I feel as if I am walking around in a daze. There is so much activity around me, and everyone seems to be so excited about the masked ball happening tonight. Apparently, it happens only once a year and is attended by the governor. Even Emma Jean has gone to town to get her hair done. Tamara’s father is supposed to arrive at the ranch to watch me ride just before the ball starts.

This morning, I must somehow engineer my fall from a horse and feign injury; if I don’t actually sustain a real injury. I decide I’d rather fall from Misty than Thunder. Not only is he more unpredictable, but I will also be a lot higher off the ground. My plan is to take Misty out in the morning and fake a fall when no one is watching.

Unfortunately, the opportunity for me to go out on my own with Misty doesn’t arise, since Lars insists on warming up Thunder before I ride him in front of Tamara’s father. Of course, he has no idea that I have absolutely no intention of riding for Tamara’s father, or even being anywhere near the man.

I glance sideways at Lars and can’t decide how he’ll react when I pretend to hurt myself.

I lead Thunder into the horse pasture and Lars leads Bessie. It’s been a while since she’s been mounted due to her pregnancy, but Lars thinks it’s time to ride her again.

“So, are we just going to trot them?” I ask. “Or are we sprinting?” My performance will be more believable if we’re sprinting, but it will be much easier to fall at a slower pace.

“We shouldn’t sprint with Bessie just yet. She’s still healing from giving birth,” he says.

We each mount our horses and begin trotting through the field. There aren’t many options of places to fall off inside the horse pasture, but I’m afraid Thunder will spook and run if I fall, so I would rather it be in an enclosed area.

“How is the new baby doing?” I ask, referring to a foal that was born in the early hours of the morning. Neither Lars nor I were present. Only Chance and one of the other men were there to guard and help if necessary.

“She’s funny. She likes new people.” Lars laughs and I memorize the sound. I love hearing him laugh. “Just like her mama.”

“Will I get to meet her?” I ask with a smile.

Lars doesn’t respond for a moment. “You can see her if you stay a couple more days,” he says. The tone of voice is heartbreaking, and I know I have to jump now. There aren’t any bushes near me, and I don’t know how safe the fall will be, but if I don’t finish this job, I’m afraid I won’t ever leave Lars’ side.

I slide from the saddle and push myself to the side while reaching upward, as if I’m trying to get hold of the reins. A small screech escapes my lips as I fall backward. Then everything happens in slow motion. My senses become extra sharp. A clear thought flashes into my mind. You idiot. You don’t even have insurance. I see the ground approaching fast and remember to turn myself midair so the brunt of the force will not be on my head.

“Damn, Tamara,” I hear Lars curse as I land on the hard ground.

I feel my ankle pop and an intense pain shoot through my leg. My brain goes into disbelief mode. Oh god, did I just break my leg?

Thunder bolts across the field. It takes less than five seconds for Lars to be at my side. I lie on my back and grind my teeth together, not needing to fake the pain radiating from my ankle.

“Where does it hurt?” Lars shouts urgently, crouching next to me, his face pale under his tan.

“I think I broke my ankle,” I groan.

“Don’t move,” he says, grasping my foot with both his hands.

“Oh no,” I cry, looking worriedly at my booted leg. “What are you doing?”

“Getting this boot off.”

Tears swim in my eyes as he takes the boot off and tosses it away.

“Shhh…I’ll take care of you. It’s okay,” he says as his cool fingers gently and quickly move over my skin. He looks up at me, relief etched in his face. “It’s not an obvious break.” He takes a deep breath. “God, Tamara, you need to be more careful. You nearly gave me a heart attack,” he says.

“Gave you a heart attack? I’m the one who’s hurt.”

“You can’t imagine how fast my heart is beating. Fuck, when I saw you go down… Thank God, it’s only a sprain or a fracture.”

“It hurts like hell.”

“Sometimes a sprain can hurt more than a fracture.”

“Whatever it is, I won’t be able to ride for my father.”

“Of course not. You can ride for him another time.”

“No, I don’t think I ever want to get back on another horse,” I say quickly.

He looks at me strangely. “We’ll see how you feel later. Can you stand?”

“I don’t know.”

He stands up and helps to pull me up. To my surprise, it doesn’t hurt as much I thought it would. Maybe I got lucky. “I think I can still walk on it,” I admit.

“It’s good that you can stand on it, but let’s get some ice on it straight away.” He sweeps me into his arms and carries me back to the house. Lars wants to call a doctor, but I refuse. I know by how little pain I am feeling that I haven’t done any real harm and it’s more fear than anything else that made me panic before.

I lie on the couch with an icepack on my ankle for the next hour. It is badly bruised, but that is only because I bruise easily. The swelling itself is minimal. After a while, I realize that I can walk quite well on it. I still want to attend the ball and have a dance with Lars. He comes in with some bandages and wraps my ankle. He also brings a pair of crutches.

“Do you want to give the ball a miss? We don’t have to go.”

I shake my head. “No, I want to go.”

“All right. I have to go meet the governor so I’ve asked Chance to bring you. I’ll see you there, okay?”

“What if you don’t recognize me?”

“Baby, there’s not a mask in the world that can hide you from me.”

“I’ll see you at the ball tonight.”

His eyes pierce into mine and my tears begin stirring. I broke my ankle—or greatly injured it—and I didn’t cry. But as I watch him suffer with the same turmoil I have been for weeks, I want nothing more than to curl into a ball.