“Well, it doesn’t look that way to me. You’re bleeding.”
“No, I’m not. It’s dried. Mostly.”
“We need to get you to the ER.”
“No, we don’t. In case you’ve forgotten in your rather noticeable absence, I was fired. That means no more insurance. That means I can’t pay an ER bill.”
“When was your last tetanus shot?”
“Long enough ago that I need one. But not at the ER. I can’t afford five hundred dollars for a stupid shot. One of the drugstores in town has a clinic. I can get a booster there.”
“Get up to the house and clean out the wounds. I’ll put Red up and then come help.”
She blew out a breath and her bangs, even though they were sweat-damp, danced from the force. “I’m a big girl, Chance. I can doctor myself and drive to the clinic.”
“Driving what? The tractor?”
She leaned around him and glanced through the barn. Boots’s pickup was gone. “Oh...”
“You. House. Now. I’ll be up after I take care of Red, and we’ll go to the clinic.” He held up his hand, palm facing her. “No arguments.”
Huffing and muttering under her breath about his bossiness, she relinquished the reins and marched through the barn. Buddy trotted beside her until she arrived at the far door; then the dog abandoned her to go back to Chance. “Traitor.”
Two hours later, her arm properly bandaged and sore from the injection, Cass sat in a booth across from Chance at the Four Corners. A mound of mashed potatoes smothered in cream gravy perched next to a chicken-fried steak. Fried okra and more gravy appeared in separate bowls on the girl’s next trip.
“Do I need to cut up your meat?”
She jerked her chin up and glared across the table. “I’m not helpless, Chance. I am perfectly capable of cutting up my own chicken fry.” To prove her point, she grabbed the knife and fork and proceeded to carve off a bite. She even managed to hide her grimace when her upper arm throbbed with pain from the action.
They ate in silence, though Chance watched her every move. Self-conscious, she took little bites and made sure her mouth stayed closed as she chewed. As the waitress cleared her plate, she met his gaze.
“What?”
“Hmmm?” He seemed distracted, his eyes watching her mouth.
“I guess you’ve been really busy. Or something?” Her inner skeptic was back, front and center. Then an emotion she couldn’t decipher slid across his face before he shuttered his expression. She never wanted to play poker with this man. He reached across the table and covered her hand with his. She did her best to ignore the frisson of desire ignited by his touch. As much as she wanted to stay angry with him, she melted inside whenever he looked at her.
“You can’t be serious, Cass.”
Confused, she stared at him. “Serious? About what?”
He nodded toward the cash register and the bulletin board hanging on the wall beside it. “A cattle drive. Really?”
She swiveled in the booth to see. Sure enough, her flier asking for volunteer drovers was displayed in front of them. Turning back to Chance, she readied for battle. Here she’d been all “ooey-gooey” about being with him again and now this? The dismissive tone of his voice set her off.