Page 60 of New in Town

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A celebration doesn’t happen. She doesn’t leap into his strong arms, or tell him how she wants to stay,with him.Because he doesn’t come.

She pulls her feet up onto the couch and tucks her legs under a throw blanket. It has been hours since the time they set for their date, and he isn’t here. She taps her phone screen, no calls or messages either.

They love the chase. They never stay. A cowboy is impossible to hold. She’d heard it all from Charlotte, and the words fight to overwhelm her in his glaring absence.

But that isn’t Grey. She feels it in her bones. It’s ironic, the thing making her sure that she trusts him is his lack of showing up. He has shown up every other time though. In ways she never imagined.

So instead of doubt, its fear gnawing at the corner of her brain. Aching concern that something has happened to him. She lets out a long, shaky sigh as the couch cushion vibrates. Laurel’s name flashes across her phone beside her.

“Maddie,” she starts as the call connects. “We need you to come to the ranch. Right now.”

“On my way.”

28

MADDIE

Dirt grounds beneath her tires as Maddie peels into an open spot at the barns. Laurel hadn’t given her any information. Is it Grey? Is that why he hadn’t shown earlier? She feels like she’s going to be sick at the thought.

Laurel is waiting for her beside two four-wheelers, rushing over as Maddie jumps out of the Jeep. “What’s going on?” she asks, worry lacing her tone.

“Something happened to Cooper, and his horse. They’re still looking for Cooper but found Checkers. We need your skills, Grey and Riley are with him, he’s too bad to move.”

Laurel follows Maddie to the trunk. Luckily, she had enough sense to grab as much emergency gear that she could find and throw it in the back. “So Grey is okay?” Maddie prompts while they get ready to depart.

“Oh, I wasn’t even thinking, yes! I’m sorry. He is okay. I would have definitely called you hours ago, before we needed your help, if it was him,” Laurel replies apologetically.

As they move everything to the four-wheelers, the knot in Maddie loosens enough to take a deep breath once again. She is worried about Cooper and Checkers, but the fact that Grey seems to be okay settles something within her. The thought of losing him before she officially has him is devastating. Though she is starting to wonder if losing Grey at any time will be devastating.

They ride across the pastures until they reach the base of a mountain, starting upward on the narrow pass. Maddie takes note of the trail conditions, wondering what exactly is wrong with the horse and if they can get him down to this spot.

Up ahead, the sight of Bullet makes her heart flutter. If he’s here, that means she’s reached Grey. All she wants to do is see for her own eyes that he’s unharmed.

They come to a stop, moving on foot around the two waiting horses. Before them, she finds Grey. He’s knelt over a down horse, his stunning blue eyes locking onto her in an instant. Maddie barely gives herself time to take him in, pushing aside the urge to run her hands over him. She has a job to do.

She reaches up to adjust her ponytail after the ride and moves to take his place alongside Checkers. “Will you guys start bringing the things from the quad? I’ll need my main bag first, the light canvas one,” she explains as she runs her hands over the animal.

She starts by checking his pulse and respiratory rates. The breaths are labored, but nothing causes her too much alarm. His pulse is strong, and she smiles down at the animal.

Moving on to his skin pliability, she notes that he is dehydrated. She glances up to find Grey watching her, ready for instruction. His gaze is insistent, and locking onto him helps ground her. “Has he had any water since you found him?”

“Some, we should have had more on us. And we couldn’t move him to a stream,” he replies sheepishly.

“How long has he been out here do you think?”

“It was during his mid-morning rounds that Floyd noticed they were gone. So ‘bout all day.”

She shutters, that’s too long for a horse to be out wandering in the summer heat injured. And what does that mean for Cooper? “I have IV fluids in the red bag, if you could—”

“Got ‘em,” Riley says, passing the bag to Grey. He rummages through until he finds a pack labeled sodium chloride. He holds it up, passing the catheter to her to place.

With Grey manning the fluids, she completes her preliminary check and gets to work on the visible wound. “Riley, I’m going to need you to hold Checkers while I do this,” she instructs, pulling out antiseptic rinse, an absorbent pad, and adhesive tape. He moves into position, and she rinses and dresses the wound.

“It’s more superficial than it looks. It’ll be okay,” she tells the team. Maddie is feeling confident with the rate she’s moving through this, one task remaining till they can try and move him. She can feel Grey’s eyes on her and resists the urge to look up at him.

She needs to focus, and every extra glance at him leads to the devil on her shoulder nudging its way into her thoughts. Later. She’ll give in to all the temptations later. Brushing a stray hair from her face, she moves to the horse’s legs. So far, he has been surprisingly calm and cooperative. But this whole process could turn dangerous quickly. Specifically, when it comes time to get him up.

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