“Thank you.” I wasn’t expecting to place first in barrel racing this weekend, not after what happened to Knox, but I was able to clear my mind, and he was right there cheering me on the entire time. I rode two events, and placing first in both is unheard of, well, for me anyways. I know that was hard on him. Knox reluctantly used the golf cart Trace secured to get him from his trailer to the arena. There he used his crutches, and don’t think I didn’t see everyone coming up to him, asking him how he’s doing. The grimace I saw in his jawline told me everything I needed to know. It was hard as hell for him to be there instead of the bull riding arena.
“I’ve already talked to Daddy and told him I’d stay with you until we figured out what was going on with your doctor’s appointments, since, you know, both of our moms conveniently left town at the same time.” I guess Daddy wasn’t wrong. He must have seen the writing on the wall long before I did.
“How’d he take that news?” Knox asks, his eyes leaving the road to grin at me then returning to the road.
“Are you sure you really want to know? You might run for the hills,” I tease.
“Yeah, I really want to know. Especially if I need to get a running start.” Knox may actually need that.
“Well, you may or may not need that. He just asked that we don’t make him a Papa until there was a ring on my finger.” Knox doesn’t say anything for what feels like hours but really isn’t.
“It’s a good thing I have plans in the works, then.” My mouth is hanging wide open at his words.
“What plans are you talking about?” I reply as we turn into my parents’ driveway. The game plan is to drop off my trailer, unload Trigger, get him nice and cozy, stop by the house, pack some clothes, and then head to the McCray Ranch, where I’ll be staying until Knox is back on his feet.
“That’s for me to know and you to find out.” I guess we’re going back to grade school now.
“We’ll just see about that.” In the past twelve hours, there hasn’t been a moment when Knox hasn’t touched me, told me something sweet to soften my heart with how he treated me earlier, and don’t even get me started on the kisses that have me losing my senses.
“Oh, we will.” This is a new side of him, he’s more playful, and there’s no more anger or hostility when he’s talking to or looking at me. As much as I’m loving it, I’m also worried that the other shoe will drop, and he’ll turn back into an asshole.
Knox drives to the barn and backs in the trailer on the side without having to do it twice, unlike me, it takes me a couple of times until it’s just right. Men, I tell ya. “Sit tight. I’ll off load and unhook the trailer,” I tell him.
“Hold your horses. You get Trigger, I’ll unhook the trailer. No sense in you doing it all yourself.” His door is open, crutches are already out and ready for him to lean onto.
“Well, that’s just dumb. You still don’t know what kind of injury you have, and here you are trying to be a macho man.” I don’t wait for him to respond. There’s nothing that will amount to it. He’ll do what he wants and won’t listen anyways, that’s just the cowboy way.
“Looks like it’s me and you, Trigger,” I tell my best friend. Daddy is usually here to greet me, but with Mom out of town, I’m noticing he’s been kind of missing in action, and he said Mrs. McCray and Momma are the ones in cahoots. Something tells me it’s both the Johnstons and the McCrays who are cooking something up. We go through the paces, Trigger backing out, me taking off his halter, and then I’m letting him out to pasture so he can have all the time in the world to run and graze. He deserves it after this weekend. It doesn’t take me long to unhook the trailer. Thankfully, Knox doesn’t help me do that. I probably would have taken his crutches away, just to make him sit down and freaking rest.
I grab my clothes and snacks that were in the live-in quarters of my horse trailer, put them in the backseat of the truck, and then park my butt back in the front seat.
“You okay, darlin’?” Knox asks.
“Yep, just thinking about what all I’ll need out of the house for the time being,” I tell him.
“You don’t need anything. It’s not like you’ll be working on the farm. You can walk around naked, and it wouldn’t bother me any.” His wolfish smile tells me the truth of the matter.