“They’re Rae’s friends,” he said softly, voice low and warning me against reacting the wrong way. “He also helped bring Rae back to me last year.”
“Hey,” the vulture said, extending his hand. “Beau, right?”
I stared at his hand, forcing myself to count backward.
Trying to remember the conversation I’d overheard him and Rae have in my kitchen, where she’d persuaded him not to buy the land. But he was back.
“Yeah,” he said with an uneasy laugh as he let his hand fall to his side. “Peaceful visit . . . mostly.” Half of his face scrunched up like there wasn’t much he could do about that. “Company’s sending one of the partners no matter what. I’m the only one who will see that land for what it really is, so I figure it’s best if I come.”
“But they’re just hanging out for a few days,” Sawyer added.
“They?”
“My fiancée,” the vulture said, pointing over his shoulder. “She’s out back with Rae and your mom.”
I nodded, still having a hard time trusting the guy. “I need the rings,” I said to Sawyer.
“Mom’s been freaking out, by the way,” he called over his shoulder as he walked away, leaving me with the vulture.
“About?”
“You called her last night when you never call her,” he explained, voice fading the farther away he got before slowly getting louder again. “Said she called you back a dozen times, but you never answered, and Savannah wasn’t at the house when she went there today. Which, by the way . . .” A broad smile was on his face when he entered the living room again. “Number four. You excited?”
“Hell yeah,” I whispered as I held out my hand for the rings I’d forced him to take the night Savannah had given them to me. “You know I am.” Dipping my head in thanks, I rocked back a step. “And I need to get back to her.”
“Beau Dixon!”
I stilled at that voice and tone, same as it had been my entire life, and looked up, already searching for my mom before she came storming into the living room from Sawyer’s kitchen. Hand raised in the air and pointing a finger at me even though she looked relieved.
“I have been worried.” She sucked in a quick breath and let it out just as fast. “You do not call up your mother in the middle of the night and then ignore every one of her returning calls.”
“Yes, ma’am,” I muttered, glare dragging Sawyer’s way at his hushed laugh.
“Hey!” Rae said when she caught sight of me as she trailed behind, holding a wriggling puppy in her arms. “How’s Savannah feeling?”
My mom looked from her back to me. “What happened to Savannah?”
“When the hell did you get a puppy?” I asked, gesturing to the massive, fluffy beast.
Rae did a little dance, her smile wide as she looked to my brother. “This weekend.”
“What happened to Savannah?” Mom demanded.
“She passed out,” I answered, trying not to remember the way Savannah had looked when her body went slack right in front of me.
Mom’s hand lifted to her chest as she took another couple of steps toward me. “Oh dear. Well, is she okay? What happened?”
“I don’t know, she’s never done that before.”
“What was she doing right before?” a woman I’d never seen before asked as she walked past Rae, looking at me curiously.
“Megan,” the vulture explained quickly. “My fiancée. She’s a nurse.”
“And you’re the angry one,” she said, lifting her hands in mock excitement. “Yay, we met. Rae kinda gave me a rundown on your wife’s situation and what was said over the phone last night, but what was she doing right before?”
I let out a slow sigh as I once again sent a glare my brother’s way. “She was standing there.”
“Had she been standing for a while?”
“No.”
“She needs details, man,” Sawyer said.
“She’d been sitting,” I ground out. “We were talking, and she was sitting in the tub. Not taking a bath, just sitting in there without any water.”
If Megan thought that was weird, she didn’t show it. Just watched me, waiting for the rest.
“She stood up and started walking out of the bathroom, turned to say something else, and her face was drained of color. Lips were chalky. Then her eyes rolled back, and her body went limp.”
Megan nodded quickly, taking in the information. “I think she’s fine. All the emotional stress the two of you have been going through probably aided it, but from what you’re saying, I think her blood pressure just dropped when she stood up.”
I nodded, trying to be thankful for the assurance and not focus on the fact that a stranger knew the fucked-up details of my marriage.
“Mention it to her doctor anyway at the next check-up, but if it happens again, I’d call the OB or take her to an urgent care.”
“What?” my mom cried out, joy pouring from her. “Oh, my heart with all these grandbabies. And you weren’t gonna tell your mother?” she chastised.
“Just found out, Mom.” I looked around the room, then dipped my head in gratitude at the nurse before setting a glare on Sawyer as he followed me to the door, my voice a low rumble. “Why’s your girlfriend telling people shit they don’t need to know?”
A smile flashed across his face, but it was all bared teeth and irritation. “You know by now that it takes a lot for Rae to get personal with people. She talked to Megan because she was worried about Savannah—we both were. Megan did some nurse-interrogation thing to get as many details as possible. I was the one who filled in most the blanks because I know what it’s like to feel absolutely helpless when something’s wrong with the girl you love,” he said meaningfully. “Also,”—his gaze drifted back to where everyone was clustered in the living room, playing with the puppy—“Rae isn’t my girlfriend.”
My stare snapped to him from where it’d settled on the puppy, confusion pushing through me as I worried for what he’d say next after everything they’d already gone through.
“She’s my wife.”
I slanted my head, sure I’d heard him wrong. “What?”
A smile pulled at his mouth, slow and unrestrained. “We were falling asleep a couple weeks ago, and she goes, ‘If I didn’t want a wedding, would you still want to marry me?’ Like that’s even a factor,” he said, eyes rolling even as his joy grew. “Then she asked, ‘If I wanted to marry you right now, would you say yes?’” He glanced at me. “I’ve never agreed to something so fast in my life.”
“So, you just got married,” I said dully, trying to wrap my head around the fact that my youngest brother was married and about to be a dad.
“Couple days later,” he confirmed. “Gavin and Faith were there, and that’s it. We were gonna tell everyone the next morning at breakfast, but then you showed up, pissed off at everyone. And when Hunter was still outside trying to calm you down, Avalee announced to the rest of us that Hunter and Madison had just gotten engaged, like, the night before.” He lifted his hands as if to say there wasn’t much they could’ve done after that, and it was only then I noticed the dark wedding band on his left hand.