Page 2 of Forbidden Cowboy
“Yeah, yeah.” I waved a hand. “But I’ll see you at the Olympics after you top the WNBA.”
She laughed, and I decided that should be my cue to leave. I gathered up the box I had filled with six years’ worth of personal effects from everyone I had worked with, and slid past the woman towering over me. I gave her the last real smile I felt I could manage, before I left the gym for the last time.
I almost didn’t make it outside before tears started dripping down my face.
The weather was lovely, as was to be expected for mid-June, but no one seemed to question why I was so unhappy. The box in my arms probably gave it away. I passed people on the street as I cried silently.
My phone started vibrating again.
I was going to kill my brother.
“Beau!” I answered, and before I could give him the chance to say anything, I kept speaking. “Now is not the right time! I’m kind of going through something, and the last thing I need is to hear another rant on all thefabulousreasons I should move back to freaking Gunnison!”
I hung up before he could say anything, and only a couple moments later, my phone began to ring again. If it was Beau, I was going to go back to Gunnison just to rip his head off so I could be miserable in peace.
I glanced at the caller ID, and saw something that made my heart drop.
Gunnison Valley Health Hospital
“Hello?” I answered shakily.
“Hello, I’m looking for Miss Sierra Carter?”
A polite man’s voice filtered through. My heart rate rose.
“Speaking.”
“Miss Carter, you are the registered emergency contact for Beau Carter.”
“Is he okay?” I asked, gripping the phone tighter.
“He was in an accident.”
I didn’t hear the rest of the phone call. I was almost at my apartment, so I stopped in long enough to drop off the stupid box I was still carrying, grabbed my passport and threw a couple changes of clothes in a bag.
Maybe it wasn’t wise to be spending so much on a last-minute plane ticket, especially with having just lost my job, but between the Amtrak and a car, it couldn’t be beat for speed.
What I was doing didn’t really hit me until the plane was in the air, and I had some time to kill with nothing to do but think. Of course, I was worried out of my mind for Beau. Despite all our differences and the way things had changed between us since I left Gunnison, he was still my brother, and still one of the most important people in my life. I felt some guilt over the way I had walked out without an explanation, but I knew telling him what was up would only lead to further questions.
Then there was the actual reason I left my hometown.
Gentle brown eyes and a strong jaw cut through my memory, and I closed my eyes against the pain. One hand running through brunet curls, and the downward turn of a mouth that knew it was about to say something to hurt me.
Stop it, I told myself.Getting all worked up over that doesn’t help anyone.
I tipped my head back against the airplane seat, and chose to focus on my breathing for the remaining hour of the journey, carefully blocking out all the intrusive thoughts of what I was returning myself to in Gunnison.
* * *
I didn’t take in any of the creeping nostalgia when I landed, nor did I allow the lingering anxiety from my rushed escape of the town to come back. I slid into a taxi almost as soon as my feet hit the ground, and less than ten minutes later, I was walking into the ER of Gunnison Valley Health Hospital.
“I’m here for Beau Carter,” I said breathlessly to the receptionist there, gripping the counter in front of me a little harder than necessary.
“Are you family, ma’am?” The tired receptionist asked.
“His sister, Sierra Carter,” I said, and started rooting around in my purse for my wallet to show some ID before she waved her hand.
“Take a seat, and I’ll go find out where he is,” she said, standing.