Now I’m feeling even more unhinged. “You’d squeeze Brian’s knee the same way you just did mine?” I say with too much attitude.
“No, Dixie Wilder. I did that because you needed to feel for a second who’s in charge. Brian wouldn’t have spoken to me like that, and if he had, I would’ve cold-cocked him square in the jaw.”
He shifts his stance and brings his hand to cup my chin. I want to jerk away but I stay, even if it’s just to prove him wrong.
“But I can’t cold cock you in the jaw, blondie. Know why? Because as much as you want to pretend you’re a rootin’ tootin’ cowboy—you have XX chromosomes, and that means I’m stronger than you by default. Not to mention—I’m bigger than most. I could sit on you as easily as I picked you up, and there would be nothing you could do about it…”
My mind triggers and I’m back there. On the ground, pinned. No one can hear me, there’s a hand over my mouth and—goddamnit, I think I’m going to pass out from lack of oxygen. I pant. In and out, faster and faster. My vision starts to blur and close off—shrinking until there’s only a pinhole of light shining through.
“Dixie!” His voice echoes in the distance as I fade into oblivion.
Chapter Ten
I lunge forward and catch her as she falls back, before she can hit her head. I don’t need to call anyone; I know what just happened and I’m trained to handle it. Picking up her legs, I place them inside the pickup as I turn her body to sit forward in the seat. I pull the handle near the floor and lean the seat back. She’s breathing, but limp. I check for a pulse and it’s strong. Was it something I said, or the shock of what happened on the cliff? Maybe both. I replay our conversation in my mind… It was the last thing I said; it had to be.
I could sit on you, and there would be nothing you could do about it.
Her eyes were hard until the words came out of my mouth. I triggered her. I know, because I’ve been triggered. PTSD is real, and whatever made her this way, my words brought it back. I watch as she twitches, her head rolling toward me, eyes fluttering open then staring into mine. “What just happened?”She slurs. Shit, she’s cute.
“You lost consciousness for a minute, you’re okaythough.” I try to come across as level-headed as possible, so she doesn’t panic.
“Mama?” She whispers, still not all the way back with me.
“You can give your mom a call and let her know what happened once we get down the mountain.”
She shakes her head and is suddenly back in reality for a moment. “She’s dead.”
Fuck. This just keeps getting better and better.
“Well, I’m sorry to hear that.” I mutter, as I use my first two fingers to remove the hair from her eyes and tuck it behind one of her ears. I yell at Sydney to bring me some water. “She needs to drink something. We’ve got to get her in an actual bed and she needs to rest.” I can hear a chopper in the distance. Hallelujah.
Brian appears next to me. “Search and Rescue’s here. They’re going to work on getting Blaze up and out. The boys have been with her and she seems alright. I’ll keep you updated.”
My gaze shifts back to Dixie. She looks terrified. “I need her to be okay, boss.” Her eyes are pleading. I’ve got to talk to one of the search and rescue guys. We’re going to have to hitch a ride. Either in the chopper or the truck they brought because there’s no way she’s riding down this mountain on a horse or one of the ATV’s. We haul the ATV’s as back up when we do these drives. Doesn’t matter though. She needs to keep her leg elevated. And I’m not sure if she’s going to keep passing out or not, so there’s that.
I close the truck door after I make sure Dixie is situated, then stride toward the edge of the ravine where theearth collapsed. I look down and see a few of the rescue crew are sliding a special harness onto Blaze. She looks sedated, that’s a good thing. They’ve got cables hanging from the helicopter, ready to be hooked onto the harness in order to lift her out.
I yell down to Brian and Toby. “One of you stays with the herd, one of you goes with the horse! I don’t care who!”
Once they’ve lifted the horse up and out, then put her down safely, they’ll need to bring her back to the ranch. I don’t know how they’re going to do it, but they’ve got all the equipment they need. I head over to one of the Search and Rescue trucks to ask a favor. Surely there’s room for two extra bodies in that back seat. The man standing outside the truck confirms that he would be more than happy to give us a ride.
Her head rests in my lap as we drive down the dirt roads. Her leg elevated on her duffel bag as she lays horizontal in the back seat. So it’s breaking the law, sue us. She wouldn’t have any of this if she were conscious. She woke up just long enough to comment on the way I was situating her. I already called the doctor, and he’s headed to the house. We might even get there at the same time.
It’s only about an hour until we hit the gravel drive and pull in front of the main house at Silo Springs. Dixie slept the entire way. She’s tired and probably still experiencing a little shock. When we stop, she stirs.
“Wait, where am I?” She sits up fast, not realizing what’s going on.
The guy sitting in the front seat looks over his shoulder. “You got hurt, honey. You’re home.”
“Well pull around back, that’s where I sleep.” She gives him explicit instructions, ones that I’m going to squash instantly with my next breath.
I shift to look directly into her sassy green eyes. “Not anymore.” My jaw clenches, challenging her to make another peep. She must be too tired because she just stares back at me…hard. Her eyes tell me she would rather get skunked and bathe naked in a tub of smashed tomatoes with a crowd watching, than get out of this truck and move into my house. I pull the door handle and step out onto the rocks, crunching beneath my boots. She finally grumbles a barely audible reply.
“What was that?” I smirk and lift an eyebrow, then bring my hand to my ear before curling my knuckles and dragging them down my beard, over my chin.
“You plannin’ on carrying me again?”
I chuckle. She’s fun when she’s mad. “You plan on getting out of here another way?”
