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Jack’s last two days went by far too quickly, and before I knew it, we were saying goodbye. Uncle Ryan was driving him to the airport, but I’d chosen not to go with them opting to say my goodbyes at the house, saving myself the long car ride.
The previous two days we had spent riding and swimming and just spending time together. It was great to spend some time just the two of us, it had been far too long and who knew how long it would be before we would do it again.
His last two nights at the ranch had been spent on a boy’s only night that Brody had arranged at a bar in Marble Falls, and then a family meal on his last night. I was really going to miss him. I hadn’t seen much of Mason over the last two days, he’d been working both days, and we hadn’t had the chance to meet. Aunt Claire and Uncle Ryan had invited him to the family meal, and he’d sat next to me, his hand stroking my leg under the table. He’d asked me to spend the night with him, but I’d decided to stay at the house to spend the morning with Jack before he left.
After a tearful goodbye, I called out to Savannah, who was studying on the porch swing, telling her that I’d decided to take Cookie out for a ride. I fancied reading my kindle by the lake in the sunshine, escaping into my latest book. Savannah had gone inside to fetch me a bottle of water, and as I waited for her, I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I spun around quickly feeling like I was being watched, but there was no one there when I looked. I shook my head thinking that I was going mad. When Savannah came back, I thanked her for the water and headed over to the stables.
I hadn’t been out alone before, but I knew the ranch well enough to find my way around if I didn’t venture too far. I made my way to Cookie’s stall. “Hi, beautiful,” I said to her as I approached, reaching up to stroke her nose. “Fancy a ride?” I made my way into the tack room in search of her saddle, the smell of the leather invading my senses. As I was searching I heard a noise from the stalls, poking my head around the door, I called out. “Hello?” Assuming one of the ranch hands was in there seeing to the horses, but there was no reply. An uneasy feeling came over me, but I pushed it aside and went back to searching for Cookie’s saddle. Finding what I needed I quickly saddled her up, leading her outside into the sunshine. I looked over to the house and saw Savannah waving from the porch, I waved back after I’d mounted her and disappeared around the back of the stables towards the lake, setting off in a steady trot.
It was a beautiful day, and I was looking forward to lying by the lake and reading. After ten minutes or so I was feeling comfortable on Cookie, so I pressed my legs against her encouraging her to go faster. As we picked up speed, the saddle began to move, and I started to slip, I pulled back on the reins but it was too late, the saddle worked loose, and I was flung into the air. A scream came from my mouth before my head impacted with the ground, and I was knocked out.
I was surrounded by blackness, my eyes felt heavy, and as hard as I tried, I couldn’t force myself to open them. There was a pounding in my head, and my left wrist was throbbing, my other hand was intertwined with someone’s, and I could feel them gently stroking a finger over the pulse point on my wrist. I tried to move my fingers but it was as if my body wasn’t cooperating with my mind and nothing happened. There was a constant beeping noise coming from the side of me, and I could hear muffled voices talking, I thought I recognised the voices, but I couldn’t place them. Suddenly the fog lifted slightly, and I heard a woman say. “The cinch was cleanly cut, it looked like it had been done with a knife, it was only held on by a thread. I’m surprised she made it as far as she did without falling off. This wasn’t an accident Mom, someone did this, and I’ve a pretty good idea who!” I recognised the voice as Savannah’s. I desperately tried to open my eyes, but nothing happened.
“What do you mean, who do you think did this?” I heard a different female voice say, one I recognised as Aunt Claire’s.
Then I heard Mason, he must have been close to me as his voice was louder than the others. “Amber, someone I was seeing before I met Libby. We’ve had a couple of run-ins with her, although nothing like this.” Anger was evident in his voice. He must have leaned closer towards me, and I felt his breath against my ear as he whispered. “Please wake up sweetheart. I need to know that you’re okay. I love you, baby. I’m so sorry this happened.” I felt him press his lips to mine in a soft kiss.
“God Mason! Why would she do this? Are you sure it was her?” Aunt Claire asked.
“I wouldn’t put it past that psycho bitch!” I heard Savannah say, fire in her tone.
“I really don’t know Claire, but I don’t know anyone else who would want to hurt Lib. She has this deluded idea that we should be together and hasn’t taken too kindly to me dating someone else. Have you managed to get hold of Libby’s parents yet?” Mason asked.
“No, I haven’t been able to contact them; I’ll keep trying, though.”
I desperately tried to move my hands or open my eyes, I didn’t want my parents to know that I was hurt. They were so far away, and they would be so worried. I felt my eyelashes flutter as they began to open, squinting against the bright lights of the room. “Mason.” I croaked, my throat dry and scratchy.
“Libby baby, I’m here, you’re going to be okay I promise.” He said reassuring me, his voice low and full of love. “She’s awake, fetch the Doctor.” I heard him say to someone behind him. My eyes were slowly adjusting to the light, and as they began to focus, I could see Mason sat next to me holding my hand. His face was a mask of concern, but he smiled at me when our eyes met. “Thank god sweetheart. You had me scared there for a while.” He stood up and gently brushed his lips against mine.
“Where am I? What happened?” I asked him, confused. As he pulled away from me I saw Savannah standing behind him along with Brody and Uncle Ryan, I gave them a small smile before returning my gaze to Mason, waiting for him to respond.
“You fell off the horse and hit your head, you’re in the hospital. You’ve been unconscious for quite a while, and because of your previous head injury the Doctors have been worried.” As he said that Aunt Claire came back into the room, followed by a man in a white coat who I assumed was the Doctor.
“Hello Libby, I’m Dr. Carter, how are you feeling?”
“I’m okay, my head hurts, and my arm is sore.” I looked down at myself for the first time since I woke up and realised that my arm was in a plaster cast. “Is my arm broken?”
“I’m afraid so, it’s a relatively clean break, but you will be in a cast for about six weeks, as for your head, you sustained quite a nasty bump when you were thrown from the horse, and we’ve had to stitch a small gash in your hairline. You’re going to have some bruising from where you fell, and you’ll probably find yourself stiff and sore tomorrow. You’ve been unconscious for about an hour while you’ve been here but were not sure how long you were on the ground before someone found you. We did a CT scan when you first arrived, and there is no bleeding or swelling to the brain, so that’s good news. Do you remember if you were awake at any point after you fell?” He asked me with a kind smile.
“I don’t think so, I don’t really remember much, one minute I was riding Cookie the next I woke up here.”
“Don’t worry too much about not being able to remember, it may come back to you.” He came over to the side of the bed. “I just need to shine a light in your eyes.” He told me flashing a bright white light at me. “It all looks good, try and get some rest. We’d like you to stay overnight as a precaution, but you should be able to go home tomorrow. The nurse will be in shortly to take your vitals. If you’ve got any questions, the nurses will be happy to page me.”
“Thank you,” I whispered as he left the room. Mason moved back from my bed so that Aunt Claire could reach me, she came over and pulled me into a hug, taking care not to knock my plaster cast.
“I’m so glad you’re okay honey.” She said hugging me tightly.
“Have you spoken to my parents?” I asked her as she released me.
“No sweetheart, I haven’t been able to contact them. Both of their cell phones are turned off, I’ll keep trying, though. I didn’t want to leave a message and have them worry.”
I grabbed on to her hand. “Please don’t tell them, they will be so worried, and they are so far away, plus I’m fine, I’ll be back to the ranch tomorrow. Please?” I begged her, my eyes wide.
“Libby, I’m not sure that I can do that. If it were Savannah or Brody, then I’d want to know.” She frowned at me, chewing on her bottom lip.
“Please Aunt Claire, I’ve been such a worry to them over the past few months, I don’t want to burden them with anything else. I really am okay, I promise.” I heard her sigh, and she turned to look at Uncle Ryan who raised his eyebrows at her and shrugged his shoulders.
“Okay.” She reluctantly agreed, shaking her head at me. “But I’m calling them if anything changes. No arguments.”
