You Had Me at Cowboy by Jennie Marts

Author:Jennie Marts
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Published: 2018-10-23T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13

“Tess! Are you okay?” Mason pounded on the window, sending the dog into even more of a frenzy, but the woman in the seat didn’t move.

He considered breaking the window with the tire iron, but he remembered he still had the slim jim he’d borrowed from the sheriff the day before.

Racing to the truck, he threw down the tire iron and grabbed the thin tool, then ran back to Tess’s car. It only took a few seconds, but it felt like hours as he maneuvered the tool into the seal of the window and released the lock. Yanking open the door next to her head, he reeled back at the stench of sweat and vomit.

But he was a rancher—he’d smelled a lot worse—and he leaned into the back seat and cradled her head. “Tess? Darlin’? Can you hear me?”

She let out a groan and raised her hand. Her eyes stayed closed as she pressed her fist to her forehead. “Mason?” she whispered.

“Yeah, it’s me. I’m here. I’ve got you.” He stroked his hand across her damp forehead. Her skin was clammy but cool, so no fever. “Can you tell me what’s wrong?”

His eyes searched the back seat for a clue to what was going on. A pink tote bag and her purse were on the floor behind the driver’s seat, the contents of the purse scattered on the carpet. Next to it were two paper cups fashioned into what appeared to be dog dishes.

The other floor well had the evidence of her feeling sick, and it looked like she’d thrown up at least twice.

A thin emergency blanket and the sweatshirt he’d loaned her the day before were covering her, and he could see her cell phone clutched in her other hand.

Was she living in her car? Was she homeless?

He couldn’t wrap his head around the situation or come up with any scenario that made sense.

None of that mattered right now. He needed to figure out what was wrong with her. Did she have food poisoning? A sudden bout of the flu? Had she taken drugs?

The car didn’t smell like booze, so he ruled out that she was drunk. Plus, it hadn’t been that long since they’d been together. Certainly not long enough for her to go on the kind of bender that would cause her to black out.

She curled tighter into a ball, her voice barely audible as she mumbled. “Migraine.”

He let out a sigh of relief. He could deal with a migraine. His mom got them occasionally, so he was familiar with the symptoms.

The dog had thankfully stopped barking. It stood on the seat next to Tess, careful not to stand on her as it leaned forward and licked Mason’s hand.

“Good dog.” He stroked the dog’s head. “You did good, boy.” He needed to get her out of here, get them both some water, then get her somewhere other than the back seat of her car. “I’ll be right back,” he told her.

She reached for his hand, clutching it in a death grip.

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