Page 269 of Steamy Ever After

“I’ll fly him over, Peyton.” He motioned with his head to Finn’s leg.

She could see bone protruding. The break was bad, and her little boy had to be in terrible pain.

“Peyton! What happened?” Her mother rode up, jumped off her horse, and ran over to Finn, who was still in Brodie’s arms. “Brodie, hello.” She was out of breath, concern etched on her forehead. That’s where Peyton’s worry showed too. Her mom held her hand and squeezed.

“Someone is coming to get Finn, and Brodie is going to fly him to the hospital!” Jamison announced.

“Well, he’s quite a hero, isn’t he? And so is Finn.” Her mother smiled at them. “And you too, Jamison. I bet you’re the one who called for help.”

Jamison’s chest puffed out at his grandmother’s words.

“There’s Naught,” Brodie told her. “I’ll get him settled on the rear passenger seat. You get in the front.” He looked up at her mom. “Mrs. Wolf, could you and Jamison take our horses to the barn, then meet us at the hospital?”

Jamie looked at his grandmother. “Ready, Grandma?”

“Are you sure?” Peyton asked Brodie.

“I’m not certain what you’re asking, but I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life.”

“I meant?—”

“I know what you meant, Peyton. And you know what I meant too.”

“We good?” he said to Naughton when he pulled up in an SUV.

“Yep. Mad’s on it.”

“I get to fly in a helicopter?” Finn winced, but Brodie held him close.

“You sure do. Your mom will be my copilot. Naughton here is going too. Do you know Naughton?”

“No, but I don’t know you, either.”

Brodie laughed, doing his best not to jostle Finn’s little body. “I’m Brodie, Finn. We’ll shake later, okie-dokey?”

“Oh, you’re Brodie.” Finn looked over at his mother and smiled. “He’s nice, Mom, and he flies helicopters and rides, too. And he owns a vineyard.”

“The vineyard isn’t technically mine, only partially. Some of it belongs to Naught and our other brother, Maddox, and our sisters. But really, the ranch belongs to our parents.”

“So it used to be Kade’s too, right?”

Brodie flinched, but not enough for anyone to notice. Peyton wouldn’t have if she hadn’t been staring at him.

“Sure did. Bet you miss Kade, don’t ya?”

“Yeah,” Finn said softly. “Bet you do too.”

“You got that right.”

Brodie slid Finn into Naughton’s arms and climbed inside the SUV. Once he was in, Naughton handed Finn to him. Brodie sat in the center of the seat, so he could get Finn’s leg positioned as comfortably as possible.

“Hey, Finn, did you know the guys used to call Kade ‘Doc’?”

“No, why?” came his little voice.

“He was what you call a physician’s assistant,” Brodie explained. “So if a doctor wasn’t there, Kade could help if someone got injured.”

“He helped when doctors were there, too,” Naughton added, looking over at Peyton. “You okay, Mama?”

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