Page 74 of The Lies We Told Ourselves

He shook his head, almost like he didn’t believe me.

“Trust me. I remember you closing it. I remember leaning on the gate and staring at your ass as you got on Bullet.”

The nurse snorted out a laugh, reminding me she was still there and had apparently gotten to work wrapping Booker’s arm up while I had him distracted.

“Sorry,” she apologized, continuing with her work.

“Did you open it?” Booker asked, and for an impossible moment, I’d actually forgotten what we were talking about.

“No. When you rode down to the fields, I went to the house to find Val, but she wasn’t in the kitchen. I came out to check the barn, and then I saw Xander getting out of his car. We started talking just as the horses came in from the field.”

Booker’s eyes squinted, moving side to side as he was deep in thought. “Val didn’t come out when you were in the yard?”

“No, I don’t remember seeing her.”

“That’s…not right. She would have come into the yard if she heard people talking.”

“I’ll get Xander to check around for her,” I told him quickly, not wanting him to get worked up. “She probably got stuck in a stable or something. Or maybe she’d been out with Hank. He turned up just as you fell.”

“I need to get back to the ranch,” Booker suddenly said, trying to sit up only to find me and the nurse pushing him back down.

“If you want to use this arm again, young man, you will stay where you are, and you will quit moving,” she snapped.

That she had to be about ten years younger than Booker should have made the whole situation funny.

Except it didn’t.

Because now that Booker had raised it, I was worrying about Val, too. The whole situation was off somehow.

Booker sighed, but it came out as more of a reluctant hiss than anything else.

“I’ll take that as a yes ma’am,” the nurse quipped and went back to her work. “This is just a temporary cast. You’ll have an appointment with orthopedics tomorrow to get fitted with something else. Be grateful you don’t need surgery. If you can hold still for five more minutes, I can get this done. You’resupposed to wait at least an hour to have this checked over, but I’m guessing that’s going to be no from you.”

Booker nodded, and she rolled her eyes.

“Your brother is a doctor, right?”

“Yes,” Booker rushed out. “He’s staying at the ranch with us.”

“I might persuade the doctor to discharge you into his care, but I’m going to need a hand on your heart, solemn vow that you’ll be back at this hospital tomorrow for your appointment.”

Booker nodded, giving her one of those rare Booker smiles that had her looking as swoony as I no doubt did when he did it. “It’s a deal. But my hands are currently engaged right now.”

Booker hugged me tighter, and the nurse tsked but got back to her work, and true to her word, she finished quickly.

“Wait here, and I’ll go find the doctor. Do you want me to tell the rest of your family that they can come through?” she asked.

“That would be great. Thanks.”

She slipped away, drawing the curtain back around the bay as she went, and we were suddenly alone.

“I wonder how long we’ve got?” Booker asked, the corner of his lips ticking up as he looked at me.

“Really? I have never been so scared in my whole damn life. I don’t know how you can even think about that right now.”

“It’s hard not to when I’m with you,” Booker said, kissing my cheek sweetly. “I was scared too, sweetheart. I just want to get home, figure out what the hell is going on, and then fall asleep with you in my arms.”

As nice as that thought was, I couldn’t bring myself to think about it right now. Because there was another in my head that I didn’t want to taint it.

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