I held out my hand. “Here, boy. Everything’s okay.” He let out a whine as I scratched behind his ears.
Hadley appeared with her massive medic kit, Shiloh behind her with a stack of two pizzas. Calder was on their trail and seemed to be a mix of worried and exasperated. Hadley took one look at me and simply shook her head. “Really, Hayes?”
“I had to try and get him.”
“Men,” she huffed and squeezed Everly’s shoulder. “You okay?”
“I’m not the one who got shot.”
“It’s just a graze,” I argued.
“A bullet wound because you chased after God knows who alone. You’re not getting a lot of sympathy from me,” Hadley retorted.
“That much is clear, dear sister. I’m so glad you’re worried about me.”
Young let out a laugh. “I love your family.”
“You okay, man?” Calder asked.
“Fine, really. Just pissed I didn’t get to him.” I’d been close but not close enough.
Calder met my gaze. “You might not have gotten him this time, but you will.”
A charged silence took over the back deck. Shiloh broke it, offering, “Pizza?”
Young rubbed her hands together. “You know, I’m starving.”
“Me, too,” Williams agreed.
“Hunger even in the presence of blood,” I said as Everly pulled back the gauze.
Hadley snapped on some exam gloves and prodded around the wound.
My head jerked in her direction. “Hey, be careful, would you?”
She ignored my complaint. “I’m going to need you to take off this shirt.”
“Here. I’ll get it.” Everly pulled a pair of scissors from the kit and moved towards me. “This shirt is a lost cause anyway.”
I looked down at the blood staining the khaki-colored fabric and knew she was right. “Do your worst.”
Everly moved carefully but efficiently, cutting through my uniform and undershirt. She set the scissors down on a side table. “Stand up and let your arms hang loose.”
I obeyed. “This would be a hell of a lot better if you were naked.”
“Hayes,” she hissed.
Hadley choked on a laugh. “If you ever want to get laid again, I’d hold your tongue.”
I shut up and did what I was told, letting my arms hang at my sides. Everly moved gently, careful not to let the shirts touch my wound. When the fabric dropped to the floor, I bent forward and brushed my lips against hers. “Thank you.”
Her cheeks deepened to a pretty pink color. “You’re welcome.”
“Enough with the lovey-dovey stuff. Let’s get you stitched up so you don’t bleed to death. Mom would blame me until the end of time.”
I met Everly’s gaze. Maybe my sister and mother had farther to go than I’d hoped.
38
Everly
I couldn’t take my eyes off Hayes as Hadley fixed him up. Not even when the needle pulled through his skin, creating a neat row of stitches. “You’re sure you didn’t get a good look at who was shooting?”
Hayes looked up from his phone where he had been texting with someone on the Forest Service team. “No, only his back for a split second.”
I picked at a loose thread on my t-shirt until Hayes tugged me towards him with his free hand.
“Hey, watch it. I’m working here. Do you want me to scar you even worse?” Hadley groused.
“A scar will just make me sexier.”
Hadley rolled her eyes.
Hayes laced his fingers with mine, pulling me down onto the arm of the chair. “You okay?”
No. I was not. Not in the slightest. “I’m fine.”
“Liar. Talk to me.”
I found that same thread and picked at it. “I just wonder if it was Ian or Allen.”
“I had the same thought. And I honestly can’t say one way or the other. The guy was wearing a hat, so I didn’t get hair color, just a rough idea of size that could’ve been any number of people.”
I nodded slowly and kept tearing at that string, trying to break it off. But if I did, maybe the whole shirt would unravel. Just like my life. What would be the breaking point for Hayes? For his family? They’d brought me into their fold now, but that could change in the blink of an eye.
My stomach roiled at the thought of how this could’ve turned out. Hayes really hurt. Or worse. The Eastons had already almost lost one daughter because of my family. I couldn’t be responsible if they lost a son.
“Ev.”
Hayes’ soft voice turned my focus to him. “Hmm?”
“I don’t like where that beautiful head is at right now.” He squeezed my hand. “No running, okay?”
I didn’t look away. “I’ll run if that’s what keeps you safe.”
His expression turned stony. “You run, and I’ll just follow.”
“He’s right,” Hadley interjected. “You can’t let some crazy run you off. You shouldn’t let anything scare you away from what you want.” Her gaze flicked to Calder for the briefest of moments and then back to me. “You deserve to be happy.”
Happy. It felt too dangerous to reach for. Yet I’d had so many bright starburst moments of it. But that only felt more reckless. Just like my hope and my peace. I wanted them but was scared to fully reach out.
Because as I looked at this man in front of me as Hadley tied off the final stitch, I knew he made me happy. Just like his family did. Spending little bits of time with Addie and Ben. My job with Miles, Kelly, and Tim. And seeing the sanctuary becoming a reality… It all made me ridiculously happy—this life I was building.
But it all felt like sand, slipping through my fingers. I was just one wrong move from it disappearing altogether. Only it wasn’t my wrong move that I feared. It was my family’s.
Hadley pressed a bandage over the neat row of stitches. “You need to keep that dry for two days. Take Tylenol and Motrin for pain and swelling. I’ll check it in a few days.”
Hayes reached out and ruffled his sister’s hair. “Thanks, lil’ sis.”
“Yeah, yeah. Don’t make a habit of it.”
“I’ll do my best.”
Young popped the last bite of her pizza crust into her mouth. “Now that we know you’re going to live, we should hit the roads with everyone else. We’ll let you know if we spot anything suspicious.”
I’d heard radios crackling as Hadley stitched Hayes. Squad cars relaying their positions. But no one had seen a single man on horseback.
Hayes nodded. “Give me a few to get cleaned up, and I can join—”
Ruiz held up a hand to stop him. “You know you can’t work this case anymore. Advisory only. You’re clearly a target.”
His jaw worked back and forth as he swallowed down the words he wanted to let fly. “All right. Keep me in the loop.”
“You know we will,” Ruiz said.
“You put the word out to all area doctors and vets?”
Ruiz pulled his keys out of his pocket. “The phone tree has been activated. I promise, we’ve got it covered.”