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“Who is?” The question was quick and sharp.
“Jessy.”
Something flickered in her eyes that Culley couldn’t quite identify. “Where is Ty?”
“He’s with her.”
“Where?”
“On the road a good half-mile west.”
Having obtained the necessary information, Tara lost any further interest in him. She turned to the man in work clothes. “Call the Triple C now.” She put sharp emphasis on the word then swept her glance over the work site. “Where’s Buck?”
“I don’t remember seeing him in the last hour. Shall I—”
“Never mind,” she interrupted curtly. “I’ll drive myself.”
“Take the blue truck,” the man said. “It has a first aid kit behind the seat. You might want it.”
Splitting away, Tara walked swiftly toward a navy blue pickup while the man trotted over to a different one. A few seconds later Culley saw him holding a telephone receiver to his ear.
Satisfied that help was on the way, Culley reined his lathered horse around and left the construction area at an easy walk. With nothing better to do and no place he had to be anytime soon, he ambled toward the accident site. It wasn’t that he was nosy; Cully just liked to know what went on.
By the time he reached a vantage point a quarter mile from the site, his horse had cooled off from its hard gallop and two Triple C ranch pickups were parked behind Tara’s truck on the shoulder of the dirt road. Culley stepped out of the saddle and left his horse to graze. Taking a position on the shady side of a grassy knoll, he studied the scene below him.
There were three people huddled around the prone woman; one of them was the nurse Amy Trumbo. It wasn’t long before he noticed Jessy’s leg move. Then Amy was pushing Jessy’s hand away from her head, a sure indication that she had regained consciousness.
Long before the ranch’s pumper truck came into view, Cull
ey spotted the dust cloud it raised. It slowed before it reached the accident site, but it still left a low dust fog in its wake as it continued past the figures on the roadside and pulled up near the wrecked pickup. Culley figured the pumper had been called to neutralize all the gasoline that saturated the ground, aware it was a fire just waiting to happen.
Soon the wail of a siren signaled the arrival of the ambulance. The longer Culley watched the unfolding events, the more certain he became that he didn’t need to be in a hurry to get back to the Shamrock. Cat wouldn’t be coming by with his dinner tonight. Just as soon as she heard about the accident, he knew she would head straight for The Homestead. That was the custom here; when trouble came, people banded together.
The idea of hanging around until the last dog had gone home suited Culley. There was something about the wreck that kept nagging at him. He couldn’t put his finger on exactly what it was, but if he could poke around the truck after everybody left, it might come to him. Shifting into a more comfortable position, he settled down to wait.
The ranch hands manning the pumper truck were the last to leave. Culley waited until the vehicle was out of sight, then got to his feet and rounded up his grazing horse. Back in the saddle, he rode along the fence line until he came to the gate then backtracked along the road to the crash site.
The wrecked pickup had been righted. Now it stood drunkenly on the side of the shallow ditch, listing badly from the two blown tires. Culley walked his horse around, making two complete revolutions while he tried to figure out what it was that didn’t strike him right.
Chase stood at the den’s front window, his thoughts far from the sunset that flamed the sky. The instant he saw the blue pickup pull into the ranchyard, he turned from the window.
“Ty’s back,” he called, alerting the others.
When he stepped out the front door to meet him, Cat was right behind him. Giving Tara no more than a cursory glance, he ran an inspecting eye over his son, noting the stiff way Ty held himself to keep the pain in his ribs at bay. Chase also noticed the softness of relief in Ty’s dark eyes.
The sight of it made it easier for him to ask, “How is Jessy?”
“Other than a concussion, they don’t think she suffered any internal injuries, but they are keeping her at the hospital overnight for observation.”
“I’ll bet Jessy didn’t like that,” Cat guessed, smiling with the same relief they all felt.
“As a matter of fact, she was hurting too much to raise much of an objection,” Ty replied.
“So is Ty, but he doesn’t want anyone to know that.” Tara had both hands on him in an attempt to assist him up the steps. “Not only is he bruised and battered, but he has two fractured ribs.”
Ty dismissed her concern. “They gave me something at the hospital that has pretty well dulled the pain. How are the twins?”
“Sally and I just gave them their baths,” Cat explained. “She’s putting them to bed now.”
