"He'll get over it."

"Get over what?" Jeb walked up to where Marshall and Drew were standing on the porch.

"We're going out tomorrow to look for my missing cattle."

"You can stay with Robert. Kenny will come with us."

"Nope, I'm going with you. I know the government land better than he does. He'll even tell you that." Drew placed her hands on her hips.

Jeb gritted his teeth but didn't say anything more. Instead he stomped off inside the house."

"Well, that went over well," Marshall said.

Chapter Eighteen.

Early the next morning, Drew made sure she was up and dressed when Marshall and Jeb got ready. Jeb hadn't said anything more to her about going, but he'd definitely been upset about it. Still, he didn't try and talk her out of it.

They mounted up and took off toward the back part of her ranch land. On the way, they searched the obvious locations without any luck. As they neared the government land pa.s.s, Jeb pointed out the obvious hoofprints that had been frozen in the mud.

"Someone sure has been through here. This is your land up here until the pa.s.s, right?" Jeb asked.

"Yes, it's all mine. That's one reason Brett wants my ranch. He wants access to the land. I offered at one time to let him use it anytime he wanted to as long as he kept the gates locked. He wasn't too happy with my offer."

"If we find you cattle over here, we still can't prove who did it. They could have wandered over here even though we know they didn't," Marshall pointed out.

"I know. I just want my cows back right now."

"What about putting a gate up to the land and padlocking it?"

"Thought about that, but he'd just cut them as fast as I put them up."

"The only thing we can do is camp out here at night until he shows up and then catch him red-handed," Jeb suggested.

"I've thought about that myself." Drew looked around at the area. "There aren't very many places we could hide."

Jeb frowned but didn't say anything. She knew he didn't want her anywhere near anything dangerous. She sighed.

They threaded their way through the pa.s.s that spread out into a wide, open pasture. Across it she could see her cows. Thank G.o.d they had survived. She and the men rode over to round them up.

"Check the brand to be sure, guys." She didn't want to be accused of stealing someone else's cattle.

"Looks like they're all yours," Marshall said.

"Let's get them home, then." Jeb began circling them and moving them forward.

They got them through the pa.s.s and were just about to head farther into her land when a shot rang out. The cattle began to run. Marshall and Jeb urged their horses around the cows to steer them towards the house.

Another shot rang out, and this time, Jeb fell of his horse. Drew panicked and stopped her horse to go back for him. She climbed down as soon as she made it to him.

"d.a.m.n it, Drew. Get back on that horse, and get out of here."

"I'm not leaving you here. How bad are you hurt?"

"It's not bad. Just my shoulder."

"Can you ride?" she asked, trying to keep from crying.

"Yea, but I don't know about getting on the horse."

"I'll get you up. Come on. Stand up."

Drew whistled and Crooner answered, running up to her. She took the reins and climbed up. Then she reached down and pulled with all her might to help Jeb climb up in the saddle behind her.

"Hold on tight. Don't you dare let go of me," she yelled over her shoulder.

They'd barely gotten started when Marshall came racing back to help them. He reined in on seeing Jeb on the back of the horse with her. Even as they urged the horses faster, bullets rained down on them from two different spots. Drew felt the sting of one skimming her thigh and another, her arm. She gritted her teeth and held on tight to Crooner.

"f.u.c.k! Can you see any of them?" Jeb called over her shoulder.

"No, I can't tell where they're shooting from."

"We should be out of their range now."

"Do you think they are on horseback? How else can they still be shooting at us?" Drew couldn't believe they were really being shot at.

"Don't slow up until we get home," Jeb urged her.

"Don't worry. I'm not. Help me keep an eye on Marshall so we don't lose him."

About fifteen minutes away from the house, they met Kenny coming toward them.

Marshall waved him back, and Kenny reined in and turned around. They all four rode into the ranch yard. They released the horses in the barn and ran for the house. Drew limped her way beside them. Kenny and Robert both already had rifles out and ready.

"We heard the gunfire and called the sheriff. He's on his way," Kenny told them.

"We're going to have to go into town. Jeb's been hit."

"It's not bad. I'll be okay until the sheriff gets here."

"Marshall, see about him while we watch the windows." Drew gave orders like she'd been doing before they came.

Marshall grabbed a towel and pressed it to his friend's shoulder then held it there.

"I'm fine, d.a.m.n it, but you're bleeding. Why in the h.e.l.l didn't you say something, Drew?" Jeb asked with a growl. He grabbed her and turned her around to look at him.

"Marshall."

"I'm here. I'll take care of her."

"I'm fine, Jeb. It's a scratch. You're still sporting a bullet in your shoulder."

"Good, it will be evidence once they find the rifle that fired it."

"h.e.l.l, I didn't want evidence like this," she said in a trembling voice.

"Shh, Drew. I'm all right. Let Marshall check your arm and your leg. You're bleeding pretty badly there."

"Kenny, Robert, do you see anything out there?" Drew asked as Marshall cut off the sleeve. He patted it with a wet cloth and grunted.

"What?" she asked.

"It's not serious, but it will need a couple of st.i.tches. You just can't get away from needing st.i.tches, can you?"

"Shut up."

"Let's see about that leg. I'm going to cut your jeans up the side." Marshall used the knife to slit her jeans up to her waist. "Ah h.e.l.l, Drew."

"What's wrong, Marshall?" Jeb demanded.

"It went clear through her thigh. She's got a f.u.c.king hole in her leg. It'll need sewing up, but it's bleeding like a stuck pig." He ran over to the drawer with the towels and grabbed two. Then he held them to both sides of her leg.

"Drew. Hold these there while I get the tape to secure them. We need to apply pressure until we can get you to the hospital." Marshall grabbed the first aid kit from under the sink and pulled out the tape. He wrapped her leg several times with the towels tightly in place.

"Robert, do you hear something?" Kenny asked.

"Sirens. I'd say the cavalry is here." Robert went to the front door to let them in.

A few seconds later, the sheriff and two deputies walked into the kitchen.

"h.e.l.l, it looks like a field hospital in here. What the h.e.l.l happened?"

Jeb filled him in on the shooting. He shook his head and sent one of the deputies out to radio in that they needed an ambulance.

"I'll ride out there and see if I can find any sh.e.l.l casings. We could luck up and get a fingerprint off one. I'll definitely take that bullet when they dig it out of you."

"You're welcome to it. I want this f.u.c.ker stopped."

"So do I. I don't like s.h.i.t going down in my county." The sheriff took his deputies, and they left to go get their horses. They couldn't use their four-wheel drives in the pasture, as they would tear it up.

"Do you see why I didn't want you to come, Drew? You got shot for G.o.d's sake. You could have been killed."

"I was the one who got your a.s.s out of there, and you could have been killed, too," Drew reminded him.

"But I couldn't have taken it if I'd lost you, baby."

Drew could hear the emotion in his voice and knew he meant it. He really didn't want to lose her. She let it sink in.

"IaI love you both." There, she'd said it.

"Aw, baby. We love you, too," Marshall told her.

"Where is that f.u.c.king ambulance," Jeb complained.

"It will be here soon." Drew closed her eyes and enjoyed the feeling of their love surrounding her.

Long minutes later, the sound of the ambulance could be heard. As soon as it pulled up, Kenny had the door open and was directing them inside. Jeb immediately demanded they take care of her first. They agreed she'd need a few st.i.tches in her arm and taped a bandage over it. When they saw her leg, they were a little more worried. They mentioned nicking an artery or a vein. Drew doubted it, since it wasn't bothering her that much.

They loaded her up on a gurney and packed her away from them as they checked on Jeb next.

Drew suffered the ride to the hospital in silence since Jeb was next to her. Neither one seemed able to voice their worries. He held her hand all the way there. She realized how tired she was but refused to nod off. She wanted to be sure Jeb was okay before she slept.

The paramedics kept poking at her leg. She had to resist the urge to tell them to stop. They were only doing their jobs, but d.a.m.n, it hurt. Of course, the IV they had stuck in her arm hadn't felt all that spiffy, either. At least she didn't curse about it like Jeb had. She laughed to herself. He had been such a baby about the needle.

The ride there proved to be b.u.mpy, and even though she knew the gurney was locked in and she was strapped in, only Jeb's hand holding hers kept her from panicking that she would fall.

Once at the hospital, they were taken to different exam rooms. Jeb fussed, but it did him no good. Marshall had driven the truck behind them and was waiting as they pulled them out of the ambulance. The last thing she heard him say was for Marshall to stay with her.

"Don't you f.u.c.king let her out of your sight."

Drew would have laughed except they chose that moment to move her. The pain hit her harder.

"Take it easy. You're hurting her," Marshall told them.

"Sir, if you can't stay out of the way, you're going to have to leave," a nurse said.

Drew closed her eyes and listened to them talk above her. She was so tired. Maybe she could take a nap.

Marshall panicked when Drew closed her eyes. She was so pale. Why did she look so bad when it was only a bullet to the leg?

"Did she pa.s.s out? What's going on?" he demanded.

"Either stand back over there, or I'm going to have security take you out of the room."

Marshall was about to argue when a wiry-looking man in his middle fifties stepped into the room causing everyone to come to attention.

"What do I have here? I have a gunshot wound to the shoulder in two that needs my attention."

One of the nurses who had chastised him spoke up. "Doctor Warner, she has a bullet graze to her left arm that will need a couple of st.i.tches, but her thigh wound is bleeding like the bullet nicked a major vein."

"Let me see." He pulled aside the sheet and the bandages and manipulated her wound.