When Tanya finished her run and the overturned barrel was righted, Savannah took one last, fortifying breath then kicked Bluebell into a gallop. The horse responded immediately, knowing exactly what to do.
They flew around the first two barrels as if Bluebell had wings and her feet weren’t even touching the ground. Sensing a good time, one to rival Abby’s, Savannah urged Bluebell to fly even faster. The dirt of the arena, the white fencing, the crowd beyond—it was all a blur as they raced the clock.
Excitement surged through Savannah’s veins. This had always been when she felt most free, most in control of her life, as if she was astride Pegasus and letting the world fall away below her.
They rounded the final barrel, and the image of Tanya knocking over the barrel shot to the front of Savannah’s thoughts. Before she could prevent it, she stiffened, throwing off the delicate balance between Bluebell and herself.
Savannah gasped as she felt one of Bluebell’s feet slip on the loose dirt. In the next moment, she tipped sideways. It all happened so fast, she was helpless to catch herself. One moment she was having a fantastic ride. In the next, she toppled sideways, hitting the barrel with her ribs. She tried in vain to extricate herself, but she ended up on the ground, her leg pinned beneath Bluebell’s heaving body.
Pain shot through Savannah’s left side, causing tears to well in her eyes. Before she could catch her breath, she was surrounded by cowboys and Jonesy, the bullfighter.
“Hang on,” Jonesy said.
She still fought to take a deep breath as the guys pulled her free of Bluebell. Thankfully, the horse got to her feet.
“Is she okay?” It hurt to speak, but she had to know if Bluebell was injured.
“She looks fine,” said Logan Bradshaw, one of the newer pickup guys. “But we’ll get her checked.”
She blinked a few times against fuzzy vision, and then a paramedic was there checking her for broken bones and signs of concussion.
“I didn’t hit my head,” she managed to say. “But my side hurts like the devil.”
The cowboys made a circle around her as the paramedic pulled up the side of her shirt and examined her ribs. “I don’t see any obvious breaks, but you need to get an X-ray. And you’ll have some nasty bruising.”
Please just let it be a bruise. She hated the idea of having broken ribs, especially with her dad already at the ranch nursing his own rodeo injuries.
After the paramedic was satisfied it was safe to move her, Jonesy and one of the tie-down ropers helped her to her feet.
Jonesy plunked her hat back on her head. “I can think of better ways to get a bunch of guys’ attention.”
She laughed a little and immediately regretted it as pain shot from her side through her middle to her back like a hot poker. “Ah, damn you, Jonesy.”
“Sorry.”
Though she felt as if she’d been dropped off the top of a building, she managed to exit the arena under her own power, if a bit slowly. When the crowd started cheering, she gingerly raised her right hand in acknowledgment. Again, even in the midst of her pain, she wondered if Travis was among them or if he’d gone home after meeting up with Hailey and Rita.
Part of her hoped he’d left. This wasn’t exactly her finest moment.
As she exited the arena, Abby was there to meet her. “Damn, girl, you scared me half to death.”
“Can’t say I want to repeat it myself.”
The paramedic tried to guide her toward the ambulance.
“I don’t need to ride in the ambulance. Someone else might need it more. I’ll just drive to the hospital.”
“You really shouldn’t be driving, not until you’re fully checked out.”
“I’ll take her,” Abby said as they reached the back end of the livestock pens.
“No, I need you to take care of Bluebell, make sure she’s okay.”
“You heard what the man said,” Abby protested. “You took a nasty fall, and you don’t need to drive until we see if your brain got knocked loose.”
“I can take her.”
They looked toward the sound of the male voice. Yep, Travis Shepard stood just beyond the pens. Well, she guessed that answered her question of whether he’d left.
Savannah’s heart rate kicked up a couple of notches.
“That’s not necessary.”
“But it’s going to happen anyway.” Instead of the boy she’d known, he sounded every inch the army man he’d once been, brooking no argument.
Honestly, she didn’t want to argue. She wanted to get the trip to the hospital over with so she could take a hot shower and lie down.
She nodded. “Thank you.” Then she shifted her gaze toward where the vet was examining Bluebell.
“Don’t worry,” Abby said. “We’ll take good care of her. You just take care of yourself. And if you need me, call.”
Abby nodded then allowed Travis to take her arm to steady her as he guided her out into the field of parked vehicles.
“Sorry to bother you like this,” she said.
“It’s no bother. What are old friends for?”
“But you don’t get to see the rest of the rodeo.”
“Savannah, I’ve been to more rodeos than I can count. And I saw everything I was interested in at this one anyway.”
She told herself that he was simply referring to Hailey’s ride on the sheep, but a part of her that she fully blamed Abby for wondered if he might be including her in his statement, as well. If so, he was probably mighty disappointed at the moment.
When they reached his SUV, he opened the passenger door and helped her climb in. She winced against the pain, unable to hide it. Once she was seated, she let her head drop back and took a deep breath. But when she felt Travis’s hands move close, she jerked upright, causing fresh pain to slice through her.
Travis placed his palm against her shoulder. “Hey, careful. I’m just getting the seat belt.”
She felt like a fool for her overreaction, but he simply went about pulling the seat belt across her torso and fastening it, acting as if he hadn’t noticed anything out of the ordinary. She wanted to thank him for that but didn’t want to draw any more attention to the fact that he made her jumpy.
Honestly, she didn’t know why he made her so on edge. They’d known each other for years, even if they hadn’t spoken for the past several.
She imagined a miniature version of herself sitting on her shoulder shaking her head. “Of course you know why,” her tiny clone said. “He’s as hot as a barbecue on the Fourth of July, and you haven’t had a real date in way too long.”
Savannah closed her eyes, trying to shove the words away. She hoped Travis chalked it up to her being in pain, and not anything to do with his nearness. She suddenly wished she could snap her fingers and transport herself back to the safety and solitude of her apartment above the Peach Pit. There she didn’t have to deal with physical pain and a jittery, most unexpected attraction that had thrown her for a loop.
In the distance, she heard the rodeo announcer call the name of the first bull riding contestant followed by enthusiastic cheers from the crowd. Bull riding always came last because it was the most popular of the rodeo events. Normally, she’d be sitting in the stands, too, chomping down on a cheeseburger. Now all she could think about was not breathing too deeply and the fact that she was being hauled to the hospital by a guy who made her heart beat way faster than average. This was not how she’d envisioned