by Becky McGraw
Even though he didn't look like it right at this moment dressed like he was, he was a good looking and smooth-talking city boy, exactly the kind of man her daddy had warned her about. Like her in a dress, even though he was wearing the trappings of a cowboy, he wasn't that man inside where it mattered. His type wanted girly girls, women who made him feel manly, who knew how to flutter their eyelashes and flirt.
Rocky was not and never would be that woman.
Once he figured that out, once the novelty of her difference wore off, he would either move on to greener pastures, or he would expect her to change into what he wanted.
A hero he might be, sexier than any man had a right to be he definitely was, but Ethan Cassidy was not the type of man who would fit into her world. And she wasn't a woman who wanted to fit into his.
Rocky pushed against his chest, and he staggered back a couple of steps.
"Don't go there, remember?" she reminded him then took Diamond's reins and led her toward the barn door. She heard his crutches clank together behind her, and by the time she led Diamond into the outdoor arena, he was right behind her.
"You know a man could get discouraged if he's turned down enough," Ethan told her edgily.
"Maybe he could get the message that a woman isn't interested too, if he's not thick in the head," Rocky replied then dropped Diamond's reins. As she was trained, the horse stood perfectly still while Rocky headed back out the gate to go get the mounting block.
"The woman who made love to me in the hayloft was interested, and the woman who kissed me the other day in the whirlpool room was interested," he told her then took the crutches and tossed them over the rail. Rocky walked back into the barn, ignoring him. Yeah, that woman was interested, but she wasn't letting that woman have her way.
The last time she had given in to that woman, with Aston Pence, she wound up bawling and nursing a broken heart. Not going there again. If she ever got involved with another man, he would understand her, accept her and not try to change her. He would be a man comfortable in her environment. Ethan Cassidy was not that man.
Stomping back to the tack room, she grabbed the block and carried it back down the aisle to the barn door. When she walked back out into the bright sun, and glanced at the arena, she stopped in her tracks. Ethan was mounted on Diamond, and had her standing patiently by the gate.
Despite her now foul mood, Rocky smiled. There was that determination that made him a good fireman, she thought, and sat the block down then walked to the gate.
"Good job," she said brightly and looked up at him. His face was a thundercloud of emotions, none of them good. "Horses can sense your mood, so unless you want Diamond to get surly, you better chill out."
"I could tell you the same thing," he grumped with a snort.
"I'm not on her back," she replied evenly. "And my mood is fine."
"Bullshit," he grated. "Let's just get this shit over with." Ethan gently squeezed Diamond's sides with his knees and she started forward.
Rocky surveyed his posture and tension on the reins and was impressed that he had paid attention during their previous lessons. Ethan was a natural horseman, and a quick learner. His balance on the horse's back was excellent. Teaching him to ride was going to be a breeze. She had been going slow with him, but evidently he was ready for more.
Instead of going inside the arena, Rocky leaned her elbows on the top rail and propped her boot on the lower rail.
"Keep her on the rail at a steady pace," Rocky told him when he let Diamond venture toward the center of the ring. When he eased her back into rhythm, she said, "Good job."
"I feel like a fucking two-year-old," he grated after he made a couple of circuits of the ring. "Isn't there something else we can do?"
"You have to crawl before you walk, cowboy," Rocky told him with a patient smile.
"I've been crawling for almost four months, I want to walk," he grated with frustration in every line of his body. Diamond sidestepped and her tail swished in agitation.
"You're getting Diamond all stirred up, Ethan. Relax," she instructed.
His shoulders relaxed as did his white-knuckle hold on the reins, and she saw Diamond relax too. "That's it, now just keep her walking on the rail."
Rocky dropped her chin on her forearms and watched the horse and man work together, enjoying their success. Seeing Ethan on a horse made her drift off into a daydream that he really was a cowboy, a man comfortable on horseback, comfortable with her.
He was from a small town on the outskirts of Amarillo, owned a small ranch where he raised horses and was looking for a country girl in his life, who loved horses as much as he did. His idea of a high time on the old town was sitting on the front porch of his modest farm house, holding her hand, sipping wine, while they watched the sun set.
She was in the middle of her next 'if only' when Diamond snorted and she noticed that Ethan had kneed her into a faster pace. He was bouncing in the saddle and his body was slipping off center one way then the other as he tried to correct his seat. She straightened then climbed the fence and dropped into the arena.
"Whoa!" she shouted loudly and held up her hands.
Diamond immediately stopped in her tracks, but Ethan didn't. He slid forward in the saddle and wound up half on and half off of her back, held on her back only by his grip on the saddlehorn.
Rocky ran over to him then leveraged herself under his body to shove him back up in the saddle.
"Do that again, and you won't be riding. You do exactly what I tell you to do, nothing more," she warned through her teeth as she held him up until he got his balance again. "Got it?"
"Yeah, I got it," he spat in a dark trembling voice. "Can I get off the horse now, ma'am? I'm done."
"You're not done until I say you're done. Now ride on the rail at a walk," she instructed and stepped back.
Ethan ground his teeth and stared at the frustrating woman standing beside Diamond with her hands on her hips. "Fine," he spat and focused on squeezing his knees against her side. The horse started forward again and he switched his concentration to getting balanced in the saddle again. He was ready for this lesson to be over. The one he learned from the horse and the one he learned from the woman.
But it looked like she was going to hold him hostage on horseback, until she was satisfied he'd been tortured enough walking the damned horse around this ring. He was bored out of his mind. If he was able-bodied she wouldn't be treating him this way, he knew. If she could teach visitors at the ranch to ride competently in two days, she could teach him too. But she saw him as an invalid, handicapped...slow.
He wanted to be on that damned search and rescue team, but at this pace he would be too old to join once he learned to ride. Rocky didn't leave the ring again, she watched him from the center, giving him minute corrections now and again, watching his every move like a hawk.
On his tenth circuit around the ring, Ethan thought his teeth were going to crumble he'd ground them so much, when she finally said, "Okay, that's enough. Tell her to stop."
"Whoa!" he said and gently tugged on the reins then leaned back in the saddle like Rocky had shown him at the last lesson. The horse stopped and he swayed gently in the saddle. Without waiting for her command, Ethan leaned forward and balanced himself on his stomach on the saddle, before sliding to the ground. He didn't have his crutches, but he didn't much give a damn. He had to get out of the arena and fast, or he was going to say something to Roxanne Baker he probably wouldn't regret.
Taking a wobbly step, he moved away from the horse and focused on the wooden fence. If he could get there, he could use it to get the hell out of here. It was only five steps, he told himself, then swung his left leg forward and balanced, then did the same with his right. Using his arms for balance as he went, before he knew it he'd gone three steps then realized what the hell he was doing and smiled, because he was fucking walking!
His brain finally caught up with the signals from his legs and he lost his focus on the fence then realize
d his knees were weak and not at all steady. Like a bird in flight, his arms flapped, then his knees gave out and he saw the dusty ground coming up to meet him. Suddenly he was on the ground, but instead of landing on his face, he had caught himself in a half-pushup position with his arms.
Ethan rolled over and sat down in the dirt then remained there to catch his breath.
Rocky slid on her knees in the dirt beside him then sat down too. "You okay?" she asked with concern pinching the skin between her beautiful gray eyes.
"Yeah, fine," he replied tightly then dragged his eyes away from hers, because he couldn't stand what he saw there. He didn't want her fucking pity or her concern.
Like riding that horse around the ring at a walk, chasing Roxanne Baker was like an exercise in frustration. Ethan had enough of that in his life right now without more. The best thing he could do was just face the facts, she thought he was a cripple, and she just wasn't interested in him as a man.
Hell, maybe she didn't even think he was one now.
Anger surged up inside of him when he thought about the stark contrast in her attitude to the night they made love in that hayloft. She sure had been interested in him that night. That night she acted like he walked on water, had even admitted she had a crush on him, but obviously she felt differently now.
Because of the accident, and because he wasn't a larger-than-life superhero anymore. Even though he wasn't a quitter, Ethan did know when to cut his losses, and he was going to have to count Roxanne in that category. He would never be that man again.
Leaning over, Ethan got on his knees then pushed up to his feet. After he got steady, he took the two steps to the fence, then made his way to the gate. He looked up and saw Terri coming out of the barn, walking quickly their way.
"I need your help!" she yelled to him, before she got there. She had a few ropes coiled around her shoulder and looked pale.
"What's up?" Ethan asked opening the gate to grab his crutches and walk over to her.
"Joel went to town, and I'm the only one here. One of the guests got hurt."
"What happened?" Ethan asked with old familiar adrenaline shooting through him.
"He went out to the creek on his own. Dylan was out helping Jarvis build the bonfire and tried to stop him, but the guy was pretty belligerent, and Dylan thought he might have been drinking."
"Sounds like the guy who was an ass to me in the barn the other day," Rocky said standing at the fence with Diamond.
"Well, he wasn't belligerent when he called on his cell phone from the bank of the creek. He's hurt and pretty terrified."
CHAPTER EIGHT
"Is the horse okay?" Rocky asked as if that was more important than the man. To her it probably was, Ethan thought sourly.
"I'll come too and make sure the horse is okay," she offered then took the bridle off of Diamond and patted her rump so she trotted off into the ring. "I'll take care of her when I get back."
"Dylan is meeting us over there," Terri told them hurriedly then turned to run toward the truck. Rocky ran behind her, and Ethan followed more slowly, but faster than he usually moved on his crutches.
When he reached the truck he opened the door and asked, "You have the first aid kit and something to use as a backboard?" he asked.
"I've got a spineboard, C-collar and straps."
"Kit?" he repeated and hefted himself up in the backseat, since Rocky had already taken the front passenger seat.
"Yeah, I've got the one you saw the last time you were here," she told him. That kit had everything in it they needed for a full-fledged trauma, not just the basics. If the man was seriously injured then they could treat him until they could get him out of there.
"We'll call for a medical chopper evac if he's too bad," Ethan told her, his brain switching into rescue mode, as the truck lurched forward when Terri put her foot on the gas.
Going across the field in a truck was rough and Ethan felt like he'd been worked over by the time they reached the spot on the creek where the man indicated he was located. He saw a horse tied to a tree in the distance, so he figured Dylan was already there.
When the truck pulled to a stop, Ethan slid out of the truck and grabbed his crutches, wondering how the hell he was going to make it over the soft uneven ground on them. There was probably a hundred feet or so between him and just the tree line. Who knew how much farther it was once he got inside the trees.
By the time he got just past the front end of the truck, Terri and Roxanne had already made it to the trees. Frustration built inside of him as he picked his way over the least marshy spots, which were still spongy. The tips of his crutches sunk down in the soft earth, and several times he had to stop and pull them out.
Somehow, he managed to get to the tree line without winding up on his face, or bogged down to this knees in the mud. There was no way he was going to make it through the woods on the crutches though. Since the trees in this area were close together, he figured he might be able to use them to get to the bank.
Leaving his crutches leaning against a tree, Ethan moved from one tree to the next, but he knew at the rate he was moving, the man could be dead by the time he got there to render aid. Just one reason why Terri's idea of making him the ranch medic was stupid.
Ethan knew one thing for sure, he wasn't letting Terri be part of moving the man on that backboard. She was pregnant and needed to recognize and respect her limitations, just like he was doing right now.
Dylan and Rocky could do that, or they would wait until the med evac helicopter got here. Hopefully, between he and Terri, they could at least keep the fool alive, until it arrived. It took him ten more minutes to get through the trees to the bank, where he saw Terri, Rocky and Dylan standing off to the right talking by the edge of the water.
Between him and the group, there was four feet of nothing but mud. On the other side of the wide creek, he saw a fairly large man laying motionless on the bank.
Ethan heard an agitated horse whinny across the creek, then heard branches rustling and snapping. Rocky stepped to the edge of the creek and cupped her hands around her mouth then yelled loudly, but calmly, "It's okay, baby, calm down. Easy, boy, we're gonna get you outta there in a minute."
Her soothing voice echoed through the trees and across the water, then he heard the horse snort and almost whimper, before the woods went silent again, except for the rushing water in the creek. Ethan held onto the last tree between him and the group, formulating a plan for getting across that creek to the injured man on the other side.
The creek wasn't very high right now, but it was moving swiftly. Terri was pregnant and there was no way in hell he was letting her try to swim that creek. The other two people in their group weren't medical professionals, so they couldn't help the man.
That meant Ethan was going to have to work this out.
Ethan was an excellent swimmer, a rescue swimmer before his accident, so he knew he could probably make it across the creek to help the horse and man. If he tied a rope around his waist, in case he couldn't make it, they could pull him back over to them. If he made it, he could have them tie the first aid kit to the backboard and he could float it over to the other bank.
"I have an idea," he said and all heads turned in his direction, as he stepped forward, balanced then tossed his hat to the ground, pulled his shirt over his head.
Sitting down, Ethan took his boots off then told his sister, "Terri go get those ropes, the kit and backboard you have in the truck. I'm going to swim to the other side, then pull the supplies over to me."
"That's not a good idea," Rocky argued and stepped toward him.
"You got a better one?" Ethan asked sharply, and stood back up, before unbuckling the chaps and dropping them to the ground.
"I can ride Dylan's horse over there and get the horse untangled, then put the guy over the horse and come back across," she told him.
"You know he's stable enough for you to move him? You know he's still breathing and nothing is broken?" he asked un
buttoning his jeans. "If he isn't breathing, or is hurt can you help him?" Ethan asked and angrily shoved his jeans to the ground to stand there in nothing but his underwear. "Can you deal with that, horse lady? Or do you give a shit about how bad the man is hurt?"
"I, uh..." she stuttered and Ethan saw her eyes track over his body.
"I'll send the damned horse back over here so you can check on him. He's still standing which is more than I can say for that man over there," Ethan told her shortly.
"You're not physically capable of swimming that creek," Roxanne told him with frustration. "Your back is broken, you can't move that guy, even if you make it over there."
"Don't tell me what I can and can't do ma'am. I rode a fucking horse today, and I walked. I can do anything I put my mind to, just stand back and watch," he told her arrogantly. Ethan had no idea whether he could actually pull this off or not, all he knew was he was going to try, and he wasn't standing here letting her tell him he wasn't capable.
Terri walked up to him and handed him one of the ropes. Tying it around his waist, Ethan fashioned a harness, then took the other rope she handed him and coiled it around his shoulder. "Ya'll take the end of the one tied to my waist and hold onto it tight. If I get stuck or go under, pull me back over here. If I get across, you're going to put the backboard into the water and I'll pull the kit over there and work on the patient."
"Got it," Terri told him then tiptoed and kissed his cheek. "Be careful, and good luck."
"I'm always careful, sis," he told her cockily with a half-smile.
He was going to do this.
Ethan knew he couldn't walk through the mud to get to the water, so he sat on his ass and scooted that way. When he reached the water's edge he put his feet in and sucked in a breath at the water temperature.
It was late spring, but the water was still damned cold. Normally, he wore a scuba suit when doing something like this, but he was fresh out of them right now. Ignoring the chill, he slid down into the water, until it was at his waist then pushed off. Once he got into the current, he was swept downstream and the rope pulled tight. When he felt it loosen for a minute, he got worried.