Page 55 of The Cowboy Who Came Home

“Mitch did?”

“He can’t hear, and he found her because she’d been wearing red socks, and she’d taken one off and waved it as much as she could, hoping to get someone’s attention.”

“Wow.” Edith would add Lily Tyders to her prayers.

“She’s in the hospital with a couple broken ribs and a couple broken toes. Apparently everything else is superficial. Well, besides the concussion.”

“Was she wearing a helmet?”

“Yeah, but they found it cracked practically in half.”

“My goodness.” Edith didn’t want to talk about this anymore. “Christie will know more, I’m sure.” Their friend worked as a nurse in the hospital in Three Rivers, and that was an even smaller network than the town at large.

“Yeah, I heard all about it from my neighbor. Good old Mrs. Pridders, right?” Aggie grinned and glanced over to Edith. “Anything to tell me before we get the others?”

Edith shrugged one shoulder and looked away from her friend’s gaze. “Finn’s been coming for a couple of weeks.” She smiled, because she couldn’t help it when it came to Finn. “He brings this huge thermos of coffee, and he lets Alex boss him around all day long.”

“I’ll bet he does,” Aggie said suggestively. “He knows how to impress you, Edee.”

“He knows how to fix sinkholes too,” she said. “They’ve got two done, and they’re replanting those today.”

“Handsome and handy,” Aggie teased.

She didn’t want to talk about Finn anymore, though she was sure she’d have to say more when they got Christie and JoJo. “What about that guy you were messaging on Two Cents?”

“Chuck?” Aggie pursed her lips, her grip suddenly tighter on the steering wheel too. “He started ignoring me.”

“Oh, so he’s one of those mature types.”

Aggie scoffed, and a moment later, she started giggling. “Yeah, he’s one of those.” She pulled up to Christie’s house, and both her and JoJo came outside. They both wore capri jeans and tank tops, and Edith smiled at the predictability of them.

“Look at Christie’s bag.” She swung her attention to Aggie. “She got it?” Edith pulled the door handle with one hand and unbuckled her seatbelt with the other. She rose from the car and said, “You got the purse.”

Christie shone like a star as she looked down at her black and white spotted bag. “I got the purse.” She pulled it off her shoulder and held it out for all of them to see. “Isn’t it fantastic?”

“It really is,” Edith said as she stepped into her friend and hugged her. Christie loved purses and bags, and she had an entire closet in her house filled with them. Edith didn’t even use a purse, choosing to put a few cards in her thread wallet and tuck that in her pocket whenever she left the house.

“Hey, you,” JoJo said, and Edith moved over to hug her. “I got your email last night. Can’t wait to read the new book.”

Nerves ran through Edith, but she nodded as she moved back. “There’s something not quite right with it, but I’m not going to tell you where. I just want to know what you think.”

“Of course.” JoJo had about six or seven years on Edith, and she currently worked at the pharmacy at Wilde & Organic as a lab technician. She loved to read in her spare time, the way Edith did, and she’d read the last couple of Edith’s books before anyone else.

“You got your hair done,” Aggie said as the three of them got back in the car.

“I did,” JoJo said. “And let me tell you, all the gossip at the salon was about two things. Well, three.”

“Do tell,” Aggie said. “I never get the salon gossip.”

“You should go get your hair trimmed at least,” Christie said.

“I do it myself.” Aggie backed out of the driveway and said, “Wait on the hot-goss. Where are we going to lunch?”

Edith kept her mouth shut, because she didn’t care where they ate. Finn had run to town a few times in the past couple of weeks, and he’d brought back food from a Hawaiian place where Edith loved their macaroni salad, burgers and fries one day—Alex’s favorite—and fried chicken another.

Edith didn’t normally eat out too much, but she’d had plenty of opportunities lately. So she didn’t need to pick or have a vote.

“I want Thai,” Christie said.

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