They broke apart, but Sonya didn’t let Austin go. She hugged him close and laid her chin on his shoulder and stared at the doctor. “He’s the best medicine I could get.”
“I prescribe a daily dose of him, then.” The doctor winked and patted her leg. “Let’s check that wound and get you out of here.”
Austin helped her lie back on the pillow. The doctor lifted her gown and pulled the bandage off to check the incisions, front and back.
“How does it look? Is she going to be okay?” The concern and fear in Austin’s voice made her sad. She didn’t want him to worry about her anymore.
“It looks great. Healing well. How’s your pain level?”
“About a four. Tolerable.”
“I’ll send you home with pain meds and antibiotics. You’ll need to take it easy for a couple of weeks, but I don’t think you’ll have any complications.”
A nurse walked in with a clean dressing for her side.
“Any questions?”
“How much do I need to restrict her activity?” Austin asked.
“Due to the muscle damage, don’t carry anything heavier than five pounds for the next couple of weeks. Keep your activities light. Rest when you get sore. Over time, the muscles will heal and you’ll need to work them again to build them up. You’ll have a scar on your abdomen and lower back, but you were very lucky. The bullet didn’t hit any organs. We’ll reevaluate in ten days at your checkup.”
Sonya held her hand out and took the doctor’s hand. “Thank you for everything.”
“If you have any questions, get a fever, or increased pain, contact me immediately.”
“I will, but I have a feeling Austin will be sure I don’t do anything to mess up my recovery.”
“Hell no. You get the couch, the remote, and as many desserts as you want.”
The doctor smiled, gave Austin an approving nod, and left so the nurse could rebandage her wounds.
True to his word, Austin drove her home three hours later because it takes forever to be discharged from the hospital. He settled her on the couch, then went out, fed the livestock, came back in, and made her dinner. As promised, he delivered on dessert with her favorite rocky road ice cream.
He ignored calls from Walter’s lawyer and cuddled with her on the sofa. But still she felt a distance in him, like he couldn’t get out of his head and believe that everything really was going to be all right now.
She’d just have to show him that nothing would come between them again.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Sonya woke up the same way she fell asleep: with Austin kissing her shoulder and neck, his arms wrapped around her. He’d held her through the night and the nightmare that woke her with a jolt. But she’d immediately let go of the fear when Austin distracted her from the past and anchored her in the present with his strength and love.
“Morning.”
“How’s your side?”
“Fine.” Nothing but a dull ache he didn’t need to know about because she was a pain med away from making it disappear. Another day or two of taking it easy, giving it time to heal, and all she’d be left with was the scar and a bad memory. She could live with that because she had the man she loved and a bright future with him on their ranch.
“You don’t need to hold back just to make me feel better.”
She rolled over and faced him. He combed the hair from her face and traced his fingers down her arm and settled his big hand on her hip.
She put her hand on his face. His scruffy jaw scraped her palm. She stared into his blue eyes and saw the depth of emotion he tried so hard to keep contained. “You need to find a way to let this go.”
His eyes narrowed. “I want to kill him.”
“This anger is going to eat you alive. Just like it did when he kicked you out. Please, Austin, I don’t want to see you fall back into that kind of despair.”
“Or a bottle?” He gripped her hip. “I won’t. This is different. I know what I have to do, it’s just not what I thought my future would be.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Someone has to run the mining business. I can’t lay off all those workers or turn away the customers who rely on the heat-treating operation. All I wanted to do was run this ranch with you.”
“You don’t have to do this alone.”
“You’ve got enough on your plate with the Ranch, Roxy and Noah’s ranch, and the investments you oversee. You’re taking care of the accounting for our ranch, too.”
“First, it means everything to me to hear you call it our ranch. Yes, I have a lot on my plate, but—”
“Your mother is going to need you to get through this thing with her uncles.”
“And I’ll be there for her. But none of that means I can’t be here for you. You don’t have to give up everything you want to clean up your father’s mess and take back what’s yours.”
“Who else is going to do it? And you still haven’t decided if you’re going to take the job back in Vegas.” Resentment and fear filled those last words.
She’d put off that decision and left him hanging and thinking that she might actually choose the job over him. She never meant to do that and it made her heart ache to know she’d hurt him. “I’m not taking that job. I’ve known that for a while but was afraid to let it go. After all we’ve been through, it’s so easy to see now exactly what I want. And that’s my life here with you.”
“Do you mean that?”
“Yes. Absolutely. And I have a plan I think will work for you and me. Hear me out because it may not seem like the logical thing to do, but I think once you consider it, you’ll see the benefits for everyone involved.”
Austin held her gaze and nodded. “Okay, let’s hear it.”
It took Austin a minute to digest Sonya’s plan. First he thought of all the complications it could cause, which included hurt feelings and jealousies he didn’t want to deal with or have infect what he and Sonya had together and wanted to build on for their future. Anything that jeopardized that got a hard no. But the more he listened to her plan, thought it over, and played it out, he had to admit, it just might work and make everyone happy.
If Sonya could live with it—it was her plan after all—then he would give it a try.
But the second he even smelled something sour, he’d put an end to it.
The doorbell rang and he took a deep breath and sighed, hoping this went well.
Sonya opened the door and Kelly stepped inside and immediately broke down in tears.
Austin’s gut went tight. He didn’t know what to do, but this wasn’t a great start to the conversation he needed to have with Kelly about the future and his father.
Kelly wrapped Sonya in a hug and rocked her back and forth.
Austin stepped forward to pull her away before she hurt Sonya’s side, but Sonya held up her hand and stopped the rocking motion, holding Kelly still.
“I’m so sorry. It’s all my fault. I shouldn’t have asked you to meet me at the mining office. I should have just gotten the files and brought them to you.”
His sweet Sonya held Kelly tight with one arm and rubbed her other hand up and down Kelly’s back. “I’m glad you reached out. We needed your help to prove how much Walter stole and where he’d stashed the money.”
Kelly held Sonya at arm’s length and glanced down at her belly, then back up. “Are you okay? You look good.”
Sonya squeezed Kelly’s sides. “I’m fine.” She waved her hand toward the sofa. “Come, sit down.”
Kelly glanced at him, then looked away, embarrassed and unsure of him. “Hi, Austin.”
“How are you feeling?”
Kelly sat on the edge of the couch, clutching her purse on her lap. “I’m trying to wrap my head around what happened and figure out what to do next.”
Austin sat in the chair beside the sofa and Kelly. Sonya sat on the chair arm beside him.
He hooked his arm around her waist. “I asked you here today so you could see
that Sonya is healing.”
“I shouldn’t have taunted Walter. I shouldn’t have said what I said.” Her lips trembled but she held back a fresh wave of tears. Thank God. Austin didn’t know what to do with an emotional woman.
Austin reached out, giving comfort the only way he knew how, and laid his hand on her knee. “Stop. You’re not to blame. He refused to see reason and compromise. We could have settled the matter at the house, but he didn’t want to give up anything. He wanted to control you, me, the business, every damn thing.” Austin sat back and tried to calm his growing anger. “We need to talk about the baby and the future of the company.”
“I know what I said about the baby, but I didn’t mean it. I want to have this baby.”
Austin nodded. “I never believed you’d hurt the baby. This may not be how you want things to happen, but Sonya and I want to help.”
Kelly’s gaze shot to his. “You do?”
“Yes. You’re carrying my brother or sister. A Hubbard. A child who won’t have a father for a long time because my dad will be locked up.”
Kelly leaned forward. “Do you have any idea what is going to happen to him?”
“I spoke with his lawyer this morning. My father wants to fight my taking back what he stole from me. His lawyer is going to discuss with him how fighting me and the charges against him will only extend the inevitable outcome. I will get back what is mine and take over Blue Mining. I’ve offered to make a deal with my father. The same one I offered him at the house with a few changes.”
“What changes?” Kelly wiped her nose with a tissue she took from her purse.
“Thanks to the documents you took from the safe and the others you got from the office for us, we know the net worth of the business and its holdings. I will pay out thirty percent to my father, cutting him out of the business from now on. He’ll keep ownership of the land my grandfather gave him when he married my mother. As your child is his heir, I will ask him to leave it to the baby. I don’t see why he wouldn’t. But you and the child won’t need it.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m taking ownership of the land he purchased for Blue Mining. Sonya and I discussed it, and we agreed that the baby should benefit from my father’s hard work and the business he started. So, from now on, the baby will receive twenty percent of the profits.”
“Austin, you don’t have to do that.”
“I want to. But I need your help.”
Kelly tilted her head. “What can I possibly do for you?”
“Help Sonya run the company.”
Kelly’s gaze shot to Sonya, then back to him. “You want us to work together?”
This is where things got tricky. Kelly still had feelings for him. They all knew it, even Sonya. But she’d come up with this plan and believed they could all work together without jealousy and hurt getting in the way. Austin hoped so.
“We’re going to pull back the mining business and focus on the heat-treating operation. You will organize and run that while Sonya will oversee the finances. You will receive a good salary to care for your child. The baby will benefit from your hard work and maybe one day run the company. It always was and will continue to be a family business.”
Kelly’s eyes sprung another leak. Tears cascaded down her cheeks again, dabbed away by another tissue but not fast enough for the stream that overtook her again. “You think of me as family.”
“That baby may not have a present father, but he or she is going to have a big brother looking out for him or her.”
Kelly glanced up at Sonya who sat beside him, quietly backing him up. “Do you agree to this? You and me working together?”
“Austin and I aren’t going to let Walter get away with what he did and leave you and your baby abandoned. Austin cares about family. Though your relationship ended and things have been difficult because of Walter’s interference, Austin and I believe we can all be friends.”
“Is that your polite way of letting me know this offer is a business deal, not an opening for me to hope Austin and I will get back together?”
Austin wanted to be sure everything was clear. “Kelly, I—”
“You love Sonya.” Kelly cut him off from saying that very thing. “I know that, Austin. I can see the way you love her. It’s in the way you look at her, the way you touch her, and even how you’ve changed. You’re . . . happy. At ease. Connected to her in a way that just never happened between us. While I wish things turned out differently for us, I want what you two have and know I won’t get it by trying to take you away from her. So neither of you has to worry that I’ll cause trouble. I’m going to focus on this baby.” She put her hand over her belly. “And I’ll take the job and your support as we all move forward with our lives as a family. Who knows, maybe soon this baby will be an aunt or uncle to your baby.”
Sonya ran her hand over Austin’s head and smiled down at him. “Let’s do the whole wedding and living together thing without all the drama for a while.”
Austin hugged Sonya to his side. “Whatever you want, sweetheart.” He focused on Kelly once again. “We’d like you to close up my father’s house. He can decide what he wants to do with it once his fate is determined. As part of your benefits, there’s a cottage on the Blue Mining land.”
“The property and mining manager lived there. He moved out a couple months ago. I think one of the security guards took over the place.”
“We’ll make other arrangements for security. You can take over the cottage. Sonya’s great at renovations and decorating, so if we need to make some improvements and changes to the property, we’ll work it out.”
Kelly pressed her hand to her chest. “You guys really mean this. I’m going to have a place to raise the baby, a good job, and security for my child.”
Austin glanced up at Sonya, got a smile from her, and looked at Kelly. “Yes. We’re going to make this work and give you and this baby a good life. The life my father promised you both. It may not include him, but I don’t think you’ll have any trouble finding a man who sees what I saw in you and wants to be everything you deserve.”
Kelly’s lips pressed into a wobbly grin as her eyes filled with tears again. “Thank you, Austin. That means a lot to me.”
“Then it’s settled and you can stop crying.”
“It’s the hormones,” she assured him.
He wanted as far away from any more crying as possible. Lucky for him, Kelly and Sonya would work together with minimal help from him. If they could be friends, or at least business partners, then he didn’t have to worry about things getting messy. It seemed that Kelly didn’t harbor any notions that they’d eventually get back together or that this was an opening for that to happen.
Kelly stood. “Thank you both. Walter may end up behind bars, but I plan to make sure he doesn’t forget his child. With a job and a place to live, I can focus on getting my life in order, starting with getting a lawyer and child support. I appreciate what you’re doing, but Walter needs to be held accountable, too.”
“Go after him,” Austin encouraged.
Sonya stood to see Kelly out, wincing when the movement hurt. “Meet me at the cottage tomorrow. We’ll take a look at the place and see what needs to be done to get you settled in there.”
Kelly gave Sonya a quick hug. “Thank you. I’ll see you there. If the place turns out half as good as this,” Kelly said, glancing around the renovated house, “I’m sure I’ll love it.”
“Leave it to Sonya. She’ll make a list tomorrow and the work will be done before you know it.”
Kelly headed for the door. “I’ll be in touch.”
Sonya showed her out, came back, and sat on the coffee table facing him. She put her hands on his knees and squeezed, making him jerk when it tickled him. The grin said one thing, but her words conveyed another. “Sorry.”
“No you’re not.”
She squeezed his legs again and he took her hands to stop her from tickling him again.
“You’re
playing with fire, sweetheart.”
Sonya leaned in and kissed him. “Trust me, Austin, it’s going to be all right. Kelly and I have an understanding now. We can work together. Once she settles in to the job and the house, she’ll be focused on work and the baby. Having your ex around all the time isn’t exactly ideal, but I think we can be friends and a family for the baby.”
“I think so, too. I just don’t want you to ever think or suspect something is going on, because I love you, not her. I want to be there for the baby, but I’m dedicated to you.”
She cupped his face. “I know. I’m okay with this. That’s why I suggested it. Your father tore this family apart. We are going to hold it together.”
He sighed out his relief that the meeting went so well. But the stress tightening his shoulders didn’t ease, because he still had to face his dad.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Four days later, Austin sat in the hard plastic chair facing the glass and waited for Walter to be brought in from his cell to speak to him. Gray cinder-block walls, high barred windows, locked doors, the stale air tinged with sweat and desperation, and armed guards. This was the life his father faced for years to come if convicted. In Austin’s opinion, he got off easy after shooting Sonya.
The door in the opposite room buzzed, then opened. His father walked in ahead of a guard, who pointed to the seat in front of Austin. No need. Walter rushed over, sat down, and picked up the phone on his side of the divider.
Austin took his time and looked his fill at the man in front of him. A man he’d loved and admired. A man he thought he’d grow to become.
Somewhere along the way, he’d shot higher.
Now he couldn’t stand the sight of the pale, unshaven, desperate man before him. Even the bandage around his head from the knock Austin gave him didn’t soften Austin’s heart.
He wanted his father to suffer a thousand times over for the intense fear and despair Austin felt in those moments he thought Sonya might be dead, or would die if he didn’t get her help in time. His whole lonely life flashed in his mind and he’d known what his father had taken from him.
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