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wrapped in gauze. Muzzy. Almost as if she were outside herself.
Tai came up on her other side as she walked toward the house. She hadn t stopped
shaking since Ace had been kicked. She lurched as Tai touched her arm.
 Baby? he said.  Ace is gonna be okay. They ve probably already gotten him to the
hospital.
She nodded, but it was more of a shudder than anything.
 Oh, God, I think she s in shock, Seth murmured.
 I m fine, she insisted.  Fine. I m fine.
She needed to clean the blood off herself. Get into some other clothes. Go to Gillette.
 What s going on? a voice said from the shadows of the porch.
 River? Paisley exclaimed.
Her sister stepped into the light cast by one of the posts near the driveway.
 What are you doing here? Paisley demanded.
 I wanted to see where you re staying. She looked at Tai.  Is that your boyfriend?
Paisley looked at him. How would she could she describe what he was to her.
 No, Tai answered before she said anything.
 Is he then? River asked.
 No, Seth said.  Who s this? he asked Paisley.
 My younger sister.
 Barely younger, River snapped.
 Riv, I don t need a pain in the ass right now, Paisley told her.  I have to get cleaned up
and get to the hospital.
 To see your& boyfriend?
 Fiancé, Paisley corrected.  But yeah.
At least, he would be and Brant would be when she got to them. As long as Ace had
really meant it. After the talk this afternoon, she was pretty sure he had.
She went into the house, with River on her heels. Seth and Tai followed, carrying River s
suitcases. Paisley gave them a disparaging look. So much for her instruction not to come here.
River always did her own thing and generally near Paisley. Paisley only hoped her sister was up
for the attentions she was sure to get when the male citizens of Daly learned she was in town and
unattached.
 I m going upstairs to shower and change. She looked at the guys.  Take care of her. And
not the way you take care of me.
Seth chuckled, and River asked,  Why not?
No one answered her as she looked around the circle. Shaking her head, Paisley headed for
the stairs. She stopped short then turned back and hugged her sister.
 I love you, Riv. Even though I told you not to come, I m glad to see you. I ll explain
everything later.
With that, she headed upstairs. Tai followed her.
 Ace talked to you? he asked.
 About me being with them and not you guys? Yeah. Are you and Seth all cool with
that?
He nodded, his hands in his pockets and his head slightly down as they walked.  We knew
from the start it would be this way. It s why they slept with you and we went home to our
trailer. And& Seth and me? As much as we want to have a woman in our life someday, we re not
ready. Taking over my dad s ranch, setting up our own household, that ll take a bit. We don t
want to bring in a woman until we re settled. His fingers slipped over her cheek at her bedroom
door.  We like you a lot, and we love spending time with you.
 But?
 The boundary s set now, he said.  It s always been there, but now it s visible, you know?
She nodded. All along something had kept her from being too emotionally close to the
younger two cowboys. Apparently, they d all sensed it.
 Now that it s there, Seth and I can t be with you at least not without Brant and Ace s
permission. He grinned.  I ll like having you as a cousin. And hey, don t worry about your sister.
We ve been sleeping with you. We re not really into the familial thing.
Paisley laughed.  Thanks. She s in for a real surprise from Daly. If you can keep her on the
ranch while I m away, I d appreciate it. I don t want her getting the Daly Way culture shock until
I m back.
He leaned in and kissed her on the cheek.  Consider it done. And Paisley&  he said as she
turned to go inside her room.
She looked back at him.
 Don t worry about Ace. He ll be fine. He s too cussed stubborn not to be.
She gave him a wan grin. She hoped he was right.
* * * *
Brant was sitting in the emergency waiting room when Paisley finally got to the hospital.
His elbows rested on his knees, and his head was propped in his hands.
 Brant, Paisley said quietly as she took the seat beside his. He turned silently and pulled
her into his arms, pressing his face into her neck. She rubbed his back, feeling the same worry in
him that she d experienced earlier. Everyone had tried to talk her out of her concern, but this was
proof of what she d known. Ace was in bad shape.
 I don t really know anything about him, Brant said. It wasn t that the hospital wouldn t
tell him, Paisley suspected. She knew he had paperwork that showed him as Ace s legal advocate
in a situation such as this. It gave him the right to make decisions and to have access to Ace.
 They were taking him to surgery, he told her.  His arm s broken, so are a couple of his ribs.
They punctured a lung. The worst is he s got internal abdominal bleeding.
She pressed her lips together and squeezed her eyes shut as she sought to control her
emotions.  He ll be okay, she said quietly against the side of his head.
Brant pulled back and looked at her.  He s gonna live, honey. I know you re scared  cause
of what happened with your dad, but this is a different thing. They ll patch him up and send him
home to make all our lives difficult for a few weeks. By the time the snow flies, he ll be right as
rain.
 I& Brant, I don t know if I can take it. Knowing you guys can get hurt out there 
 Honey, you stop right there. If we were men who lived and worked in the city, we d
have just as much risk of getting hurt. We re trained to do this job. Ace& well, he was stupid to
go at that heifer the way he did. He told me he thought she was too stuck to have that range of
motion. And you re tough. You got that animal free he told us on the way here and you got
Ace into the truck and you managed to get halfway back to the ranch before we spotted you.
You proved you have the steel to be our woman, honey. Not that we ever had a doubt.
 Mr. Brant Cauldwell? a nurse called.
Brant squeezed Paisley s hand.  Let s go see to our man.
* * * *
Ace looked like hell, but at least, he was breathing better. Pain meds, Paisley decided. She
rested her head on the edge of the bed and held his hand while she waited for him to wake. He d
roused on and off through the night, but the anesthesia from the surgery had kept him pretty out
of things. She wasn t even sure he knew she was there.
Brant had held her for a long time last night, but he d had to leave in the wee hours of the
morning to get back to the ranch. They were down one man and they couldn t afford for him not
to work the next day. His main objective was to find the heifer that had injured Ace and to get
her patched up. Paisley hadn t realized it, but the animal was pregnant which had made her extra
skittish and extra valuable to the ranch.
 Hey, darlin , Ace said weakly. He patted her hair, his voice and the acknowledgement of
her presence heaven to her ears.
She turned her head and kissed his palm.  How re you feeling? Do you want me to go get
the nurse?
 I kinda feel like I got run over by a heifer, he said.  And no, no nurse. I m okay right
now. I m glad you re here, city girl.
 I m glad you re going to be okay, she replied. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]