These Ties That Bind

“Fire?” He didn’t miss the flicker of fear in her eyes. “You okay?”

“Yeah, Ma, I’m good.” Blinking rapidly, he kissed her forehead, unsure whether she could even feel it.

Get your shit together. Get over all of this stupid emotion.

“She okay?”

“I don’t know how she’s doing. She had burns on her head, but I haven’t seen her since we got here. I hope so.”

“How old?”

“I think maybe nine.”

“Poor girl.”

With her good hand, she pointed at the scrub shirt he wore. “Where’s…own…shirt?”

“The accident was at the end of our lane. It woke me up and I rushed out to see if everyone was all right. Only got as far as pulling on my pants ’cause the car was on fire.”

Ma smiled but it looked bizarre with that one side drooping.

Ma’s eyes flickered to the doorway and her expression softened. Rem turned to see who had entered. Sara.

His gaze flickered to check out her conservative shirt and blue jeans. He remembered her tight body as though it were tattooed on his eyelids.

Sara approached the bed and gave Ma the kind of warm smile he hadn’t seen from her in years.

He’d always wanted a piece of that, of the soft, affectionate side of Sara’s character she reserved for everyone but him.

“How are you feeling?” Sara asked.

“Good.”

“When are you going to the convalescent home?”

Nell glanced at Rem.

“She leaves here tomorrow,” he said. “I’ve already arranged everything. She’s coming home with me.”

She turned to him with a frown. “May I talk to you out in the hall?”

He didn’t like the seriousness of her expression, but followed her out. Was she going to argue more about Finn? He wouldn’t allow it.

Once away from the door, Sara crossed her arms. “Why are you taking Nell home instead of putting her into Tender Loving Care? She needs full-time attention.”

That took him aback. She wanted to talk about Ma, not Finn. “She wants to come home.”

“It doesn’t matter what the patient wants. What does matter is that she gets the care she needs.”

“She’s my mother—I care what she wants. I’m not putting her in a place run by a bunch of strangers. I won’t know how well she’s being taken care of, or if they’ll give her enough attention. I’ve heard horror stories about old folks being neglected.”

“TLC has an excellent reputation. She would receive everything she needs.”

Rem chewed on his lip. “I can’t.” He’d neglected his parents for too many years. His wild ways had kept him isolated from everyone. When his father died, Rem realized just how much of his life he’d been throwing away. How much he was hurting those around him.

No way was he letting Ma go to an institution.

He shifted gears. “She wants to come home, Sara. I don’t know how much longer she’ll be around. How can I say no to her? I want her home, too.”

“Do you have any idea how much care she’ll need?”

“Of course I do. For God’s sake, Sara, I’ve talked to the doctors. I’ve arranged to have caregivers at the house fourteen hours a day.”

“Okay, I guess.”

“You guess? It isn’t your decision to make.”

Sara raised a staying hand to squelch his anger. “I know. I care about Nell, though. I want to make sure she gets the best care.”

“She’ll get the best.”

“TLC Outreach?”

“Yes.”

Her frown eased. “Okay.”

Rem calmed down. Sara might be a pain in the rear end sometimes, but there was no doubting how much she loved his ma.

She touched his arm, her manner hesitant but also determined. “As far as Finn goes, here’s the deal. You can tell Nell that he’s her grandson on the condition that she understands that he isn’t to know. And you can’t tell him that you’re his father.”

“What the hell?”

“Those are my terms. For years, you didn’t want to acknowledge him as your son. You can’t change the rules on a whim.”

“I want to be his father now.”

“I can’t risk that you’ll hurt him.”

“I’ll take you to court.”

“In the eyes of the law, I’m his only parent.”

No way. “You didn’t put my name on the birth certificate?”

“I had planned to, but you walked out on us.”

She might as well have sucker punched him. It hurt. Finn was his son. He’d never claimed the boy, though, had he?