“Yeah, yeah.”
I hang up and urge my horse to move faster. As I approach, one of the girls squeals.
“Oh my God, I think that’s him!”
They start jumping up and down and high-fiving, but I don’t give a rat’s ass about that, because Sunflower rears up and then bucks Aiden off, and he’s in the air, falling from the saddle.
When he lands in the dirt, I know it’s not good. He moans as I dismount my horse, run over to him, and fall to my knees beside him.
“Hey, sorry,” someone calls over. “We just got excited.”
“Why the fuck are youhere?” I demand, still not looking their way.
“Hey, if you didn’t want people at your new guest ranch, why did you post the address on Insta?”
I spare them a glare. “I didn’t.”
“Sure you did. We all follow you, and you don’t post very much, but you announced the new guest ranch today, and we came right over.”
Aiden groans.
The front door of the house flies open, and Willow comes running at top speed.
“What the hell happened to my boy?”
“Don’t touch him,” I order as I pull my phone out of my pocket and call emergency services. “The horse threw him because these idiots scared Sunflower.”
“Don’t hurt Sunflower,” Aiden murmurs.
“Shh,” Willow says, brushing his hair off his forehead. “No one will hurt her. What hurts, baby?”
“Everything.”
“This is Ryker James at the Triple Creek Ranch,” I say when the phone is answered. “I believe you have deputies on the way, but I also need an ambulance.”
“That’s right, we have two men on the way out there. I’ll dispatch an ambulance now. What is the injury?”
“Thrown from a horse. His shoulder is either broken or dislocated. I don’t know what else is hurt.”
“ETA is ten minutes,” she says in my ear.
“Longest ten minutes of my fucking life,” I reply as I hang up and then call Dusty. Jesus, I’ve been on my phone more in the past forty-eight hours than I have been in the last year combined.
“Hey, boss.”
“I need you by the house to collect our horses. Aiden’s been hurt. We have unwanted visitors.”
“Two minutes” is his clipped reply before he hangs up.
“I want to cradle him,” Willow says, tears running down her cheeks.
“Until the ambulance gets here, I don’t want to move him,” I reply softly and reach out to rub my hand up and down her back. “Buddy, what hurts now?”
“Shoulder,” he says. “Doesn’t feel right. Head hurts. Foot got twisted.”
“Did it get caught in the stirrup?” I ask him.
“Think so.” He huffs a breath in and out, and I can see tears gathering in his eyes. “Scared me.”
