I rushed into the emergency room while Carver found a place to park. Police cruisers were pulled up near the ambulance bay, so I hoped Heath was already there. I’d called him as soon as I’d hung up with Rhett.

A uniformed officer that had been at the house was in the waiting room.

“Is my dad here?” I asked him. “Where is he? Can I see him?”

“Yes, ma’am. Your brother asked me to wait for you. I’ll take you back.”

“What happened?”

“I didn’t get all the details. I’m sure your brother will fill you in.”

I didn’t bother asking any more questions as we hustled back through the doors that led to the exam rooms. Rhett stood outside the third one and I ran to him, throwing myself into his arms. “Thank you. Thank you so much.” Tears spilled down my face, and he hugged me hard.

“He’s gonna be okay, Red. I promise.”

I snuffled. “I hope so.”

“No hoping. He will be. They’re running tests.”

I forced myself to let Rhett go and reached for the door handle, but he stopped me with a hand on my arm.

“He’s a little banged up, so make sure you’re ready. Don’t freak out. He’s gonna be just fine.”

“Are you coming in?”

He shook his head. “I’ll be right here. It’s getting a little crowded in there.”

The dread that had been thrumming through my veins curdled in my stomach as I took a fortifying breath and pushed open the door. When I stepped inside, I was glad Rhett had warned me. My dad’s face was swollen and bruised. Tears burned behind my eyes, and it took everything I had not to let them fall.

“Daddy?”

My brother was at his side, talking to him as the doctor attended to his hands. Both Heath and my dad looked up when I spoke.

“Ari? When did you get here?”

I didn’t know if Dad was asking whether I’d just gotten here from California or when I’d gotten to the hospital. “Just now. How are you doing?” I kept my answer generic, not wanting to confuse him further.

“I got a little banged up. I’ll be fine.” His voice sounded strong and sure, which was a good sign.

I swallowed back the tears and chose my words carefully. “You’ve looked better, but you’re still the most handsome man I know.”

He tried to smile, but the tug on his split lip stopped him.

I cringed at the flash of pain and crossed the room to get closer. I desperately wanted to ask who the hell had done this, but a warning look on Heath’s face stopped me. Instinctively, I knew that keeping the atmosphere light in the room was paramount.

“You’ve been working too much,” Dad said. “Gotta take time off now and again to spend with your old man.”

His words almost knocked my tears loose, but I held them in and cleared my throat. “I was just thinking the same thing. I think I’m going to be spending a lot more time in New Orleans from here on out.”

My dad gave me a half smile, probably the biggest one he could without pain. “I like the sound of that.”

To see that joy on my father’s face, there wasn’t much I wouldn’t do. “You got it, Daddy.” I looked to the doctor standing near the wall. “Sorry to interrupt. I just—”

He waved me off. “Don’t worry about it. As I was telling your brother and father, they’ll be here shortly to get him down for a CT scan, and we’ll go from there.”

The panic that was just starting to fade kicked up again. “CT scan?” I jerked to look at Heath and my dad.

Dad answered. “They’re worried about me knocking my head and jacking my hip up.”

“What?”

When no one elaborated further, a tense silence hung in the room. The doctor excused himself, and I drilled Heath with a stare. His look again carried enough warning that I couldn’t miss it. Now wasn’t the time to ask questions. We made small talk with Dad until someone knocked on the door and it opened to reveal a woman dressed in scrubs.

“Mr. Sampson, we’re ready for you.”

I backed away, hating that they were wheeling him out of sight. The door shut, leaving Heath and me alone in the room.

“What the hell happened?” I asked as soon as the door shut.

“He wandered down into a bad neighborhood and got jumped.”

“He got jumped? They could’ve killed him!” I hadn’t been a New Orleans resident in a long time, but even I knew the city had a dark side that couldn’t be hidden.

Heath crossed the room and dragged me into a hug. “But they didn’t. He’s okay. We’ll make sure this never happens again.”

My mind raced through the possibilities. “We can get him twenty-four-hour care if he doesn’t want to leave his house. I can afford the best, and you know damn well I’ll make sure he gets it.”

My brother kissed the top of my head. “I know. We’ll figure it out. You know he’s stubborn as hell, and he’s still a little out of it. This isn’t going to be easy for any of us.”

I squeezed him harder. “I meant what I said. I’ll stay as long as I need to. He needs both of us.”

“Yeah, he does.” Heath loosened his grip and I looked up. “I’m glad you’re staying.”

“Do you want to try to move him into the place I’m renting? Maybe it would be easier?”

“I don’t think a lot of change is a good idea right now. Let’s see what they say about his hip first. Then we’ll decide.”

“Okay. We’ll do whatever we have to.”

The door opened and Rhett stepped inside.

Heath released me. “There’s our hero. He found him. Who knows how long we would’ve been out there without his help.”

I didn’t care that my brother was watching. I crossed the room and threw my arms around Rhett.

“Thank you,” I whispered to him again.

“I didn’t do anything you wouldn’t have done for me,” he said as he gently wrapped an arm around my shoulders and pressed my face into his chest.

“Whatever you say,” Heath said, “but I’m damn glad you were here. We owe you.”

“He’s right. We do.”

Rhett held me tighter. “None of that owing shit. This is what we do.”

Fifteen minutes later, Dad and his hospital bed were returned to their previous position. Conscious of all the eyes on us, I stepped out of Rhett’s arms.

“I wondered how long it would take him to make a move on my girl. Took him long enough, but I’m glad to see he finally figured it out.”

My face heated, and I was sure it had turned red at my dad’s words.

My instinct was to inch away from Rhett, but he looped an arm around my waist and pulled me in front of him.

“Glad we’ve got your blessing, sir.”

“Take good care of my girl.”

“Of course, sir. Understood.”

“Good.”

I took the clarity in my father’s words as a good sign, even though a few moments of awkward silence followed. We waited another hour before the results of the CT scan were delivered. Dad had a hip fracture, but nothing that would require surgery. They weren’t able to determine the cause of his altered mental state.

“He’s lucky it’s not worse,” the doctor explained. “We’ll keep him overnight to run a series of tests, make sure he’s stable, and get a neuro consult. Depending on what we find, it might be a good idea to look into rehab facilities for the hip fracture.”

Dad protested, but Heath and I overruled him. When I volunteered to stay with Dad and sleep on the pull-out chair, Heath overruled me.

“I’m pulling rank on this one. Go home. I need to stay with him to make myself feel better about letting him wander off. This was on me.”

I argued and told him it wasn’t his fault, but he wouldn’t listen. As we left the room, two uniformed officers waited outside, ready to take Dad’s statement despite the late hour.

I paused in the hallway. “I don’t know how much he’ll be able to tell you.”

The young officer shrugged. “Any little bit helps. We want to get out there and find whoever did this. Do you want us to wait?”

“No, now’s fine. It’ll be a while before they move him to a room,” Heath said to the officer. When I opened my mouth to volunteer to stay again, he shot a pointed look at me. “Go get some sleep, Ari. I got this.”

That was how I found myself back in Hennessy’s Jeep at four o’clock in the morning, heading back to my place. I’d sent Carver home earlier, knowing it would be a long wait and there was no reason to keep him.

When we pulled up to the gate, Rhett punched in the code that he clearly remembered. After he parked the Jeep in the driveway, I shared my decision.

“I told my dad I would stay as long as he wanted, and I meant it.”

Rhett turned slowly to look at me. “You can run your business from here?”

I nodded. “I can run it from anywhere, provided I can travel on occasion for in-person meetings.” I hesitated before continuing.

“What?” Rhett asked, reading me too effectively.

“How long are you staying? Are you going back to wherever you were?”

His gaze left mine for a moment before returning. “I’m not going anywhere until I find out the truth about what happened with my dad. I owe him that.”

“And then?”

“And then we need to figure out if you’re gonna give me a reason to stay longer than that.”

“Wait, you mean—”

“You figure into this decision, Red. I’m not gonna lie and pretend you don’t.”