Page 42 of Wilder Heart

“I’m gonna help you up, okay?” Cash said, crowding in behind him.

“Mmkay.”

Cash wrapped both arms around his middle, and when Wilder raised his left foot to put it in the stirrup, Cash took his weight off his injured right one. His muscles shook as he levered himself up, and a groan left him as he lifted his right leg over her back to settle in place, breathing a sigh of relief. He didn’t put his right foot in the stirrup, because that would mean bending his leg to an uncomfortable degree. Letting it dangle hurt, too, but he could endure it long enough to get back to the house.

“You good? Okay. Here I come.” Cash used the stirrup next to swing himself into place behind Wilder.

It wouldn’t be healthy for Hexie to carry them both for long, but at a steady walk, she should be able to make it long enough to get them home without hurting her.

“Maybe I should come with you,” Lain said as he handed over Blaze’s reins.

Cash shook his head. “Don’t worry about it, boss. Catch up with the others. We’re already down two riders today. They’ll need your help.”

“Fuck,” Wilder hissed. He wouldn’t be able to help them with the herd for the rest of the week. Maybe longer. Depending on what was wrong with his leg, he could be laid up for a while. What good was a ranch hand who couldn’t do ranch shit?

“It’s fine, Wilder,” Cash murmured in his ear. “Your safety and health is more important than the work you can do.”

Then why didn’t it feel that way? His health and safety had always been an afterthought to the people around him. He didn’t see why that would change now.

His spine curved in defeat, and he rested an elbow on the saddle horn under the guise of wiping sweat and gritty dirt from his forehead.

“Okay,” Lain said reluctantly, glancing in the direction the herd had gone. “You’ve got a radio, right?”

“Yessir.”

“Leave it with Mary-Beth when you get to the house. Go with Wilder in the ambulance. Call her with updates and let her know if you need anything. She can relay the info to me.”

“Will do. Come on, Hexie. Places to be, ambulances to meet.”

With Blaze’s reins tied to Hexie’s saddle, Cash waved goodbye to Lain and turned the horses in the direction they’d come. It would be a straighter path back to the house, though at this pace, it would still be a couple of hours before they made it.Hexie was in no hurry to run or even trot with two fully grown men on her back, and Wilder didn’t blame her. Lain raced off to catch up with the herd, and Wilder tried to breathe through the pain and the growing anxiety that gnawed at his gut.

“How are you feeling? How’s the pain?” Cash asked after they were back on the trail outside the fence.

“It’s present, but I’ll live.” He looked over at Blaze, walking beside them. “Maybe I should ride him. We’d be faster that way.”

“No.” Cash’s arm tightened around him, and lips pressed to the side of Wilder’s neck. “I want you here where I can remind myself you’re still with me. God, when I saw you go down…” His head fell forward, resting on Wilder’s shoulder. “I thought you were trampled by the herd. I didn’t eventhink. Took out my rifle and fired and hoped like hell that you’d still be whole when I got to you.” His voice broke, and a sense of wonder hit Wilder.

Cashcared. He really fuckingcaredabout Wilder. When was the last time anyone had worried about him like this?

“Oh my God,” Wilder moaned miserably, turning his head and capturing Cash’s mouth. He tasted salt, and realized with another start that Cash wascrying. Over the idea of something happening tohim. “I tried to pull away,” he confessed. “I tried to keep my distance, avoid you, but you make it so damn hard.”

Cash looked shocked. “Don’t,” he pleaded. “Don’t avoid me. Don’t take this away.”

“If Lain finds out?—”

“I’ll talk to him.”

Fear lanced through him. “No! No, Cash, don’t. Fuck, it’s bad enough I’m not gonna be able to work?—”

“Do you really think he cares that much about?—”

“I don’tknow, and it scares the shit out of me, okay?” Wilder said. “I don’t know what he thinks. I don’t know what he’d do. I know he didn’t want me to come back. Not really. He let mebecause he knew I had nowhere else to go. I’m already only here because he pitied me.”

“Wilder,” Cash protested.

“It’s true. I don’t want to wear out my welcome here. Maybe I’ll have to leave eventually?—”

“Stop talking like that!”

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