my cast. “Recovery will be so much easier with an extra pair of hands.”
I didn’t reply. I hadn’t agreed, but the less I had to fight everyone, the better. Recovery was the first and last of my problems. Running my ranch and limping through the financial storm to come was the mountain between.
“Going to the bathroom sucks with a broken leg,” she said as she tugged the waistband over my cast.
My gaze jerked to hers. “What?”
Emma’s kind gaze rose to meet mine. “Going to the bathroom? Anything in the bathroom, really. And getting food. It’s hard to carry anything with crutches.”
I looked around. I hadn’t thought about crutches.
“I gave them to Dawson,” Emma said. “We’ll use the wheelchair to leave. But if you think you need your own wheelchair for the first couple of weeks, just let us know and we can get you one.”
Another thing I couldn’t pay for. A wheelchair would be useless anyway. Did it come with snow tires? If not, I wouldn’t even get to the RV Pop had dumped a hundred yards from the cesspool he’d lived in. With this damn cast, I couldn’t even drive.
What the hell was I going to do?
I wanted to scream, but showing any emotion was as pointless as wishing for more money. Nothing good ever came of it.
Emma helped me stand, pull the pants up, and then pivot me until I could drop into the wheelchair.
Sweat dotted my brow. I pulled my hat lower and Emma wheeled me out. “I need to grab the pain meds the doctor prescribed. It’ll be enough to get you by until you can get to the pharmacy.”
“I don’t want pain meds.” I avoided looking at Mr. Tall, Dark, and Stubborn in the waiting room.
“Bristol—”
“No.”
Emma bypassed the nurses’ station, skipping the medicine. Dawson made small talk with her on the way out.
“How much snow do you think we’ll get?” she asked Dawson.
“The news said six to eight, but you never know,” he replied. “It’s hard to tell in the country. It all blows around.”
I ached to add to the conversation, but personal experience told me that my opinion was never welcome. Snow did blow all over the country. Amounts mattered but so did wind and the direction it blew. Would there be ice? The duration? So many things. But I kept my mouth shut.
Dawson had his pickup running. A wave of heat hit me when he opened the passenger door and Emma wheeled me closer. I pulled myself up, ignoring any and all pain, and lifted myself in.
Emma made sure everything was tucked in. “Take care, Bristol.”
As she shut the door, I looked straight ahead, wishing the earth would open up and swallow me. A beautiful couple was helping poor old me. They could gossip later about how all my medical bills were overdue just like Pop’s.
Dawson got in on a wave of cold wind. “You could’ve said thank you.”
“She was doing her job.” No one cared if I thanked them or not. They expected me to snap at them like Pop and half the time I did. “I’m sure you’ll thank her thoroughly later.”
Dawson’s brows dropped and he gave me a What are you talking about? look. “I’m not dating Emma.”
I rolled my eyes toward him. “I’ve seen you two.”
“That was only a couple of dates.”
“Not my business and not interested.” I was so interested. Why had they broken up? They seemed to get along. I didn’t talk to my exes. They were all assholes and had treated me like a conquest. If it wouldn’t get me into legal trouble, I’d go back and nut punch every one of them.
“Manners aren’t just for people who’ve dated.”
I rested my head back and crossed my arms. The seat was back as far as it could go. I shifted my leg and the bulky cast. “As if people care whether you say thank you or not.” I snorted. “They probably say it for you.”
“Why would they do that?”
“You’re a King. You and your family walk on water. They gossip about who you’re seeing, what you buy. They gush over who your dad and brothers married. The town adores you, all of you. People love to hate me.”
I snapped my mouth shut. What had happened to my verbal filter? I tried not to say much around anyone. I didn’t need to add to their ammunition or confirm their preformed opinions. Around Dawson, all my filters dropped. Was it because we’d started out life as friends?
“People don’t love