One Texas Cowboy Too Many (Burnt Boot, Texas #3)(68)

“They put her on oxygen and hooked her up to an IV, and believe me, she hates them, so she threw a hissy that raised her blood pressure even more when they stuck that needle in her arm,” Gladys answered.

“How high was her blood pressure?”

“They wouldn’t tell me. I asked, and they said it was high. They probably only had one stretcher and thought if they told me, it would shoot mine up and they’d have to stack me and Polly up like cordwood,” she said. “Changing the subject to get my mind off Polly, how in the hell did Betsy catch you? I thought you and Leah had a plan.”

“Betsy peppered the path to the barn with a handful of goat head stickers. I stepped on them really hard and she caught me.”

“Damned feudin’ people. So that’s how you got caught. How’d they find out, anyway?”

“I have no idea unless someone happened to see us walkin’ that way last night. We decided to do a trial run, but we didn’t tell anyone our plan,” Rhett answered.

“You should have come to me and Polly. We would have helped you hide in the store. Someone must’ve seen or overheard something one of you said or hell’s bells, knowing the Gallagher’s, they might have bugged your truck,” Gladys said.

Rhett nodded. “Paybacks are a bitch, so they’d better be careful.”

“Let it go. Get past the dinner tomorrow and forget it.”

Rhett inhaled deeply and asked, “Do you think that they’d do something stupid, like kill Leah?”

Gladys whipped around in the seat, and the whites of her eyes were visible all around her dark eyes. “What makes you ask a fool question like that?”

“Betsy was probably pulling my chain, but she made a veiled threat that Leah could disappear if I didn’t back off and let Tanner have her,” Rhett answered.

“It’s part of the war between Mavis and Naomi. If Tanner did wind up with her, it would be a revenge match, not a love one. But then again, this is the Gallaghers and the Brennans. There ain’t no love there anyway. But to answer your question, there hasn’t been a killing between them in decades.”

“But this is the worst case of feudin’ in a long time, right?”

Gladys nodded. “Only thing worse would be if a Gallagher and a Brennan really fell in love with each other and Mavis or Naomi neither one was behind it. Lord that would be a holy mess.”

“But Tanner and Leah—” he started.

Gladys held up a palm. “That doesn’t count because it’s sanctioned by Naomi to get back at Mavis. I’m talking about a real, honest-to-God love.”

“Like Betsy and Quaid or Honey and Declan?” he asked.

“Oh my Lord.” She gasped. “Betsy, because she is Naomi’s pride and joy, and Declan, who is Naomi’s favorite grandson. Now that might bring on a killin’.”

“Well, I hope it never happens because Leah wants the feud to end. We’re here and would you look at that? We’ve got a wonderful parking space not far from the emergency room door,” he said.

Gladys bailed out of the truck the moment Rhett stopped the engine, and she was halfway to the doors when he caught up to her. His phone rang, but he ignored it and followed her through the automatic doors, into the waiting room. She marched right up to the desk and said, “I’m here for Polly Cleary. Just hit the button and let me through those doors.”

“Are you family?” the lady asked.

“Damn straight I am,” Gladys said.

The doors opened, and Rhett followed her through them and to the next station, where the nurse pointed toward a curtained-off area. They found Polly sitting up in the middle of the bed, with oxygen tubes in her nostrils and an IV drip in her arm.

“Come on in and sit down. There’re two chairs. One is for the doctor, but he’s not here right now. I may never forgive you for this, Gladys Cleary. I told you it was heartburn, and look at this needle. I swear to God, it’s as big as a tenpenny nail, and I’ll have a bruise as big as a dollar bill tomorrow. Old women like us don’t get rid of bruises like we did when we was kids.”

“Will you shut up bitchin’ and tell me what they’ve done?” Gladys asked. “We got here as fast as we could.”

“They’ve run an EKG, and I’m waiting for the doctor to bring back the report on that, but they mixed up a thing that was green and tasted like shit. They made me drink it, and the pain eased up right away. I think they ground up bullfrogs, guts and all,” she whispered.

Rhett chuckled. “Acid reflux?”

“That’s the new fancy word for it. We called it heartburn when I was your age. They tell me it feels like a heart attack. I guess I shouldn’t have eaten them hot tacos for dinner and supper both. Your phone is ringing. You’d better step on out of here and answer it. Never know what all them crazy currents might do to the machinery, and I’m not stayin’ in this place all night because of heartburn.” Polly pulled the oxygen tubes from her nose. “Let’s retire and go on one of them senior cruises. You ready?”

“Hell yes,” Gladys said.

“We’ll take Verdie with us,” Polly said.

“You ain’t leavin’ this place until they convince me it was tacos and not your heart, you crazy old fart,” Gladys said.