“So you’re going to spend the rest of your life pining for a woman who doesn’t care about you?”
His body flinched and he looked away. “You weren’t there, Mom. You don’t know what she was like. We have a past.”
Not a very good one, Denise thought, grabbing on to her patience. As for knowing what Lorraine was like—everyone but Kent had figured that out years ago.
“I love you and I hate to see you like this. I want you to at least consider trying to put your marriage behind you. If not for yourself, then for Reese. Don’t you think he knows how much you’re hurting?”
“I don’t talk about it.”
“He’s a smart kid. He’s going to guess. Having you in pain hurts him. Don’t bother trying to tell me I’m wrong. I remember how you kids were every time I cried.”
He walked to the window and looked out. “Maybe.”
It wasn’t much of a concession, but she was going to take it all the same.
He turned toward her. “What about you? Are you really moving on with your life?”
“I’m dating,” she said. “So far not very successfully or with much enthusiasm, but I’m trying. You need to do the same.”
“Will you get off me if I say I’ll think about it?”
She smiled. “Of course.”
Which wasn’t exactly the truth. What she really meant was “for now.” But Kent didn’t need to know that. At least not yet.
CECE DROPPED THE SMALL BALL she held in her mouth and gazed at Kalinda expectantly. The girl giggled, picked up the ball and tossed it toward the end of the bed. Cece bounded toward it, captured it and returned to Kalinda’s side.
They’d been playing the game for nearly ten minutes. Even as Montana watched Kalinda start to tire, Cece dropped the ball and cuddled up next to her. The girl rubbed her back. Cece rolled over to get a tummy rub, as well.
“She trusts you,” Montana told her. “Cece doesn’t let just anyone rub her belly.”
Kalinda smiled. “I like her a lot.”
“She’s certainly helping,” Fay said from the other side of the bed, where she’d pulled up her usual chair.
“Can she stay longer tomorrow?” Kalinda asked, her blue eyes pleading. “Dr. Simon said she could.”
Fay’s expression turned wry. “We probably should have discussed it with you first. I’m sorry about that. We were talking about how Kalinda loves having Cece around. Dr. Bradley said we could use his office as a sort of home base for her. He hardly uses it at all and said she wouldn’t be any trouble.”
Montana supposed she should be pleased that Simon had come so far on the dog front. No longer just germy annoyances, the service animals had become a tool he could use for healing. Yay, her.
But she couldn’t get excited about the plan, mostly because he hadn’t bothered discussing it with her. Not surprising, considering she hadn’t seen him in nearly a week. To say he was avoiding her was to state the obvious.
It was her own fault, she thought sadly. First she’d assumed the worst about him and then she’d taken things too far. Why had she thought it was her place to fix anyone, let alone him? Why did she have to push things? If Simon had some weird ideas that got him through the day, who was she to tell him he was wrong?
But had she considered any of that? Of course not. She’d plowed ahead, pushing in where she wasn’t welcome, and now he was avoiding her and she really missed him.
Aware that Fay was waiting for a response, she forced a smile. “I think it’s a great idea to have Cece spend the day with the two of you. I can bring her in the morning and take her back in the evening. She’s crate trained.” She turned to Kalinda. “That means her dog crate is her home. She sleeps in it whenever she’s in the kennel. It makes her feel safe.”
Kalinda smiled. “It’s like she can take her bedroom with her.”
“Exactly,” Montana said. “I’ll bring the crate, along with some food and a couple of dishes. As long as she gets a walk once or twice in the morning and afternoon, she’ll be fine.”
“Thank you,” Fay breathed. “It sounds like a lot of work for you. You don’t have to bring her every day. Just when it’s convenient.”
Montana could see Kalinda wanted to disagree with her mother. Montana knew having the dog around helped the little girl. Much of her face was bandaged today, the skin Montana could see was red and angry. She was aware of the IV that delivered pain medication on a regular basis. The kid was going through enough. If having Cece around helped, Montana was going to bring her by.
“I’ll make it work,” she promised.
“Thank you,” Kalinda whispered, her eyes drifting closed. Beside her, Cece curled into a ball as if she’d figured out it was time to rest.
Fay and Montana walked toward the door.
“Did you get a chance to talk to her about my nephew?” Montana asked.
“I don’t want to see anyone,” Kalinda said.
Montana turned toward her. “Are you sure? Reese is your age. I was thinking you could play a game or something.”