That was Grandma.She could hold a grudge like nobody’s business, too.And once someone won her love and loyalty, those emotions were just as fierce as her temper.
Smiling fondly, Candace looked around.“Where is she, anyway?”Last time Candace had seen her grandma, she’d been talking to Taylor.
“In the bar.Taylor boys are buying her the first of what I’m sure will be several rounds of drinky-poos, and once this story gets out, I doubt she’ll ever have to buy any booze or cigarettes of her own ever again.She’s a fucking legend now.”He shook his head.“I gained a whole new level of respect and fear of her tonight.I’ve never heard language like that come from a woman her age’s mouth before.”Another grin.“It was epic.”
Maya squeezed her right shoulder.“Your grandma really is the shit, Ace,” she said, laughing.
“Yeah.She totally is.”She turned to Ryan, sighed.“Can we just get going to the hospital now and get this over with?”She hated hospitals and wasn’t looking forward to what would happen there but she knew her husband, and wouldn’t accept that he was “fine” until a doctor said so.
“Yeah.”He caught her right hand and tugged her close for a hard kiss, a smile pulling at his full lips.“You’re the shit too, by the way,” he murmured, his voice full of admiration.
She gave him a saucy grin just as headlights swung around the end of the circular roundabout in the driveway, signaling Jackson’s arrival.“Thanks.It’s genetic.”
As predicted, the hospitalvisit was no fun at all.They updated her tetanus shot and gave her antibiotics to take, then re-bandaged Erin’s handiwork and gave her some mild painkillers that she wasn’t too proud to swallow.
X-rays had shown she had no fractures but Ryan had a hairline one in his upper right humerus, and he’d also suffered some minor radial nerve damage.The doctors had no way of predicting whether it was permanent, or to what extent it would affect his ability to perform his job.They’d know more once the swelling went down and he healed up.
“How you holding up, sweetheart?”
She looked up from her seat outside the x-ray room as Ryan walked down the linoleum hallway toward her, his right arm immobilized in a sling.“Okay so far.You?”
He made a face and lowered himself into the chair beside her.“Tonight wasn’t the most fun I ever had.Well, except for the Ruby part.That was awesome.”
“Yeah, no kidding,” she agreed, leaning sideways to rest her head on his uninjured shoulder.
He tucked his heavy arm around her waist, careful not to bump her left side, and kissed the top of her head.They were alone here in the hallway, with only the occasional nurse or tech walking past.“You really okay?”he murmured.
She wasn’t going to lie to him.“Tonight definitely stirred up a lot of stuff for me.”
He made a soft sound of reassurance and tightened his hand around her waist.“I’ll bet.”
It had been on her mind all night.“Let’s just say it confirmed my decision to leave the force.”She was done with guns and violence and anything remotely resembling combat.“And I hated being left behind while you went on the op.I felt helpless, was worried sick about you the whole time you were gone.”
“I was fine,” he murmured against the top of her head.“I had Cam, Jackson, and Wade there to watch my back, plus Taylor.”
“I don’t care who you were with, I was still worried.I realized tonight that it’s way easier on me when I don’t know the specifics of what’s going on when you go out on an op.”
She paused for a moment, considering her next words carefully.“The one good thing about tonight’s situation was that it brought certain things about my life into sudden, crystal clarity.”She lifted her head from his shoulder and stared into his eyes.“You’re my number one priority.No question.Sometimes I feel like I come in last in your life, though, and I need to feel like I matter to you more than your job or country does.”
Shock filled his expression.“Sweetheart, of course I love you more than my job or my country.Hell, you’re my motivation when I’m out there on a mission.”He sounded totally bewildered, as though her viewpoint had come out of left field.“When things get tough, I think of you and it makes all the shit that happens bearable.”
That made her smile.“You do?”
“Hell, yes,” he said with a frown.
She curled into him more, closed her eyes, and breathed in his comforting scent.“I love you.”She swallowed and dug down for the courage to say her worst fear aloud.“I couldn’t take it if I lost you.”
His arm tightened around her.“You won’t lose me.Not ever,” he murmured against the top of her head.“I’ll always come home to you.”
He meant it.She could hear the conviction in his voice.But she knew all too well that there was no way he could guarantee that promise.
They were both quiet as Maya and Jackson drove them back to the resort, Candace snuggled in as close as she could get.Thankfully the cops and FBI agents had all left except for the ones staying for security purposes with Taylor’s crew, so they didn’t have to do any more interviews.
She held Ryan’s hand on the way up to the new room they’d been given on a different floor where there was no smoke or water damage, relieved to be alone and have this nightmarish night over with.All she wanted was to curl up against her husband and spend the rest of the night in his arms.Or arm, as it were.
The air in the hallway still smelled faintly of smoke but fortunately the sprinkler system and the fire crews had long since managed to put the fire out on the first floor before it had damaged more than the lower two floors.Erin and Wade still wanted the wedding to go ahead as scheduled at eleven in the morning, so they all needed to get some rest.
After gingerly peeling her T-shirt off, she paused before the mirror and angled so she could see her bandage at the edge of her left shoulder blade.Dark blue and purple bruises were already spreading out from under the edges.At least the pills they’d given her had taken the edge off the pain.
