been naively in love. Like most new brides, she’d been dreaming and planning for their future. One with two or three children they would raise on a small ranch outside Phoenix. But those wonderful dreams had been flattened when she’d discovered Phillip was as phony as her father’s integrity.
With a weary sigh, she looked away from the mother and children and glanced for the umpteenth time at the double doors where Evan had disappeared with a nurse. He’d been back there nearly two hours. Something had to be dreadfully wrong.
Determined it was high time to get some answers, she marched over to the admission desk, where two nurses were dealing with ringing phones, paperwork and people who were just as weary and worried as she.
Trying to hold on to the slender thread of patience she had left, Noelle was waiting in line to speak with one of the nurses when the double doors suddenly opened. Relief flooded through her as she spotted Evan in a wheelchair, being pushed by a male nurse. Evan looked pale and wrung out, but that was far better than lying flat on his back in a hospital bed.
Stepping out of the slow-moving line of people, she intercepted the two men before they reached the middle of the waiting area.
“The doctor isn’t holding you over?” she asked in surprise. For the past half hour, she’d been thinking he’d be admitted to a room for a night of observation, at the very least.
“No, thank God.” He slanted her a weak grin. “I didn’t think you’d still be here.”
She lifted her chin. “Why would I run out on you? I’ve already wasted most of the day. What’s two more hours?”
He chuckled before cringing in pain. Noelle was surprised at how much empathy she felt for him. Up until she’d found him in the gulch with his face in the gravel bed, she’d never met him. Having this much concern for a complete stranger wasn’t normal.
Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the nurse making a survey of her rough work clothes and dusty hat. No doubt he wondered what connection she had to this Carson City detective.
“Are you taking this man home?” the nurse asked Noelle.
“That’s right.”
“Then park your vehicle next to the curb and I’ll bring him out.”
Noelle exited the building and hurried to fetch her truck. Cold wind swept across the crowded parking lot. She tried not to imagine what would’ve happened if she’d ridden in a different direction today. Even if Evan had awakened without her help, he might not have been physically capable of tracking down his horse and riding out of the gulch on his own. The plummeting temperature tonight would’ve surely caused him to suffer hypothermia. Noelle had always believed that things happened for a reason. It was clear that she was meant to rescue the detective, although she couldn’t imagine why.
A few minutes later, after Evan was safely buckled in the passenger seat and she had the heater blowing on their feet, she put the vehicle in motion.
“Okay, you need to give me a clue where you live,” she told him as she directed the truck toward the nearest exit of the parking lot. “I’m not familiar with the residential streets around Carson City, so you might start with some general directions.”
“Sorry, but I don’t live here in town. Just take me by the sheriff’s office. Someone there can drive me home.”
Glancing over, she saw that he’d removed his hat. The hair around the wound had been clipped down to the scalp, and a row of stitches now held the gashed skin together. The man was tough to be up and walking, she thought. She’d give him that much.
“Is there some reason you’re trying to get rid of me?” she asked.
Wiping a hand over his face, he said, “No. Just trying to save you a long trip. I’m sure you have things to do at home.”
“The daylight hours are gone. The only thing I’m going to do when I get home is feed the horses and tend to a sick cow.”
He didn’t say anything until the traffic cleared enough for her to pull into the street. “Okay. Go to 395 and head north.”
Noelle didn’t know why she’d made it her responsibility to see this man to the doctor and then home. She could have let a coworker deal with him. But something about finding him on her property and rescuing him from hypothermia, or worse, had left her feeling a bit possessive. Like finding a wounded animal and not wanting to let go until she was certain it could survive without help.
“A deputy has already gone out and collected my truck and trailer from where I parked them on the side of the road,” he informed her. “Someone will pick up my horse tomorrow. And don’t worry, it won’t be a lawman. It’ll be someone from the ranch.”
She darted another glance at him. This time his eyes were shut, his head resting against the back of the seat. Even with that angry wound above his ear and a pale face, he still managed to look incredibly strong and handsome.
Unable to contain her curiosity, she asked, “You have a ranch?”
“It belongs to my family.”
“So you do ranch work along with being a detective for the sheriff’s office?”
“Since about ten years ago, I haven’t done much cowboy work. That’s when I started working as a deputy.”
He was telling her that he lived on the ranch but didn’t work there. How did that situation sit with the rest of his family? she wondered. And what kind of family did this man have? Did it include a wife and children? Somehow she didn’t think so. He didn’t have the look of a man who’d been roped and tied by a woman.
What the heck has come over you, Noelle? Whether this man, or any man, is married should mean nothing to you. You don’t want one in your life. He wouldn’t be worth the heartache.
Shutting her mind to the mocking voice in her head, she asked, “What did the doctor say about your injury? They kept you back there so long I thought you must’ve been going through brain surgery.”
“Sorry you had such a long wait. After the doc finally studied the scans of my head, he said I have a concussion. He prescribed something for the pain and ordered me to take it easy the next few days. And not to get another lick on the head. I told him I wouldn’t be riding Lonesome anytime soon.”
Lonesome. The horse’s name fit Noelle perfectly, she thought. Aloud she said, “I liked your paint. You wouldn’t think about selling him to me, would you?”
Out of the corner of her eye, she could see him looking at her with comical surprise. “Are you kidding me?”
“I don’t do much kidding, Detective Calhoun.”
“My name is Evan. Call me that, will you?”
In her mind, she’d already been calling him Evan. But he hardly needed to know she’d been thinking about him in such a familiar way. “All right, Evan. Now what about the horse? While I was unsaddling him, I looked him over. He has big strong bones, great withers and a nice soft eye. The two of us have already decided we like each other.”
He studied her for a long, thoughtful moment before he finally replied, “I’ll have to ask my brother. He handles the ranch’s remuda.”
She frowned as she maneuvered the truck into the passing lane. “Your ranch has a remuda?”
“Why, yes. Every ranch has a remuda.”
She supposed he was technically right. Even a small spread like hers needed a horse. Only the word remuda meant a collective string of them. And her string consisted of three.
“Now that we’re talking about ranching,” he went on, “I’m still trying to figure out if I heard you right today. You work that place of yours all by yourself?”
“That’s right. I can’t afford help. And even if I could, I prefer doing things my own