“Thanks. You’re a lifesav?—”
My voice cut off as I saw who’d just walked in behind him. Ashford.
AndTeller. Holy crap. My big brother was here.
“Teller!” I rushed over to him and closed my arms around him, squeezing my eyes shut as tears threatened. “How did you—What are you doing here?”
“Grace has been texting the group thread since this morning. The minute I saw her first message, I got my butt in gear. Knew I had to be here for you.”
“But what about Ayla? She’s on tour. She needs you.”
He laughed softly. “She was the first to insist I come to Hart County. She sends her love. Luckily we were in Salt Lake, so it was a quick trip for me. Arranged a private flight and got here as soon as I could.”
I put my face against his shoulder. Tears leaked into his jacket. “Thank you.”
Remembering Callum and Ashford behind me, I wiped my eyes and turned around. “Hey, Ashford,” I said. “Thank you for coming.”
He glanced down sheepishly. “I’m here for you. Always.”
I reached out for a hug. A flash of surprise crossed Ashford’s face, but his embrace was as fierce as my brother’s had been. Ashford wasn’t the effusive type when it came to emotions. But I’d never doubted that he cared about me and Ollie.
I was frustrated with him for his stubbornness about Grayden. But that would never diminish the love I felt for Ashford.
“Grace really wants to be here too,” Callum said. “We were conferencing on the drive. How would you feel about Ollie staying at Ashford and Emma’s place tonight? Zandra’s planning to join them, and Dane was talking about going over there.”
“Fine by me,” I said. “Sounds like a full house.”
But this was what we did. We banded together when things got tough. I’d joked about this being the Lonely Harts club, but none of us were ever alone.
Except Grayden, my heart reminded me.
Ashford glanced around the waiting room. There’d been an older couple in here earlier, as well as a family with a baby, but they’d all disappeared.
“People are saying Grayden’s the one who attacked Danny,” Ashford said. “Is there any way that’s true?”
Callum’s arms crossed, his frown giving little away.
I felt my expression go hard. Bright, hot anger rose to the surface of my skin. “Do you want it to be true?” I asked. “So you can get rid of him once and for all?”
Ashford shook his head. “That’s not fair.”
“Alotisn’t fair,” I countered.
“We’re not making any assumptions,” Callum said. “I don’t think Grayden could have done this. But there’s obviously a lot we don’t know. Grace said Danny’s been harassing you? You didn’t tell us?”
A heavy hand rested on my shoulder. My big brother. “We’re not trying to gang up on you,” Teller said. “You don’t have to talk about this right now. You should try to eat. You’ve been here all day, right?”
“I have.” My voice wobbled, and I cleared my throat. “I’ve sat through a doctor telling me Danny might not survive. I’ve answered awful questions from rude, incompetent police.”
Teller’s eyebrow lifted. He knew I was talking about his department.
“And I’ve been worrying all day about Grayden,” I went on. “Because I know he didn’t do this. I know it in my heart and my gut and my soul. He told me earlier he’d found Danny hurt, and Grayden doesn’t lie to me. He…”
I felt the three of them staring at me.
Callum knew Grayden and I were dating. I had no idea whathe’d told the others. It wasn’t something I intended to keep from Teller.
But there was no way I could describe what Grayden meant to me. How everything had shifted between us over the last few days.
