Page 131 of The Last Promise You Made

“You don’t ever have to ask something like that. Family always comes first.”

Her eyes glimmered at me the same way they had when she’d said she loved me. My heart swelled. I listened while she called her brother and then her dad, giving them a very condensed version of what had happened, letting them know it would probably break with the morning news. Then, I’d listened as her mother came on and chewed her out for keeping her job a secret. But the lecture was followed by love and a deep relief that Gia was okay.

When she hung up, she closed her eyes, resting her head against the back of the seat. The sun was creeping over the horizon as we reached the mountains twenty minutes from Willow Creek. For a moment, I thought she’d actually fallen asleep, but then she turned those amber eyes flashing with hints of green in my direction and said, “I don’t want to do this anymore.”

My heart sank. Part of me knew she didn’t mean me…us…and yet a moment of panic still snuck over me. Old habits. Lack of trust that wasn’t caused by her but by those old wounds that, while healed, could still flicker back to life occasionally. It would be a work in progress for a long time.

“Do what?” I finally asked.

“This job. I don’t want my mom and dad to get a call that says they lost me in some jungle in South America. I don’t want you and Addy to lose someone else you love.”

I swallowed hard, throat bobbing. “I told you before, and I’ll say it again. I’d never ask you to give up what you do. That isn’t who I am.”

She smiled, and it lit up the entirety of the darkened car even more than the weak sunrise. “I know. It’s part of why I love you. That you don’t expect me to just walk away.” She extended a hand as if to caress my shoulder, and pain drifted across her face again.

“I’m calling Maddox. I’ll have McKenna meet us at the hospital.” After I did that, she returned to the conversation as if we hadn’t stopped.

“I don’t have a back-up plan.” There was a whisper of sadness in that tone. She’d told me she didn’t sit still well, and I’d witnessed that myself ever since she’d rolled into town. She’d need action. Something meaty and gritty to keep her occupied. Puzzles to solve.

“It’s not the same—not the same at all—but Maddox is shorthanded at the station.”

She winced again, and this time, I wasn’t sure if it was because of the pain or because of the job I’d suggested.

“Your boss is right. You don’t need to figure it out right now. Take the vacation he suggested. Rest and recover. That should be your primary focus right now.”

“Shall I call your mama for a reservation?”

Even though I knew she was teasing, eyes flashing with humor, I still growled out my response, “You stay at the ranch, and we will have a problem. There’s only one place you’re sleeping while you’re in Willow Creek.”

“So bossy.”

“You love it.”

“From you…I do.”

Those two little words sank into me. I do. I wanted her to say I do in a very formal way. I wanted her to let me slip a ring on her finger in front of our families and declare to the world that we were forever. The ring I’d taken from Jaime’s safe was burning a hole in my pocket. I wouldn’t give that one to Gia. It had too many tainted memories now, but I’d give her another one—one that was just about us.

The moment I’d closed my fist around my great-grandmother’s ring, I’d been overwhelmed with relief at having back the family heirloom Ravyn had stolen. Mama had tried to hide how sad she was that it was gone, because she knew I was already carrying around enough remorse, but losing the ring had felt like losing part of us. While Granny had never married, she’d worn the ring on her right hand until she died and then passed it down to Mama. By that time, Mama already had a ring Dad had bought for her, and she didn’t want to trade one for the other, so she’d saved it for whichever of us kids got engaged first and wanted to use it. I’d had the dumb luck of being that sibling.

Having it back felt a bit like saving our land from being auctioned off piece by piece, as if I was setting right our family history. Restoring it. Keeping it whole.

Gia had allowed me to do that.

She’d brought me gifts I’d never expected to have again.

Addy. Her. They were the most important ones.

Everything else was like adding whipped cream to one of Mama’s pies—sweet but unnecessary.

? ? ?

When we got to the hospital and McKenna reviewed the X-rays with us, it was clear that not only had the asshole broken Gia’s wrist, but he’d twisted it so the bones had been shifted out of alignment. This meant Gia needed a cast. So, it was almost lunchtime by the time we actually headed out to the ranch where Addy was waiting for us with the rest of my family.

I’d barely helped Gia out of the car and turned toward the porch before a tiny body was flinging itself at us. My heart rushed, pounding fiercely as I picked Addy up, wrapping her in one arm and tugging Gia close with the other.

Addy buried her face in the crook of my neck, and her little body quivered. It took a rush of water hitting my skin for me to realize she was crying.

I kissed her temple, squeezed her even tighter, and did my best to try to comfort her. “It’s all over, sweetheart. We’re here. We’re all safe. And no one is coming after you again.”

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