Quinn
Prizing my eyes open, I looked to the side, seeing Brody asleep with his head on my bed. I smiled to myself, thinking this was exactly like the first time we’d met. Gently removing my hand from his, I ran my fingers through his hair. Every part of my body ached, and my shoulder felt like it was burning from the inside out. But to be able to touch him when I thought I’d never see him again was worth all the pain.
When Evan had pulled the trigger, I didn’t hesitate at jumping in front of him. I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself if anything had happened to him. Brody would never have been in that situation if I hadn’t shown up at the ranch, bringing all my troubles with me.
“You’re awake.” He lifted his head and leaned over to kiss me. I nodded.
“Brody, where’s Evan?” I asked, needing to know if we were still in danger.
“He’s gone, baby. You don’t need to worry about him anymore.”
“Gone?” I questioned. “Gone where?”
“He’s dead. Mason shot him just after Evan shot you.” I gasped and lifted my hand to my mouth.
“Mason shot him? Is he in trouble?”
He shook his head. “No. The police are putting it down to self-defense.”
“He’s really gone? It’s finally over?” I asked quietly, unable to believe I no longer had to look over my shoulder.
“It’s over, sweetheart. You’re safe now.” I promptly burst into tears, the relief at knowing he would never hurt anyone again was overwhelming.
“Hey, don’t cry,” he soothed. “Shhhhh.” Standing up, he wiped my tears away with his thumbs. “How are you feeling?” he asked when my tears had dried up.
“Like I’ve been shot,” I told him with a smile. He frowned.
“It should be me lying there, not you. I should have kept you safe.”
“You did keep me safe. You found me and got me out of there. How did you find me by the way?” I was puzzled by how quickly he’d managed to get to me.
“Ethan managed to get back to the ranch after the car accident and raise the alarm. I tracked your phone to find out where Evan had taken you.”
“He’d been watching us you know?” I shuddered as I thought about him spying on us. Brody nodded.
“I think it was him who kept cutting the perimeter fence, and the tire marks on the field. It was his way of getting onto the ranch undetected.”
“I put everyone in danger,” I whispered.
“No! None of this is your fault. He was crazy, Quinn.”
I nodded, dropping my head back on the pillow. I’d only been awake for a few minutes but already felt exhausted again. Just as I was about to drop off I heard the door open. Turning my head, I saw Claire put her head around the door.
“Are you feeling up to a few more visitors, honey?”
“I think Quinn is tired, Mom, maybe later—” Brody began.
“No, I’m fine. Come in, please,” I insisted, trying to push myself up the bed.
“Just let me know when you get too tired, and I’ll make them leave,” Brody whispered as he kissed me on the cheek before moving away from the bed so that Claire could sit next to me. I gave him a smile, wincing as pain shot up my cheek. Hiding my pain, I turned my attention to Claire and the others as they entered the room.
“Sweetheart, look at you!” Claire exclaimed, her face etched with worry as she sat in the chair that Brody had just vacated. “Are you okay?”
“I’m a little sore but I’m okay.”
“A little sore?” she repeated. “Honey, you’ve been shot!”
“I think Quinn knows she’s been shot, baby,” Ryan said, as he came to stand next to her, his arm resting on her shoulder. Rolling her eyes, she ignored him.
“I’m okay, really.” I paused and closed my eyes. “I feel like I need to apologize.”
“Apologize?” Claire asked in surprise. “Whatever for?”
“For bringing all this trouble to the ranch. I put everyone in danger. If anyone had gotten hurt, I never would have forgiven myself.” She reached over and took my hand.
“Quinn, none of this is your fault. You didn’t bring that man here. You didn’t ask for any of this.” She paused, and I saw her glance over to Brody. “We’ve only known you a short time, sweetheart, but you’re a part of this family now and we all love you. You’re going to get better and then we're all going to go home, together.” I nodded as I felt the tears that had been threatening to fall, spill down my cheeks.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
Pulling myself together, I looked past Claire and Ryan to see Mason and Libby standing by the door. “I’m so glad you’re okay, Quinn,” Libby said, walking around the opposite side of the bed to stand next to me.
“Me too.” Turning to Mason, my eyes met his. “Thank you,” I said quietly. He smiled and nodded his head. There was nothing more to say; he knew what he’d done for us, and I would be eternally grateful. Stifling a yawn, I winced as pain shot through my cheek again.
“Right, guys, time to let Quinn sleep. She needs to rest,” Brody announced, moving toward the bed.
“Yes, of course,” Claire agreed, bending down to kiss my forehead. “We’ll leave and let you get some rest. We’ll be back tomorrow. I’ll bring you some clothes and toiletries for while you’re here.”
“Thank you,” I told her gratefully.
After everyone had said their goodbyes, Brody came back to sit next to me.
“I think I know how Evan found me. The hospital wrote to me at my home address and Evan intercepted the letter. He knew I’d had treatment in Marble Falls and came looking for me.”
“I know, sweetheart, my mom showed me the letter earlier. It’s over now though.”
I shook my head.
“No. It’s not.”
“What do you mean? Evan’s dead, baby. He can’t hurt you anymore.”
“Evan might be dead, but the reason they sent the letter was because I’ve no medical insurance. Evan stopped paying the bills when my mom died. The hospital is going to bill me for the treatment I received after the fire. I don’t have insurance to cover this stay either. How the hell am I going to pay, Brody?”
“This stay will be covered by the ranch policy. Mom had your details added to the policy once you started working for us.” I looked at him in surprise. “As for the stay after the fire, we’ll figure it out, Quinn. I don’t want you worrying about it now. You need to get better.”
“Your mom added me to the family’s ranch policy?” I asked in disbelief. “Why would she do that?”
“I asked her to. I knew even then I was falling in love with you, and I knew you were in no position to pay your own insurance.” He smiled sheepishly at me. “I hope you don’t mind?” I shook my head. How could I mind? He was right, I was in no position to be paying for anything, especially now. It would take me weeks to be fit enough to work again.
“Thank you. You never fail to surprise me, Brody Parker. But know that I’ll be paying you back.”
“We’ll see,” he replied with a chuckle.
“Will you hold me?” I moved over slightly in the bed. He nodded and lay down next to me, gently pulling me into his arms.
“Am I hurting you?”
I shook my head. “No. If I close my eyes, I can pretend we’re home in your bed and none of this is happening.” He tightened his hold on me.
“We’ll be back there before you know it. I promise. This is the start of the rest of our lives, Quinn.”
I smiled. “The rest of our lives, where we end up getting married and having lots of babies? I might have been out of it after I got shot but I could still hear what you were saying.”
Sitting up he turned to face me. “I meant every word. I never knew I wanted any of that before I met you. You made me want more, Quinn. You made me want everything.”
“I love you,” I told him, my face lighting up in a smile, and this time I barely even noticed the pain. I was too happy to care.
“I love you too, Quinn Montgomery. You know, I never used to be a big believer in fate, but you changed that the day you stumbled into my life. I think it was fate that brought you to Marble Falls. I was destined to find you and make you mine.”
He was right, fate had brought me to Marble Falls that day, but it was also down to Evan. I know I should hate him for what he’d done, and how he’d treated me. A huge part of me did. But if he hadn’t forced me to run away, I’d still be living in Westwood and not lying in the arms of the man I loved, planning our future. I’m sure life would throw us the odd curve ball along the way, and that was fine, because whatever it took, we’d get through it as long as we were together.