Cowboy For Keeps. Debra Clopton

just need to get away and get my head on straight,” she said, but she was afraid even that wouldn’t fix the emptiness and the loss that now gripped her heart fresh and new. “Please don’t worry. I can do this job.”

      “Then it’s yours. I hear Mule Hollow, Texas, is a lovely little town even if it is off the beaten path. You do realize what town this is?”

      With memories and intentions tangling in her mind, she hadn’t even given the name of the town any consideration. Now she shook her head.

      “It’s the one that advertised for women to come marry their lonesome cowboys a couple of years ago,” Joyce said. “There are cowboys, new wives and babies there now, from what I can find out. But you should know that Mr. Turner’s ranch is located several miles away, so you may not be that involved in anything going on in town.”

      “I can handle it.” Amanda needed air and room to breathe and think. “I’ll be fine.” She didn’t want to think about anything right now, not the heartache that was eating at her over her life or the losses she’d suffered. Or Jonathan. She just needed to get away and focus on work. And maybe somewhere during that time this utter sense of emptiness and worthlessness would loosen its hold around her heart.

      Maybe in that small town, on that big ranch and in that open space she could find her footing again.

      Wyatt Turner shot his brothers, Cole and Seth, a scowl. “It’s my body that’s broken, not my mind.” The wheelchair he’d been sentenced to for the next few weeks felt like cement blocks chained around his waist. Three weeks ago he’d awakened in the hospital lucky to be alive—especially with both legs still attached. Ever since that moment, he’d been fighting to find some kind of balance with the anger he was feeling.

      Four days ago he’d been flown in by helicopter to the ranch he and his brothers owned, and he’d been mothered and worried over by his brothers, their wives and the ladies of Mule Hollow—who’d decided that food was the answer to his problems—to the point that he was about sick. He loved them all, but enough was enough. He just wanted to be left alone.

      Needed to be alone.

      Because of this, his brothers were getting the brunt of his bad temper.

      A month ago he’d had the world by its tail. He’d had everything in control. He’d managed to match his younger brothers up with good wives and he’d been able to rest easy that he’d done his parents proud in his family responsibilities. His brothers were happy and that had made him happy. But then he’d crashed his plane and turned his world upside down. The stupidity of his actions ate at him as much as the consequences did.

      Looking at him with the patience of Job, his middle brother, Seth, spoke up. “We aren’t so sure your mind is working. The fun-loving brother we know and enjoy is sitting in this dark house looking like he hasn’t showered in days.”

      “Seth—” Wyatt bit the word out but Cole, his youngest brother, butted in.

      “We love you, bro, and you know you have to snap out of this. You’re not going to be in that chair for long.”

      “Look, you two, go to work and leave me alone. I’m not joking.” He had lost his sense of humor three weeks ago.

      Cole held up his hands and gave a lopsided grin that usually made anyone and everyone smile along with him. “We’re goin’,” he said. “No call to get so riled up. That temper’s one of the reasons we’re worried about you.”

      Wyatt hiked a brow as a shooting pain ripped through his left hip and tore through his lower spine. He gripped the arm of the wheelchair with his hands and willed his expression to remain pain-free. “I’m only skimming the surface here,” he said, trying not to clench his teeth. “You need to stop worrying about me. I’m an adult.” Who’d made a bad error in judgment.

      “Cole, let’s give him some space.” Seth headed toward the door. “But Wyatt, whatever you do, don’t run Amanda Hathaway off. Yes, you want to be alone, but remember you need her. And the agency said she was the perfect person for the job.”

      “Yeah, so give her a chance,” Cole drawled. “Don’t forget Mule Hollow is a long way from the nearest rehab center. It wasn’t easy to find a physical therapist willing to come all the way out here to live for three months.”

      “And you can’t do therapy on your own,” Seth added somberly. “Not this time. Not even you, Wyatt.”

      He got that loud and clear.

      “As stubborn as you are,” Cole prompted when Wyatt remained silent, “and as driven, there is no doubt in our minds that you’ll be back up globe-trotting in record time. With the right physical therapy program. So stop worrying—and we know you are. You can’t hide it from us. Just like you can’t hide the fact that you’re in a heap of pain right now.”

      “I’m fine,” Wyatt snapped as his gut tightened at the denial as the spasm began to ease up a bit. They came and went at their leisure and he’d begun to wonder if this was what a woman felt like when she went into labor…if so, it was a miracle there were children born.

      “Look,” he said. “I don’t need you two knuckleheads trying to run my life—”

      “Oh, man, you did not just say that!” Cole hooted, his eyes dancing as he stared at Wyatt in disbelief.

      “You, the master of interference—”

      “Not that the two of us are complaining,” Seth interjected with a grin. “You found us both our wives and we are eternally grateful. But you aren’t yourself these days, Wyatt. Not since the accident. We’ve got to help you get out of this funk you’re in from being out of control of everything.”

      Seth’s somber, determined gaze locked with Wyatt’s. He knew Seth couldn’t be budged when he had that look—it was chock-full of Turner stubbornness. It was true he was in a “funk,” but it was only to be expected. He was letting down his clients and his firm because he’d been careless…and careless was unacceptable in his book.

      “I should have gone back to Dallas so y’all wouldn’t worry—”

      “No, you shouldn’t have,” Seth countered emphatically. “We love you and want what’s best for you. Therapy out here on the land you love is the best way to get you healed up.”

      “That’s all we care about,” Cole added, all laughter and teasing gone. That in itself told Wyatt how concerned they were for him. “You just need someone to help you get the full range of movement back into that hip and arm. Then you’ll be your old overachieving self again. If it were either one of us in your position, this is what you’d be doing for us and you know it.”

      It was true. He’d have meddled in their lives until he got what was best for them. “I’ll be fine,” he grunted, not liking losing control of his life like he had. It was not a feeling he’d ever experienced before, and he wasn’t dealing well.

      “Yeah, you will be after the PT arrives. Now we’ll go to work.” Seth walked out the door.

      Cole sauntered after him, but stopped in the doorway. “Hang tough, big bro.”

      Through the window, Wyatt watched them leave. Their boots thumped loudly as they hurried across the rough wooden porch and down the two steps to the old stone sidewalk that led to where they’d parked the ranch truck earlier. He reminded himself that his little brothers were only looking out for him because they loved him. Still, having the control taken away from him fisted him up inside. Giving control of his life over to anyone wasn’t something he did…but it seemed he had no choice. If he wanted his life back he was going to have to trust this Amanda Hathaway.

      Seth and Cole wouldn’t have hired someone who wasn’t capable, he assured himself an hour later as a red SUV pulled over the cattle guard.

      Feeling suffocated inside, he’d moved his wheelchair out onto the porch. He waited as a woman got out of the vehicle. She was young, about twenty. No,