mended as well. Her face stung as though she’d scrubbed it with a thorny rosebush. But all her bones appeared to be in one piece.
“I’m not hurt,” she said as Rebecca arrived, followed shortly by Papa, huffing and puffing and scanning her head to toe for signs of injury.
A huge sense of victory welled up inside her as Charlie arrived. She grinned at Rebecca, and then she turned a look of triumph on Luke.
“I lassoed a cow.” She didn’t bother to filter the pride out of her voice.
Luke grinned, and Emma’s heart twisted in response. “Yes, you did. But your technique needs a little work before you try that again, okay?”
“Okay,” she agreed, and then she allowed him to lead her back to the wagon.
At least she’d proven she wasn’t a complete fool.
TWENTY-FIVE
Luke hovered nearby as Mrs. Switzer attended to Emma’s wounds. She sat on the tongue of the chuck wagon, her posture stiffly erect, and winced as the scrapes on her face were washed with a clean cloth dipped in a cup of murky liquid.
“What is that stuff?” he asked.
Mrs. Switzer answered without looking away from her task. “Violet tea.”
“You mean, like the flower?”
The woman nodded. “The leaves. Keeps infection away.”
“Doesn’t do anything thing for the pain, though.” Emma winced again as the cloth scrubbed at a scratch on her cheek.
McCann stuck his head out of the chuck wagon’s canvas cover. “It’s an old granny remedy. Won’t do a thing to help. The only person who feels better is the granny who uses it.”
Creased lips tightened into a line as Mrs. Switzer daubed at the last remaining abrasion, but at least she didn’t snap back a reply.
With the dirt washed away, the wounds on Emma’s face didn’t look nearly as bad as Luke had feared. When she stood, he saw that she had changed into a different dress, this one with obvious signs of mending. It must have been one recovered from the rustlers’ attack and stitched up by Mrs. Switzer. Strips of cloth were wrapped around each palm.
“Rope burns?”
When she nodded, he cringed. Nothing was more painful than a rope burn.
Griff sidled up to join them and peered into Emma’s face. “You okay, gal?”
Emma replied without hesitation. “Yes. Sore and stiff, but everything will heal.”
A chuckle started down deep in his belly and twitched at his lips. “I’ll never be able to get that picture out of my mind. That steer running scared, and you dangling along behind him at the end of that rope. And you.” He slapped a hand across Luke’s back. “You running after her screaming your head off, and the other girl after you, and then their pa, and then Charlie bringing up the rear.” All effort to suppress his mirth evaporated, and Griff gave himself over to laughter. He bent over, hee-hawing and slapping a hand on his thigh. “That was the funniest thing I ever saw in all my born days.”
Luke’s first instinct was to flare up on Emma’s behalf. But then he saw her laughing right along with Griff, even bending over with a hand across her middle. The sound of her laughter bubbled like water over a rocky creek bed, and for a moment all he could do was listen. Even Mrs. Switzer was having a hard time not joining in, her lips twitching like an antsy child that itches to break free from the firm grasp of his mother and run for the open.
Actually, the whole thing was kind of funny, now that he thought about it. He joined in with a chuckle.
Griff managed to recover himself. “Well, I’m glad you’re okay, gal. Good job lassoing that steer.”
“Thank you.”
Still chuckling, he wandered off, taking the laughter with him and leaving an awkward silence in his wake. Mrs. Switzer hung close to her granddaughter’s side, while Luke cast about for something to say. The sight of the scrapes on Emma’s smooth skin, and the slightly purplish welt on her cheek, bothered him. All his fault, of course. The rope lesson had been his suggestion, and a stupider one he couldn’t imagine. And what was the point? An excuse to get closer to her for a little while, and look what came of it.
The funny thing was, those scrapes and bruises didn’t detract from her beauty even a mite.
Aware that Mrs. Switzer’s eyelids had narrowed as she watched him, he tore his gaze from Emma’s and nodded toward her hands. “Those have to hurt.”
Her head dropped as she looked at the