“Everyone is waiting up at the house to go for a hike, so unless you want to declare your love for my sister in front of everyone, it will have to wait until after.”
Reed was standing outside the house glaring at me as we walked up.
“Yeah, I think I’ll wait,” I said as I fought the urge to bolt in the opposite direction of where Reed was standing with his arms crossed.
“Just keep walking like you don’t see him,” Walker said as I snapped my head to look at him.
“W-what?”
Nate laughed as he called out. “Hey, Reed! Look who we found … Ryder!”
Reed made his way over to us as Walker said, “Good luck, dude.”
“Wait. Where are you going?” I demanded as Walker nodded toward his father and made a beeline to the door.
Stopping, I grabbed Nate’s arm. “You will never get my truck or condo, you traitor!”
“Ryder, how was your evening?” Reed asked as he stopped in front of me. I was still focused on my brother when he shot me a smirk.
“You’re dead to me,” I whispered before turning to look at Reed.
“Morning, Reed. It was um … it was … nice?”
Tilting his head, his eyes narrowed as he waited for me to change my response.
“It was … um … fun.”
Reed’s mouth dropped open as I held up my hands.
“No, no, that’s not the word I was looking for.”
Ava’s father cleared his throat and stated, “Walk with me, Ryder. I think it’s time you and I got to know each other a little better.”
My eyes widened in horror as I slowly turned and began following Reed toward the barn. Why the barn? Nothing good could come from going to the barn!
Glancing over my shoulder, I shot my good-for-nothing brother a pleading look.
With a smile he called out, “You still keep your spare key under that potted plant, right?”
My hand lifted as I gave him the finger while he threw his head back and cackled.
“SLOW DOWN, AVA! Where is the fire?”
He said he loved me. He said he loved me. Oh. My. God.
“Ava? Where in the hell have you been?” my father said as he stomped down the steps of the porch.
“Not now, Dad,” I replied. Stopping, I turned and faced my father. “And before you think of going off and doing something stupid, don’t. He makes me happy and I … I …” Letting out a sigh, I pointed to him. “Just don’t do what I know you’re going to do!”
Turning away, I pulled on Liza to follow me. “Wow! Were you about to say you loved Ryder?”
The moment we stepped inside the house, I saw Dani. Walking up to her, I took her hand in my other hand and pulled her along with Liza up to the room I was staying in.
“What’s happening? What’s going on?” Dani asked. “Slow down! I’m with child and I can’t move that fast.”
Liza giggled as she replied with, “Not sure, but I think your brother just rocked my sister-in-law’s world.”
Dani gasped as I rolled my eyes and pushed them both into the room and shut the door. Both of them looked at me with excited expressions.
“So? How was last night?” Dani asked as she covered her mouth like we were in middle school and talking about my first kiss.
“He said he loved me,” I blurted out as both of their smiles faded before being replaced with squeals of delight.
Liza and Dani turned to each other and grabbed hands and jumped like twelve-year- olds.
My hands went to my hips as I shot them both a dirty look. “Are we done acting like little girls?”
Liza widened her eyes and took my hands in hers. “Why aren’t you happy? Ava … this is amazing. I mean, it’s kind of fast, but oh my gawd!”
Dani shook her head as she looked at me. “What did he do?”
“Nothing. Everything.” I buried my face in my hands and screamed into them before dropping them back to my sides.
“Last night was amazing. I felt things I have never in my life felt before, not only physically, but emotionally as well.”
“Ew,” Liza and Dani said together.
Liza motioned for me to sit down on the bed. “Okay, so you had a wonderful time last night. When did he tell you he loved you?”
I took in a deep breath and tried not to overreact. “Well, when we woke up, Ryder somewhat freaked that we missed breakfast and he was sure my father was going to kill him.”
Dani and Liza exchanged glances quickly. “Then I thought I had him talked into a little bit of … fun … before we headed back to the house.”
Liza wiggled her eyebrows as Dani made a gagging motion. “Ugh … I’m pregnant and it doesn’t take much to make me puke. Move on.”
Pressing my lips together to hide my smile, I cleared my dirty thoughts and kept talking. “Well, Nate busted in and said everyone was looking for us so we headed back to the house. Everything else happened so fast … and I’m so confused. This is all just going so fast.”
“Tell us!” Liza exclaimed as I pulled back and snarled my lip at her.
“Okay! Okay! He pulled me to a stop and just said he loved me. Then Nate started on about magical pussies and he wouldn’t shut up and Ryder looked stunned and when I asked him if he meant it, he couldn’t even form a sentence to talk. Then y’all walked up and I panicked. What if he didn’t mean to say it? What if he was caught up in the magic of last night as well and was thinking maybe someday he could love me and he just spit it out?”
Dani sat next to me as she placed her hand on my leg. I could practically feel the warmth coming from her. “If there is one thing I know about my brother, he doesn’t ever say anything unless it is coming straight from his heart. You said he just blurted it out?”
With a nod of my head, I felt water pool in my eyes.
“My guess would be he surprised himself by saying it out loud. You said you experienced feelings you’d never felt before, right?”
My teeth sunk into my lip as I fought to stay in control of my emotions while I nodded my head.
“I’m sure my brother felt the same way. It also didn’t help that Nate was standing there talking out of his ass, I’m sure.”
A snicker slipped from my mouth as replied, “No, it didn’t.”
Liza put her arm around my shoulders and pulled me close to her. “I’m sure when you questioned him he was stunned, like Dani said. Give him a chance to talk to you before you go jumping to conclusions.”
A single tear slipped down my cheek as I wiped it away quickly. “I know. I think the thing that scares me the most is I’ve fallen in love with him after just one night together.”
Dani began sobbing as Liza and looked at her. “Are you okay?” I exclaimed as I jumped up and bent over her.
Dani held her hand up and smiled as she continued to cry. “I’m just so … happy!”
Peeking over to Liza, I gave her a what-the-hell look as she mouthed pregnancy hormones.
Ohh … totally made sense now. I remembered Liza going through that with Nickolas.
Taking her sleeve, Dani wiped all the wetness from her face and stood up. “We better get downstairs if we want to head out for a morning hike. By mid-morning I’m exhausted and ready for a nap!”
With a quick grin, I said, “Let me change really quick and I’ll meet y’all downstairs.”
Liza stood up and stretched. “Man oh man. Nothing like family-weekend drama to wear you out!”
Dani laughed as they made their way over to the bedroom door.
After throwing on some sweatpants, a long sleeve T-shirt and a light jacket, I found my hiking boots and laced them up. Something outside the bedroom window caught my eye as I moved the curtain and sucked in a breath of air.
“Oh … holy … shit.”
My father and Ryder were walking back from the barn. Leaning in closer to get a better look at Ryder, my head hit the glass.
“Shit!” I yelled out as I strained to see if Ryder was limping or showing an
y signs of trauma.
Tripping over my untied shoelace, I rushed to get my boots on and ran to the door and threw it open as I waited for Ryder to come up and change.
“Hurry up, son! We’ve been waiting on you two for the last forty minutes!” Nate Sr. yelled out.
My thumb went to my mouth were I promptly started chewing on my nail. Ryder ran up the steps two at a time and flashed me a smile that took my breath away.
“Hey,” he softly spoke as he took me into his arms. “I didn’t mean to just blurt that out. I wanted to make that moment special and I wasn’t sure if you thought me saying it was too soon or maybe it wasn’t romantic enough or—”
I placed my finger over his lips and shook my head. “I love you, too. And it was beyond perfect.” I closed my eyes and frowned before opening them again and saying, “No … it would have been perfect had Nate not been there.”
Ryder grinned as he dipped me back and kissed me fast and hard on the lips. “I need to change. I’ll meet you downstairs.”
My stomach felt like I was on a roller coaster as I returned his smile and nodded. “Kay,” was all I managed to get out as Ryder lifted me quickly. Slapping my ass, he headed to his room.
“Wait!” I called out. “What did my father say to you?”
Ryder turned and walked backwards. “That if I hurt you in any way, or have sex with you ever again while he is within a five-mile radius, he will kill me. That’s all.”
With a shrug, I said, “Oh good! Well, not good that he would kill you, but good that he didn’t try to kill you already.”
Ryder stopped at his door and then dashed in while I practically skipped down the stairs.
I finally met my prince charming. I can’t wait to tell my mother!
“IT’S SO INCREDIBLY beautiful up here,” Jase said as he walked behind me.
“I agree. I’ve never seen the sky look so clear or so blue.”
Liza and Walker brought up the rear, and I knew it was because they wanted to steal a kiss or two along the way. I couldn’t blame them. It was rare for them to not have little Nickolas with them.
“We’re almost to the top. The view is like nothing you’ve ever seen,” Ryder called out as he looked back at me.
My heart raced with excitement as I continued heading up the trail.
“You get you some action last night?” Jase whispered from behind me.
Stopping, I hit him on the chest. “Seriously? Stop acting like a child.”
He lifted his eyebrows and replied, “I’ll take that as a yes you did. No wonder your dad was in an uproar this morning.”
“I’m not talking to you about this, Jase.”
Jase roared with laughter as he walked by and headed closer to Ryder.
Oh. Great. That little bastard lived to make my life hell. Always has.
“Don’t you dare even utter a single word to him, Jase Morris!” I called out as my foot slipped and I lost my balance.
The moment I felt my ankle roll and pop, I knew this wasn’t going to turn out good. The snapping feeling was followed by a shooting pain up my leg that caused me to lose my balance even more. The only thing I heard was my name being called out as I fell to the ground and down a small hill. I thought everything was going to be okay until I picked up a bit of speed and my lower leg hit a boulder. The pain hit me instantly as everything began to spin and I felt sick to my stomach.
“Son-of-a-bitch!” I yelled out as I saw Ryder sliding to a stop and bending over me.
“Ava! Where are you hurt?”
Squeezing my eyes shut, I whimpered. “My leg. Hurts like hell.”
“We’ve got to get her down from here and to the hospital,” Walker said as my eyes snapped open.
“What? No! Just give me a few seconds to let the pain go away.”
Ryder and Walker looked at each other before Ryder turned back to me. “Baby, your leg is broken; the pain isn’t going to go away.”
Swallowing hard, the pain felt a thousand times worse than it had five seconds ago.
“W-what?”
Jase stood behind Ryder and Walker. “This is my fault! Shit! Ava, I was just playing around.”
“My ankle rolled, and something snapped.”
I heard my mother and father calling out my name as I turned my attention to Ryder. “Please tell me it’s not broken. I can’t look.”
Ryder’s eyes filled with worry. “Don’t look, but I can’t tell you it’s not broken. It clearly looks broken.”
Snarling my lip, I replied with, “Shit.”
Well that didn’t make me feel any better and only made me want to look at my leg. Taking a quick glance, I saw my leg bent in a way it should not be bent.
“Oh no,” I whispered as I felt lightheaded.
Reaching out for anyone I could find, all I could manage to say was, “Gonna … pass …out.”
Ryder carefully picked me up and started back down the trail as I buried my face into his chest.
“I’ve got you,” Ryder kept repeating every five minutes or so as Walker and Jase led the way down the trail.
Grabbing onto Ryder’s jacket, I pleaded, “Please, you be the one to take me to the hospital, okay?”
Ryder held onto me tighter as his voice cracked. “I promise.”
The pain was getting so unbearable, I prayed like hell I would just pass out.
“Walker, Jase, and I will take her in my truck. Reed, Courtney, you can follow us,” Ryder called out as I felt him walking faster. Peeking my eyes open, I thanked God we were finally off the trail.
“I’ll call them, Ryder, and let them know you’re on your way!” Lucy called out.
Ryder gently placed me in the backseat of his truck as he ran to the other side and jumped in with me as Walker got behind the wheel.
“Just follow Dani and Rich,” Ryder ordered Walker.
“Is Dani okay?” I asked lifting my head to look out the front window.
“She’s fine, buttercup. That trail is nothing to her, even being pregnant.”
The feel of Ryder’s hand brushing against my forehead was calming.
I felt myself slipping into sleep as the pain finally faded away.
“Never going hiking again,” I whispered as sleep took over.
I PACED ACROSS the tile floor as I waited along with everyone else in the waiting room.
“Ryder, please stop pacing and sit down next to me.”
I glanced over toward my mother and gave her a faint smile. “I can’t sit down, Mom.”
“How about a cup of coffee then?” Dani said as she placed her hand on my arm.
My eyes looked up at the clock on the white wall. It had been almost two hours since they brought Ava back for surgery.
“Nah, the doctor might come out.”
I caught a glimpse of Reed watching me. After our little talk this morning, everything had been perfect. I told him the truth, that I cared very deeply for his daughter and I was going to do everything in my power to make her happy. His only concern was me moving to Montana. A problem I had chosen to ignore for the time being.
Dani sighed. “Fine, Rich and I are going to get some coffee; will you drink it if I bring you one?”
I absentmindedly nodded my head. Before turning to leave, Dani leaned in closer to me and whispered, “Don’t get upset, but I saw Dad talking to Destiny a little bit ago.”
My head snapped over to my father who was currently talking to Layton. “What? Where?”
“She was here; you know she does charity work for the hospital. I overheard her telling dad how much she missed you and wished you would give her another chance. She brought up the two families merging.”
My heart jumped to my throat. “What did he say?” I asked in a hushed voice.
Dani’s grin spread from one side of her face to the other. “He told her it was time for her to move on … that you and Ava were together now and it would be best if Destiny accepted that the two of you were never going to work out.”
&
nbsp; My eyes about popped out of my head. “No shit? Dad told her that?”
Scrunching up her nose and nodding her head quickly, my sister rubbed her swollen belly. “Yep! Looks like our father knows true love when he sees it.”
I narrowed my eyes as I searched her face. There was no way I was getting into that with her now.
“Well, that certainly makes things a hell of a lot easier on me.”
Dani patted my chest and winked. “I thought that might cheer you up some! I’m going to get that coffee now.”
Rolling my neck, I headed over to a chair and sat down as I watched my father intently. I had to admit I was stunned he wasn’t going to push the whole family merger thing with me again. Especially since he knew I was moving back here. Relief instantly flooded though my body as he glanced my way and smiled. With a smile back, I made a note to myself to talk to him about Destiny and the future of our ranches. I had an idea on how we could make a merger happen and it sure as hell didn’t involve me having to get married to Destiny.
The doors opened and a doctor dressed in surgical scrubs walked out. Reed and Courtney jumped up when the he called out Ava’s name.
“We’re her parents,” Courtney said as he walked up to them. Liza and Walker were next to them, along with Jase. I stood back with Layton, Whitley, and my parents.
“I’m Doctor Monroe. Has anyone talked to you yet since they brought her in for surgery?”
Reed shook his head. “The ER doctor just told us she had fractured the tibia and fibula. He said she would need surgery.”
The doctor shook his head. “Yes, it was a severe but clean break of both bones so everything went back together nicely and are secured with a plate and screws. She also had a small fracture of her ankle, but I’m not worried about that at all. It will be more painful than anything and should heal up fine.”
Courtney covered her mouth as Reed said, “She has a broken leg and ankle?”
“I’m afraid so. Healing for those breaks will take six to eight weeks, and I’m going to recommend physical therapy as well since she will be off that leg for a good amount of time.”
My stomach recoiled at the thought of Ava being in such pain.