“Interesting plan.”

He headed toward Ethan. Izzy did a quick head count to make sure everyone was still in the area, then frowned as she realized four guys were missing.

She hesitated, trying to figure out which way they’d gone. She heard male laughter off to her left and walked in that direction.

“Get it! Get it!”

“You get it. Man, look at it.”

“It’s pissed, bro. You are so dead.”

Izzy couldn’t begin to imagine what the four guys were up to and she didn’t much care. She would herd them back to the main group and count the hours until they were gone.

She stepped around a bush, only to find four very drunk men had trapped a rattlesnake between a tree and a fallen log. They were taunting it by jabbing it with sticks. The snake was fair-size, maybe six feet long, coiled, rattling its tail like mad and, from the crazed look in its little snake eyes, out for blood.

“Are you insane?” she yelled.

The guy closest to the snake dropped his stick and leaped back when the snake lunged.

“Jeez, lady,” the guy complained. “You nearly made me drop my beer.”

“And what a shame that would have been.” Izzy kept her attention on the snake, telling herself not to panic. While she wasn’t technically afraid of snakes, she didn’t have any as close friends. “Step away from the rattler and head back to your group. No sudden moves, just a general easing back.”

“We’re not afraid,” a guy said, poking the snake again.

“Then you’re really stupid.”

“I’m wearing boots. It can’t bite through boots.”

“Great. Did you know rattlers can jump nearly as far as they are long? Hmm, let me think. If that snake took a flying leap, by my calculations it would hit your balls. You wearing boots there, too?”

The men moved back.

She drew in a breath. Everything was going to be fine. She just had to stay calm and speak firmly. Pretend the guys were actually four-year-olds, although in her opinion the average four-year-old showed a whole lot more sense.

“All right, gentlemen. If you’ll follow me.”

“You think you’re so smart,” one of the guys said and grabbed her arm. “Let’s see how you like the snake.”

Before Izzy knew what was happening, the man was drawing her forward, between him and the snake. The creature’s fury was palpable. It coiled tightly and lunged.

The next few seconds were a blur. Izzy screamed. Something hard slammed into her, pushing her out of the way. The snake made contact with someone, although she was pretty sure it wasn’t her. Then she was falling.

The ground was as hard as it looked. All the air rushed out of her, but she forced herself to roll onto her side, gasping. Even as she sucked in air, she saw the snake slithering back into the underbrush, the guys scattering and Nick standing next to her, two clear bite marks on his left forearm.

Izzy scrambled to her feet. The phrase blind panic suddenly made perfect sense because it didn’t matter if she could see. Nick was going to die, right here, in the semiwilderness and she didn’t know what to do.

“Don’t scream,” she said as she rushed to him. “Don’t scream.”

“I wasn’t planning on screaming,” he told her.

“I was talking to myself.”

“It’s all right,” he said calmly. “I’m going to move to this tree and lean against it. Send Ethan to get Aaron to drive the SUV as close as possible. Then bring back the first-aid kit.”

Her heart pounded so fast, she thought she was going to pass out. The bite marks were deep. Blood oozed out of them. “There’s antivenom serum in the first-aid kit?”

“No. A bandage. You’re going to wrap my arm, then we’ll drive to the hospital.”

As he spoke, he walked to the tree, then leaned.

“Should you sit down? You need to sit down. How can you be so calm. Is it the venom? Is it already in your brain?”

“I don’t want to move around. Lack of movement keeps the venom localized.” He stared into her eyes. “Izzy, you can do this.”

She wanted to run in a circle screaming. She wanted to wring her hands and beg the universe to fix him. She wanted to sit down and cry, then lose herself in panic. Instead she knew she had to take care of business.

“Okay,” she said and took off to find Ethan.

Five minutes later she was back with the first-aid kit Ethan had handed her. She brought it to Nick, who told her to open it.

Easier said than done, she thought as her hands shook. “What kind of bandage?”

“Gauze to put over the bite marks, then an Ace bandage to wrap my arm. See if there’s a sling.”

She didn’t bother reading the contents. Instead she dumped everything on the ground and rapidly searched through it until she found what she needed.

“I’m going to throw up,” she muttered as she grabbed everything and raced to his side.

“Just don’t get any on me.”

“Shut up. Tell me what to do.”

“I can’t do both.”

She looked at him. “I am hanging on by a thread, Nick. I swear, why couldn’t you catch the damn snake like they do in the movies?”

“So this is my fault?”

There was actual humor in his voice. As if he thought the situation was funny. As if he wasn’t going to die.

“Did I tell you not to piss me off?” she asked.

“I hate to disappoint you, Izzy, but we’re not having sex tonight.”

“Yeah, I got that. Tell me what to do.”

He walked her through covering the wound, then wrapping his arm. The work was difficult, what with her fingers shaking and the sense of impending doom sending waves of panic through her. Knowing his life depended on her, she kept going. Slowly, carefully, she secured the sling around his arm and helped him anchor his arm against his chest, his wrist and hand higher than his elbow.

“Go wait for the car,” he told her.

“I’m not leaving you.”

“You’re not leaving. You’re checking on the car. Go on, Izzy. I’ll be right here.”

She hesitated a second, then raced to the clearing. The corporate guys were gone. She hoped Ethan had bullied the hell out of them and thrown in a few threats for good measure. She planned to call the sheriff just as soon as she knew Nick wasn’t going to die, but right now she didn’t care about anything but getting him to the hospital.

“Hurry,” she said aloud. “Hurry.”

Seconds later Nick’s SUV raced down the road and slammed to a stop just beside her. Aaron jumped out.

“Where is he?” he yelled, his arms waving. “Oh, God. A snake? A rattlesnake? Is he dead? He’s dead, isn’t he?”

“Not yet. Come on.”

She grabbed Aaron’s arm and led him back to Nick. He was still leaning against the tree, looking calm. But she saw the sweat on his forehead and noticed the tension in his jaw.

“You all right?” she asked.

“Fine. We’re going to walk to the SUV. Aaron, I’ll lean on you.”

“Yes, yes.” Aaron sounded as shaky as Izzy felt.

He looped Nick’s free arm around his shoulder and they moved the few feet down the trail. Nick wanted to go slowly, stepping carefully. His breathing was steady. She told herself that was good. It had to be.

When they reached the SUV, she helped him slide into the backseat, then closed the door behind him.

“Are you driving?” she asked Aaron.

“Yes.”

“Do you know where the hospital is?”

“Yes. I’ve already called and told them we’re coming. They’re ready.”

“Good.”

She climbed into the passenger seat, buried her face in her hands and burst into tears.

NICK LAY in the hospital bed. Morning light filtered in through the blinds. His arm hurt like a sonofabitch, but he could deal with the pain.

He glanced over at the woman curled up in the big chair in the corner. No matter how he’d ordered, yelled and pleaded, Izzy had refused to leave. She’d spent the night fussing over him, talking to him when he couldn’t sleep and getting him ice for his water.

Slowly she stirred, then straightened and groaned. “Not exactly comfortable,” she said as she stood and straightened. Then she looked at him. “How are you feeling?”

“Better.”

“You sure?”

“You heard the doctor. I’m going to be fine.”

“He said you were lucky. It was a big snake.”

“I’m a big guy.”

“And you knew what to do. I would have freaked and made everything worse.”

He didn’t want to think about her being hurt. The memory of seeing that guy dragging her toward the rattler would haunt him forever.

She crossed to the bed and put her hand on his forehead. “Not clammy anymore.”

He grabbed her wrist. “You should go home. Get some sleep. Take a shower.”

“Are you saying I’m not at my best?”

“I’m saying I’m okay. You don’t have to monitor me.”

“Maybe I like monitoring you.”

There was a knock at the half-open door, then Lexi and Skye entered.

“Hi,” they said together.

“How are you feeling?” Lexi asked as she hugged Izzy.

“You look pretty good for a guy who wrestled a snake,” Skye told him.

“Thanks. I’m fine. I was telling your sister she can go. I don’t need her hovering.”

Lexi and Skye exchanged glances, then turned back to him.

“Poor man,” Lexi said. “You don’t actually think she’ll listen, do you? Have you met our sister? She’s fairly stubborn.”

They were both carrying tote bags. As Lexi talked she pulled out a large plant and a colorful blanket she spread across his feet. Skye removed two big boxes from her tote.

“A robe,” she said. “I got blue because it’s a traditional guy color. And these are cookies. Erin and I made them last night.”

Lexi put the plant by the window. “They’re chocolate chip. I could smell them the whole way here. Torture.”

There was another knock, then Dana entered with a tall, thin man.

“Hi,” she said. “This is Sheriff Rogers. He’s going to take your statement.”