Shaking, I roll onto my knees and ease the door open.
He gives me a soft, understanding look and gestures for me to stand. “It’s okay, come here. I want you to meet my brother Dax.”
I scramble to my feet, horror slashing through me. "Your brother? No, I looked on the app, he's sixty clicks away."
"Dumbass is conked out on his bedroom floor, actually. It's okay, gorgeous. You didn't do anything wrong. You were just protecting your cub. Come here.”
He catches my hand and squeezes my numb fingers as I stare down in disbelief at what I’ve done.
His brother?
Zane doesn’t seem fazed. “He's breathing just fine, he'll come to in a minute. You aren't the first to knock him out. Although you probably are the first city girl to do it, and I'm not going to let him live that down."
"I hit him over the head with a belt buckle!" I pull my hand free of Zane’s and kneel next to the unconscious Kincaid on the floor. The youngest one, but the biggest, it looks like. He’s the size of a small ox.
Zane bites his fist, and I can tell he's barely holding back a laugh. I'm not finding any of this funny. "Oh yeah? Was it really heavy?"
I glare up at him as Dax finally stirs. Slightly. He groans, then growls, "What the f?—"
"Hey buddy…" Zane kicks his foot. "Wake up. Did you forget your phone somewhere?"
"Someone stole it," he mumbles without opening his eyes.
Zane winces. “That’s the kind of thing you should loop us in on to avoid getting beaned."
"Wasn't supposed to…"
"Yeah. Best laid plans. Anyway, I want you to meet Hope."
He blinks in confusion, finally looking up at me. "Who's Hope?"
Zane grins. "Apparently, our new home guard. She nailed you with your own trophy buckle, bud."
As Dax focuses on my face, his confusion grows. "You? But you're so pretty."
And then he passes out again.
Okay. That’s enough. "We need to call 911.”
Zane shakes his head. "We're not doing that.”
I open my mouth to protest, but he pulls me tomy feet and gives me a tight hug that takes me by surprise—but also makes me feel good. “Your do-gooder instinct there is very sweet, but for a woman who doesn’t want to be found, your self-protection instincts need some work,” he murmurs into my hair. “But we can get someone to do a house call."
Chapter 23
Zane
I call Dr. Angela Tailfeathers, who nursed us through more than a couple of concussions when we were younger, and who is also one of my mother’s best customers and oldest friends.
“What are you going to tell her?” Hope frets.
“The truth,” I promise her. “But not too much of it.”
She comes out within the hour. By the time she arrives, I’ve explained to Dax about Hope’s situation, and why we need to be careful with her—both in terms of not blaming her for what happened and protecting her location.
I fully intend for her to hide the entire time, but she refuses. “I was there when he went down, she might need to ask me about it.”
In the end, it’s Dax who provides the honest but limited explanation for what happened. “Came home unannounced, a little too quiet, apparently. Gave our new ranch hand a scare, but I’m all right.”
