Frantic hands move over me. I hear panicked voices as I struggle to open my eyes, and when I do, the world pitches and spins.
“Easy, Poppy. Take it nice and slow.”
I squint up at the face of the man holding me. “Shepard?”
“Yeah. Fuck, you gave us quite the fright.”
“Us?” I frown, still not with it. I reach up to touch my head where it hurts, but a hand stops me.
I lift my gaze high. Riggs looks down at me in concern. “Let me finish covering it. You’ve got a gash on your head. It doesn’t look deep enough for stitches, but I want to put this gauze on to keep it clean, okay?”
I nod and wince, instantly regretting it. “I don’t understand. What happened?”
“I was hoping you could tell us that,” Shepard states. I frown, thinking back, and swallow, not knowing how to explain.
“And why do you smell of gasoline?” Riggs questions sharply.
“I don’t know,” I answer, sounding every bit as confused as I am. “I thought I could smell it when I was out there. It’s what I was trying to find. Talking of finding things, how did I get back here?”
“I came to bring the car back. Nobody answered when I knocked, so I walked in.”
“You walked in?”And the house let you?I don’t ask that last part, of course.
“Yep. Followed the noise of the tractor. Found Riggs, and he told me you’d gone for a ride.”
“Which is when Willow came back without her rider. We saddled up and came to find you. Willow led us right to you. Smart horse, that one. You scared the fucking life out of me, though. I swear to god, every time I let you out of my sight, something happens.” Riggs grumbles.
“Maybe don’t let her out of your sight then. I thought you were hired to protect her,” Shepard snaps.
“Hey! Not cool. This isn’t on Riggs. This is on me. I must have lost my balance and hit my head.” I move to sit up, ignoring the pain. “Thanks for dropping the car off. I’ll see you around.” I try to pull out of his arms, but he’s not having any of it.
“Yeah, I don’t think so. Stay the fuck down for a minute.”
“Sheriff—”
“Call me sheriff one more time?—”
“That’s who you are!” I snap, my head pounding.
“Enough. Let her up, now,” Riggs snarls, holding out his hand to me. Shepard grips me tighter, and I suddenly feel like a fucking chew toy they’re both fighting over.
I generate just enough power to give Shepard a static shock. He jolts, loosening his hold, which Riggs takes advantage of by lifting me into his arms. He hugs me tightly for a moment before placing me on my feet. He slides my hair from the side of my head so he can look at my temple.
“Not sure how you manage to get a bump on the back and a cut on the front. You must have hit the fence and a rock or something.”
“Or something,” I whisper as Shepard gets to his feet.
“Look, I just want to make sure you’re okay,” he says.
“I’m fine. Thank you for coming. I’ll walk you out.”
I pull away from Riggs and turn toward Shepard, who yanks his hat from his head as he steps up to me and cups my jaw. “Please. Just let me stay for a little while. I’ll go insane with worry otherwise.”
The look in his eyes tells me he’s being genuine. His fear of something happening to me is very real. I might be a lot of things, but I’m apparently not a heartless bitch. “Fine. You can stay. I’m going to take a shower. Try not to kill each other while I’m gone.”
Neither of them says anything as I head toward the stairs. A thought occurs to me, and I turn around. Both watch me, but I focus on Riggs. “Did Dawn come by?”
He shakes his head. “Not that I know of. But I was on the tractor and then looking for you. Not everyone comes in when they’re not invited,” he says, landing a dig against the sheriff.