Page 136 of Wish You Were Mine

“As soon as Connor realized we’d been trapped there intentionally, he called for help. That’s when he noticed the smoke. He walked toward the cabin, and when I didn’t respond to his attempts to contact me on the radio, he grabbed a branch to use as a weapon, in case we were in danger.” He shook his head. “We were lucky he was there.”

“Yeah…” I shuddered to think what might have happened if Connor hadn’t been concerned. Asher and I could have ended up both shot and bleeding out together in the snow. “The man… He was arrested?”

Asher nodded. “He’s in custody now for attempted murder, along with a list of other things. I’m not sure what will happen to him. He’s grieving and he had injuries of his own from the crash that killed his wife. It’s possible he suffered a head trauma that triggered him to behave so erratically. All I can tell you is that he’s locked up and won’t be coming after us again.”

“Thank God.” I closed my eyes again.

“I love you,” Asher murmured. “I don’t know if you remember me saying that, but I do, and I want you to know it.”

My eyelashes fluttered open, and I gazed over at his gorgeous face, with those dark eyes I’d always loved to feel watching me.

“I love you too,” I whispered. “Part of me always has.”

He cleared his throat. Emotion gleamed in his eyes. “Robert wanted to scare me, and he succeeded. Losing you would have broken me. I can’t imagine my life without you.”

I angled myself toward him, cursing the wound that made it impossible for me to roll over. “Luckily, you don’t have to, because you saved me.”

One corner of his mouth quirked up. “We saved each other. If you hadn’t gone for that gun, things might have turned out differently.”

“Ah, you’re awake.”

I glanced toward the doorway, where a man stood in blue scrubs. He was neatly shaven and a little plump.

“Have you had a drink?” he asked.

“Not yet.” I was a little thirsty though.

“Hmm. I’ll have one of the nurses bring you a glass of water. In the meantime, I just wanted to let you know that the surgery was successful. You should heal completely, other than a bit of scarring.”

“Thank you.” For some reason, it hadn’t even occurred to me to worry that my body might no longer work as it was supposed to, but I was grateful for the confirmation anyway. Suddenly, it struck me that Asher had never said whether he’d been hurt during the struggle. “And Asher?”

The doctor looked confused.

“All I have is a scrape on my forearm,” Asher assured me. “It will heal.”

“Good.”

The doctor left and less than a minute later, a nurse entered with a glass of water. She helped me drink, then passed Asher the glass to hold onto.

“Would you like me to get your family?” she asked.

My eyes widened. “They’re here?”

Asher chuckled. “Of course they are. What did you expect?”

“Then yes, please,” I told the nurse.

She promised to send them in shortly.

“Brace yourself,” Asher warned. “They’ve been worried sick, and you know how the Braddocks can be en masse.”

I grinned. “Can’t wait.”

I didn’t have to.

Toby stormed into the room, his expression frantic, and nudged Asher aside so he could stand beside me.

“This is not okay,” he grumbled. “I’m the reckless twin. You’re supposed to be responsible and…and…safe.”

---