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John looked at Ember. “He fell on the porch steps. Hurt his back.”
Ember went to Everett’s other side and put her arm around his waist. “Let’s get you to a room.”
They helped him to an examination room, then John went to the lobby to wait. He paced around, then perched on the edge of a chair. After a few minutes, Ember came out and John stood.
She smiled. “The doctor is with him.” She went to John and hugged him. “You look a little freaked out.”
“When I saw him lying there in front of the porch. I thought maybe he had a heart attack or something. Scared the shit out of me.”
She took his hand. “Come sit. I’m off. I’ll wait with you.”
They sat and waited for thirty minutes before the doctor came out and John got to his feet.
“How’s he doing?
“I took x-rays. Nothing’s broken or out of place. Looks like a pretty severe muscled strain. Since he lives alone, I’m going to keep him overnight.”
John nodded. “Okay. Sounds like a good idea.”
“I gave him some pretty strong pain medication, so he’s a little out of it. But if you want to go see him before you go, it’s fine.”
John nodded, then patted Ember’s hand. “I’llbe back in a few.”
Ember gathered her things while she waited for John, then sat in a chair and read a magazine until he came out. When she saw him, she set the magazine aside and got to her feet.
“How is he?”
John smiled. “Pretty loopy. But I told him I’d take care of things at the ranch.”
“Do you have to go back there?”
“No. The horses have been fed. They’re good for the night. I’ll leave his truck here. I don’t want you driving on the roads. It’s getting icy out there.”
They made it home without incident and John got the fire going in the woodstove while Ember started in on dinner. She made chili, and they ate it in the living room next to the warm stove.
“Everett might need me a little more over the next week or so. Depending on how long it takes him to get over this injury.”
“I figured. He’s lucky he has you to help out.”
“He was going to drive to Salt Lake next week and pick up those horses, too.”
“Can you go for him?”
“I will if he wants me to. Or he might want me to hold down the fort while he’s gone. We’ll see how he feels, I guess.”
Ember stuck out her bottom lip. “I don’t want you to go.”
“It’s only for a couple of days. A long daythere. A long day back. Three days at the most. Although with a load of horses, it might stretch to four. I wouldn’t want to leave the horses in the trailer for a ten-hour drive.”
She sighed. “I hope he’s well enough to go himself.”
“Me too. I have no desire to spend three or four days and two or three nights away from you.”
But as it turned out, Everett wasn’t recovered enough to sit in a truck for three or four days. He could, however, take care of the horses. So he asked John to make the trip to Salt Lake and pick up the stock he’d bought at the auction in September.
When John came home to tell Ember the news, he found her in the kitchen, pulling a lasagna from the oven. She smiled at him.
“Perfect timing.” She set the pan on top of the stove, then looked at him. “What’s wrong?”
