Chapter 6
After an enjoyable morning and eating a packed lunch under the wide Wyoming sky, Eve returned Suzy to her grandmother and sat paralyzed in her car.
The wildflowers she’d picked for Reid rested on the passenger seat beside her.
She stared at the front window of Sunrise Security, mentally urging herself to move.
Maybe he’d be weirded out by the flowers. Hell, he hadn’t called to check in on her, which hurt more than she wanted to admit.
Shoving aside her insecurities, she grabbed the flowers and hopped out of the car. She had no reason to second-guess a nice gesture toward a friend who’d supported her. She’d drop off the flowers, say a quick thank-you, then head to work. Easy-peasy.
Before she could change her mind, she approached the front door to Sunrise Security, smiled and stepped inside.
Peggy sat behind her desk, her stare fixed on her computer screen and worry lines around her puffy eyes.
She lifted her head, and her pink-painted lips drew down in a pronounced frown before she shot to her feet and rushed to greet Eve with a hug.
“Oh honey, are you okay? I heard what happened. How scary. And now Reid’s at the hospital. What a day.”
Eve’s body went rigid against Peggy’s soft embrace and she crushed the flowers in her tight fist. She pulled back, and her blood turned cold. “What do you mean? Why’s Reid at the hospital? Is he hurt?”
Peggy swished her lips to the side. “I’m sorry. I thought you knew. He and Madden were called out to the rodeo, and he was hurt by a bull. Madden filled me in but didn’t give me many details. I swear, these men don’t understand how much I worry about them. They’re like my own sons.”
“Wait,” Eve said, holding up both hands to stop Peggy’s rapid rambling. “So Reid’s at the hospital now? Is he seriously injured?”
“Like I said, not many details.” Clicking her tongue, Peggy shook her head. “I assume he’d tell me if things were really bad, but who knows. I’ve thought about calling Madden, but he has his hands full and he doesn’t need me interfering.”
Eve swallowed her fear and tried to keep her expression steady. The older woman was already worried. There was no reason to add her own anxiety to the mix. “I’m sure you’re right. Why don’t I swing by the hospital and get some answers for us?”
Relief spread across Peggy’s face. “Yes. That’s a great idea. Then I don’t have to look like the nervous mother hen over here. I try my hardest not to nag, but those boys don’t always make it easy.”
“I’ll call when I have any news, okay?”
Peggy nodded.
With one more quick hug, Eve ignored her racing heart and struggled to not press the gas pedal to the floor as she raced to the county hospital just outside town.
All the peace she’d fought to find vanished.
The stretches of towering trees and mountain views from her windshield did nothing to calm her nerves.
One thought continuously echoed in her mind—Reid had to be all right.
The lot was nearly empty, so she parked in the spot closest to the door and jumped out of her car. Warm air combined with her tangle of nerves and caused heat to slam against her cheeks. The whoosh of automatic doors welcomed her inside, and she made a beeline for the information desk.
A young nurse in dark purple scrubs with a pleasant face glanced up from a pile of paperwork. “Can I help you?”
“Yes, I’m looking for Reid Sommers.”
“Are you family?” the nurse asked, her smile in place but not quite genuine.
Eve wrinkled her nose. She’d been so hell-bent on getting there and seeing Reid for herself she hadn’t stopped to consider she wasn’t authorized to receive any information. The heat from her cheeks engulfed her entire body.
Before she could answer the lingering question, Madden rounded the corner. “Eve? What are you doing here? Are you hurt?”
Fumbling with the purse strap across her chest, she forced herself to face Madden. “I stopped by the office to thank Reid for helping me last night and Peggy told me Reid was injured. She was concerned, so I offered to come by and get more information.”
Okay, so that wasn’t the entire truth, but it was close enough and didn’t make her look like a stalker.
Madden rolled his eyes, but a smile cracked though his gruff expression. “She’s a worrywart. I told her he was fine. Just some bruises and stitches. You want to head back to his room? I’m sure he’d enjoy seeing your face a hell of a lot more than mine.”
She nodded, not wanting the intensity of her excitement to squeak out of her mouth.
A buzz sounded, and Madden held up a finger before fishing his phone from his pocket and checking the screen. He winced. “I really have to take this. Actually, I need to get going. Any chance you can give Reid a ride back to town? It’d be a big help. He’s in room 202.”
Madden answered his call and headed for the exit, waving before he disappeared.
The nurse pointed toward the hallway where Madden had emerged seconds before. “Room is that way on the left.”
Before she lost her nerve, Eve walked down the wide hall until she found the right room. The door stood open. She stopped in the hallway and the sight of Reid on the bed, eyes closed and hand resting gingerly on his side, misted her eyes.
She took a tentative step inside and cleared her throat.
His eyes shot open, and he jerked to a seated position then cringed.
“Sorry,” she said, hurrying to stand in front of him. Instinct had her placing a palm on his shoulder to ease him back on the mattress. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”
“I’m a little jumpy.” He leaned back and sighed. “And wasn’t exactly expecting you.”
She couldn’t tell if her appearance was a good or bad thing, but tried not to dwell on it. “I ran into Madden when I got here. He had to leave and asked if I could take you home. Hope that’s okay.”
“As long as you don’t mind, that’d be great. I just want to get the hell out of here. Hospitals aren’t my favorite place.”
An unspoken emotion skittered across his face, but she couldn’t put a name to it. “I don’t think many people enjoy them. The food sucks.” She wouldn’t mention the lingering scent of strong disinfectant that could never quite the hide the smell of sickness.
He snorted out a laugh, and their eyes locked. “Thanks for that. You always put things into perspective.”
“What can I say, I’ve got a knack. You ready to head out?” She had a hundred questions about what had landed him in the big, ugly bed, but there was no need to do that here.
Nodding, he eased off the bed and hissed out a long breath.
She hurried to his side and looped an arm around his waist to offer support. “I’ve got you.”
He smiled down at her, curling her toes in her tennis shoes. “You think you can keep me on my feet?”
Shrugging, she swallowed a smart-ass response.
She could make light of this moment—hell, she probably should.
Reid hadn’t been in town too long, but it was widely known he liked to flirt with every woman who crossed his path.
Their friendship was based on witty banter and easy laughs.
Anything more serious than that would complicate things.
But after last night, she didn’t want easy and surface level. At least not right now.
Butterflies swarmed in the pit of her stomach. “Reid, I think I’m strong enough to do anything you want.”
Reid picked up a bundle of wildflowers from the passenger seat and set them in his lap as he settled into Eve’s car.
The pain in his side had numbed, but he didn’t think it had anything to do with the medication the doctor had given him.
His brain was too centered on what Eve had said before leaving his room to register any discomfort.
Eve sent him a long look then stared out the windshield and merged onto the quiet street. “Anything I can do? Anything you need before we get to your place?”
“Nah, I’m fine. I have to get back to the office and talk to Madden. We have too much going on right now to just take off the rest of the day.”
She shot him a pinched expression that told him exactly what she thought of him going back to work. “Are you sure that’s wise? What exactly happened?”
The flash of the bull’s horns and anger in his eyes came rushing back, melting away the numbness in his side.
He shifted in the seat. “I was at the fairgrounds. Madden and I went out for a job. There was a ton of commotion by one of the barns, and when I checked it out, a damn bull had gotten out of his stall. I jumped in before he rammed into anyone else and got him back behind a locked door.”
Her jaw dropped. “Oh my God! That’s terrifying. You were charged by a freaking bull. You’re lucky you walked away. How bad are you injured?”
“Got a horn scrapped across my side, right above my hip bone. Just needed a few stitches. Nothing too serious.” He wouldn’t mention the terror of a two-ton beast charging toward him at full speed.
Thank God he’d handled his fair share of livestock before.
Quick thinking had turned a deadly situation into one with only a minor injury and bad memory.
“Must be something in the air,” Eve said. “The rodeo comes into town every year, and I’ve never heard of an animal escaping. Especially one as dangerous as a bull. The people who handle the animals are professionals. How could something like that happen?”
“I had the same thought. Madden pulled the security footage to see if someone was goofing around and things got out of control, or if someone had more nefarious intentions.”
Eve shot him a quick frown. “What do you mean?”
Suddenly exhausted, he leaned his head against the seat as a stretch of green meadows passed by the window.
News about the death of the young woman would be common knowledge soon.
Better for Eve to be aware of the situation than left in the dark.
With a killer on the loose, she needed to be on high alert.
“A woman was murdered at the fairgrounds last night, and the sheriff’s department is hiring us for extra protection at the remaining rodeo events.”
Tense silence smothered the inside of the car. He studied Eve’s face as she kept her gaze locked forward. Stiff lines hardened her features. “Do the deputies have any idea who killed her?”
“Nothing yet, but they’re working hard to find the person responsible.”
“Do you think it’s connected to what happened to me?” Her voice was barely above a whisper.
He weighed his words. He didn’t want to scare her but also wanted to be honest. “I spoke with Deputies Hill and Silver, and neither has mentioned the incidents being connected. They are being investigated as separate cases.”
She wiped at the tears leaking down her face and blew out a long breath. “I sound selfish. I’m worried about me when a poor woman is dead.”
Reid bunched his hands into fists so he wouldn’t touch her—comfort her with more than meaningless words. “You’re not selfish. You’re human. Anyone would be worried if they were in your position.”
Finding a parking spot on the road in front of Sunrise Security, she faced him with eyes as wide as saucers. “Should I be afraid?”
He weighed his words carefully before speaking. “You should be on alert, but not more than you would have been before you received this news.”
She nodded and deflated a bit against her seat.
“You also should tell me where you got these flowers,” he said, needing to bring a bit of levity into the car. He waved the bundle of wildflowers, and the smell of the blooms wafted up his nose.
She scrunched her face. “I picked them today with Suzy and brought them by earlier to give you as a thank-you.”
“No one has ever brought me flowers.” No gesture could have meant more to him, and her obvious embarrassment was downright adorable.
He stared down at the pinks and reds and purples, and his chest tightened.
“I’m sure Suzy loved picking flowers with you.
That girl is the cutest. Sounds like a fun way to spend your morning. ”
A genuine smile spread across her face and chased away the lingering fear. “It was exactly what I needed. I took her to my favorite spot in Cloud Valley—a place my dad used to take me when I was a kid. I loved sharing that with her.”
Her face lit in a way that only enhanced her beauty when she spoke about the little girl. He could stay in the car with her all day, listening to her describe every moment in detail then leave still wanting more.
The door to Sunrise Security swung open, and Peggy stepped outside. She stood on her tiptoes and waved her arm high in the air. People clogged the sidewalk, and Peggy bobbed and wove to keep her eyes on Eve’s car parked a few feet away.
He chuckled. Peggy was more like a surrogate mother than a receptionist, and he hated that she’d been so worried. “She must have been standing by the door, waiting for me to arrive.”
“Crap,” Eve said, cringing. “I told her I’d call and let her know any information I found. Apparently, Madden didn’t tell her much. I feel bad she was left in the dark all this time.”
He whistled, long and low. “I’d tell you to bring her flowers to apologize, but these bad boys are mine.”
She grinned, and a light blush flooded her face.
“But you should come in and say hi. She’ll be even more upset if you leave without a hug. And when Peggy ain’t happy, nobody’s happy.”
Her grin slid into a smirk. “I thought that phrase was a little different.”
He shrugged and shot her a wink. “Well, Lord knows I don’t have a wife, and who knows if I ever will.”
Her expression tightened, and she shut off the engine. “Then we don’t want to upset Peggy. Let’s head inside.”
He watched her climb out, and a pang of regret echoed through him. Marriage would always be out of the question, but for the first time in his life, he wished it wasn’t.