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He had known Olivia was leaving, but he had hoped for a couple more days, at least. She wouldn’t leave immediately, he’d make sure of that, but he knew she had an obligation down south. He wasn’t even sure how long she was supposed to work down there.

Corpus Christi was a three-hour drive, depending upon traffic. He could go see her.

Assuming she wanted to see him.

Surely, though, the worried look on her face meant she would not walk away easily. They’d had an incredible time together, and he wanted more time. It seemed like he’d just scratched the surface of who she was.

And if he asked her to stay?

He tightened his hand on hers, forcing a smile. The day had started out so well. “We’ll talk about it tonight.”

She nodded and returned his smile, but he could see the worry lingering there.

This relationship was unexpected, and it had happened quickly, but he hoped she was willing to continue it. Connor had never felt this way about anyone else, and he wasn’t going to let her go easily.

The crowds began rolling in, and he was glad he wasn’t one of the Lockhart PD guys. They were standing in the sun, full uniforms, directing traffic. He directed a couple of his guys to deliver bottled water. They’d had several heat issues related to the sun already. Those patients were cooling in the first aid tent, down by the rodeo ring.

Manu sweated through his competition, but he won his heat, and he was going to the finals. The men were shouting with joy when they got a call out for two separate medical calls. The squads took off, jogging through the crowds. One of the guys would get the truck ready if needed.

Next year, Connor decided, they would have some kind of smaller vehicle to get around to the calls. A golf cart was probably too small, but maybe a UTV or something.

It was a solid day of call after call. Olivia followed along where she could, but she left the work to the certified EMTs. Connor was a little afraid to leave her behind. He knew she wouldn’t leave without telling him goodbye, but she had the means to do so now.

By six o’clock, the midway was packed, the fair section was packed, and the rodeo grounds were filling. Connor could almost feel every one of the hundred thousand plus rolling in. He moved two EMT trucks over behind the bull chutes, just so that they would be closer in an emergency. They had a plan in place to cordone off a direct route from the grounds and to the hospital if it was needed. No more incidents like last year’s. And, knowing rodeos, there would be an emergency. Probably several of them. Fayette and Gonzales counties were on standby in case they needed more medical aid.

Olivia smiled up at him as they watched the throngs of people from the announcer’s booth above the rodeo ring. He’d come up here to look for bottlenecks and dangerous situations, but everyone was behaving. “I can’t believe how many people there are here.”

“Me neither,” he agreed. “I mean, they told us what to expect, but I think we’re over what they expected.”

It wouldn’t be until they did a final tally of ticket sales that they would know.

“The traffic on the way out is going to be hell.”

He snorted. “That’s Drake’s problem, not mine.”

Courtney had resumed her duties by noon, although Drake was her shadow until the money was handed over. If someone was after it, they now had to go through a cop to get it. In less than an hour, the competition would be over, and the new Lockhart BBQ fest pit master would be named, and Michael’s restaurant would have a new partner chef.

Beside him, Olivia went stiff, and she leaned over the railing, looking at something.

“What’s wrong?”

She shook her head and pulled away, carefully jogging down the steps of the announcer’s booth. Then she waded into the crowd, searching for something. Or someone. Connor followed, helping as much as he could with the crowd. They were trying to go the wrong direction of the flow, though. A family with two strollers separated them, and he lost her for a moment.

“Olivia!”

* * *

Olivia heard Connor call, but she couldn’t stop. She thought she’d seen… she wasn’t sure exactly. A face from a hazy memory, she thought. She waded through people, scanning. There. He was wearing a faded red ball cap, but he was taller than most of the people here. Bumping into bodies and apologizing, she arrowed her way to the man.

Big and broad, the guy had a menacing look to him. Whether they realized it or not, people avoided being near him. His arm was curled protectively around a short woman with brown hair. There was a bright pink streak in her hair, and Olivia thought they might have been laughing about something until she parked herself in front of them. She looked up into the man’s face, and the pain and fear and anger rolled back into her body. She remembered the man’s terribly scarred face, and his hard eyes. And she remembered his words because they were engraved on her heart. You will survive this.

“Can I help you?” he rumbled.

“Truck, right?”

Something in his eyes flickered, and he glanced around, then back to her face. He scanned her features and looked her up and down. His gaze settled on her prosthetic, and he grinned. “Well, hello, lieutenant. It was lieutenant, right?”

Olivia nodded, struck that he even remembered that much after ten years.