Page 88 of His Tenth Dance

“Oh, we needed an afternoon away from the farm,” Tucker said.

He fell back beside Bobbie Jo, who moved forward and hugged Mission before shaking Kristie’s hand. “Hey, how are you guys?”

“Good,” Kristie said with a smile.

“She just won first place,” Mission said proudly.

“You’re kidding,” Bobbie Jo said, stepping down to inspect the apple crumble tart. “You made this?”

Kristie nodded, a bit of heat rising in her cheeks.

“That’s incredible,” Tucker said.

Tarr turned and reached for a blonde-haired woman walking with a crutch. She didn’t have much color in her cheeks, and Kristie’s concern immediately spiked.

“Hey, are you okay?” she asked, moving over to them.

“This is Briar Prescott,” Tarr said. “She’s regretting letting me get her out of the house, but the doctor said it would be good for her to walk around a little.”

Briar managed a tight smile. “Being upright is harder than I thought.”

“I told you I’d get you a chair,” Tarr said.

“And then you’d be pushing me around in a chair,” Briar shot back. “Absolutely not.”

“There’s a bench right over here,” Bobbie Jo said. She moved to Briar’s non-crutch side and linked arms with her. “Come sit for a minute. It was a long walk from the parking lot.”

Kristie watched them go, then turned back to Tarr and Tucker. She’d met them before, and she knew Bobbie Jo, but she hadn’t met Briar.

“What happened to her?” she asked.

Tuck and Tarr exchanged a glance, but it was Mission who answered. “She’s the one who got attacked by the coyote, right?”

Kristie sucked in a breath. “She’sthe one who got attacked by that coyote?” She turned to look at Briar again, catching her just as she eased onto the bench. “Tarr, she should not be out.”

“Oh, here we go,” Tuck said, immediately walking off.

Tarr glared at Kristie. “The doctor said she needs to get up and move. You should see her at home. She doesn’t even get off the couch, and she hasn’t left the house in a week.”

“It only happened about a week ago, right?” Kristie asked.

“About nine days now,” Tarr said.

“The ride here probably wore her out,” Kristie said. “Promise me you’ll take her home soon.”

“Trust me, she doesn’t hold back with me,” Tarr muttered. “I’m lucky if I make it out of her house alive every night. You should be praying forme.” He tipped his hat at Mission and strode over to the bench.

Kristie watched for a moment, then heard a very familiar squeal. She turned toward the voice and saw Jocelyn standing in front of her cake, with Lennie and Harper at her side. Kristie hurried over to her friends.

“First place,” Jocelyn said. “I can’t believe it.”

“Have you seen all of ours too?” Lennie asked.

Kristie shook her head. “Nope. We stalled right here when we ran into some cowboys from the farm.”

“Take my picture,” Jocelyn said, handing over her phone. Kristie snapped several shots as Jocelyn struck pose after pose.

“Do you want one with all of you?” Mission asked.

---