A steady beep broke into her slumber. Sara Beth squeezed her eyelids tight, before attempting a blink.

 

Another blink.

 

Stiff bedding held her legs straight and her upper body at a half-sitting angle. She scrunched her nose and duck-faced her lips at the plastic tubes softly blowing cool air into her nostrils.

 

Looking past the confines of her bed, she narrowed her eyes at her sleeping sister. She was probably there to chastise Sara Beth. All they did anymore was fight.

 

Sara Beth didn’t make a sound, but it was like she’d yelled with how fast Rosie opened her eyes and leaned forward. She scooted her chair closer to Sara Beth’s bed and rested her hand on the side rail. “Hey, how you feelin’?” She spoke quietly, concern drawing her eyebrows inward and down.

 

Tongue heavy and dry, Sara Beth shook her head and tried licking her lips.

 

“Hold on. I’ll get you some ice chips. The nurse said the pain medication would give you cotton mouth and possibly some nausea. So let me know if you want to throw up.” Personal sized pink pitcher in hand, Rosie stepped out of the room door and returned a minute later. She placed a square ice cube into Sara Beth’s mouth and set the rest of the ice on the bedside table.

 

The cool moisture relieved a tightness in her muscles Sara Beth hadn’t realized was there until it left. She sucked on the ice like she’d never tasted water before.

 

Rosie didn’t sit. She waited beside the bed, looking down at Sara Beth. Her ponytail hung down over her shoulder, stray strands framing the tired curves under her eyes. Quietly, she started talking. “I need to ask you some questions before the nurse or doctor comes in. Be honest with me and don’t start freaking out. Okay?”

 

Sara Beth swallowed, a new lump forming in her throat. Whenever Rosie started a conversation with don’t start freaking out that was Sara Beth’s cue to start freaking out.

 

Rosie pulled her chair closer to the bed and sat gingerly on the edge. She clasped her hands in her lap and looked at Sara Beth’s feet and then back at her face. She set her jaw, a tic Sara Beth had learned to watch for – it meant things were about to get real.

 

“Very carefully, I want you to try moving your feet – like your toes. Don’t do anything else.” She looked with Sara Beth toward her feet poking up under the blankets.

 

“Easy.” Come on, move, dang it. Sara Beth watched her feet as if she could control them with an angry enough glare. Just one toe. Just one. She strained and pushed but it was all in her mind. Her damn feet didn’t budge. She leaned her head back, not looking at Rosie. “What does that mean?” Moisture collected in her eyes. 

 

Grabbing Sara Beth’s hand in hers, Rosie’s whisper filled the silent room. “I don’t know what it means. I don’t know if it’s permanent, or what. They’re going to come back and try tests on you and do some scans, but they said something about possible inflammation – which could go down? I don’t know enough about it.” She offered a sad smile, her own eyes shiny with unshed tears. She shook her head with little short jerks. “I’m sorry. I know you wanted to ride with Miss Wrangler Montana, but it… I’m sorry.”

 

Sara Beth swallowed hard. She looked at her inanimate feet. “You said that already.”

 

Rosie snapped her gaze to Sara Beth’s face. “Excuse me?”

 

Clearing her throat and moving her tongue to remove the last of the dryness, Sara Beth pinned her sister with an icy stare. “Why don’t you say what you came to say? This is all my fault. I wouldn’t be sitting here as a cripple, if I had just listened to you and Michael. Am I right?” She’d been so close to getting out of there, out from under the watchful eye of Rosie, out from the possibility that more and more of her past would be uncovered by the townspeople.

 

Rosie jerked back, releasing Sara Beth’s hand. “Now, wait a minute, that’s not fair. I didn’t do this. I didn’t even mention what happened. Are you blaming me for this? I told you—”

 

“Here it comes, I told you so, right?” Sara Beth rolled her eyes, her jaw tight. “Just go, Rosie. I’ll let you know what the tests come back with. I’d hate to put you out any more than I already have.” Go, Rosie, please go. She pleaded internally, fighting the sobs from breaking through.

 

Tears rolling down her cheeks, Rosie stood regally from her chair. “Fine. I can only imagine how upset you must be. I’ll come back tomorrow and we can talk about what we’re doing from here. The doctors should know more by then anyway.” She moved as if to hug Sara Beth, hesitated and walked hurriedly to the table by the door.

 

“Rosie.” Sara Beth stared up at the ceiling.

 

Her sister retrieved her purse and jacket, pausing as if she expected Sara Beth to apologize, hope in her tone. “Yes?”

 

“Don’t come back tomorrow.” Sara Beth didn’t look at her sister, but held her breath.

 

Rosie’s presence disappeared. She left the door open. 

 

Each footfall of her sister’s grew fainter and Sara Beth exhaled shakily. She covered her face with both hands and waited for a moment while her body gathered itself. No feeling in her legs. How odd to feel like she just floated above her legs, like there was nothing there.

 

But they were there. She could see them. So she couldn’t float away because the lifeless things anchored her more surely to her old life than Sara Beth had thought possible.

 

She’d wanted Miss Wrangler Montana for so long – but mostly because if she was accepted into the competition, she’d tour around with the rodeo Circuit while participating in pageants around Montana – state-wide. She’d be away from Rosie and the daily questions. The pressure to pick something to do – like go to college, get a job.

 

What was Sara Beth going to do about the sisters? Did Sara Beth still want to do something regarding them?

 

That was Sara Beth’s biggest problem staying with Rosie. The daily questions about the five pictures Sara Beth had photocopied and taped to her bathroom mirror, the desktop in her bedroom, the wall beside her bed, stored in a box that she carried most places with her.

 

Sara Beth had created a memorial of sorts to the sisters she desperately wanted to meet. All five of them – including Sara Beth and Rosie – stared balefully out of the black and white pictures. Each picture had been taken at various ages and with the grittiness of multiple copies, it was difficult to pinpoint their exact look – but their names had been typed carefully to the side with their statistics. And if Sara Beth ever met one of them, she just knew, deep down, that she would recognize her. 

 

And Sara Beth had memorized every single one. Rosie. Sara Beth. Lisa. Mary. And Jenny.

 

Her sisters from the same terrible man – Devlyn Caracus. Her sisters – and she didn’t care who they came from. She had more than one sister out there.

 

Every day with Rosie meant she hadn’t been able to meet her other sisters. Sara Beth had hoped for a chance to tour the state and find out if she could even locate the other three women. Montana state was huge and, yes, Sara Beth was confident she could find them before any government official could.

 

How hard could it be?

 

But now…

 

Not only were her chances at Miss Wrangler Montana shot, but how would she ever be able to search for her other sisters while stuck in a wheelchair or bed?

 

Independence moved further and further away, leaving a cold remnant of despair in place of the hope it’d promised.

 

She dropped her hands.

 

A man stood in the doorway.

 

She startled, pulling her sheet to her chest.

 

His height was accentuated by the economy-sized room and doorway, as well as the long lean fit to his jeans. A black felt Stetson tapped against his thigh as he waited for her to acknowledge him.

 

Sara Beth blinked back the tears she desperately wanted to cry and sniffed. “Can I help you?” Good night, he was charming with his blond hair and, oh wow, gray eyes. She’d never seen any in person, but his shone like polished steel.

 

He was startlingly handsome with an angular jaw and straight nose. A dimple in his chin set off the scruffy stubble he sported which showcased the gold in his hair. His gray eyes focused on her and moved toward the bed, careful to keep an appropriate distance between them. “Hello, Sara Beth. Do you remember me? Or anything that happened?”

 

His nearness sent springs spiraling through her insides. She recognized the scratchy timbre, but from where? She inclined her head the smallest amount and studied him, grateful for a reason to look at him longer without seeming creepy. “I don’t know. Happened when?”

 

“I’m Johnny Mayfair. We met in the rain last night.” He offered a side grin that revealed clean white teeth set in perfect rows.

 

Sara Beth was a sucker for a great smile. Dang. “Johnny Mayfair. Wait, was that you that covered me from the rain? Found me?” Her breath caught. She’d been so safe in his arms. Safe enough she’d fallen asleep – or had passed out – same thing. Especially when he looked like that. 

 

He gave the barest nod, taking in her blanketed form. “Yeah, that was. I’m glad you remember.” He pointed over his shoulder. “I didn’t mean to pry, but I was sitting in the waiting area out there and I couldn’t help but hear you and your visitor.”

 

“Sister. She’s my sister.” Great, one more thing to add to her embarrassment with the hot stranger. Hot with a capital H. “I’m sorry. I don’t normally fight with her.” Sara Beth shook her head. “Okay, that’s a lie. Actually we fight all the time. In fact, I don’t remember us not fighting except for when it was just us living together, you know?”

 

A moment of silence and she bit her lip. “Gosh, I’m sorry again. You don’t want to hear that.” She picked at the cuticle on her thumbnail. The close proximity with lights on was more disconcerting than it’d been wrapped in his arms in the dark covered in wet mud.

 

He motioned toward the chair Rosie had abandoned. “Actually, I don’t mind. May I?”

 

Sara Beth waited for him to settle into the chair. “I’m going to be blunt, because that’s how I am. Why are you here?” She almost winced at the rudeness of the question, but seriously, she needed to know.

 

His low chuckle caused a hum to course through her skin – almost strong enough to loosen her IV. Okay, not that strong, but Sara Beth could imagine his effect was almost as earth-shattering as that. “You are blunt. I like that.”

 

“You haven’t answered.” Sara Beth arched her eyebrow. Guys who played games usually had something to hide. She didn’t want him to leave or even turn the questions back on her. “Before you try to get out of it, I want to say that I’m waiting for doctors or nurses to come in and I’m blatantly using you to occupy my thoughts…” She waved impatiently toward her legs, careful to control the catch in her voice that hitched her breathing. “From this.”

 

He rested his hat on his lap and leaned back to place his elbows on the armrests. “It’s more involved than just a twenty minute phone call. You sure you want to hear this?”

 

The way he spoke had more of a calming influence on her mind and a cataclysmic rumbling on her insides. She definitely wanted to hear anything he would say – even if it was a recitation of a grocery list.

 

Sara Beth would deal with her legs later, because with how tired she was, she couldn’t face what may or may not be a permanent problem. And listening to Johnny just might keep her mind on other things.