Page 18 of His Eighth Ride

“Wow,” Tuck said. “That’s amazing, Ope.”

“Yeah,” she said. “It was pretty amazing.” She felt very chickeny, like she could preen her feathers and be the prettiest bird in the yard.

“When are you going to see him again?” Bobbie Jo asked.

Opal switched her gaze to her, suddenly not so sure of herself. “I mean, we didn’t set up a second date.”

Bobbie Jo’s eyes widened. “Shoot, I’m sorry, Opal. I didn’t mean?—”

“It’s okay,” Jane said. “They live on the same farm together.” She looked from Bobbie Jo to Opal. “She’ll just text him and find out when he’s free.”

“He and Gerty are going to Coral Canyon to pick up some horses this week,” she said.

“Opal’s a good cook too,” Jane said, implanting an idea in Opal’s head. “She’ll take him cookies or something tonight. Or those breakfast waffle sandwiches in the morning.”

Opal gave her a grin, the idea of seeing Tag first thing in the morning so appealing. “Right,” she said. “I’ll take him breakfast in the morning. Something he can eat with one hand while he works.”

“She’ll flirt with him from the fences,” Jane said, giggling.

“Oh, no.” Opal shook her head. “I’m not doing that again.” She laughed, the ache of her bruised ribs right there beneath the sound. “I’m still healing from the last time I tried to flirt with Tag.”

“At least it hurts for someone else,” Tuck said, and he grinned at Bobbie Jo.

She rolled her eyes and said, “Oh, you’re fine. You don’t even flirt with me anymore.”

“I would if you weren’t with that guy in Oklahoma.”

“Not again, man,” Tarr said. “I was just starting to like being around you two.”

Tucker laughed. “I’m not flirting. I’m not asking her out.” He grinned at her. “We’re friends.”

Bobbie Jo smiled back at him, and they both went back to making their pizzas. Opal wanted to reach for her phone and text Tag, but she refrained. She thought Tucker and Bobbie Jo would be great together, and she reminded herself that sometimes friends could turn into something more—and she hoped maybe that could happen for her and Tag too.

Opal had just finished brushing her teeth and had returned to her room when her phone buzzed on her nightstand. She sighed as she flopped onto the bed and reached for her device. She just wanted a half-hour before the clock struck midnight to play her mini crossword puzzle. It was going to be her cherry on top of a practically perfect day.

Church with Tag. Lunch with Jane, Cord, Deacon, Tucker, Bobbie Jo, and Tarr. An evening without wind. She’d held West for thirty minutes while he slept, and he hadn’t woken since.

Now, she saw Tag’s name on her phone, and she grinned up to the ceiling before she realized he should’ve gone to bed a couple of hours ago. At least.

She sat up, everything on high alert now. She slid on the call and said, “Tag.”

“Oh, praise God,” he said breathlessly. “I need you in the barn.”

“The barn?”

“It’s Boots,” he said, and he panted, as if he’d been running. “I couldn’t find him after dinner, and I thought that was weird, right? Of course it’s weird. I finally went looking for him, and he—he—he was hurt. He’s hurt, and I need you in the barn.”

“Okay, Tag,” Opal said, jumping to her feet. “I’ll be there in one sec.” She tossed her phone on the bed and reached for the first sweatshirt she saw. “I’m putting you on speaker. Talk to me about where you found him and what’s going on.”

Tag’s breath came through the line frantically, desperate. Opal had encountered parents like him, loved ones who’d brought in their spouses, sisters, brothers, friends.

“Taggart,” she barked. “Talk to me. What am I going to find out there?”

“His foot was in barbed wire,” Tag said, and she’d never heard his voice sound like that. High-pitched. Scared. Worried. Even when she’d been kicked by his horse, he’d spoken to her in a calm, only mildly urgent voice.

In fact, she could still hear it. Come on, honey, he’d said. Wake up for me now. It’s Tag, and I need you to wake up.

“It’s so bloody, and I can see the bone, and oh, Opal, he’s breathing so fast. He was out there for hours before I found him.” Something clanged on his end of the line, and Opal hurried out of her bedroom and down the hall.

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