Page 87 of A Nice Day for a Cowboy Wedding

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She felt somehow exhausted and exhilarated all at the same time as the beautiful Colorado landscape passed by her window. She felt like a woman reborn, with a million determinations in her mind.

She was going to make Deb’s wedding the best event Gracely had ever seen.

She was going to make sure Micah had as much Tyler ranch as he could handle, and, when school started, she was going to make sure he handled both. Because she was a good mom who loved her son, and he wasn’t going to fall through any cracks with her at his side.

Shane was going to be the best role model for her kid without ever even trying. Micah could hero-worship Boone all he wanted, but Cora knew the older Micah got, the more he would understand the true mark of a good man because of Shane Tyler.

Herman.Herfuture.

Yes, indeed. Life was good.

So, somehow it didn’t surprise her that, as Shane drove the rental car across the Tyler ranch property line, she could see an ambulance with lights flashing in the distance. Not at the house, but farther back.

She must have made a noise, some kind of gasp, because the car lurched to a faster pace. “Whatever it is, I’m sure it’s . . .” But he didn’t finish his sentence. He drove, too fast, but not up the drive. He cut through the fields, straight toward the ambulance.

Cora held her breath. It would just be a ranch hand.... A ranch hand with a minor injury. That’s all. Maybe even a butt dial or a prank call or something . . . anything. Please God, anything other than what her heavy beating heart feared.

Don’t overreact. Don’t think catastrophe.She repeated those admonitions even as she held her breath.

As they got closer, Cora saw all the Tylers. Deb and Ben, Molly and Gavin. Boone, pacing back and forth next to—

“Oh, God.” She had her car door open before Shane had even stopped the car, and only the seatbelt and his grabbing her arm as he slammed to a stop kept her from tumbling out while the car was still moving. But the minute it was stopped, he let her go, and was unbuckled and out of the car almost as fast as she was.

“Baby.” She scrambled to a skidding halt, falling to her knees next to Micah, who the paramedics had fastened to one of those awful beds they put in ambulances.

“Sorry,” he mumbled, face dirty and tear streaked. His eyes weren’t focused, but he seemed to know she was there. There wasn’t any blood. Then she glanced down, trying to take stock of his body, but his arm was twisted all wrong and her stomach revolted, so she had to look away from it and back to his face.

“Baby, sweetheart, Micah. What happened? What—” She reached out to touch him, just to brush that too-long hair off his forehead, but the paramedic gently restrained her arm.

“You’re the mother?” the person asked, while a uniformed man did some awful thing with awful tools and oh, God, her baby. Herbaby.

“Yes, she’s his mother,” Shane supplied, and it was only then Cora realized he was holding her. Kneeling behind her, arms wrapped around her.

“Can you give us some room? We’re going to get him in the vehicle, all right?”

She didn’t get to her feet, but somehow suddenly she was on them. Because Shane had picked her up, basically. Up, because her legs had ceased to work, and against him because, well, comfort she supposed.

But how could anything be a comfort when her baby was all strapped to something so awful she didn’t even know its name?

“He’s sedated,” the female paramedic said gently. “He has a bad break in his arm. We have to transport him to the hospital where they’ll have to do surgery.”

“What? What?” Cora couldn’t make sense of it. Any of it. “How? What . . . I don’t . . .”

They were moving Micah into the ambulance, and the only thing keeping Cora upright was Shane. “Shane?” She looked up at him helplessly.

“Can we ride with?” Shane asked, his voice rough but even.

“The mother can ride with us. The rest of you can’t. Ma’am? Are you up to it?”

Up to it? Her baby was in an ambulance, headed to the hospital. For surgery. Shehadto be up to it. Had to be.

She nodded once, firmly, and the female paramedic nodded at her partner, who walked swiftly to the driver’s seat. The female paramedic smiled kindly. “I’ll help you in,” she said, holding out a hand.

Cora swallowed, found her feet, her strength, and stepped away from Shane.

“He’s going to be okay,” the woman was saying as she helped Cora into the back. She motioned her to something like a bench where she could sit almost next to Micah on the bed.

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