Page 29 of You Shouldn't Have Come Here

“Careful. That was a hell of a fall.” I gently pulled her into a sitting position and ran my hand across her cheek.

She turned her head away from it. “Owww.” Her eyes struggled to stay open.

“We should get you to the clinic and have Doc check on you to make sure you’re all right. You might have a concussion.”

“No, really. I’m fine.”

I pulled her chin up and looked her in the eyes. “Grace, I am taking you to the doctor. There’s no sense in acting tough.”

She didn’t say no but her eyes did. She was a stubborn woman, which is also what I liked about her. I enjoyed being challenged. It made life worth living. I helped Grace to her feet, and she winced again, putting her hand on her lower back and rubbing her butt. “Owww.”

“Looks like you need to be carried.” I picked her up in one fell swoop before she could resist.

“Put me down. I can walk,” she argued, but there was the faintest smile on her face so I knew she wasn’t serious.

“Now’s not the time to be stubborn, Grace.” I looked back at George and Gretchen and made aclick, clickwith my mouth. They followed, in step with each other.

They always listened well so I don’t know why Gretchen freaked out the way she did.

I made my way along the bank, carrying Grace in my arms. She was light, and I rather liked having her this close to me, thankful, for just a moment, that Gretchen had bucked her.

“You’re not seriously carrying me all the way?” She raised an eyebrow. The sun highlighted her button nose.

“I most certainly am. I’ll carry you around for the next six days if I have to.”

A small laugh escaped her mouth, and she rested her head on my shoulder. I felt her body finally relax in my arms. “You smell nice, Calvin,” Grace said, looking up at me through them long eyelashes of hers.

“I think that fall might have rattled something loose and messed with your sense of smell,” I joked.

When we reached my truck, I gently set her down beside it and opened the passenger door for her. Grace stood in front of me, her hands resting on my chest to steady herself.

“I’m going to put the horses away quick, and then I’m taking you to the clinic.”

She let her fingers slither down my chest and stomach and then she brought them to her side. I thought she was going to protest, but she just nodded instead. She knew she didn’t have a choice.

Grace was seated on the examination table, fidgeting with her fingers and stirring her dangling legs. She seemed nervous, but I supposed a doctor’s office wasn’t the most comfortable place to be, especially on vacation. Dr. Reed stuck up his pointer finger and moved it in front of Grace’s face, asking her to follow it with her eyes. I had known Doc all my life. He was a short man, now in his sixties with acomb-overto cover up his bald spot. I think he thought he was pulling it off, but it looked like a bird’s nest was perched on top of his head. I’d never tell him that though. After all, he was the only decent doctor in nearly a hundred miles.

“Do you know what you were doing before you hit your head?” he asked.

“Horseback riding.”

He looked to me for confirmation, and I nodded.

Dr. Reed picked up his clipboard and jotted down some notes. “Do you know what day of the week it is, Grace?”

She looked around the room and a blank stare came over her.

“She’s on vacation, Doc. No one knows what day it is when they’re on vacation.”

He chuckled. “That’s true. It’s Thursday, in case you were wondering.”

Grace smiled tightly.

“What’s your full name?” he asked.

She squinted her eyes like she was trying to conjure up the answer, and a pang of worry flashed through me. Dr. Reed paused his note-taking and studied her. “You do know your name, don’t you?”

Doc shot me a worried look and pulled a penlight from his front pocket. He shined the light from the outer corner of each eye to the inside. Grace squinted but kept them open.

---