He'd been trying to distance himself from her for almost twenty-four hours, but the truth was, he could see she was in trouble. He'd wanted to make sure she was taken care of. He'd wanted to make sure the store could help her with the part.
What he'd witnessed was worse than the fear he remembered as a boy. She'd been in an all-out panic attack. One that made him forget everything he'd just heard from the bank manager about Mackie's mortgage.
He followed Molly outside in time to see her dart toward the front end of his truck. A blue sedan was approaching from the east, going a little too fast for the layer of ice that was covering the street.
Molly looked as if she was going to run past his truck and right out in front of the car.
He shouted her name.
She threw a glance over her shoulder, and he witnessed the pure fear in her eyes. No trace of self-preservation there, no awareness of the oncoming car.
He bolted after her, catching her arm just before she ran into the street.
"Molly!" He backed her against the side of his truck and could feel it as she huddled into herself, making herself as small as possible. Her face was white, her eyes big and unseeing. Every breath rattled her chest as if she couldn't get enough air.
"Mol. Hey."
He shook her a little, but she only trembled in his arms, still struggling for breath.
Could she even hear him? Or was she stuck in her own head? Stuck in that bad place, seeing whatever or whoever had caused this?
"It's Cord." His voice was too rough but it couldn't be helped. "I'm here. I've got you."
She took a shuddering breath.
And then she folded against him, keening slightly. With his palm flat on her back he could feel how bony her spine was. He'd thought she was slender, but this was...
She’d served him breakfast. Had he actually seen her eat?
He couldn't stand it and he cupped the back of her head. What had happened to her?
"You're safe," he whispered.
The keening noise stopped, but she shook her head tightly.
She wasn't safe.
His mind spun.
"Is it safe on the No Name?"
A slight nod. Oh, the irony. He'd spent many nights huddled in his bed, frightened of Mackie and what she might do.
Am I safe?He didn't utter the words.
What was he supposed to do now?
She wasn't his problem, even if she was trembling in his arms.
He didn't need this. Didn't need a complication like her, not with the ranch weighing on him.
But he couldn't walk away.
"Do you want to go back to the ranch?"
Another slight nod.
He helped her into the truck, still vacillating. He wasn't qualified to handle somebody with obvious trauma in her recent past. He didn't know anyone he could call. And her truck was still stranded on his land.
