Page 40 of His Tenth Dance

“Come on, Kris,” he muttered under his breath.

Then her bright, “Hey, baby,” came through the line.

They’d been dating for almost three weeks now, and Mission sure liked her a whole lot. She’d settled into calling him “baby” and “cowboy” while he still called her “kitten” and nothing else. But now was no time for flirting.

“I need you at the farm immediately,” he said in his no-nonsense, super-serious cowboy tone. “Molly’s horse got spooked by a snake, and she got thrown—and the horse is injured.”

“Oh, no,” Kristie said. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

With that promise, Mission softened. “Thank you, kitten. I haven’t seen the horse yet, but the report from one of my boys is that it’s not good. I’m gonna stay with Molly until Hunter or the paramedics get here. Then I’ll be with Lady.”

“All right,” Kristie said. “I’m just finishing up with a momma pig, but I’m about twenty minutes away.”

Mission gritted his teeth, as there wasn’t much else he could do. “Okay,” he said. “See you soon.” He ended the call just as Hunter rounded the corner at a jog. Mission waved his hand above his head, as if Hunter couldn’t see them standing there.

“Lady got spooked by rattlesnakes,” he said as Hunter approached. “She couldn’t stay on. She hit the ground pretty hard.”

Hunter nodded, and he hurried past Mission to his wife. Torn between staying with Molly and going to find Lady, Mission took a few steps back toward the people who’d given him a place to belong and a second chance at everything.

“Mols,” Hunter said. “Hey, Mols, you gotta wake up, baby, okay?”

She groaned, and Hunter immediately added, “Don’t move, baby. Just wake up for me. Just look at me. Let me see your eyes.”

Boone took a couple of steps away and said, “She’s waking up.”

“Well, that’s good, right?” Mission asked.

“It’s not bad,” Boone said. “Other than now she’s going to be able to feel whatever hurts.”

Mission nodded. “Clyde’s got Lady. He says it’s not great. I’m going to go see what’s going on with that.”

“You called Kristie?”

“She’s on the way.”

“All right. I’ll stay here with Hunt,” Boone said.

“You boys,” Mission called out. “Carver and Samantha are gonna need your help finishing up the riding lesson. Can you get over there and do that? Molly and I were the back riders.”

“You got it, boss,” Zeke and Eli said.

Mission then turned to find his own horse standing several paces away, as if nothing at all had happened. He strode over to Templeton and swung onto his back.

“Come on, boy,” he said. “Let’s go find Lady.”

He moved away from the chaos—though it still existed in his soul. When he felt certain no one would overhear him, he gripped the reins a little tighter and prayed. “Dear God, please bless Molly to make it through this with the mildest of injuries. Bless Lady that she won’t be so injured that we can’t save her. And please,pleasebless Kristie to get here fast, fast, fast.”

fourteen

Kristie rounded the bend, and the big red administration barn came into view. An ambulance had been backed in, lights still flashing, and the seriousness of the situation descended upon her. People and cars seemed to beeverywhere, and she couldn't find anywhere to park until she had gone halfway down the fence toward the house.

She pulled in and jumped out, the busyness of Pony Power and the farm making the air tight and hard to breathe. One hundred yards away, the ambulance wentwhoop, whoopand pulled out—siren silent, but lights still rotating. The tension snapped, but Kristie’s emotions still wobbled within her.

Everyone here loved Molly—from her family to the cowboys and cowgirls, to the counselors, to all the kids who came here for horseback riding lessons. Heck, Kristie herself loved Molly, and all she could do now was pray the woman would be okay. She did that and forced herself to be calm and rational as she moved with purposeful yet measured steps to the back of her SUV.

She'd been in emergency situations before, and she didn’t need to panic. It never helped anyone. She lifted the gate and shouldered her heavy backpack of medical supplies. She had twocases with more equipment and medicine. She dragged those out, closed the gate, and headed down the fence.

Mission had texted ten minutes ago that they had gotten Lady safely into the last stall in the back stable.That meant Kristie had to walk down the length of the fence and then turn right and walk the entire length of the administration barn, the first stable, and then the second.

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