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a plan that you can live with. Can I count on you to follow through on this?”
    “You’ve got my word on it,” Cole said gruffly.
    The doctor shook hands with Josh and Quinn and reached across the bed to shake Jake’s hand before walking away.
    “That arrogant—”
    Before Jake could finish, Quinn grinned at his father. “That’s the first time I’ve ever seen you cave in so easily.”
    Their father shrugged. “Gotta know when to hold ’emand when to fold ’em. I figure he’s holding all the aces on this one.”
    The four men tossed back their heads and laughed.
    Jake gave a shake of his head. “I guess some things never change. While Rome is burning, the Conway men make jokes to cover the seriousness of the situation.”
    “It’s better than crying.” Cole turned from his angry youngest to study his firstborn. “You look rough. Have you slept at all?”
    Quinn realized that his father was eager to change the subject. Cole had never been one to bare his soul, and knowing his father so well, Quinn figured the old man was more embarrassed at having been felled by a heart condition than worried about the consequences of it.
    Quinn chuckled. “There’ll be time enough for sleep later. Right now, all that matters is that you’re going home.”
    Something flared in Cole’s eyes and he blinked quickly before looking away. “Okay. Why don’t you three go find something to eat while I wait for Dr. Bradley? When I’m through with him, I’d like to get out of here.”
    Jake clapped a hand on his father’s shoulder. “It can’t be too soon for me.”
    Quinn turned away and the other two followed, eager to learn whatever knowledge he’d gleaned that would fill in the gaps of their limited information about their father’s shocking medical crisis.

C HAPTER T WO
     

    A s soon as the room emptied, Cole Conway gave a long, deep sigh.
    Until this moment, he hadn’t realized just how much he’d missed having his three sons around him.
    This event—he refused to allow himself to even think the words
heart attack—
had left him stunned and reeling.
    What if Quinn hadn’t come home when he did? How long could he have survived alone?
    His last clear memory before waking in the hospital was working out in the main barn, mucking out the stall of his favorite gelding, Scout. Cole had been doing the same down-and-dirty chores since he’d been a kid, and the last thing he’d expected was to be flattened by hard work.
    Or had this event been caused by something else?
    Stress? The doctors kept mentioning that word, but wasn’t the life of every rancher filled with stress?
    While mucking the stall he’d been thinking about his sons. About how proud he was of them. Not only were they able to pursue their own distinct interests, but they did so while managing to pitch in and help keep the ranch running smoothly.
    Take Quinn. He’d carved out an amazing career as a wildlife expert, yet he was always around when he was most needed. Despite his frequent treks in the wilderness chasing after his pack, he always returned renewed and energized.
    And there was Josh, back from climbing somewhere in the Wind River Mountain Range, searching for another careless climber who’d gotten himself lost. It was always Josh those rangers called when they ran out of hope. As though he had nothing better to do than leave a dozen ranch chores unfinished while he traipsed off in search of the lost. Cole felt a thrill of pride at the knowledge that his middle son was as comfortable hiking in the treacherous snow-covered mountains as a city kid would be walking to a neighborhood park. He supposed, to Josh, it was like a walk in the park. His neighborhood. His childhood home. His comfort zone. Spread over thousands of acres of the most desolate mountains in the West.
    Cole sighed. And then there was Jake. Pursuing veterinary medicine. Cole shook his head in amazement. Who would have believed that the wild, fearless boy would suddenly settle