Page 75 of Dark Side of the River

“Well, at least slow down. We can figure this out.” She checked her mirror. No sign of the pickup. Had she merely imagined it? Wished it and Cooper into being right now when she needed him the most? “You just have to tell the truth. You weren’t trying to hurt Oakley. It was an accident.”

He seemed to drive even faster. “When Mother finds out...”

“You think she hasn’t made mistakes in her life?” Tilly demanded. “She’ll understand. Everyone will understand. It was an accident. It wasn’t your fault.”

He looked over at her as if he couldn’t believe what she was saying. The front tire on his side of the pickup dropped into the shallow barrow pit and pulled hard to the left. The tires dug into the loose dirt at the edge of the road, and the pickup began to fishtail. CJ fought to regain control of the truck but he was going too fast.

Tilly hung on, too scared to even scream as the pickup began to roll.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

COOPERFELTHISheart drop to his feet as he came around a curve in the road and saw the Stafford Ranch pickup. He stared in horror as he slammed on his brakes and jumped out of his vehicle to run toward the truck now resting in the middle of a field beside the road. Windows broken, the cab top crushed, the truck looked as if it had rolled numerous times before it had finally come to rest sitting on its tires.

He fell to his knees beside the passenger side of the cab and bent to look inside, terrified of what he would find.

Blood. It seemed to be everywhere.

Tilly’s blond hair was streaked with it, her body still. With trembling fingers, he reached in to carefully ease her hair away from her face. She was breathing. His fingers rested on her temple. He felt a pulse. He could hear a vehicle coming. The sheriff? He pulled out his phone and called 911.

“There’s been an accident,” he told the 911 operator. “We need an ambulance. At least one injured.” He gave her the location as the patrol SUV came into view. He pressed his hand to Tilly’s cheek, promising that he would never let her go if she would just live.

He stayed with her as the sheriff arrived, then his deputies, followed by an ambulance. He finally had to step away as the EMTs and Jaws of Life went to work to get her out of the truck.

As he stood there, he saw that CJ was conscious and screaming for help inside the wreckage. Cooper hadn’t checked on him, wanting to stay with Tilly. But he knew that wasn’t the only reason. He’d been half-afraid of what he would do to him.

“They’re getting Tilly out,” Stuart said beside him. “I figured you’d want to follow the ambulance to the hospital.”

He nodded, feeling hollowed out at the sight of her on the stretcher. His throat had gone dry, and he doubted he could speak even if there were words. He’d never been in this kind of pain, nor felt so helpless.

“I’ll need to write up a report at some point,” the sheriff said. “Did you see them roll?” He shook his head. “You hadn’t caught up to them?”

He glanced at him, knowing exactly what he was asking. Did Stu really think he would have jeopardized Tilly’s life by chasing CJ? He swallowed. “I hadn’t caught up to them yet. I doubt they even knew I was behind them. That answer your question?”

“I had to ask.”

Cooper met his gaze. The truth was that he hadn’t known what he would have done if he had caught up to CJ’s pickup.

CHARLOTTECOULDN’TBELIEVEboth of her daughters were now in the hospital, her older girl now possibly fighting for her life. Just as crushing, CJ had been driving the truck and had apparently also been injured. She could lose both of them and she had no idea what had happened, just that it had her running scared.

Her world seemed to be coming apart at the seams, unraveling a piece at a time as if the fabric of her life had become rotten. The thought made her realize how true it might be, and she knew she was to blame.

She didn’t believe in karma, but maybe she was getting what she deserved for the role she’d played in all of their lives. If so, it was only the beginning. Karma wasn’t through with her yet. Not even close.

She walked into the emergency room and saw her daughter lying on a gurney. Not her beautiful Tilly. There was no sign of CJ. Surely he hadn’t—Her knees went weak. A nurse rushed to her to tell her that CJ had been taken up to surgery.

Tears flooded her eyes. She grabbed the wall for support, awash in her sins that had wrought this. A doctor and nurse were working on Tilly. All she heard wassurgerybefore the two began to roll her away. She rushed forward to touch her daughter’s arm before she was gone, the nurse saying something about waiting for word.

As she turned, she saw Cooper McKenna. He sat in a nearby chair, his head down and resting in his hands, hands covered in blood. Her daughter’s blood? Her nails bit into her palms. She took a step toward him, knowing only that there had been an accident, desperately wanting to put all the blame on this McKenna and all the rest of them.

“Mrs. Stafford.”

The sheriff’s voice stopped her. She turned slowly, suddenly feeling too light-headed. He took her arm. “Let’s go down here where we can talk.”

“Who did this?” she demanded the moment he lowered her into a waiting room chair and closed the door so they had some privacy. “I saw that McKenna—”

“It wasn’t Cooper.”

She looked up at him then, saw something in his eyes. This man was about to rip out her heart. She braced herself, straightening in her chair as she reminded herself who she was. “Tell me everything,” she said, and then wished she hadn’t.

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