Montana Cowboy Daddy (Wyatt Brothers of Montana #3) - Jane Porter Page 0,37

yet, in that moment where she wasn’t afraid he’d live, all she wanted was him in one piece, all she wanted was him to be okay.

She’d maybe even prayed in those terrible moments, and she wasn’t one to pray, having been raised by a mom who viewed religion as a special kind of hell, a crutch for people who were too weak to handle life without someone telling them how to think, and who to be.

But she had prayed, because her heart burned, her chest squeezing tight, and she didn’t think she’d ever breathe properly if he didn’t get up, if he couldn’t walk away.

In the end, he was okay, but it had broken something loose inside of her, creating chaos and confusion that hadn’t been there before.

She liked Billy Wyatt a lot.

She liked him more than she should.

Her feelings for him were more than just a passing interest and that was a problem. Being near him was becoming a problem. Her dream hadn’t come out of nowhere. A part of her had known she was falling for him. A part of her had been warning her and she hadn’t been paying attention.

Or maybe she had, and she just didn’t want to admit it.

Troubled, she pulled out her computer and set it up on the bed, determined to get some work done. She needed to accomplish something, feel in control of something, but as fifteen minutes turned to thirty, and she was still staring at her screen, her hands in her lap instead of the keyboard, she knew she wasn’t going to get anything significant done. Not tonight. Not after today.

The accident had happened so quickly. The chute had opened. The horse had leaped out and then within seconds the horse was rolling over Billy and giving him a kick for good measure.

She hadn’t seen the accident coming. Maybe that was why they were called accidents, you didn’t expect them, and they came out of nowhere, crashing into reality, destroying all sense of safety, and control.

First April’s accident and now this.

Billy could have been killed. He was lucky to just have broken bones and a concussion. Erika closed her computer and placed it on the nightstand. She went to the bathroom to brush her teeth and as she looked at herself in the mirror, she saw the fear and confusion in her eyes.

Billy did this to himself every single weekend. He willingly put himself in danger all year long. It was madness. The man wasn’t living in any reality she recognized. And yet the man mattered to her. She wanted to help him. She wanted to protect him. But how?

Erika didn’t sleep well. She woke up still anxious and took Beck on a long morning walk, more for her sake than his. Later, she changed Beck and headed to the hospital, stopping to buy Billy the burgers, fries, and shake he’d requested last night.

She carefully arranged the meal on his rolling hospital tray, before positioning it just so in front of him.

She ignored the way his upper lip quirked at her presentation.

“Want some?” he asked, reaching for a fry.

She shook her head. “Not hungry, thank you.”

He ate one of the burgers before speaking again. “You’re upset.”

“I think I’m still traumatized from yesterday. That was horrible—”

“It’s not a big deal.”

“No, wrong.” She rocked Beck’s car seat with her foot. “That was a big deal. You got hurt. You could have died.”

“But I didn’t. I’m just a little bruised—”

“Not just bruised,” she gritted. “Broken bones everywhere.”

“They’ll mend. I’ll be good as new in just a couple weeks.”

She stared at him, stunned by his casual dismissal of what had happened in the ring yesterday. “What you do for a living… it’s insane. You have to be insane to think it’s okay.”

“I don’t get hurt often.”

“That doesn’t justify the danger.”

“There’s danger everywhere. The world is filled with risk—”

“But why invite risk in? Why say, hey risk, come sit at my table?” Her gaze searched his. He didn’t seem troubled. Or worried. “Billy, Beck doesn’t need you in a wheelchair, or worse.”

“I have no intention of being in a wheelchair. Or worse. So please don’t put that out there. I don’t need the negativity.”

The negativity.

As if his life depended on sage and crystals.

She ground her jaw together, molars gritted tight. He either didn’t understand his value or didn’t care. But the world wouldn’t be the same without him. Not for Beck.

And not for her.

*

The nurse entered the room to take his vitals and change his