Page 59 of Maggie’s Match

“You’re the best medicine,” he corrected. “The only one I need.” He kissed her until he felt her melt against him. Then his stomach interrupted them, causing them both to laugh.

“I’ll make you a sandwich.” She took his hand.

“I don’t want to wake anyone up,” he whispered when they stepped out of their room.

“You won’t. Bent and Bryson are out on guard duty again. Everyone else’s rooms are upstairs and on the other side of the house except Becca’s. And she’s a heavy sleeper,” she said. “Trust me, once, Becca and I stayed up all night playing video games and watching movies and her parents had no clue.”

“Oh, we heard you,” Bridget said from the kitchen table. She had a mug in her hands and was smiling at them. “Hungry?” she asked Rick.

“Starved.” He moved over to sit at the table after Maggie motioned him to sit.

“I’m making us sandwiches,” Maggie said as he opened the fridge. “Want anything?”

“No, just some tea. I can never sleep when my guys are out in the field.” Bridget motioned to the darkness beyond the windows.

“Do you think this is the best idea? Waiting for those two to make their next move?” he asked Bridget.

“I think my husband and son are normally idiots and rush into things. But in this, I trust them. They know how to protect themselves and their land.” Bridget took a sip of her tea. “That doesn’t stop me from worrying.”

Rick thought back to all the nights his mother had waited up for him or his dad when they’d been out working on the ranch. The time they’d hunted down the coyotes that had been killing their livestock or the time when they had to move the herd to safer ground due to flash flooding.

“It’s part of ranch life,” he said as Maggie set a sandwich and chips down in front of him.

“Yes, but Bryson and I have been working the ranch for thirty-eight years, and this year has been plumb full of events we’ve never faced before. Fire, poisoning, I.C.E. raids.” She sighed. “When will it end?”

“Soon,” Maggie said, walking over to her aunt and laying a hand on her shoulder. “Soon.”

Maggie sat beside him with her own sandwich, and they talked about ranch life. By the time his food was done, he was feeling tired again. He could tell that Maggie was tired too, but she wanted to keep her aunt company.

“Don’t stay up on my account,” Bridget said, taking her cup to the sink. “I’ll be fine.”

They had just excused themselves when the back door flew open. Bryson burst in carrying a very pale and very bloody Bentley in his arms.

Chapter Twenty-One

Maggie froze when she saw all the blood.

“Call 911,” her aunt yelled at her while Rick rushed over to help lay Bentley down on the kitchen table.

“What happened?” Rick asked Bryson as he put pressure to Bent’s left hip, which was dripping with blood.

“Frank and Willy. The sons of a bitches ambushed us and shot my son,” Bryson responded. “I couldn’t even shoot back or grab my gun. It’s like they knew we knew.”

The moment Bentley was laid on the table, Bryson headed towards the door. “I’ll kill the bastards.”

Bridget yelled for him to stop and grabbed him seconds before the back screen door burst into pieces.

Maggie screamed as bullets flew by her head and shattered Bridget’s fine dishware on the hutch next to her. She felt the sting of shards cut her skin open.

Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw Rick pull her cousin off the table to the floor and cover his body with his own.

Maggie and the rest of her family hit the floor while someone sprayed bullets into the house. She felt glass cut into her palms and tried to cover her head as dishes and splintered wood rained over her.

The sound of the gunfire was deafening, blocking out any other sound. It seemed to take forever before everything grew quiet again.

Her uncle crawled over and slammed the back door shut and locked it just as she heard boots on the back porch. Then someone slammed into the back door, trying to bust it open.

They were going to come inside and kill everyone. Panic flooded her mind, blocking out everything else, including her cell phone lying next to her with an operator screaming at her for information.