Free Counting on Love (Contemporary Cowboy Romance) (Carson Hill Ranch series: Book 3) by Amelia Rose Page A

her mouth.
    “You win, I’ll talk! Anything but that!” he exclaimed. But his playfulness was short lived. He flopped back against the seat and crossed his arms in front of him, stretching out his legs and looking dejected. “I’m just worried about Joseph.”
    “You’re worried about what the doctor will say? That’s totally understandable, right?”
    “No, I mean, the opposite. What do we do if this doctor says there’s nothing wrong, just like the last guy? I’ve seen his face, Gracie, I know he’s hurting. This isn’t just some ploy to get more pills, that kid is in real pain. So, what if they can’t find out what’s causing it, and they just tell him he has to learn to deal with it?”
    “Then you just have to make the doctor believe you. Even if he can’t find the problem, it doesn’t mean it isn’t there. Make him understand that Joseph needs help.”
    “And how am I supposed to do that, Miss Smarty Pants?” Carey asked with a weak but joking grin.
    “I don’t know. Just be his big brother. Stand up for him, just like you would have done if this was some bully who wanted to hurt him when you two were kids.” Carey nodded to himself thoughtfully before turning to Gracie.
    “How’d you get to be so grown up? Aren’t you supposed to be a bratty little girl?” he teased. Gracie shot him a knowing look.
    “It’s a girl thing. You wouldn’t understand. We’re just naturally smarter.” That remark earned her a full on tickle assault, which she gladly played along with because it brought Carey out of his dark mood, even if it would only be for a little while.
    The sounds of Gracie’s laughter mixed with the boisterous voices coming from the front of the RV made Emma smile to herself. She still wasn’t exactly sure how she’d become mixed up in this family’s problems, but she knew that she’d never met anyone with as pure a heart as the girl whose screams of laughter filled the vehicle with a sound Emma had never gotten enough of: happiness.
    “Hey,” Emma said quietly, turning to where Joseph lay across from her. “You never did tell me how you were hurt.” Joseph silently turned his face toward her, trying to read her expression to determine if she really cared to know, or if she had just suddenly become bored.
    He let out a long sigh, staring at the bottom of the bunk above his head. “It’s not really a story,” he began. “We were on the drive early last summer, and I was thrown from my horse while bringing back a calf that had run off. I landed wrong, and broke my collarbone, and then one of the broken ribs punctured my lung. I had a small concussion, but it wasn’t serious. The real damage was my shoulder.”
    “And it just hasn’t healed right?” she asked, genuinely interested in what had Joseph in so much pain that he couldn’t even walk far, let alone sit in a saddle or rope steer.
    “We thought it was healing, but then it just started hurting more and more. The worse it became, the more pain medicine I needed, until finally, the doctor told my dad that I was going to ruin my kidneys if I kept taking ‘em.”
    “So what do you do when it hurts?” Emma asked softly. Joseph looked to her for the first time since telling the story. He shrugged slightly, and she noticed that even that small movement made him wince lightly, just a quick flash of hurt across his face, but enough that she noticed it.
    “Carey gave me his old prescription, but there aren’t that many left. I’ve been taking half of one of his pills at a time and chasing it down with enough alcohol to just knock me out.”
    “Yeah, I’ve seen you in Tommy’s bar a couple of times, being hauled out by the sheriff. I guess it’s a good thing she’s practically your family.” Emma didn’t mean that remark spitefully, and luckily, Joseph didn’t take it that way at all.
    “Yes and no,” he replied. “It’s good that she’s looked out for me and kept me from getting into serious trouble, but I