Page 52 of A Family With the Cowboy

“Hayden?” Willow got up. “What’s wrong?”

“Aren’t you supposed to know these things?” he barked and immediately felt like an idiot. “Sorry…I’m…sorry. Laura is at home. With Tanner Olsen.”

Willow’s eyes widened. “Surely, you’re mistaken—”

“I was there. I saw his truck. I saw him entering her house!” He only realized how loudly he was talking when Luke came running into the living room and hid behind Willow. “I’m sorry for yelling, Luke. You haven’t done anything. Come here.”

Reluctantly, Luke walked closer to him. “Are you angry with Miss Anderson? ’Cos she likes you too.”

Fortunately, Becket handed him a beer and he didn’t have to answer. He couldn’t sit down. Different motions and feelings were churning inside him, driving him nuts. There was something he was supposed to grasp, but it stayed just out of his reach.

“Hayden!” Willow’s voice penetrated his muddled thoughts.

He stopped and stared at her. Something was wrong. By this time, he could read Willow’s face. Something had happened. “What?”

“Laura…” Willow said. “Her car…she’s in a ditch, a few miles from our gate.”

“Isabella!” Hayden yelled, as they all sprinted toward the door. “Watch Luke for me, please?”

*

For a fewminutes, Laura couldn’t move. She was breathing and she could feel her toes, so she was okay. The car, maybe not.

Molly’s yelp brought her out of her shock. Poor Molly crawled toward her from the back seat. A sob escaped, and Laura picked up the trembling dog. “Oh, sweetie.” Cradling Molly close to her, Laura started shivering. “Oh, my goodness, Molly. I didn’t want to hit the elk. That’s why I swerved, but I didn’t know we’d end up in a ditch in the middle of nowhere.”

It was dark outside, the cold slowly seeping into the car. “Let’s see if we can get out of here…” She was shaking so much, it took a few tries to turn the key, but there was just nothing. Again, she tried. Still nothing.

“Well, Molly, we can sit here and cry, or we can do something about this. We can’t be too far away from the ranch. Well, I hope not. Let’s see, shall we?”

Hiking her bag over her shoulder and hugging Molly tightly, she tried to open the door. But it wouldn’t budge.

Feeling close to tears, she opened her bag and found her phone. The surprise for Hayden was turning out to be a disaster.

She phoned Hayden. No ringtone. With a groan, she looked at her phone. Of course there wouldn’t be a signal. Everything that could go wrong was going sideways simultaneously. A tear slipped out and rolled over her face. Whimpering, Molly cuddled closer to her.

Hugging the dog, she burst into tears and let her head drop on the steering wheel. All she’d wanted to do was to get to Hayden. The universe, it seemed, had other plans.

*

With his heartbeating like a runaway train, Hayden raced down the dirt road. What the hell was Laura doing out here? Where was Tanner-freaking-Olsen?

As he drove over a hill, he saw the red taillights of a car in a ditch next to the road. It was too dark to immediately see whether it was Laura’s car, but as he stopped, the lights of the truck fell on the ditch. His breath left his body in one swoosh. It was her car.

He was out of his truck and running toward the red lights without conscious thought, his only need to get to Laura and make sure she was okay. Behind him was the sound of another vehicle stopping, but he kept going. It was probably his siblings in Willow’s truck.

“Laura!” he shouted, as he scrambled down the side of the ditch. “Laura!”

A tearful face lifted from the steering wheel. Laura. Exhaling, he hurried closer. She was alive, and that was all that mattered now. The door wouldn’t budge.

“Here, Hayden. This one is open!” Becket called from the passenger side of the truck, and, cussing, Hayden hurried around the car.

Becket’s upper body was in the car and when he stepped back, he had Molly in his arms. “Thanks,” Hayden muttered as he moved inside to help Laura.

She was shivering, her face pale in the lights of the truck. “What the hell are you doing out here?” he scolded as he picked her up. “You could’ve been killed!”

“Don’t shout at me!” she cried before she burst into tears. She buried her face against his chest.

“I’m sorry. I was just so scared.” He combed her hair out of her face and froze. “You’re bleeding,” he cried out. “Damn it, Laura…what happened?”

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