As she reached the farthest point from town and turned to circle back, traffic suddenly picked up. She slowed and stared at a light patch in the sky that shouldn’t be there. Laughing, she cut down a side street and ran toward the illumination coming from the fifty-acre fairgrounds on the east side of the village that was alive with music, the roar of mingled voices, and multicolored flashing lights. Now she knew where everyone was headed on a weeknight. The rodeo.

She’d forgotten the rodeo was in town for the rest of the week. When the fairgrounds weren’t home to the annual summer county fair with its vendors, barns full of animals, show rings, and carnival midway, the space hosted other events: the boat show, huge antique fairs, classic car exhibits, and the always popular rodeo. Pretty soon a steady stream of pickups and cars passed her, and on a whim, she pulled the twenty dollar bill she kept folded in the small key pocket of her shorts and purchased a ticket for the grandstand show.

She picked up a bottle of water from the guy selling soda, beer, and water from a cooler he lugged back and forth in front of the grandstand and went in search of a seat in the nearly full stands. She’d seen the barrel racing, cattle roping, bareback riding, and obstacle course races a few hundred times in her life, or so it felt, but she still watched the competitors put their mounts through their paces and clapped along with everyone else at the simple enjoyment.

“Hey, Glenn!”

Glenn scanned the bleachers and grinned when she saw Harper Rivers with her fiancée Presley and Glenn’s friend Carrie, who also happened to be Presley’s admin and longtime friend. Carrie had shed her stylish office attire in favor of her habitual scooped tee, shorts, and sandals. With her curly shoulder-length red hair pulled back in a careless ponytail she looked closer to eighteen than early twenties. Glenn waved and climbed between the spectators clogging the aisles. She worked her way down the already full row to where her three friends pressed together to make room for her.

“Thanks for the seat.” Glenn dropped down next to Carrie. “Must be a sellout crowd. Good for the town coffers.”

“Hey.” Carrie gave her a shoulder bump. “If I’d known you’d be free, I would’ve told you we were coming tonight.”

“That’s okay. Hadn’t planned on it.” Glenn uncapped the water and drank down half. She and Carrie hadn’t known each other long, but they had developed a quick, easy friendship. They often ended up together at group gatherings, especially since their mutual friends were pairing off, but things had never gone any further than that, mostly because neither one of them had ever pushed for more. “I was at the hospital pretty late anyhow. First day of the new program.”

“I heard you had some excitement.”

“Hasn’t everyone?” Glenn smiled wryly. There were no secrets in a hospital, personal or professional. The only way to keep a secret was to keep silent. It occurred to her she’d already broken that rule with Mari, but somehow she wasn’t worried. Mari would respect her secrets.

“A mass casualty alert,” Carrie said. “Pretty wild first day for all the newbies. How’d they do?”

“The students missed the MCA, but the ER team handled that without a hitch.” Glenn shrugged. “Considering it’s the students’ first clinical experience, they aren’t half bad, actually.”

“High praise.” Chuckling, Carrie offered her half-eaten box of popcorn. “Want some?”

“Nah, I’m good.”

“We’re going out for pizza in a while if you want to come.”

“Thanks, but I already had some.”

“Really?” The look in Carrie’s green eyes bordered on suspicion mixed with disbelief. “You left the hospital before sundown?”

“Oh, come on,” Glenn protested. “I do…sometimes.”

Carrie snorted. “It’s okay to admit you don’t want to come along. Just don’t think you’re getting out of the hospital barbecue this weekend.”

“I swear! I already ate. I walked down with Mari after shift and—”

“Who’s Mari?” Carrie knew everyone, considering she was the CEO’s admin, and she didn’t know anyone in the ER by that name.

“Mari Mateo. One of the new PAs, just started.”

“Huh. Since the ER is technically freestanding, those hires went through Abby and not our HR department.” Carrie gave Glenn an inquiring look. “Is she nice?”

“Nice?” Glenn felt the word roll around on her tongue like a shoe that didn’t fit. Mari was a whole lot of things—smart, capable, sensitive, maybe a little vulnerable, and, well, why not admit it, beautiful. “Sure, she’s nice.”

“And you went out to dinner with her.” Carrie’s eyes narrowed. “That’s almost newsworthy, considering about the only place you ever go outside of work is Harper and Flann’s parents’ house for Sunday dinner.”

“Pizza, Carrie, pizza.” Glenn sighed. “Give me a break.”

“Uh-huh. Just make sure she gets to the staff cookout too.”

“Flann already reminded me. I’ll make sure she’s aware—hell, I’m not gonna drag her there.”

“Mateo, you said?” Carrie asked, looking like she was only paying half attention.

“Yes, why?”

“No reason.”

Carrie fell silent, an unusual state for her. The crowd started to break up before the last competition was over. Ten thirty was late for most everybody who had to get up before four in the morning to feed the animals, milk the cows, get the work of the day started before the heat or the rain or some other unexpected event interfered.

“I’m gonna get out before the crowds,” Glenn said.

“Headed home?” Carrie asked.

“Yeah.” Glenn toyed with the idea of making a quick stop by the ER to check on the new attending on his first night on call. He seemed solid, but he was still fresh out of his residency, and he didn’t know the place like she did.

“You know,” Carrie said casually, “you don’t actually have to supervise every single person in the ER.”

Glenn laughed. “Are you mind-reading again?”

“Honestly, Glenn, you’re not all that hard to read. I’m surprised you even left today.”

Glenn didn’t mention she hadn’t been planning on it, at least not until she was absolutely certain everything was tight and tidy, but she’d been drawn away by Mari. “Are you trying to say I’m a control freak?”

“I wouldn’t be that harsh. But seriously,” Carrie said quietly, “it wouldn’t hurt to ease up a little bit now and then. You deserve it.”

“This coming from the woman who I know for a fact works twelve-hour days almost every day.”

“Have you seen my boss? She’s merciless.”

From the other side of Carrie, Presley Worth chuckled. “Are you admitting defeat?”

“Me?” Carrie grinned. “Never. I love my work, and if I never had to leave the hospital, I’d be happy.”

“We only have a few more major projects to accomplish,” Presley said, “and then your hours will seem more human.”

“Really?” Carrie snorted. “You mean after you strong-arm the construction crew into getting the new MRI wing done in six months and build the heliport in six weeks…Oh, and don’t forget pushing through the approval for our trauma accreditation so we can actually get the helicopters to land on the heliport that we haven’t built yet.”

“I didn’t say it would be instantaneous.” Presley smiled, the kind of smile fighter pilots wear as they climb into the cockpit. “It might take a month or so.”

Harper Rivers, Presley’s soon-to-be spouse and current chief of medicine at the Rivers, laughed out loud. “Darling, you do realize that at most places, things like that take a couple of years?”

“Well,” the new CEO said nonchalantly, “this isn’t most places.”

“Like I said,” Carrie said with a long-suffering sigh, “I love my job and I would sleep in the office if I could find a place to put a cot.”

“You can always bed down on the floor,” Glenn suggested. “Plenty of room behind the desk.”

Carrie gave her a raised eyebrow. “Some of us are more civilized than that.”

Glenn grinned, half listening to Carrie and Presley’s banter while most of her concentration was focused on several teens who’d just congregated at the bottom of the stairs, Blake and Margie in the mix. She noticed that another girl and boy joined them, and after they all spoke awhile, the four began wending their way toward the exit.

Glenn stood. “I’ll see you at the staff meeting tomorrow night.”

“Go home,” Carrie said sternly.

“Yes, dear.” Glenn didn’t think it necessary to add she might take just a little detour to make sure Blake and Margie didn’t run into any trouble on their way home.

*

Mari would have sworn on all that was holy she would fall asleep the second her head hit the pillow, but she lay awake in the half dark with all the events of her first day running through her mind like a runaway movie reel. Her first day. She’d gone to sleep in this room for a week, but it still felt like today was her first day. The first day that really counted. The first day of the life she’d fought for and made happen. She’d imagined what this day would be like, but she hadn’t expected most of it. The medical part was even better than she’d hoped. It was strange, the contradiction, of loving an emergency, of thriving on the challenge of going to battle against an enemy that was as real to her as she imagined an enemy on the battlefield might be to a soldier, all as a consequence of someone else’s suffering. Life was on the line, and although she might not die if she failed, someone else would, and that to her was in many ways worse than her own pain. Without the suffering of others, there’d be no need for her skills. So she’d gone to battle and loved every minute of it.

She been right that this profession was what she wanted to spend her life doing, but she hadn’t expected to discover such a vibrant community inside the hospital. She had immediately sensed the currents of a unique society with its own customs and history flowing around her like so many branches of an ancient river, in the halls and nurses’ stations, even the cafeteria. The village was another community, with its own rhythms and tides. Glenn, when she finally let herself think about Glenn, was the most unexpected part of all. She had hoped to connect with colleagues, make friends, but she hadn’t expected to meet anyone special. Someone at once secretive and welcoming, revealing and hidden. A puzzle and an open book. All Glenn’s many contrasts fascinated her, but she was most grateful to Glenn for giving her hope that she could belong somewhere again. She turned on her side and pulled a pillow close, snuggling her face into the old, familiar contours, smiling to herself as she thought about Glenn sitting across from her in the pizza parlor, still feeling the heat of Glenn’s dark-eyed scrutiny and the comfort of her unpitying understanding. Yes, much, much more than she had imagined her first day would be like.