Page 4 of A Forgotten Heart (Wind River Mail-Order Brides #5)

Almost there, the cross street so close. Elsie could reach out and touch the edge of boardwalk. Nick rose up. As he did, the loudest crack yet split the air from above.

Nick jerked and tumbled backward, collapsing.

Elsie turned in time to flinch at the sickening crunch of his head on the boardwalk’s edge as he rolled into the street. “Nick!” No!

She skidded down the step on her belly until she reached Nick. His stillness stole her breath.

We’ll never be friends .

She wanted nothing more than for him to open his eyes. To say the cruel, hurtful words all over again.

But he stayed still and so, so pale.

“Help!” she shouted.

Her muscles clenched, waiting to hear another shot—a shot that would pierce her body—but none came.

She scoured the street in both directions. Nothing moved. Everything was a blur of snow, tumbling in all directions, blown by the wind. Where was the man who’d shot at them? Had he gone away?

Did he know that he’d injured Nick? Maybe killed him?

The shooter was still out there. She felt it. Urgency made her next cry louder.

“Help!” But the wind muted her voice.

No one responded. No help was coming.

You walked away from me first.

She was never good at thinking of the right argument in a heated moment—and now it seemed ridiculous that her mind would replay the fight with Nick during this nightmare.

She had walked away from Nick then—but only when he’d asked the impossible of her.

She swallowed against a sob, but it escaped anyway.

Well, she wouldn’t leave him now.

Nick’s dog hovered nearby, whimpers escaping its throat.

“Go! Go get help!”

The dog yipped twice, then disappeared into the wall of blowing snow.

She had to get Nick out of here. If the gunman came after them, they’d be easy targets. But Nick was six inches taller than her. Solid muscle. She couldn’t lift him.

She crawled back up to the boardwalk to a closed storefront and banged her fist against the door.

No answer.

She could barely see Nick’s body through the raging blizzard. How long before he froze in addition to his injuries?

She turned toward the next door—the bank. No one would be in there.

Nick needed help. Now.

There was no time to go from door to door hoping someone would answer. The doctor’s office was just down the street. If she could get Nick there, he’d be okay. God, please let him be all right .

A lump swelled in her throat as she rushed back to Nick, landing on her knees at his side.

We’ll never be friends .

Snow dusted his body. She swatted the snow off his coat, then tenderly lifted his satchel off him. She closed the flap that had somehow opened, then hooked the strap over her own shoulder.

He moaned and his eyes fluttered. Was he coming to?

“Nick!”

His eyelids slid closed. She patted his cheek. “Nick, wake up.”

He tilted his head away, onto the wound. His eyes flew open as he released a groan through gritted teeth.

He was alive.

But fear choked her. Along with the feeling that whoever had shot at them was still out there.

“Come on, Nick. We aren’t too far from the doctor. Get up.”

He mumbled something incoherent but still let her help him to his feet. He tipped heavily to one side. Before he fell back into the snow, she wrapped her arm around his waist, steadying him.

He leaned into her. Heavy. “Come on,” she whispered. “It isn’t far.”

He didn’t speak. He moaned when she missed a step, and the stumble that barely kept them on their feet jarred him.

Bent low beneath his weight, Elsie trudged through the snow. She prayed the doctor would be in. If he wasn’t, she didn’t know how Nick would make it any farther. Certainly not back to Merritt’s, at the opposite end of town.

Her knees weakened with each step, her boots sliding on the snow and ice. A gust of wind dragged a clump of hair out of her pins and slapped it against her face.

The doctor’s office came into view, and she gasped with relief. “Almost there,” she panted.

She shifted beneath Nick’s weight and stepped up to the boardwalk.

Nick moaned, then crumpled against her. His body weight pinned her to the wall, keeping her upright. Elsie struggled to inhale, the pressure against her chest heavy. They couldn’t stop now.

She tapped his back. “Nick.”

But he didn’t move. Instead, he turned his head, only half conscious, until his breath brushed the hair at the nape of her neck.

“Elsie,” he said, his voice low. He mumbled something else she couldn’t understand.

Gooseflesh rose on her arms. She clenched her frozen fingers and pounded against the wall.

No answer. She pounded harder, not caring how the impact bruised her frozen hand.

Oh, please be there.

Strength started to fade from her quivering legs as Nick’s body became limp.

Slick blood seeped into her coat. How much longer could he continue if she didn’t find help?

Their argument didn’t matter. He’d flung friendship back in her face, but she didn’t care. He needed to survive.

He’d put himself between her and the gun.

Gritting her teeth so tight it hurt, she kicked her heel into the wall. “Hello? Someone help! Please!”

The door flung open. “What on earth?—”

Tears blurred Elsie’s vision as the doctor lifted Nick’s body away from hers. Elsie dragged in a long breath, her weak knees shuddering. “Please. Help him.”

“What happened?” The doctor’s eyes scanned Nick, already assessing.

Her heart was breaking all over again. “He’s been shot.”