AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Maria climbed on behind Harry. She wrapped one arm around him and used the other to hang on.
They started off and she looked behind them. Willow was riding with her prisoner in front of her, his hands cuffed in front of him. Even Maria knew better than to cuff a prisoner in front like that, so she must have a reason. His head hung low. He might be unconscious.
Chelsea drove slow enough not to bounce her off, and then several of her aunts and uncles came riding toward them, thundering past.
“Don’t they know Willow got the guy?” Maria asked loudly enough so Chelsea could hear.
“They’ll make sure there aren’t others. Your dad’s on the way with deputies, too.” Maria looked behind them. Bubba was riding along not far back, watching over them, scanning all directions.
By the time they got back to the house, an ambulance was waiting, as the foreman had predicted. Uncle Garrett was talking to the EMTs. Then finally, Chelsea eased the machine to a stop.Maria held Harry to her while Chelsea got off, and then the medics took over. They moved Harry with extreme care from the ATV to a stretcher and into the back of their vehicle. One of the medics jumped in with Harry and began checking him over.
“I’ll follow you in,” Maria said as the rear door closed. “Better get another ambulance for the shooter, Uncle Garrett. Trevor roped him right off his horse and last I saw, he wasn’t lookin’ too good.”
“I’ll drive you,” Bubba said. “Somebody needs to keep you and Harry safe until Willow can send a deputy to stand guard. Wait here, I’ll get the truck.”
Harry was sitting in a little white chair, at a little white table. Both were made of metal in filigree swirls. He held an impossibly tiny china cup between his thumb and forefinger, and his mom poured tea from a matching miniature teapot.
He looked up from the thimble-sized cup to her face. She was beautiful. Her angel blond hair had never seen a stylist and her smile could light a dark room. He looked into her big blue eyes last of all.
She said, “What are you so afraid of?” and she poured his cup until it was overflowing and wetting his hand.
He jolted awake, then thought it was another layer of the dream. He was still gazing into beautiful eyes. But these were velvety brown and full of emotion. Maria’s eyes.
His senses were coming online one by one. He opened his mouth to ask what had happened, but what emerged was, “Ow.”
“Oh!” Maria jabbed a bedside button, making him aware he was in a hospital. Okay, that explained the pain.
“What happened?” he managed.
She leaned closer, laid her hand on his cheek. “You’re okay. The bullet went right through. Only hit flesh.”
“Bullet?” As the fog cleared, he remembered. There’d been an injured cow, and Maria had literally put the animal’s flesh back together. She was amazing. He looked at her more closely. She still wore the same clothes. Damn, it felt good, her being there.
More pieces floated into place. They’d been by the horses. There’d been a gunshot and a sledge hammer had hit him in the shoulder. He couldn’t have said which had come first. He lowered his head to try to look at his shoulder, from whence his pain seemed to radiate. It was covered in bandages
“You hit a rock when you went down,” Maria said. “Knocked you out cold. They did a procedure on the gunshot wound, just to give it a good cleanin’, remove damaged tissue, that sort of thing. It’s gon’ be sore.”
“What about you? Are you okay?” he asked.
“I’m fine. Coward shot once and ran. Tried to, anyway. Here.”
She filled a glass from a pitcher, then elevated his bed so he could sip from a straw. He nodded when he was up far enough, drinking like he’d been lost in the desert.
She was okay. He didn’t see any signs otherwise and accepted it with deep relief. His last thought before he’d fallen was that the shooter could walk right up and shoot Maria if he wanted to.
“Trevor went after the guy,” Maria said. “Willow right behind him, and Bubba stayed to help you. Trevor’s the one who got him, though. Roped him right off his horse. Busted his clavicle.”
“They got the shooter?”
“Yep, he’s in a room down the hall with two Texas Rangers guarding the door. No ID on him and he’s not talking, other than to demand a phone call and a lawyer. But they’ll find out who he is by morning, Willow thinks.”
“You have any theories?”
She met his eyes and held them. “I haven’t had time to process any of this. I’ve just been scared you were fixin’ to die.” Tears welled in her brown eyes.
“Hey, no. I’m not gonna die.” He pulled her in for a one-armed hug and got lost in the smell of her hair. She had the most amazing hair. He wanted wrap her in his arms, maybe pull her into bed beside him and the covers over their heads.
She was in danger, though. He was putting her and her whole family in danger just by being near them. He clasped her hand. “I don’t think I’d better go back to the ranch with you,” he said.
