Page 69 of Rough Ride

“I would if you would quit yelling at me. I’m fine.”

“There’s blood all over you.”

“Boss, it’s Jerry,” Danny yelled out.

“What?” he said, turning to give the younger man a mean look. He kept his hands wrapped around her arms and pulled her along with him.

“He’s the one who is hurt,” she said. “He was shot.”

The ranch hands were making their way to one of the trucks. Danny was carrying Jerry.

“Let’s go,” Eli said, and he dragged her to the truck.

* * *

It was hours before they could talk to Mitch. He had been out at the ranch while Eli had insisted on staying at the hospital. Jerry didn’t have family, so he felt that he should stay there and wait.

“Hey, there,” Crysta said. She’d changed into scrubs offered by the hospital. He would never forget seeing blood staining her shirt. In that one moment, he had thought she was hurt or worse…dying. That idea was too much for him to even think about.

She handed him a cup of coffee. “Nurse Kitty found these for me.”

“Nurse Kitty also said you should be admitted.”

“The doctor said I didn’t have a concussion.”

He opened his mouth to argue, but Mitch came striding down the hallway. The grim expression on his face told Eli it was as bad as he imagined.

“Jerry?”

“Still waiting. They had to perform surgery.”

He looked at Crysta. “I understand you were there. Out on your own.”

She shrugged. “We were just out on a ride. Not even close to the edge of the property. Jerry said it was okay.”

“You just had the damned cows mutilated, and you’re riding around.”

She sighed and rubbed her head. “Oh, lord, I didn’t think about it. It’s been two weeks and Jerry said he wanted to talk to me. I figured he knew what he was about.”

“What did he want to talk to you about?” Mitch asked.

“Nothing really.”

“What the hell does that mean?”

Eli frowned at Mitch. “I think you need to reassess your tone.”

She settled her hands on his. “It’s fine. I went because he asked me to go with him to talk about the future.”

“The future?” Eli asked.

“He was worried about the ranch, and he wanted to thank me for having a backbone.”

“That’s all?”

“Yes.”

He studied her for a second. “Are you sure he wasn’t getting you out there for another reason?”

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