She found herself pacing the floor even though the doctor had told her to take it easy. She said she would or he wouldn’t have released her from the hospital. Her temple felt tender under the bandage and her head ached. She’d been going crazy at the hospital. She hated feeling like an invalid on an emergency room gurney when she hadn’t been injured that badly. Worse, she hated feeling helpless.
The sheriff was right. She liked to believe she could take care of herself. She’d never liked asking for help, especially after she’d kicked T.D. out. She’d wanted to show everyone that she could handle all of this—the ranch, her father’s death, T.D. and the divorce.
But as strong as she knew she was, she’d needed help. She didn’t know what she would have done without Angus, Brick, Ella and Max. Her eyes filled with tears. Her stubbornness had put them all in jeopardy.
Picking up her phone, she called the hospital to check on Max and Brick.
“Both are sleeping comfortably, Jinx,” the nurse she knew told her. “Ella Cardwell is on a cot in her cousin’s room. Everyone is down for the night. Just like you should be.”
She knew the nurse was right as she touched the bandage on her temple. Her head still ached, but it had dulled. She hung up, thinking of the scar she would have, which made her think of Angus’s small one on his chin. She wished she were in his arms right now. She closed her eyes as she remembered the heat of their kisses. Stolen kisses and one of the few things she would never regret.
You’re falling for him. Her eyes flew open. No. True or not, she couldn’t trust her heart. Not now. Not with the divorce and knowing she was losing the ranch. Anyway, how could she possibly trust something that had happened so quickly? She couldn’t. She’d leaned on Angus. He’d come to her rescue. He’d saved her life.
Of course she felt something for him. But love? She shook her head even as her heart drummed in her chest at the thought of the man, and worry nagged at her. He had to be all right. He just had to. She couldn’t bear the thought that T.D. might kill him. That she might never see Angus alive again. Her heart ached with worry.
Why hadn’t the sheriff called? Hours had gone by. Maybe he hadn’t found either Angus or T.D. Or maybe he’d found them both. She knew Harvey. He’d never tell someone over the phone about a death of a loved one. That was something he did, hat in hand, head bowed, at the person’s door.
Chapter Twenty
Angus surfaced to the sound of a helicopter. He opened his eyes. How long had he been out? Not that long, he told himself as he found the sun still glowing in Wyoming’s big sky. But he had lost some time.
He tried to sit up, his head swimming. He gingerly touched the spot where the last rock had clocked him. It was painful. He looked around, blinked. T.D. Where was the man? Turning carefully, he glanced back up the mountain. Why hadn’t the man taken advantage when he was out cold and finished him? Because T.D. wasn’t really a killer? Or because he wanted to get off this mountain as fast as he could?
Pushing himself to his feet, he glanced down the mountain to where the helicopter was hovering before setting down. He headed in that direction although he felt dizzy, his head aching and his footsteps unsure. When he heard the rotors on the helicopter finally stop, he pulled his pistol and fired three shots into the air.
His call for help was answered by a returned three reports, one after the other. He holstered his gun and kept walking in the direction of the chopper. By now, this mountain had to be crawling with cops. Was it possible they’d caught T.D.? He couldn’t bear to think the man had gotten away.
Ahead, he could make out the helicopter through the trees. It had landed in a clearing. Before he could reach it, a deputy sheriff intercepted him, demanding to know who he was.
“Angus Cardwell Savage,” he said, feeling light-headed.
“Mr. Savage, are you aware that you’re bleeding?”
He never got to answer because he’d seen the sheriff coming through the pines toward him and then darkness closed in again.
PATTY KNEW SHE should go home, but Wyatt was there and she wasn’t ready to deal with him yet. She pushed into the bar and headed for a stool. It was early enough in the afternoon that the place was almost empty. Just the way she liked it when she was feeling the way she was.
Marty came down the bar. He looked surprised to see her. She still felt bad about what she’d said to him before. “Cola?”
She shook her head. “Whiskey. Straight up.” Her voice broke and she was glad when he merely nodded and went down the bar to get her drink. She was in no mood for small talk, let alone anything deeper. She didn’t need to be told again what everyone thought about her and T.D.
Just the thought of T.D. brought tears to her eyes. He couldn’t be dead. Wouldn’t she know it in her heart if he was? And what was she going to do about Wyatt?
Marty set a shot glass full of whiskey on a napkin in front of her and put down the bottle next to it. “Thought I’d save myself the walk back,” he said.
She could tell he was waiting—just in case she wanted to talk. She picked up the shot glass and threw back the