He didn’t think Dale had a chance in hell to make the time, but that wasn’t none of his. He didn’t have to worry about it. All he had to do was show up and ride.
When it was their turn, the calf busted out through the barrier, and Cam steered right along, keeping that poor critter straight and narrow while Dale followed on its heels.
He’d feel more sorry for him, but the better that steer ran, the longer he got to live and not be hamburger, so…
Dale slid off his horse and grabbed the steer, all was good and well, the critter on his back in fairly good time.
He and Copper Penny got right out of the way, and that was that. He was going to be done, and then he’d get to the hotel and?—
He recognized the sound of something hitting the arena floor in front of the horse about a half second before the firework exploded.
The world turned red, yellow, and blue for a heartbeat before Copper Penny reared up, damn near screaming.
Clinging to the horn, for a second, Cam thought he had it; he really did, but then she slammed down with her front feet trying to kill whatever it was that was burning.
Fuck him.
He went right up over her head, his eyes filled with a thousand colored sparks before everything went black.
Chapter Twenty-One
The phone rang, and Mitch’s belly clenched.
He’d been feeling this crazy sense of foreboding all day. And since it was Cam’s momma calling, the feeling intensified.
“Hey, lady? Did you need some help?” The Halley house was still down with the stomach flu. Hopefully no one had gone to the hospital.
“Mitch?” She sounded like she’d been crying. “There’s been an accident.”
His mouth went dry, and he thought he might hear a little ringing in his ears. He ran worst-case scenarios in his head. “What happened? Who’s hurt?”
“It’s Cam. He’s in the hospital in Las Vegas. Somebody threw some fireworks in the ring when he was hazing for one of the bulldoggers. He went ass-over-teakettle, and they don’t know what’s broken yet. He’s got a concussion and he’s out.”
Shit, shit, fuck, damn shit. He couldn’t fucking cope with this. Just when things had gotten where they were running decent. Heknew, he knew this was going to happen.
“No one knew how to get a hold of you, so they called me. None of us can go, Mitch. We’re all still sick. We can’t go and pass it around a hospital.”
“Don’t worry. I’m gonna take care of it. I’ll go get him and bring him home when it’s time.”
“The girls have school and…”
“If I have to, I’ll bring them with me. It sure isn’t gonna kill them to miss a week or so of school. Like they do anything at this time of the year anyway.” It was so close to the holiday break that everybody sat in class and read or did silly things because the kids couldn’t concentrate.
She sniffled, and she sounded so freaked out that he worked hard to keep his voice calm. “Don’t you worry, Momma Halley. I’ll take care of him. He’s going to be fine.”
“I knew I could count on you, Mitch. He’s at University Hospital.”
“Is someone taking care of Fire for the time being?”
“Yes, the man he was hazing for. His name is Dale. I’ll send you his number.”
“Text me everything you have. As soon as I can get all the girls rounded up and in the damn vehicle, we’ll be on our way.”
“I’ll Venmo you some money too, so you can get gas and a hotel room. Don’t argue with me,” she said when he drew in a breath, ready to do just that. “You’re going to need all the help you can get.”
He didn’t argue, even though he wanted to. She didn’t need him fighting with her right now. And he was probably going to need that money because he had no idea how long Cam could be at the hospital.
Feeding four people on the road was going to be expensive.
