Memphis collapsed against Preacher then, finally feeling like he could breathe.
Preacher didn’t want to let Memphis go. Three hours had passed and he still couldn’t bring himself to release him. Memphis didn’t seem to mind. He was wrapped in a blanket, tucked under Preacher’s chin, waiting his turn for questioning.
Preacher couldn’t believe he’d almost lost everything. He’d been getting out of the SUV to go check on the boys when Calder had called him and asked if everything was okay. He’d said they’d found an abandoned vehicle up the road, had told him to be on the lookout just in case. Just the thought of somebody having followed them had him flinging open the door and running towards the building, running to find Memphis and Knox.
That was when he’d heard the gunshot and, for a split second, his heart had stopped beating. He’d left his gun in the car. Before he could make the impossible choice of going back for it or facing whoever was on the other side of the building empty-handed, Knox had come around the corner in tears, pointing and screaming in the direction of the platform.
He’d arrived just in time to find Memphis and Nash wrestling for the gun, but could only watch as Memphis shattered his brother’s kneecap and they were both stumbling towards an oncoming train. He’d never make it in time. There was too much distance between them.
He’d never even heard the boys. The sound of the train must have masked their approach, and they must have followed when he’d left the door of the vehicle open. He didn’t even have time to give the signal; Bo was still injured but Luke didn’t hesitate. He never even slowed down, just barreled straight into Nash, sending them both tumbling into the path of the train.
To protect Memphis. Just like in the hotel room the other night when they’d thought Preacher was angry with him. At some point over their time together, they’d bonded with Memphis and, in doing so, had been willing to put their lives on the line for his. If Memphis hadn’t grabbed Luke, if the dog hadn’t released when he did…he could have lost him. He could have lost everything.
"You’re squishing me again.”
“Deal with it.”
The cops were there now. They’d opened the interior of the train station to get them out of the immediate crime scene. Cops were everywhere, some outside, some leaning against their cars, others inside with the detectives.
Outside, crime scene techs and the coroner attempted to collect what was left of Nash’s body, using huge portable lights bright enough to mimic a UFO landing even as the sky was starting to lighten, dawn rapidly approaching.
Knox sat on the dirty linoleum floor with Bo and Luke flanking him, wrapped in the same type of coarse blanket they’d given Memphis. A young female officer sat with him, doing her best to take down his version of events. That was maybe the biggest miracle of the night. His scream to stop Nash seemed to have knocked loose whatever mental block had been holding him back because he was animatedly talking, hands gesturing wildly, as he spoke to the officer who kept having to gently coax him back on track. He smiled into Memphis’s hair.
“What happens now?”
Preacher frowned. “What do you mean, baby?”
“I mean, Nash is dead. My father’s in prison forever. There was apparently never a hit on me… What do we do now?”
Preacher had thought the answer was obvious. “We go home. I finish working on renovations for Jackson, Knox gets registered for school, we find a place of our own. Unless you wanna go back to LA? I’d still have to finish up the house for Jackson, especially now. I’ll be working off this debt until I die. But if you’d rather live in LA, we’ll find a way to make it happen, though it will probably have to be outside LA given as I don’t have a steady income and you’re a florist.”
“So, you still want to? Live your life with me?” Memphis asked, his hesitant tone, sending a shock through Preacher.
Preacher squeezed him tight. “Jesus, Memphis. How is that even a question? Yes, I want to live my life with you. I want to live every life with you. A hundred of them. You and me and Knox and the boys. A family. How could you think otherwise?”
Memphis gave what Preacher assumed was an aborted shrug. “Things change in an instant. One minute, my brother had a gun to my head, the next, he’s in pieces beneath a train. I’m safe now. There’s no need for you to…guard me or protect me. I didn’t know if that changed things.”
Preacher pushed Memphis back just far enough to look him in the eyes, his heart shattering. “Does it change things for you? Is that why you’re asking these things? If it is, you need to say so now, I—”
Memphis shut him up with a kiss. “No. No, I’m not saying that. Of course, I’m not. I just don’t want you to be with me because you feel like I’m too fragile to take care of myself. I want you here because you want to be.”
Preacher huffed out a breath, light-headed from relief. “Listen, I’m too old for you to be scaring me like that, especially right after you almost get hit by a train. My heart can’t take it.” He pulled him in and kissed the top of his head. “I love you. I do. Like, it’s impossible to imagine my life without you even after the short time we’ve been together.” He cupped Memphis’s face, forcing him to look at him. “And even though it hasn’t been that long, never once, in those six weeks, did I ever think you were weak or fragile. Nobody could go through the things you did and come out the other side and be weak. I just wanted to keep you alive long enough for you to see how fucking incredible you really are.”
Memphis buried his face in Preacher’s chest, words muffled. “I wouldn’t go that far.”
“You fought off an armed gunman to save your brother, and you broke his kneecap. All by yourself. Face it, Camden. You’re kind of a badass.”
Before Memphis could protest, an officer in jeans and a polo shirt approached, his badge around his neck. “Mr. Camden. Can we get your statement now?”
Memphis looked up at the plainclothes officer and nodded. “I’ll be right here when you’re done.”
Preacher took a seat beside the window, surprised when Knox came to sit beside him. Bo and Luke were currently receiving treats from two of the deputies. Preacher looked down at the boy, struck once more by how small he was for his age. “You alright?”
“Yeah, I’m cool.”
Preacher smiled at the boy’s casual tone. “Good.”
Knox looked up at him. “Am I going back to the farm?”
