Mitchell sighed. "Brian and I know you like Miss Fiona."
"Yes, I do like her. She's a very nice lady. You guys like her too."
"Are you in love with Miss Fiona?"
Cody froze. Somehow, Mitchell's words bypassed his head and went straight to his heart. Was that how he felt? No. Of course not. A man couldn't just fall in love with a woman he'd met only a few days ago, no matter how beautiful she was. No matter how kind or funny she was either. That was ludicrous. He turned to stare up at his nephew but he couldn't force himself to outright deny it.
"Just what I thought." Mitchell shook his head ruefully. "You've got it bad."
And then Cody knew without a shadow of a doubt that his nephew had just put into words what he hadn't wanted to admit to himself. He was in love with Fiona.
"Uncle Cody? Hello?" Mitchell waved his hands above his head. "Are you going to tell her?"
His response was immediate and emphatic. "No, because there's nothing to tell anyone, little man. Now let's put Chica out in the pen while we get the truck packed up. We've got to hit the road soon so we'll be in Tucson before it's dark." He led the mare out of the stall, pausing only to reach up and lift Mitchell down.
"So you're going to deny your feelings?"
"You've been watching too much daytime television," he sidestepped the question. "We're done with this conversation, got it?"
Mitchell held fast to Cody's hand as they made their way out of the barn. "But I can prove that you love her, you know."
Cody closed the gate behind his horse and then knelt down so he could look his nephew straight in the eye. "There's nothing to prove." He hated to flat-out lie but he had to draw the line somewhere. "Now, I really need your help getting your brother and Miss Fiona ready to go. So, please run up the house and tell them that anyone who wants to hitch a ride to Tucson needs to be by the truck in fifteen minutes. Can you do that?"
Mitchell nodded. "That's easy."
Cody stood. "Go on, the clock's ticking."
But not ten minutes passed before Cody heard a blood chilling scream. He dropped the pitchfork he'd been using to muck out the stall and ran out of the barn. Brian was running down from the main house as if the devil himself was on his heels. Cody ran toward him and scooped him up. "What's wrong? What happened?" He waited impatiently while the boy struggled to catch his breath. "Are you hurt?"
"No. It's not me," Brian managed between gulps of air. "It's Miss Fiona. She-"
But Cody didn't need to hear another word. He set Brian on the ground and ran toward the house. His heart hammered in his chest and fear made his boots feel as if they were made of lead. The thought of harm coming to Fiona was like a hand clawing at his throat.
He was twenty feet from the porch when Mitchell barreled out of the house, the screen door slamming shut behind him. But before he could call out to the boy, Cody's right boot heel caught on something and he pitched forward onto the grass. As he hit the ground, white pain exploded in his ankle and radiated through his body. Just as he would if he'd been thrown from a bucking horse, he rolled onto his side and tried to scramble to his feet but his right ankle wouldn't take his weight and he went down again.
"Mitchell," he called to his nephew, who remained on the front porch as if rooted, "what happened to Fiona? Where is she?" He ground his teeth together as he managed to get to his feet. He hopped over to the porch, lunging at the railing for support. "Answer me, is Fiona okay?"
Mitchell nodded but didn't speak, which only frightened Cody more. He hopped over to the stairs and managed to use his upper body strength and one leg to climb them. He gave his nephew's shoulder a gentle shake. "Tell me what happened."
But instead of answering, Mitchell pulled away, ran past him down the stairs and tore down to the barn.
"Fiona?" Cody called out, his voice nearly impossible to hear for the sound of his heartbeat thundering in his ears. Ignoring the waves of pain that rolled over him, he hopped over to the screen door. "Fiona?" he shouted. "Where are you?" But still there was no answer. He yanked the door open and collided straight into Fiona. He wrapped his arms around her, partially to keep from falling but just as much to keep her safe. "Are you okay?"
She didn't pull out of his arms but she leaned back so that she could look up at him. "I'm fine. What's going on?"
"You're okay?" he repeated, hardly daring to believe she was when he'd been so terrified she was injured. He held her closer still and buried his face in her hair, his relief so intense that he couldn't put together a coherent sentence.
"Of course, I'm fine." She pushed against him. "Cody, look at me. What on earth is going on?"
Cody stared down at her. He didn't know what was going on, but he didn't care. Nothing mattered except that she was safe. And then, without giving himself a moment to talk himself out of it, he did what he'd wanted to do from the moment he'd first seen her. He kissed her.
Chapter Nine
Fiona could never have imagined the sensation of pure bliss that was Cody's kiss. It was a moment she never wanted to end but all too soon Cody pulled back. For a long moment they stared at each other. Only a very telling silence spoke, and it told her everything she had been trying to ignore. But there was no ignoring her response to Cody's kiss.
"Are you sure you're okay?" he asked, his voice low and husky.
Okay? That was hardly the word to describe how she felt but she nodded. "What's going on here? I mean, with the boys screaming and you so worried?" To better see his face, she took a step backward, out of his embrace. Only then did she notice him the way he immediately reached out to lean against the wall for support. The grimace of pain on his face answered her unspoken question. She slipped an arm around his waist. "Lean on me."
"I'm okay."
"Bull." Fiona pulled him toward her and away from the wall. "Let's get you to the couch."
She heard the sharp hiss of his breath as he hopped on one leg toward the couch. Why had he been so scared about her when he was the one who was hurt? She eased him onto the couch. "What happened?"
Cody pointed to his right foot. "I need to get my boot off before the swelling gets worse."
Fiona pushed aside a litany of questions. The tightness in Cody's voice meant she needed to help first and quiz him later. As gingerly as she was able, she pushed the leg of his jeans up and delicately slipped off his boot. But cowboy boots weren't dainty slippers and it took a fair bit of pulling before she was able to get it off. Cody remained silent but the way he gripped the sofa cushions told her that her ministrations hurt him.
She rolled down his sock and saw that he was right. His ankle was already visibly starting to swell. "Let me get some ice." In the kitchen she threw some ice cubes in a kitchen towel and returned to place it over his ankle. "We need to find a doctor."
He shook his head. "No doctor."
She stared at him. "Why ever not? You're hurt."
"I don't run to a doctor every time I feel a twinge."
A twinge? She glanced down at his foot. Blue, green and purple were already rioting to see which would be the dominant color. "How do you know your ankle isn't broken?"
His smile was tight. "I've cracked enough bones to know when something is broken."
"Oh, I get it." Fiona plopped down next to him, angled so she could see his face. "This is a macho cowboy thing, right?"
"It's not a macho thing." Cody leaned back and closed his eyes. "But you're not going to turn it into a sissy thing either."
Fiona counted to ten. Twice. "Cody, we need to get you some help."
He opened his eyes and turned his head to look her straight in the eye. "If you want to help, go round up those two little rascals for me. They're probably hiding in the barn."
But they weren't. Fiona found them sitting on the porch steps, both so quiet and contrite that she knew they were at the bottom of whatever had happened. "Alright, guys, let's go." She held open the screen door. "Your uncle wants to talk to you."
Like lambs to the
slaughter, they filed into the living room.
"What happened to your leg?" Brian asked.
"You tell me," Cody shot back. "Start from the beginning."
"Well...," Mitchell managed to drag the word out for a good five seconds longer than necessary. "It's hard to explain."
"Try."
The brothers exchanged a quick glance. "Remember what we were talking about in the barn?" Mitchell asked.
Cody's eyes widened. "What does that have to do with this?"
"I told you I could prove that you-"
"Stop." Cody frowned. "You've got to be kidding me. The two of you are unbelievable."
Fiona was lost, as in middle of the woods, wandering for days, lost. "I don't understand."
Cody shot a warning glance at the boys before looking at her. "Never mind. The boys and I will hash it out later. The important thing is that you're not hurt."
She laid a hand on his arm. "But you are."
"I'll live."
Technically, he was right. Fiona knew a sprained ankle probably never killed anyone but it definitely threw a crimp in their plans. "So what do we do now?"
Cody shifted again, trying in vain to get comfortable. "I need your help."
Every time he moved, every time he grimaced, Fiona felt a sympathetic stab of pain. She wished she'd been the one to fall. "Of course, I'll do anything you need me to."
"I need you to load up Chica for me so we can get on the road."
Fiona stared at him as he were speaking Swahili. "What?"
"Uncle Cody said that he wants you to load his horse into the trailer," Brian translated.
"I know what he said," Fiona assured the boy. She turned to Cody. "First of all, that's insane. But let's just assume that I could manage it, then what? How are we going to get back to Texas?"
"The same way we're getting to Tucson. We're going to drive."
Her brain registered the defiant, challenging tone of his words even if what he said made no sense. "But you can't drive with your ankle like that."
"No, but you can."
Ah, but there he was wrong.
She could sooner fly them to Tucson than get them there in the truck. "I don't know how to drive."
It was Cody's turn to stare at her, which he did, his expression incredulous. "You're kidding, right?"
She shook her head. She'd never learned. Why bother when gold sparkles and a flick of the wrist could get the job done far more efficiently? She bit her lip and forced herself to meet his gaze head on. "I'm sorry." And she was, more than she would have thought possible. She watched as a host of emotions flitted across Cody's face. Shock, pain, disappointment, and worst of all, the realization that if he didn't make it to Tucson, he'd lose his sponsorship opportunity. It was a blow that would bring any man to his knees.
An uncomfortable silence filled the room as the clock ticked away several long minutes. Fiona willed away the tears that pricked the back of her eyes. Cody's kiss had taken her to a height she never could have dreamt of but watching him absorb the enormity of his loss was a low that she didn't know even existed.
She reached for his hand. As his fingers closed around hers, he gave her hand a gentle, reassuring squeeze. The generosity in that gesture touched her heart like nothing ever had. "I'm sorry."
"We'll be okay."
Fiona wiped away a tear. "I'd give anything to take this away-" but then she stopped speaking. Anything. She'd give anything. She rose to her feet. "Wait, here. Promise you won't move?"
Cody nodded, his brown knit into a puzzled expression. "Where are you going?"
But she didn't answer. Her packed bags were still in the bedroom. "I'll be right back." She headed down the hallway before the voice of reason could stop her. Her small Lucite wand was just where she'd carefully tucked it into her folded red sequin gown. She shook it and then held it up the light streaming in through the window. It had to be at least seven-eighths full.
Fiona closed her eyes and hugged it to her chest. She knew what she had to do.
***
It took every ounce of self-control Cody had to sit helplessly on the couch. If he could have his way, he'd be outside kicking the truck's tires. Hell, if life was the least bit fair he'd be heading west toward the Arizona border. Disgusted, he grabbed the hat off his head and threw it across the room.
"Uncle Cody?"
He groaned. The boys. Caught up between his pain and disappointment, he'd momentarily forgotten they were there. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes. There was no way he was going to look at those two little faces while he was still so angry. He was a grown man and they were small children. There was no way he was going to speak a harsh word to either one of them, no matter how hare-brained their little scheme had been. "What is it, Mitchell?"
"Are you hurt?"
Cody resisted the urge to swear. Instead, he exhaled slowly. "My ankle is sprained but I'll live." He opened his eyes and composed his face to as neutral an expression as he could manage before he looked at his nephews. Much as he expected, they stood stiffly with their hands clasped in front of them as if they were members of a boys chorus. "Come over here, both of you."
They hesitated only a moment before they crossed the room.
"I'm sorry," Mitchell blurted out before Cody could say a word. "I just wanted to show you how much you love-"
Cody's hand shot up to forestall any incriminating words from being spoken. "Okay, we're going to set a few quick ground rules before Fiona gets back in the room." He lowered his voice. "Rule number one, no more using the 'L' word."
The boys exchanged puzzled glances.
"Love," Cody whispered. "That also means no more 'mushy' talk."
Brian turned to his brother. "What is he talking about?"
"You know," Mitchell puckered his lips and made kissing sounds.
Cody rolled his eyes. "Guys, get serious. No more." He fixed a hard stare on Brian and then an even harder one on Mitchell. "No more. Got it?" He pointed to his ankle. "I know this was an accident and I'm not mad. But I'm as serious as a southern twister in summer that you have to behave. No more trying to prove anything. In fact, no more doing anything other than being the helpful, polite, well-behaved little men that your mom and dad are raising you to be. Agreed?"
His nephews nodded their agreement.
"I'm back." Fiona came to sit next to him. She leaned over and examined his ankle. "How bad is it?"
Cody ignored the way his heart did a flip flop in his chest. He wanted to believe it was in reaction to the throbbing pain radiating from his ankle but he knew better. "I've had a lot worse. But I've come up with a plan. Mitchell, run out to the utility room and bring me one of the brooms."
"We can clean up later," Fiona said. "First, I want to talk about your ankle."
Cody lowered his leg to the floor. "We can talk in the truck. Right now I have to get my horse loaded up."
Mitchell arrived with the broom just as Fiona was in the middle of a vehement protest.
"Thanks, buddy." Cody took the broom and used it to hoist himself to his feet. It was a pathetic excuse for a makeshift crutch but it would at least help him keep some of his weight off of his right ankle as he loaded Chica into the trailer. "Let's go."
Fiona shot to her feet and stood in front of him. "Are you insane? You can't hobble around on a broom, and you certainly can't drive with your ankle in this condition. Sit back down."
Cody stared down at her. Her brown eyes sparkled with indignation. Under other circumstances he would have been amused, and certainly distracted, by her fiery opposition but not now, not here. Momentum was what he needed, not protests. "Look, I understand that you haven't spent any time on the rodeo circuit but let me assure you that crying over every little ache, pain, or sprain is not how it works."
"Oh, is that in the cowboy creed?" Fiona put her hands on her hips but she didn't budge. "Or have you fallen off a horse and hit your head so many times in the last few years that you've lost the ability to be r
easonable?"
"You do fall a lot, don't you, Uncle Cody?"
Cody ignored Brian. Instead, he kept his eyes locked on Fiona's. In a battle of the wills, she certainly didn't think she could take him? "I don't compete for a couple of days yet. That's plenty of time for the swelling to go down."
"What about the driving?"
Lord, but she was stubborn. But so was he. "I can use my left foot and there's a little thing called cruise control that works wonders once we're on the highway." He used the broom to hobble to the side and would have moved past her but she put a restraining hand on his chest.
"Not so fast, cowboy."
"We can argue or we can get on the road." He had to fight to keep from grimacing as his ankle protested even the slightest movement. "I vote for the road."
"Consider yourself vetoed."
And then, in a move so swift and daring that he didn't see it coming, Fiona grabbed the broom out of his hand, tossed it out of his reach, and pushed him back down on the couch.
"Wait." She held up a hand. "Just hear me out. Please."
It was the 'please' that did him in, darn her. She was completely irresistible even if she was being insanely bossy. He nodded. "You have two minutes."
"No deal. I need twenty."
Cody started to protest but Fiona placed a finger over his lips.
"Just listen." She took a small, folded white towel that she'd brought into the room earlier and held it up. "I've made a poultice from some herbs that I always keep with me. All I'm asking is that you let me try it for twenty minutes." Without waiting for him to agree, she gently pulled his jeans leg up and wrapped it around his ankle.
"This is crazy," he protested, although the cold texture felt good against his skin.
"Have you ever used a poultice on a horse?" she demanded. "I bet you have."
He nodded, reluctant to concede the point.
"Then not another word." She stood. "Don't move. Don't talk. Don't even think, if you can help it. The boys and I will be outside." With that order issued, she shepherded his nephews out the door.
Cody cursed under his breath but did as he was told. He closed his eyes. If nothing else, he could have a twenty minute cat nap before pronouncing this a total waste of time. But it didn't take even a few minutes before he knew something was happening. His pain level didn't just drop, it plummeted. He wiggled his toes but didn't feel so much as a twinge of pain. He flexed his heel but still nothing hurt. He pressed his fingers against his ankle. Still nothing. It wasn't that it was numb. It was normal.
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