Now, as he heard the bed shift, he watched her eyes blink open slowly, her right eye only opening to a slit. Anger washed through him swiftly and deeply. Nothing anyone ever did to Garrison would be enough to make up for putting those marks on his woman. At least the son of a bitch hadn't raped her.
Lizzie raised her hand to her cheek, and she expelled a hard, shuddering breath. All he could do was sit there and watch as the woman he loved more than life itself struggle with the reality of what had happened and it just about killed him.
She looked at him and tried to smile, then winced at the pain the motion caused. Son of a bitch. He needed to hit someone, something, anything, the rage burned white hot with no form of release, yet he tamped it down as he gave her hand a soft squeeze.
"How are you feeling, baby?"
"A little sore."
More than a little he'd bet. He nodded. "The doc said that's to be expected for a few days." He wanted to pull her onto his lap, rock her, hold her tight and comfort her, and never let her go, but he wasn't sure she was ready for that. He wasn't sure he was either.
"He didn't rape me, Jake."
Not physically, no. Mentally, yes. The son of a bitch. He forced the words past the lump in his throat, "Dr. Whitaker told me. She did an exam."
"Did she have to give me stitches?" She asked then raised the covers and the hospital gown to see for herself. "Well," she said as she cocked her head to the side, "Those are going to be some nasty scars."
He didn't know how to respond to that, so he just stayed quiet.
When she looked up, she looked at him with relief. "Someone washed me."
"With a little persuasion, I helped the nurse give you a bath after your exam."
"Thank you."
He nodded. The lump in his throat still too large for him to talk.
She yawned. "I'm so sleepy," she mumbled.
"They gave you a shot to help you get some rest."
"It's good stuff," she said around another yawn.
"You sleep, baby. Just sleep and get better."
"Don't leave."
"Never."
"Love you, Jake," she whispered before she fell into sleep.
"I love you too, Lizzie. I love you too." More than life itself. He loved her so much he didn't want to spend another day apart from her. Ever.
He needed to talk to Ryan, Amy, and Logan, because when Lizzie left Chance Creek, he was going with her.
"He in jail?" Jake asked Sheriff Brooks as he walked into the lawman's office a few hours later.
"Yep."
Jake nodded. "Good."
"There's more than what he did to Lizzie. A lot more."
"No real surprise there."
"Your downed fences? Garrison. He hired a few kids to do the damage, but no one from around here."
"What was he hoping to accomplish with that?"
The lawman shrugged. "I suppose keeping you too busy to spend any time with Lizzie."
"That didn't work out too well, did it?"
"Nope. It also turns out that Garrison's real good at beating up women, but when he comes face to face with a man, he cries like a girl and tells you whatever you want to know."
"Such as?"
"He confessed to killing his father and one of his business associates."
He couldn't wrap his mind around that one. Jake took a seat across the desk from the sheriff. Todd was way more insane than Jake had even suspected. "Jesus."
Gavin nodded. "It seems Todd Garrison has connections all over town and he pays them well. In order to kill off his father, Todd needed to find a way to do the job without getting caught. So, he approached Doc Harris's physician's assistant."
"The one that died?"
Sheriff Brooks nodded. "That's the one. Sam Driscoll. He supplied Todd with the medication and information on how to administer just enough Nitroglycerin to cause a heart attack and a small enough amount that it couldn't be detected as fatal by a physician or coroner."
"Looks like money can buy murder," Brand said with a sneer as he walked in the office with Logan and Ryan.
"Not in this town. We catch 'em eventually," the sheriff answered. "I apologize, Logan, for the arrest, and naturally you've been cleared. Garrison also confessed to setting you up. He was real proud of it until I reminded him he didn't pull it off."
Logan nodded. "You string him up by his toenails to get him to squeal like that?"
The sheriff smirked. "Didn't take nearly that much effort."
"Always was a pansy ass." Logan chuckled. "And you were just doing your job, I understand that."
Sheriff Brooks nodded.
"I don't know what the hell you're talking about!" Tiffany screeched as she was led through the door to the sheriff's station in handcuffs by Deputy Rivers.
The deputy gave her a shove. "Then I suggest you exercise your right to remain silent."
"Well, I never."
"Yes, you did, and that's why you're going in this cell." He pushed her in the eight by eight cell and slammed the door.
"Did she really help Garrison?" Brand asked.
Deputy Rivers sat in the chair next to Jake's. "Yep. Ran Katie and Lizzie off the road that day too."
"I did no such thing!" Tiffany defended. "Jake, you know I'm not capable of doing something like that."
Jake walked over to the cell and met Tiffany's gaze straight on. "Tiffany, you're capable of that and much, much worse. You deserve whatever you get."
"But Jake—"
Jake cut her off with a glare. "Take the deputy's advice. Exercise your right to shut the fuck up."
Tiffany gasped.
Brand said, "She sure is going to make some hard-ass woman in jail a pretty wife, isn't she?"
Ryan laughed. "Oh yeah. Though I think more than one woman is going to have a go at her."
"It's no more than she deserves. I've got to get back to Lizzie." And out of here. With a nod to the other men and a quick, "Thanks," Jake walked out the door before he ended up in a cell for strangling the bitch who'd nearly killed his everything.
63
JAKE
"I've been gone for two hours. For Christ's sake, what could have happened in two hours?" The nurse looked at him in sympathy, then patted his shoulder as she walked out of the room. He'd sat with her all night, only leaving this morning to run to the Rocking K to take a shower and change clothes.
Something unpleasant had obviously taken place in his absence. As if they hadn't already had enough shit happen to them. He wanted to get to their happily ever after already. Damn it. He had daisies, the ring in his pocket, plans for the future, he was ready to pop the question, and now she was looking at him with an unfamiliar glint of fear and uncertainty in her eyes.
Lizzie pulled at the floral print on the hospital blanket covering her lap. "Nothing, really."
"Uh-huh." Jake strode across the hospital room, set the flowers on the table and leaned in to give Lizzie a quick kiss on her forehead, avoiding the bruises and swelling on her lips and cheeks.
"Katie." He nodded in greeting.
"Hi Jake."
"You're looking good."
"Yeah, better than this one here," Katie said pointing at Lizzie.
Jake nodded again. "That's a fact." A fact that had him wanting to rip Todd Garrison's balls off and stuff them down his throat. Lizzie, his Lizzie was a swollen, battered, and bruised mess.
Her face colorfully painful shades of purple, black, red, and yellow, those bruises extending down onto her neck where the bastard had wrapped his hands around her neck and tried to stop her breath. He seriously needed to hit something. Or someone. Garrison was fucking lucky he was behind bars.
He took a deep calming breath. The bruises would heal. The ones on the inside as well as the outside. Some would take longer than others to mend, but he'd do whatever he could to ease the way.
"I better get back. I have therapy in twenty minutes and it'll probably take me that long to wheel myself up." Katie winked at Liz
zie and muttered a, "You're on your own."
Katie was making a tactical escape. Jake could only imagine what bomb was going to be dropped on him next. One of the ever-present nurses met Katie at the door and dutifully helped wheel her down the corridor.
Jake sat on the edge of the bed, then reached out to hold Lizzie's hand in his running a thumb across her knuckles. It was better to just get it out there, so he asked, "Is something wrong, Lizzie?"
Lizzie stared at their joined hands. "Well, that depends on how you look at the situation."
"What situation should I be looking at?"
Lizzie looked at him and visibly gulped. That couldn't be good. Still he kept his expression blank.
"The one where I'm pregnant?"
This wasn't news. He learned all about that last night. Still, he waited.
When he remained silent, she rolled her eyes as she pulled her hand out of his grasp and flailed it in the air, almost hitting him in the nose with her cast in the process, then wincing when the motion caused pain reminding her of her injuries.
She pointed at her stomach. "I'm pregnant. With child. Got a bun in the oven."
Should he tell her he already knew? This was her deal and obviously important to her. From the way she fidgeted, he could tell Lizzie wanted to be the one to give him the news, to share this miracle with him. He should act like it was a surprise. But from the way she was cocking her head to the side and looking at him suspiciously, it was already too late for that.
"You already know, don't you?"
He nodded.
"Well, that sucks. I never get to tell you the news, do I?"
"Hearing you say it makes it sound like news."
She flitted her fingers. "Whatever."
He sighed. It pissed him off that he had to burst her bubble. "I found out last night."
"The doctor told you?"
"In a roundabout way, but I figured it out for myself. When you were brought in, Dr. Whitaker asked if you had had any blows to the abdomen, any trauma. I told her I didn't think so, and she said that was good but just in case she was going to do an ultrasound and some blood work to ensure that the fetus was viable." He shrugged. "Then, last night, while I was watching you sleep, I read your chart. And the doc confirmed it this morning."
"And this is good news to you?"
"Hell yes, it is. We're having a baby, Lizzie. It's the best news I've heard in a long damn time."
Lizzie visibly relaxed, then tensed again. "Who else knows?"
He winced. "Well, when I was talking to the doc this morning, Mrs. Maguire was in here checking on you, so I'd have to say she knows."
"Oh God," she wailed.
He had an idea of what was coming and nearly laughed at her dismay but shook his head instead. He knew if any hint of a smile came through, she'd be on him like a white on rice.
"What?"
"That means that Katie's mom called her bootie club!"
That just sounded wrong. "Her what?"
"Her bootie club. The Crafters are part of a bootie club, and whenever they learn of a pregnancy, each member knits or crochets a pair of booties, different styles, different colors, different yarn. You know what that means don't you?"
He shook his head, still stifling the smile at her wail. "That the baby will have a lot of booties?"
"Well, yes, but that's not what I meant. Mrs. Maguire will call Mrs. Kennedy who will tell Mrs. Shaw who will have to call her son because she doesn't like the brand of yarn they carry in town here and she doesn't know how to use the internet, so she'll need him to order that for her, and he'll tell—"
He cut her off by pressing his fingers to her lips. "I get it. But truth be told, you can never get enough booties."
She pulled his hand away from her mouth and sighed.
Lizzie's, "Living here is so going to cramp our style," coincided and blurred with Jake's, "Then it's a good thing we're going to be moving to Jackson soon."
Both of them sat silently staring at one another as if absorbing what the other one had said.
Lizzie blinked first. "What?"
"I said—"
"I know what you said, but why would you say it? Your ranch is here. Your life is here."
Jake reached out and smoothed a wayward curl from her cheek, tucking it behind her ear. "The ranch will be here whenever you're ready to come back, and my life is with you."
Lizzie shook her head then started to laugh, then winced when laughing hurt, yet continued to do so. He didn't think that was funny. A little corny maybe, but not funny. Being laughed at had never been one of his favorite methods of humiliation and Lizzie was taking it to a whole new level.
He frowned at her.
Lizzie cleared her throat, fighting a smile. "We both did the same thing."
"What do you mean?"
"I talked with Katie about altering our plans a bit for our business and she was all for it. We're going to open our base headquarters here and a small store. We're going to keep the one in Jackson Hole, having a friend of ours run it instead."
Holy shit. He had no idea she had planned to stay. "But what about your dreams?"
Then she started to cry. "They're already coming true, Jake. And don't you see? My career, my life, none of it would mean anything without you."
"Thank God." He gently pulled her into his embrace, holding her loosely so as to not jar her injuries.
She kissed his ear, then asked softly, "Were you really going to walk away from the Rocking K?"
He nodded. "And I still will if it's what you want."
She sniffled. "Oh Jake. I have everything I want right here."
He smirked. "Everything?"
She pulled back and nodded. He handed her a tissue from the bedside table and she blew her nose.
He rose from the bed, then walked to the water pitcher. "You sure?" He asked, pouring a glass of water then handing it to her.
She took a drink, her gaze sliding away from his. "Yeah. What else could I want?"
He slid his hand into his pocket and pulled out the black velvet box, cradling it in his palm so Lizzie couldn't see. He sat down on the bed.
"Well, hell. And here I was hoping you'd want to be my wife."
Lizzie choked as she swallowed. Not exactly the reaction he'd been going for.
"Your wife?" she squeaked.
He wiped her face with a tissue then nodded before dropping to a knee beside the bed. He held out the black velvet box, opening it, then looking deeply into her eyes the color of sparkling emeralds, her mouth a perfect "O", her hand resting across her heart.
"Elizabeth Anne Thomason, would you do me the honor of being my wife?"
Then she smiled, really smiled for the first time in a long time, lighting up her face in a way that made all the bruises and swelling fade away.
"The honor would be mine."
Then, in typical Lizzie fashion, she threw herself into his arms, not laying any caution to the fact that she was bruised, stitched, and battered, knowing he'd catch her and ease her hurts.
He slid the ring onto her finger, then brushed his lips against her palm, before sealing the deal with a slow sensual kiss.
She gazed at the diamond and emerald ring, admiring it, turning it this way and that, the light catching on the gems, then bouncing back off.
"It's a perfect fit."
She sounded surprised, but he had noticed the unerring perfection from the very beginning. He draped an arm around her shoulder then kissed her forehead.
"Just like you and me, Lizzie. Just like you and me."
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UNITED STATES
INTERNATIONAL
PLAYLIST
SPOTIFY
The Tro
uble With Never - Tim McGraw
This Kiss - Faith Hill
Allentown- Billy Joel
High Enough- Damn Yankees
Coming of Age - Damn Yankees
I Guess That’s Why They Call It The Blues - Elton John
You May Be Right - Billy Joel
She’s My Kind of Rain- Tim McGraw
Can’t Tell Me Nothin’ - Tim McGraw
Red Ragtop - Tim McGraw
I Melt - Rascal Flatts
Brass In Pocket- Pretenders
Do You Believe in Love- Hue Lewis & The News
Modern Day Cowboy - Tesla
Like No Other Night - 38 Special
I Don’t Want To Live Without You - Foreigner
Shadows of the Night - Pat Benatar
You’re Love Is Driving Me Crazy - Sammy Hagar
Jack & Diane - John Mellencamp
Separate Ways (Worlds Apart) Journey
Is This Love - Whitesnake
Hold On Loosely - 38 Special
Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic - The Police
The End Of The Innocence - Don Henley
The Deeper The Love - Whitesnake
Something’s Broken - Tim McGraw
Blank Sheet of Paper - Tim McGraw
She’s My Kind of Rain - Tim McGraw
Forget About Us - Tim McGraw
Something Like That - Tim McGraw
Where The Green Grass Grows - Tim McGraw
For A Little While - Tim McGraw
Just To See You Smile - Tim McGraw
Everywhere - Tim McGraw
Maybe We Should Just Sleep On It - Tim McGraw
I Like It, I Love It - Tim McGraw
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I’m going to make this one quick.
Thank you for everything you do. You know what that is, how much that means to me, and that I have to mention it because it matters so much to me.
When Petals Fall: A Cowboy, Second Chance Romantic Suspense (Chance Creek Book 1) Page 30