Love on the Ranch by Ciara Knight
Author:Ciara Knight
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781939081780
Publisher: Defy the Dark Publishing LLC
Chapter Thirteen
The smell of blood tugged Elizabeth back in time, but she refused to go to a past she’d tried so hard to forget. Nightmares didn’t plague her like they did Abigail. Anxiety didn’t give her fits like it did Josephine. Thunder did make her pulse quicken, but it never made her scream.
Even the sound of guns didn’t send her hiding. Instead, she learned to hunt for food and protect herself. She may have been born into privilege and the destiny of being a Southern belle with slaves and servants and suitors, but that’s what’s funny about destiny. It’s a vixen, sure to trick you into feeling secure, only to twist your future into knots you spend your life untangling.
Thanks to her sisters sheltering her, she’d spent many of her years at peace, but they couldn’t shelter her from everything.
“Hold him down, men.” Elizabeth eyed Samuel, who huddled at the edge of the commotion, overrun with fear. She had all of the compassion in the world for his terror, but in the wake of a gunfight, she needed everyone’s help. They could afford to be scared later. “Get some whiskey.”
“No,” Jeb protested and tried to push from the back of the wagon.
“He don’t touch the stuff,” Teddy said.
They exchanged a knowing glance, and she decided not to press the issue. “Then let’s get started.” She dug the needle into his upper bicep and drove it through his skin. “Good thing that bullet only grazed you. Between the horse and the guns, you’re lucky to be alive.”
Jeb didn’t speak, only bit down on the stick one of the men had shoved in his mouth. She dabbed at the blood and wiped it away so that she could see where to place the next stitch. One thing she wouldn’t abide by, and that was bad stitching. Perhaps it was her mother’s constant harping about a woman’s needlepoint and sewing skills.
“You only need a few more,” Elizabeth said, trying to sooth him, but she knew what it felt like to have stitches without anything to dull the pain. The good news was that the stinging would subside in a matter of hours, then he’d be able to cope with the ache and itching.
She finished the last stitch. “There you go. All done.”
Jeb collapsed back inside the wagon, his legs dangling off the edge. He breathed again through clenched teeth for a moment, making a whistling sound.
“I’ll fetch you some water.” Teddy uncurled his legs from under him.
“No, we need to get moving. Men eat yet?” Jeb asked.
Elizabeth shook her head. “You should rest.”
Jeb pushed on his good elbow to sit up. “No, we need to make it on time or we won’t get the contract. Besides, those men could return anytime now. I want all men armed and ready for another attack. Tonight, we sleep in shifts and guard the cattle.”
Teddy hopped down from the wagon and slid his thumbs into his vest pocket. “If Miss McKinnie says you can travel we’ll get moving, but I ain’t risking you.
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