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“Hey, Mac.”

His eyes opened almost the instant she spoke. “Hey, baby.” His voice sounded rough.

“Fancy meeting you here.” Her voice sounded rougher than his.

Mac sat forward, his fingers tightening around her hand. “How’re you feeling?”

“It’s the weirdest thing. I feel like somebody hit me in the head.”

His mouth tightened.

Jodie squeezed his hand. “Too soon for a lame attempt at a joke?”

“Way too soon, Ranch Girl.”

The snoring started again from across the room. She looked past Mac.

Kyle was asleep in a chair near the window, arms folded over his chest, still wearing the same filthy clothes he’d had on at the staging area. Ben had somehow compressed his enormous body into another chair beside the wall and was responsible for the chainsaw noise. His face was marked with ash like Mac’s. Through the partially open door, she could see Waylon leaning against the hallway wall talking quietly with Elias.

Jodie frowned.

“What’s everyone doing here?”

Mac stared at her. “What do you mean? You were missing.”

“I know, but⁠—”

“You were missing, Ranch Girl.” The seriousness in his voice stopped her.

Jodie looked around again. Kyle had soot smeared across one sleeve. Ben’s boots were caked with ash. Waylon and Elias both looked exhausted, probably from dealing with the evacuation and whatever medical chaos followed it.

But they had all come to the hospital. For her.

Jodie swallowed. She couldn’t speak for a moment. When she was confident she wouldn’t sob, she asked, “Virgil?”

“Safe.”

“Hank?”

“Safe.”

“Sandra?”

“Safe, Jodie.”

“The horses?”

“Jodie.”

“What?”

Mac rubbed his thumb across the back of her hand. “You can stop ticking off all the boxes in your head because everybody’s okay, including the horses, cattle, and sheep.” But a shadow passed across his face all the same.

Oh, God. Her throat tightened.

“Goblin?”

The shadow disappeared and Mac grinned. “Oh, Goblin is doing considerably better than the rest of us.”