“Can you stand so I can untie you?”
Grace nodded and let Jess help her to her feet. Then Jess leaned down to focus on the knot in the rope around Grace. The rope herfatherhad bound her with.
Jedidiah. Not her father. No true father would treat his child like that.
Jess's fingers trembled as she worked, her breath uneven.
Grace could feel the other woman's panic, a mirror of her own, as they both tried to avoid looking at Jedidiah’s lifeless body.
The barn door pushed open, and Grace's heart leaped into her throat. Had McPharland come back around the front? Surely not. That must be Gil, coming because of the gunshot.
As a figure peered inside, she strained to make out the features.
Her heart knew the difference even before her mind realized it.
Sampson.
A half-cry, half-sob surged from her chest.
The door pushed wider as he stepped in—nay, charged in. Another figure came behind him. Dinah.
“What happened?” Sampson ran to her, his gaze taking them in. When his focus snagged on her father, he nearly stumbled to a stop, but then his eyes moved back to her. His look was so intense, just like the man she’d known before her father had had him nearly killed.
"My father and Jedidiah were here." Jess stepped back from her focus on the knot to face the newcomers. "Jedidiah was going to kill us, but my father…he stood up for us. He shot Jedidiah."
Emotions surged across Sampson’s face as he comprehended Jess’s words. Shock. Anger. And then something Grace had never seen on him—on any man. He focused on her with a look that held so much…possessiveness. His eyes sharpened into something almost feral.
He closed the final stride between them and wrapped his good arm around her, pulling her tight against him. With his broken arm still wrapped, he couldn't fully envelop her, but she nestled into his warmth anyway. His scent, his strength, the steady drum of his heartbeat against her cheek—it all saidhomein a way she'd never known before.
Just minutes before, she'd thought she would never see him again, never feel his embrace. Her hands were still bound, preventing her from returning the hug, but she pressed as close as she could.
"Are you hurt?" Sampson's voice was low and urgent in her ear.
"No." Not physically at least. Her heart…well, she’d have to deal with that later.
The barn door swung open again and she tensed, but it was Gil rushing in, his expression wild. "I heard a shot. What—" He froze, taking in the scene before him.
“We’re all right,” Jess called out to him, and Gil surged toward her. She met him partway and he wrapped her in his arms.
Jess murmured something to him, probably telling what happened. Gil pulled back to look at her face, his expression transforming the same way Sampson’s had. From relief to simmering anger. He pulled away from Jess and ran toward them, pulling out his knife and handing it to Dinah.
"I have to go after McPharland." Gil started toward the stall that opened to the corral.
“Gil, wait!” Jess sprinted after him.
Gil paused and turned to her, and Jess grabbed his arm.
"Please. My father promised he would leave us alone. Can we just…let it be over?" Her blue eyes shimmered with tears.
For a long moment, Gil stared down at her, clearly torn. Then finally he nodded. "If you're sure that’s what you want."
Jess nodded, her whole body sagging with relief as Gil pulled her into his arms again.
He held her close, his body surrounding her as if he could shield her from the world. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t here. I saw a man at the edge of the woods, but then he was gone. He must have been a distraction, so I didn’t see them come in. I didn’t know anyone was here until I heard the shot.”
Dinah managed to slice through the ropes binding Grace's hands, and as soon as she was free, Grace turned fully into Sampson's embrace, wrapping her arms around his waist and burying her face in his chest. She didn’t squeeze in case it hurt his ribs, just relished the contact. The feel of him settled the last of the tremors still running through her body.
Sampson's face pressed into the hair at her neck, his good hand sliding up and down her back as he held her tight against him. Neither of them spoke. Maybe he needed to feel her as much as she did him.
