotter than the country?” she asked, lowering her body gratefully onto a bench in the shade of a well-groomed tree.
    â€œI don’t know. It’s a different kind of heat, isn’t it?” Rex replied, wiping his forehead on his sleeve. “I guess it’s all the concrete, metal and glass.”
    Callie fluffed her bangs off her damp forehead, grumbling, “I don’t understand why anyone lives here.”
    He spread his hands. “Shopping, entertainment, beautiful homes, state-of-the-art hospitals, jobs, friends, family, schools, libraries, museums, sports. Cities do have their advantages.”
    â€œI guess. I just know I’ll be glad to get home again.”
    â€œMe, too.”
    That surprised her, and she couldn’t help staring at him. “I thought you’d be reluctant to leave city living behind.”
    He shook his head. “Not this time. I’m sick to death of all the needles and pills and monitors. I don’t want to see another doctor or technician for years. And I want my father back.”
    â€œMeredith says it’s going to get worse before it gets better,” Callie warned.
    Rex sighed. “I know. We’ll have to do this again in a few weeks.”
    â€œWhat happens if he doesn’t make it, Rex?” Callie asked gently.
    He shrugged, then ran his hands through his hair. “The same thing that happens if he does. Eventually, one way or another, we all go on with our lives. Meri goes on nursing. Ann keeps climbing the corporate ladder. I go back to practicing law. What other choice is there?”
    Callie didn’t like to admit, even to herself, how bitterly she felt the disappointment that swept through her. She hadn’t even realized until that very moment that some secret part of her had hoped he would say that he’d stay on at the Straight Arrow and make it his own. She hadn’t wanted to admit, even to herself, that on some level she’d been hoping to make it her own, too. Somehow, in a very short time, the Straight Arrow had become more than a job to her; it had truly become home .
    These last few days, staying at Meredith’s apartment, Callie had come to understand that such accommodations were the best that she and Bodie could hope for on their own in the future. It was fine, better than the rough cabin at the campground that she and Bo had enjoyed as newlyweds, but not the spacious, comfortable, somehow more meaningful place that the Billings’ ranch house represented. That wasn’t really why she’d hoped to stay, however.
    Wes and Rex had become