“Come here,” He rasps, shifting with a groan to make space for me.
“I can’t do that.”
“Come here, sweetheart, let me hold you.”
Gently, I climb up beside him, holding my weight so I don’t accidentally nudge him, and when his arm comesaround me and he settles me onto his uninjured side, everything in my soul settles.
“I love you,” He whispers. “I will come for you every time.”
“Can we not do that again?” I attempt a chuckle.
He presses his lips to the top of my head. “A honeymoon sounds good right about now.”
“With cocktails.” I agree.
His chest rumbles with his laugh. “You can have whatever you want.”
“Are you hurting?” I ask, resting my hand over his heart.
“No,” He tightens his arm, “Stay with me.”
So I do, for the rest of the night, and he holds me the entire time.
Chapter 41
If I never have to see another hospital, I’ll be glad.
I breathe in the fresh air once I step outside the door, pausing to let the sun hit my face before I climb into the passenger seat of the truck. Niamh is fussing, but I let her, knowing it’s what she needs right now. Hell, I think I need it too.
She places the fresh bag of meds by my feet and then closes my door before she rounds the hood and climbs in behind the wheel. I roll my head toward her, taking in the glossy strands of her dark hair and the way she captures her bottom lip as she focuses on merging us into the busy city traffic. Silas had offered to drive, but she’d insisted. She hasn’t left my side since I woke up in the hospital. I see the fear on every inch of her face. It’lltake time to get my girl back, but until then, I’ll give her what she needs.
Reaching across the console, I settle my hand on her thigh and her body relaxes, a soft smile touching her lips.
Statements were made, the cops came to the hospital, since none of us had been back to the ranch and evidence was uncovered in Jenson’s home. Photos of the car wreckage our mother was in, a video taken right after the accident and the very wires he cut out of her truck. It was vindicating to know we had been right all along. Oscar is currently awaiting trial, though he won’t make bail and will spend a long time behind bars.
It’s over.
The ride back to the ranch is uneventful, peaceful. A gentle breeze flows through the cab from the open windows, the city skyscrapers turning to rolling fields, grays bleeding into greens and yellows, the mountains on the horizon.
I wasn’t sure I’d ever find this kind of peace.
“Do you mind stopping somewhere before we head home?” I ask Niamh.
“Where?”
“I’ll show you,” I tell her. “Just head to the house like normal.”
Her brows pinch, but she dips her chin in agreement, and when we get there, I guide her down a thin dirt track that heads toward the north side of the ranch. It winds through the trees, with just about enough space on either side of the truck for us to fit, but she comes to a stop when the track comes to an abrupt end and the way ahead is blocked by a thick, fallen oak tree.
“Where are we?”
“My mom is buried here,” I swallow before I reach for the door handle and climb out, a hand to my side to keep the pain in check. It still smarts, but I’m alive.
Niamh meets me at the front of the truck, looking where I am through the trees to the several headstones that jut up out of the earth. The Knight Family cemetery.
“I don’t come here often,” I sigh, spotting my mother’s gravestone, weathered with age, my grandfather beside her, his headstone much brighter, a white marble, and then my grandmother beside him. Generations of Knights are buried here.
“She’d be proud of you,” Niamh tucks herself close to my side.
