Transgressions by Carolyn Faulkner (the reading list txt) 📕

They ended up at the emergency room in the closest town. J.D. had holstered his weapon and driven them there like a bat out of hell, overriding Enzo's suggestion that he drive because he knew the roads better.

Ally ended up on the exam table with two men facing off against each other practically over her. Her foot was quickly x-rayed and determined to be broken.

"You do whatever is best for her, Doc," Enzo said. "Don't worry about the cost at all. I'll take care of it."

That, of course, put J.D.'s back up, even though he and Ally were nothing but friends. "I'm her employer—"

Enzo leaned in, over Ally. "And you give her healthcare—right?"

J.D. flushed. "That doesn't mean that I can't—or won't—cover her costs."

"You don't give your employees healthcare, either, Enzo, and you make a ton more than J.D. does."

It cut him to the core that she would defend him, someone she barely knew, and Enzo did something he'd rarely done in his life. He shut up. She was right, but he was hardly going to own up to it in front of a man he considered to be a rival.

"And besides, neither of you is going to pay my goddamn hospital bill, thank you very much," she announced during the rare moments of silence.

Neither of the men acknowledged what she'd said.

She ended up back at her little cottage with the two of them pacing around her like caged lions. She didn't have a bedroom door, and she didn't even think she had any furniture that would support either of them.

"I'm sorry, J.D.," she said when he put her gently down on her bed.

"Nothing for you to be sorry about, hon. Accidents happen."

"Yeah, but who are you going to get to help you with the horses?"

"I'll find someone." It had taken him six months to find her. He needed someone with experience and someone who didn't mind working for the pittance he could afford to pay him or her.

Enzo stepped outside for a moment, then came back. "I got you someone who will take Ally's place until she's healed up."

J.D. looked amazed at first, then suspicious. "Who?"

"Someone I know has a daughter who is very into horses, doesn't get to ride much because he can't afford it, but she's been working at a stable near her house to earn that privilege occasionally, so she knows how to take care of them."

"What's her name?"

Enzo gave him all of the pertinent information so that he could call the girl, and J.D. excused himself to go do so, but before he left, he gave Ally a serious look. "Are you going to be all right here with him?"

"You should be asking him if he's going to be safe here with me, instead."

J.D.'s eyebrow went up at that. "Okay, well, I don't think I really want to know. As long as I know you're going to be safe, Ally."

"Thank you for everything, J.D." she said on a sigh. The meds the doctor had given her were making her sleepy.

"Can I get you anything?" Enzo stood at the end of her tiny bed and asked, although it sounded like a plea. He wasn't the kind of man who could just stand around. He needed something to do.

"I'd love something to eat."

"Coming up."

He made her soup and a peanut butter sandwich, which was all he could do in a short amount of time, but she was asleep when he brought the tray to her.

Enzo put it all aside and sat down—gingerly—on her well-worn couch, clicked on the TV and began to watch whatever game was being broadcast down here in Hicksville.

The doctor had said that she needed to stay off her foot for six to eight weeks, and he was there for every bit of it—every doctor's visit, every trip to the pharmacy, every hobble to the bathroom. She had to hand it to him. At first, she'd seriously considered calling the police to get them to remove him, but she knew from personal experience that an innocent trip to the station house for someone like him could end up costing years of his life, and as mad as she was at him, she couldn't do that to him.

And, to her dismay, he and J.D. had laid down arms and become fast friends, over her. J.D. still had to run the ranch, so he couldn't watch over her like Enzo did. Enzo simply moved in and slept on the new couch he'd had delivered as soon as possible that was much longer, much sturdier and had a pull-out bed. He'd tapped into her network, commandeered her phone line since she was asleep a lot of the time, especially at first, and appointed himself her chief nursemaid, which, when she let herself think about it, was a bit of a riot, but he threw himself into taking care of her the way he threw himself into any other project he cared about.

She healed rapidly, though, and was out of the cast in five weeks rather than six to eight, although the doctor told her she still needed to take it easy for at least another week, which, of course, Enzo had heard, since he accompanied her to all of her doctor's visits.

He and J.D. refused to allow her to go back to work.

J.D. looked a bit flushed and said, "As a matter of fact, Ally, I have some bad news for you."

She wasn't at all sure she could survive more bad news. She'd had quite enough of it in her life lately.

"I'm afraid that Dawn—the girl who Enzo got to replace you—is going to be staying on, and I can't afford to keep the two of you."

Ally sighed and cleared her throat, willing herself not to cry in front of either of them. "When do you want me out of here?" she asked, sounding as defeated as she felt.

"You take your time. No hurry at all."

Enzo had to step