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“Are you okay?”
“Yeah, everything is okay,” I reassured him before stepping out of his reach.
“You’re a terrible liar, Tot.” He reached for my hands, but I laughed him off, swatting him away.
“I’ll be right back.”
“Tiana.” He took a step to follow me, but my father intercepted.
“Let her go ride the horses. If she doesn’t want to spend time with her family, she can live out there.” My father grunted his displeasure. He thought he was doing me a favor by enacting some sort of tough love, but all it did was verify my choice to handle Chet by myself.
“Dad.” Tatum frowned. “Tiana’s been through a lot.”
“When she’s on my dime, I can say whatever I’d like.”
That was enough for me. Placing my father and twin behind me, I took slow, steady steps, hoping to lure Chet far away from the people I loved the most.
Sighing in relief, I reached the barn and mounted Bullet. Riding the horse out of the barn, I saw Chet standing there menacingly. He had something in his hand, a weapon maybe, but I couldn’t tell what it was at this distance. Out of the corner of my eye, I spied Jesse. He had followed us, but I didn’t know exactly what he could or couldn’t do without cause. We were at a relatively safe distance from the party, but things could go south in an instant. Chet hadn’t touched me or done anything threatening yet, so it was unclear whether Jesse could discharge his gun.
Suddenly, Chet ran at me, shouting expletives. Yanking me off the horse, he tossed me to the ground. I landed hard, knocking the wind out of me. Plucking me to standing via my t-shirt, he ripped it in the process. Landing my steel-toed boot in between his legs, I kicked with all my strength.
“You little bitch!” Dropping me, yelling curses, Chet rolled on the ground in pain. “You’re dead.”
“And you can’t make babies anymore, asshole,” I spat. It wasn’t an entirely accurate statement, but it felt good in the moment.
Jumping on Bullet again, I took off for the field. It wasn’t the brightest move, but it was the only thing I could think of.
Once I reached open land a flurry of events unfolded.
Glancing over my shoulder, I saw Chet riding, or attempting to ride one of the newest horses, Shutterfly. The horse was not cooperating in the least and finally bucked off his rider.
A clamoring of hooves pounded against the ground, a sweet revelry of dashing heroes racing to my rescue. Admiring the scene for a moment, as if it was something out of a movie, I then shook out of my thoughts and sprang into action. I turned Bullet around, heading back towards the chaos instead of away from it.
Tanner leapt off of his horse first, punching Chet several times. Jesse, Dane, and my cousin Gage dismounted to assist him, but they didn’t reach them in time. As if watching a slow motion horror flick, I saw something metal in Chet’s hand. Sunshine glinted off the tip of the knife before Chet attacked Tanner.
Watching as the events unfolded scared me to the core. Tate and Luke lassoed Chet like an ornery calf, seconds too late, tugging the criminal away from Tanner so he couldn’t hurt him again. Chet was subdued for now, but I was worried about him breaking free. He bucked and cursed, yelling at the top of his lungs, but he couldn’t get loose.
I stopped looking at everything else around me and saw Tanner laid out on the ground.
“Daddy!” I screamed. Propelling myself off Bullet, I raced toward Tanner, intending to help, but just as I got close, Gage came out of nowhere preventing me from moving forward. “No!”
“I’ll be okay, buttercup.” Tanner strained to raise his voice loud enough for me to hear over the commotion. “Stay there please.”
“Dane!” Jesse was kneeling next to Tanner, his hands pressed to his side. “Go get Elias and send him out here. Tell him Tanner was stabbed. Ask Chase to dispatch an ambulance and a helicopter. I called for police backup. They’ll be here soon.”
“I’m on it, Jesse.” Dane nodded to him. He shot a worried glance at me before mounting Rocket, his second fastest horse.
I knew he wanted to check the situation and Tanner, but there was a lot happening all at once. It was very serious if Jesse was requesting a flight crew for Tanner. Since we were out in the middle of nowhere and Cheyenne Regional was the best trauma center, it equaled a flight in order to get there fast. Elias was a surgeon, and he could make the call if he needed to. Chase was a lieutenant at our firehouse, a good friend to all of us, and he’d know exactly how to dispatch help without having to be told.
Tanner was in more trouble than I could see from my vantage point. I needed to see for myself.
“Daddy.” I headed toward Tanner for a second time, but my cousin caught me and flipped me over his shoulder. Bucking against his strength was useless since Gage was built like a brick house.
“It’s going to be okay, Tiana.” Gage assured me. “Take a breath.”
“Let me go. I’ll be good.” I stopped fighting. “Please put me down?”
“We need to get you inside,” he said stoically, somehow keeping any emotions he felt away from the situation. Seeing one of his own get hurt must have shaken him up, though he didn’t let on. Directing my attention back to my brother, I saw him kick Chet once. It wasn’t like Tatum, but who knows what Chet had been saying while he was wriggling against the rope.
