Randall Riches. Judy Christenberry
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up Bella. Seems Rich had a bad fall Sunday. He was in the hospital, she said. A broken ankle.”
“A broken ankle?” Pete exclaimed, catching the attention of everyone sitting at the kitchen table. Especially Janie, his wife.
“Yeah. I tried to call him at the hospital afterward. I was a little worried, but there was no answer. That’s why I thought I’d check with you.”
“Well, thanks for the heads-up, Gabe. I’ll check things out. Good luck this week. And come see us when you can.”
“Will do. Hope everything’s all right with Rich.”
Pete hung up the phone. His wife, Janie, was beside him, her eyes big. “Now, honey, don’t worry. I’m sure everything is fine,” he said at once, as if he weren’t worried.
Pete’s three brothers and their wives were all there when the call came and all started firing questions.
Holding up his hand to stop their questions, Pete returned to the table and sat down beside Janie. “Now, a broken ankle is nothing. I mean, it will stop Rich’s career for a while, but I’m sure he’ll be all right.”
“But why hasn’t he called?” Janie demanded.
“Because he’s a man and he can take care of himself,” Pete assured her.
“But he won’t be able to drive home,” Jake pointed out.
“I know. But he’s got a friend with him.” Everyone relaxed as he added, “I’m sure she’ll drive him home.”
Janie stiffened. “She? His friend is a woman?” B.J., Jake’s wife, chuckled. “Are you surprised? Rich has always attracted the ladies.”
“Yes, but I—I want him to marry someone from around here, not some—some rodeo floozie!”
“Now, Janie,” Pete said soothingly, “Gabe said she was a friend. He would’ve said something if the woman was, uh, something else.”
Jake leaned forward. “Yeah, you can trust Gabe, Janie. He’s family.”
They hadn’t really known Gabe long, but he’d clicked with the men in the family at once. His father, a cousin of their father, had lived in Kansas City. Gabe’s father and his wife had been to visit after their honeymoon. They’d planned another trip, but he’d been in an automobile accident and had died. Their father had gone to the funeral and offered the widow a home with him and his boys. But she was pregnant with Gabe. She’d chosen to remain in Kansas City.
She came to see them one more time, when Gabe was six, but she’d been a sad woman. She remarried when Gabe was eight. Then she’d died when Gabe was twelve.
They’d lost track of Gabe until Toby, Jake’s oldest, went on the rodeo circuit. Since then Gabe had visited several times. He’d even discussed the possibility of making Rawhide his permanent home.
“What can we do?” Janie asked, drawing Pete’s attention back to his son.
“I don’t know. He’s not carrying a cell phone. I’ll call the hospital and make sure he was there.”
He returned to the phone with everyone watching. When he finished the call, he told Janie that Rich had been released that morning with a walking cast. “The nurse said his fiancée was there to drive him home.”
“Oh, no!” Janie exclaimed, covering her face with her hands.
RICH STRUGGLED awake, something nagging at him. When he opened his eyes and saw Sam driving, he tried to sit up and groaned with the effort.
She glanced over at him. “You’re awake.”
“Sort of,” he said, shaking his head, hoping to rid himself of the grogginess he felt.
“How are you doing?”
“I don’t know. Where are we?”
“Right at the border of Wyoming. I’m looking for a horse motel for Bella, but so far I haven’t found one.”
He pulled himself up to look out the window. “There’s one about two more miles, next to a hotel. Nothing fancy but clean.”
“Good.”
When she didn’t say anything else, he asked, “How’s the trip going?”
“Fine.”
“You want to add any details to that answer?” he asked, exasperated.
“I’ve filled the truck up twice. I’ve checked Bella each time. I’m tired. Want to know anything else?”
He shook his head and sighed. “Sorry I slept so long.”
“There wasn’t anything for you to do.”
“I could’ve kept you company,” he pointed out.
“I’m not much of a conversationalist.”
No kidding. “Hey, you never answered my question about why the doctor thought you were my fiancée,” he suddenly remembered. This time he was getting an answer.
“I was afraid they’d toss me out of the room when the doctor asked me if I was family. I didn’t think I’d pass for your sister. It seemed the best thing to say.”
A simple enough explanation. He should’ve figured it out himself, but he’d been jolted by the doctor’s statement.
“I see.”
“You’re paranoid about women, aren’t you?”
He shrugged. That wasn’t a subject he wanted to discuss with her. “Hey, where are you from? You got family somewhere?”
“No.”
He stared at her. “You don’t have family?”
“Not that I know of. But it doesn’t affect my driving.”
“Cute,” he drawled. “I didn’t say it did. I was just surprised. So where are you from?”
“My birth certificate says Dallas, Texas.”
He shifted his weight and winced.
“You in pain? Need another pill?” she asked.
“No, I don’t need another pill. Do you hate conversation that much?”
“I was concerned,” she muttered and turned on her blinker. “I assume this is the horse motel you were talking about?”
“Yeah. I bet Bella will be glad to get out of the trailer.”
“Probably. You go make the arrangements and I’ll get her out.”
He frowned. “You’d better let me. She’s not used to you.”
“Why not? I put her in there this morning.”
“I thought Gabe put her in?” he asked in surprise.
“No, he left yesterday. I just barely caught him.”
She stopped the truck and opened her door.
“Wait a minute. Why did you load her? I thought you were going to hire someone. Why didn’t you?”
“I hired a couple of guys to help me hook up the trailer. But Bella is beautifully mannered. I didn’t need any help for that.”
“But I—”
“If you’re worried about the money, I have it.” She slipped out of the truck and dug into one of her jeans pockets. “Here it is. I used some to buy the pillows, too. And the gas.”
He looked at the bills she handed him. Two one-hundred-dollar bills were there.
“What did you pay the guys for hitching up?”
“Fifty to split. Too much?”
He