Exactly where Travis and Kambria had been.
The tide of fear broke.
“Kambria! Travis!”
Initially protected by the doorway, she backpedaled outside. Why did the structure spare her, almost protect her, and fall on top of the ones she loved the most?
When the echoes of groaning and twisting wood died down, she ran out and surveyed the building. It hadn’t collapsed in a pile of rubble, but had given up being erect.
“Kambria!” She edged around the side toward the back. The walls bulged, no longer able to bear the weight of the roof. It was like all four walls had heaved the roof off it and partially failed. “Travis!”
“Mom!”
Hope swelled through Kami. She followed her daughter’s calls. More debris piled around the barn as she neared the back. The rear wall had given out.
She called for Kambria.
“I’m in the barrels.”
The shadow of the barn loomed over her and she squatted to search through the mess. The blue of the barrels stood out in the din of dust. Movement caught her eye. Kambria was crouched in the space between the three barrels.
Relief poured through her, but she couldn’t find Travis.
“Where’s Travis?”
Kambria’s wide eyes searched around her. “He shoved me in here and then all the dust kicked up.”
A groan that was all man reached her ears. “I’m here.”
“Travis. Oh my god, I thought you both were gone.” She spotted him stretched out a few feet from Kambria, partially covered by fallen debris. Her terror hadn’t dissipated entirely. Both of them were stuck under a pile of barn that was still unstable. “Were either of you hurt?”
“Not me,” Kambria replied. “Just a few scrapes. Travis?”
“I’m good.”
Kami tensed. His statement wasn’t filled with the easy confidence he usually possessed.
“Kambria,” Travis said, “do you think you can pick a path through to your mom and do it without disrupting anything?”
“Don’t bump into anything; gotcha.” Kambria’s determined expression didn’t hide her anxiety as she started maneuvering through the hunks of downed wood.
Kami crept as close as she could, grateful to see Kambria’s limber form navigate the mess. But what about Travis?
Kambria reached the last of it and launched herself into her arms. Kami hugged her hard and squeezed her eyes closed. She opened them and spun Kambria around to get her far away from the barn. “Go call 9-1-1, and stay by the car, okay?”
Kambria took off, looking over her shoulder toward where Travis was stuck.
When her daughter was out of ear shot, Kami asked, “How bad is it?”
“I don’t think I can crawl out.” She had to strain to hear him, and he hadn’t answered her question.
“Kambria’s calling for help. Be honest. How bad?”
“As long as Kambria’s out, I’m fine.”
The adrenaline coursing through her veins started to dwindle. Her hands trembled, and it wasn’t until she sniffled that she realized she was crying. He’d rescued her daughter and risked himself to do it. “Dammit, Travis, quit protecting me. How hurt are you? Be. Honest.”
“Want honesty? I love you, Kami. I know you don’t trust me, but I’m willing to prove you can. The only person I want to make happy is you. Okay, and Kambria obviously. I want—” He groaned.
“What? What is it?” She leaned left and right to see if she could make out more than his plaid work shirt.
“Nothing, I just tried to move.”
Her entire body trembled. “I’m scared, Travis.”
“’Bout what?”
She wanted to shout with frustration. He had to be only feet away from her, his voice muffled by debris, and she was helpless. She couldn’t even sit because if the barn decided it wanted to be completely on the ground, she had to run. Without Travis. Because she had Kambria to think of.
“You,” she said. “I’m scared I’ll fall even more in love with you and you’ll realize that I’m no good and I fail at everything I do, and, and—you won’t want me.”
“If I’ve wanted you since that first bus ride, then I doubt I’ll stop. It’s you getting away that terrifies me.” His words were breathless, like he was fighting a great deal of pain. “I’ll live wherever you are. Tell me where to move and I’m there.”
She sniffed again. The tears wouldn’t stop. “You love your place.”
“It’s nothing without you.”
“Oh god, Travis. I’m so sorry. I should’ve been more understanding. You were stuck in a difficult situation and did the best you could.” Regret built on top of regret. “You’d already showed me how you felt in front of your entire family. That should’ve been enough.”
“It wasn’t, and that’s what’s important.” He grunted. Dammit, had he broken something? Been hit on the head? “I love you. Like, really, really love you.”
The words were surreal, and scared her way too much in a situation like this. “I love you, too.”
“Know what I’ve been dreaming about?” He coughed and groaned.
Clenching and unclenching her hands, each minute felt like an hour. She kept Travis talking. “What?”
“Building your dream house here, on this property. You and me and Kambria. Reba and a couple other horses. Maybe a few of our own sheep if I can talk the guys out of a pasture.”
It sounded like it could be her dream, too. “You don’t have to raise sheep just for me.”
“Your plans for sheep were solid and if you want them, we’ll get them.”
A warm glow burst through the mess inside of her. He really had complete faith in her, and supported her. “What about your house?”
“Justin moved home. He can have it. No, I’m making him buy it. I think he earned more than all of us cousins combined.” Travis chuckled and barked a yell. She tiptoed closer. “Don’t get close, Kami. I know you’re worried. It’s nothing a doctor’s visit won’t fix.”
She jerked her head up.
Kambria shouted the same time the sound of sirens became clear. “They’re coming, Mom!”
***
Kami wiggled in her chair. Could the hospitals get more uncomfortable ones?
No, she wouldn’t complain. Last time, she didn’t have a chance to camp out in a sparsely padded chair. When Ben had crashed, he was gone. This time, she relished the privilege of the bedside vigil.
Had it been less than twenty-four hours since the barn happened? It felt like days, but she wasn’t leaving until Travis did.
Two broken ribs, a fractured femur, some internal bleeding, and a head wound that had made her want to vomit. The EMTs said that the bleeding was the most minor of his injuries. They probably would’ve said anything to get her to back away after the fire department pried the roof off him and dragged him to safety.
He’d been through one surgery and had slept most of the time since. The doctor said he’d need another surgery on his leg.
His parents weren’t far away, speaking with the doctors. All his cousins had been by to check on him, and most of them were probably still here, filling up the waiting room.
Travis sighed and winced. She scooted her chair closer, but that proved impossible. One more inch and she’d be on the bed.
He blinked his eyes open and smacked his mouth with a grimace. She was ready with the pink foam sponge on a stick. Dabbing off the excess water, she swabbed his mouth.
He let her without protest. “The mint flavor always surprises me.”
“It takes the sting out of not being allowed anything to drink.” Wrapping her hands around one of his, minding the IV, she smiled. He looked dazed and disgruntled. “I can’t believe you were able to have a full conversation while you were in that much pain.”
He shrugged, then scowled. With his ribs, any movement must hurt. “I’m not missing any more time with you.” His tired blue eyes pinned her. “I’m going to ask you to marry me someday, f
air warning.”
Her smile turned into a grin. They were having this conversation in a hospital and it seemed completely appropriate. “Fair warning, I might accept.”
Epilogue
One year later…
“I guess we should name him.”
Travis glanced up from the tiny face he’d been staring at for an hour. His son. “You need to be resting.”
“I’m fine. And unlike when you told me that, I really am fine. Trust me. I’ve done this before.”
Kambria perked up. “With me, right?”
“Yes, you.”
His whole world was in this small hospital room. His wife and daughter. They were discussing official adoption, and he assured Kambria that keeping her last name would not be insulting in the slightest.
How much had happened since he’d been in this place? He still walked with a limp, but his ribs were healed and he only had a tiny scar on his forehead. Pretty good for half a barn falling on him. Their new house was finished a few weeks ago, in the same place as the house Kami had grown up in. His cousins made sure they were moved in and everything was painted to order, while Kami didn’t let something like being nine months pregnant slow down her coaching and running the gym. The projected growth for the next year was astounding, and he promised to strap on that baby-wearing thingy while she studied for class. She was starting slow, but working toward a business degree.
“I guess a name might be in order,” he drawled. “When Elle and Abbi have their kids, we can’t still be shouting ‘hey, you’ at family get-togethers.”
Kami chuckled. “I’ve still got money on Abbi dropping first, but I guess we’ll have to wait a few months to find out.”
“You know my vote for names,” Kambria said.
Kami rolled her gaze toward where Kambia was buried in her phone. “We’re not naming him after anyone in a boy band.” She looked back to him, her gaze dropping to their sleeping son. “Do we go the family route?”
They’d thrown names around for months, had kept the gender a surprise. But really, there was only one name Travis had decided on if it was a boy. He was mostly sure Kami would agree.
“I think Benjamin Preston Walker would work.”
Kami’s eyes widened. Kambria’s head popped up. Neither of them said anything.
Moisture glittered in Kami’s eyes. She blinked. Her nose twitched. She waved her non-IV hand in front of her face. “These hormones. I mean… Why?”
“It honors Kambria’s dad and a man who was important to you, treated you right when so many others didn’t.”
Tears rolled down her face and he had to admit to the backs of his eyes burning. Damn hormones.
A tiny squeal escaped Kambria. “I love it, Mom. Do you?”
“I think it’s perfect, I really do. But, really? You’re okay with that?”
“It’d make me proud, just like you two do.”
“OMG. Just wait until I tell Grandma Martha.” Kambria palmed her phone and dialed.
Kami lifted her brow at Travis. “I really don’t know how Martha will take it.”
He would wave her worries off, but his hands were full. “She likes me. She won’t take it as an insult. And who cares?”
A grin lit Kami’s face. The fatigue of childbirth did nothing to diminish her radiance. “You’ve been saying that a lot. It’s sexy.”
He settled back with the warm bundle and one thought: Couldn’t wait to get his family home.
Kambria hung up. “Ohmigosh, you guys. Grandma loves it. She said it’d be cool if I ever had a son, he could be named after his grandpa and his uncle.”
Travis laughed; little Ben squirmed. Kami’s eyes slid shut, and she opened them again.
“Go to sleep. I’ll wake you when he’s hungry. Besides, Kambria offered her gaming services at beta testing my app and she needs to pay up.”
His wife drifted off, his daughter booted his laptop up, and his son slept on his chest.
He ended up with everything he wanted. His home. His farm. His woman. And a whole lot more.
___________
Thank you for reading. I’d love to know what you thought. Please consider leaving a review at the retailer the book was purchased from.
~Marie
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About the Author
Marie Johnston writes paranormal and contemporary romance. Before she was a writer, she was a microbiologist. Depending on the situation, she can be oddly unconcerned about germs or weirdly phobic. She’s also a licensed medical technician and has worked as a public health microbiologist and as a lab tech in hospital and clinic labs. Marie’s been a volunteer EMT, a college instructor, a security guard, a phlebotomist, a hotel clerk, and a coffee pourer in a bingo hall. All fodder for a writer!! She has four kids, an old cat, and a puppy that’s bigger than half her kids.
mariejohnstonwriter.com
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More Contemporary Romance
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Highest Bidder (Book 2—Coming Soon)
The Walker Five:
Conflict of Interest (Book 1)
Mustang Summer (Book 2)
Long Hard Fall (Book 3)
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Epilogue
About the Author
Guilt Ridden Page 20