Susan Mallery: Straight From The Hip

Nick jerked his head to the right and kept on walking. “She took off.”

“What?” Aaron took a half hop to keep up. “She’s blind. She can’t just take off.”

“She did.”

“What did you say? I know this is your fault. You said something mean, didn’t you?”

“No.”

“Then why didn’t you stop her? She could get lost out there.”

There was a slight possibility, but Nick doubted it. He’d given her a thirty-minute head start, so she could walk off some of her mad. He didn’t want to find her for at least an hour, maybe longer. She needed time to think through her options.

“She’s in the dry riverbed. She’ll walk along it because it’s the easiest footing.”

Aaron trailed him into the barn. “What if there’s a flash flood?”

Nick handed him the water and went to get his horse. “You see any clouds in the sky?”

“Okay, but what about snakes? Or she could fall.”

“I’m willing to risk it.”

“Is she?”

“Apparently. She’s the one who took off.” He led his horse out of the stall.

“She’s scared. Jesus, Nick, the girl has been blind all of fifteen minutes. Give her a break.”

“She’ll have to earn that.”

Aaron put the water on a worn stubby table, then planted his hands on his hips. “Sometimes you’re a big pain in my ass.”

“You think?”

Aaron pressed his lips together. Nick’s assistant was about five-ten, thin, with styled dark hair and a fussiness about him Nick had learned to accept. No matter how many pairs of jeans he wore, he never looked as if he totally fit in. He would always be a city boy trapped in rural Texas.

Nick accepted that, as well. Aaron was damned good at his job and loyal. But he had a way of burrowing in a topic like a tick during rainy season.

“She’s a nice girl,” Aaron said. “She’s out of her element. As far as she’s concerned, her family just rejected her. Doesn’t that mean anything to you?”

Nick finished with the saddle. He grabbed the water and stuck it into the saddlebags. “She’s here so we can help her. That’s what matters. She’s upset. She’ll walk it off and then be easier to handle.”

“She’s not an upset cow. She’s a person. ”

“You’re taking this too much to heart.”

“Someone has to. Give her a break.”

“I’m rescuing her. Isn’t that enough?”

“No. She’s nice. You need nice in your life.”

Nick led his horse outside. Before mounting, he glared at Aaron. “Whatever you’re thinking, stop it right this second. You hear me?”

Aaron grinned. “She’s pretty, too. I know you saw that. I’m not into women and even I was impressed.”

“She’s a client, nothing more.”

Aaron rolled his eyes. “Oh, please. You think anyone believes that?”

“I don’t care what you believe.” Izzy was here because he was going to help her. For no other reason. He didn’t get involved, certainly not with someone on his ranch. The last thing he wanted was to be responsible for someone else’s emotions.

“Did you see her butt?” Aaron asked, as Nick swung into the saddle. “It’s perfect. Do you think she does squats? My butt is just so flat.”

All Nick wanted was a nice, quiet life. Instead he had this.

“I’m leaving now,” he said.

“Okay, but be gentle when you find her. She’ll be upset and she might have a little heatstroke. Maybe you’ll have to do mouth-to-mouth.”

Nick turned his horse toward the riverbed. “Don’t you have work to do?”

“Yes, but this is better.”

“Say goodbye, Aaron.”

“Goodbye, Aaron.”

Nick adjusted his hat. The temperature had to be over a hundred. He glanced at his watch and calculated how long Izzy had been gone. He would get close enough to see her, but not so close that she would hear the horse. Then he would watch her to see how she was doing.

It took twenty minutes to catch up with her, which surprised him. She’d gone farther than he’d expected. Despite her month of shutting herself in her room, she was still in decent shape.

He reined in his horse and watched her walking. Involuntarily his gaze fell to her rear and he saw that Aaron was right-she did have a great ass. That combined with her wide hazel eyes, her long, dark, curly hair made her the stuff of fantasies. Not that he would be acting on any he might have.

He would do his best to fix her, not only because his friend Garth had especially requested that he take her on, but because that’s what he did. Fix the broken, then move on. Sort of like a reverse body count. Because if the numbers were high enough-if he did enough good-maybe he could finally let go of the past.

IZZY PUT ONE FOOT in front of the other. The sun beat down unmercifully, burning her exposed skin. Sweat poured down her face and her clothes stuck to her. Her mouth was dry, her head ached and if there had been an extra drop of moisture left in her body, she would have actually considered crying.

As it was, she argued furiously with herself. Going back made the most sense. She should just turn around and walk into the sun. That would get her to the barn. But it felt too much like giving up.

Nick would come for her. Or send someone. She knew in her head, he wasn’t going to let her die out here. Except if she kept walking, she might get so lost, no one could find her and then what? Did she really want to risk it?

“I don’t want this,” she said aloud. “Any of it.”

Not being outside right now, not being at the ranch or being blind.

“Why did it happen to me?”

She wanted to scream at the unfairness of it all. Only that would take too much effort.

She stumbled on something she couldn’t see, then caught herself. As she straightened, she heard a sound behind her. Fear tightened her chest, then she recognized the steady steps of a horse. She drew in a breath and stopped.

“You’re probably feeling stupid about now,” Nick said casually.

She raised her chin. “Not at all.”

“Then more than your eyesight got damaged in that explosion. Are you finished making your point or do you want to keep walking? In another twenty minutes, your sunburn is going to blister. That’ll hurt.”

“Is this your way of convincing me to accept your help?”

“You don’t need convincing. I’ll give you this. You’re the first blind person I know who would willingly walk into the wilderness with no idea of where she was going. I can’t decide if that makes you brave or an idiot. I’ll get back to you on that.”

“Don’t bother. I was fine.”

“You were lucky. You could have fallen and cracked open your head or been bitten by a snake.”

“I would have preferred a snake to you.”

She heard him get off his saddle.

“Now you’re just talking sweet to make me like you,” Nick said. “Here.”

He handed her a bottle of water. She took it and un-screwed the top. The liquid was cool and sweet on her dry throat.

“I wouldn’t drink too much of that all at once,” he told her.

She ignored him and kept drinking. She finally stopped, took a step, then bent over and threw it all up. Her insides twisted, forcing her to retch and gag. She coughed and did her best to catch her breath.

“Not the brightest bulb,” he murmured.

“Shut up,” she said with a gasp.

“Drink it slow and this time it’ll stay down.”

Humiliation joined the heat of the sunburn. She sipped cautiously.

“See?”

He sounded smug, which made her want to hit him. But she’d already tried that and it hadn’t worked at all.

“Come on,” he said. “Let’s get you back.” He took her free hand and led her over to his horse. “I’ll get on and pull you up behind me.”