Roz Fox - More to Texas than Cowboys

Keeping a soothing hand curved over Shelby’s shoulder to ensure she lay still, Noah unclipped his cell phone and punched in a number one-handed.

Glad to have a specific chore, Greer dashed off. If only her moving van had come, she would’ve had magazines readily available. At first she thought finding anything suitable was a lost cause, but then she saw that her mother had left a stack of old newspapers in the box with gloves and paintbrushes. Layering several together, Greer ran back with them as Noah clicked off his phone.

“We’re in luck,” he said, shooting her a confident smile. “I caught Kristin as she was ready to walk out the door. She’ll meet you at the clinic.” Relieving Greer of the papers, he fashioned a splint using several thicknesses. As he peered around for something to secure the splint, Noah noticed that Greer wore laced sneakers. He had on boots and Shelby’s sneakers closed with Velcro. Greer jerked her foot back as he untied and began pulling out her right shoelace.

Once she realized what he intended, she tried to help. Only her hands shook too much to deal effectively with the knot on her left shoe. She gave up and let him do it. Greer leaned over and brushed a kiss on Shelby’s forehead, whispering to her softly.

While Noah worked to stabilize the broken arm, he attempted to explain the clinic’s location to Greer. “You know what?” He broke off, gazing at her with a perplexed frown. “You’re in no condition to drive anywhere.” Tying the second lace, he leaped agilely to his feet. “Just give me a minute to unsaddle Jasper and turn him out in your corral. I’ll carry Shelby to your SUV. You and she can sit in the backseat. I’ll drive you to town.”

Greer started to object. But after an inspection of her hands, she realized how badly she was shaking, and quickly reconsidered. “You can’t put your horse in our corral. Several rail sections are down. I’m pretty sure I have a lead rope under the back seat of the Blazer. That cedar looks sturdy, and there’s plenty of shade. Will he be all right tied on a lead?”

“He’ll be fine.” The words were barely out of Noah’s mouth before he’d pulled off Jasper’s saddle and placed it on the porch behind the swing. He made short work of staking out his pinto, then hurried back to Shelby’s side. “I’ll be as careful as I can moving you to the car, squirt, but I won’t lie—it’ll probably hurt. You go right ahead and cry, if you need to, okay?”

She did, with loud gulping sobs.

Despite her earlier thoughts, Greer was grateful that Noah Kelley had appeared out of nowhere when he had. She dropped her purse twice after belatedly remembering to run in and retrieve it from the kitchen counter where she’d tossed it that morning.

“Are you all right?” Noah murmured, steadying Greer with a hand to her waist as she climbed into the backseat of the Blazer and ended up tripping over a loose, floppy sneaker. “Whoa there.” He scooped up her shoe. Clasping her upper arms, he turned her to face him. “You’re very pale. Are you in danger of fainting?”

“I’m fine. Well, no, I’m not. I’m queasy as all heck.” She put a shaking hand to her head. “Considering Shel’s a tomboy, I’m surprised this is our first incident of its kind. But it is, and it’s unnerving as anything. I promise to get a grip, Father Kelley. And I won’t forget I owe you for all the help you’ve given me today.”

Noah had finally managed to settle her next to Shelby and restore her dangling shoe. He shut her door and slid into the driver’s seat, and for a heartbeat he let his eyes connect with hers in the rearview mirror. He scowled as he shoved the seat back a few notches to accommodate his longer legs. “Just being neighborly,” he said tersely. “No payment required or wanted.”

Backing out with a spinning of wheels, Noah swung from the lane to graveled road with a bump that had Shelby crying out in pain.

“Sorry, peanut.” He was more careful after that to miss chuckholes. Before long, he engaged the injured child in subjects he thought might interest her in order to take her mind off her pain. He discovered that like him, she loved horses and dogs. She nattered on about Miranda’s dog, Dusty. Shelby had owned a horse in Denver, and from what he gathered she’d have another once the corrals were secure. The matter of a dog was obviously a touchier issue between the girl and her mother. Shelby pulled a sad face and announced, “Mama says I’ve gotta wait till next summer to get a dog. I don’t wanna wait that long. I told her I can train him after school, and he can sleep on the floor in my room. He’d be good company for when I come home from school, too. Especially since I don’t have any friends to play with way out here.”

Greer, who was supporting Shelby’s broken arm, reached over with her free hand and lightly pressed two fingers to her daughter’s mouth.

But the girl kept talking. She rattled on about what kind of dogs she liked even after they’d parked and Noah carried her into the clinic. Greer tuned her out, he noticed. Either this was an old discussion, or she was still numb from the fright caused by the accident.

Kristin Gallagher met them at the door and after brief introductions, ushered them straight into a pristine examining room. Her blunt-cut strawberry-blond hair brushed the shoulders of her lab coat as she bent to remove Noah’s splint.

He darted a guilty glance toward Greer. “Sorry about that. I didn’t know she’d cut your laces. Maybe a store in town has spares.”

“Not to worry. I’m sure I have extras in one of my moving boxes. I generally wear boots to work around the ranch, anyway.” Nervous, Greer paced the small room and read the plaques hanging on the walls. According to them, Kristin possessed B.S. degrees in nursing and psych, plus was certified as a physician’s assistant.

The P.A. focused her attention on her patient. “I usually see a lot of injuries like this the day school opens. But that’s been a few weeks. Were you swinging on the monkey bars?” she teased Shelby.

“I was helping Mama wash windows at our new ranch.” Shelby sniffled and wiped her good hand across a runny nose.

Kristin gave her a tissue, but aimed a sharp look at Greer’s bowed shoulders, as if she wondered whether her new patient might be the victim of parental abuse.

Before Greer could speak, Shelby herself disabused Kristin of that thought. “Mama said the only window I was supposed to wash was the one I could reach from standing on the porch. I figured the porch rail was wide enough to hold me. It was old and rickety, I guess.”

Visibly relieved, Kristin handed Greer a clipboard filled with a colorful packet of forms. “Maybe you could complete Shelby’s medical history for me while I set up to X-ray her arm. I gave our receptionist and my assistant the day off.”

Greer took the clipboard. “I was so rattled when Shelby fell. I’m sorry I didn’t think to bring her vaccination record. Really, she’s been remarkably well except for the occasional winter cold that everyone in Denver seems to get.”

“You’re from Denver?” Kristin moved a portable X-ray unit from one side of the examining table to the other.

Noah, who lounged with a shoulder negligently propped against the casing of the open door, hurried to help her. He supplied a missing piece of information. “I happened to be out exercising Jasper and rode past their ranch at the time Shelby fell, so I volunteered to drive them to the clinic. Greer and Shelby are our new neighbors, Kristin. At the Dragging F.”

Greer rolled her eyes. “Ghastly name. I may run a contest and have my first guests rename the ranch.”

“I’m sorry this is your welcome to Homestead,” Kristin said, grimacing. My father-in-law said Jase Farley was the type to get a kick out of a name like the Dragging F. I can’t wait to go home and tell Ryan we now have good neighbors all the way between us and the river.” She sent Noah a wide smile.