Page 243 of Wild Mustang Security Firm

“Good shooting,” said Willa, seeming every bit as relieved as Avery had been to see everyone was fine.

“You too,” Avery replied, just before the gallop of fast-approaching hoof beats had her whirling toward to face this newest threat, bringing her rifle to bear.

It was Finn. “Oh, thank God!” she exclaimed, as she joined them. “My heart was in my throat when I heard that explosion. Is everybody okay?”

“That depends,” Zara answered. “Can anyone think of a way we might be able to explain what we were all doing this far away from the venue?”

They looked at one another.

“That’s what I was afraid of,” she muttered, when no one said anything. “Noah has had me on a short leash and the only reason he was willing to let me out of his sight today was because I convinced him it was all wedding frou-frou stuff.”

“What is up with that? Croft gives me no choice about marrying him, but once he had his great-grandmother’s ring on my finger, he figured his part was done.”

“As I recall both John and Mac were that way as well,” said Mandy with a grin. “As to some kind of credible story for why we’re not where we said we’d be… yeah, not likely.”

“Oh, well, we may as well get comfortable. I would imagine the rangers should get here fairly quickly. One of them should have a sat phone so we can call and talk to the boys.”

Moving away from the still burning wreckage of the helicopter, the women each found a place to sit in the shade provided by the canyon walls. While her friends whittled away the time finalizing the last few details for their dual weddings, Avery watched what was left of the helicopter, making sure the threat was truly neutralized.

“You know, we could make it a triple wedding,” Mandy said brightly. “Thom and Avery could get married in the early evening.”

Avery snapped around to stare at her. “M-married?” she stammered, shocked. “It’s been one day!”

“Oh, don’t kid yourself. If Thom’s finally made his move, he’s going to be looking to close the deal in a permanent, legal way.”

“He hasn’t said word one about permanent any—” She cut herself off. Actually, he had. He’d said he loved her. But that, in and of itself, certainly didn’t say ‘hey, let’s get married,’ and especially not after so short a time.

“Mhm,” Zara said knowingly. “Girlfriend, your days are numbered. He probably doesn’t want to say anything until he has an actual ring.”

“Whatever you’re smoking,” Avery said, covering her unease with a laugh, “you guys need to stop.”

“Avery,” said Willa gently, “if he’s spanked your ass and made himself at home between your legs, he’s planning to marry you. The rest of them were that way with us, and unlike you, we didn’t have the benefit of a long-standing working relationship with them.”

“I am not ready to think about marriage!” She tried to laugh again.

“Avery,” Willa said even more gently. “I don’t think you’ve got much choice.”

“I could leave the firm and move away.”

“Like he wouldn’t track your ass down, drop a lasso around you, and haul you home again.” Grinning, Finn turned to the other ladies. “Who wants to take bets with me on how long before she’d be able to sit again if she did that?”

Mandy raised her hand. “Put me down for at least a week.”

Zara was more realistic. “Put me down for two, because with whoever’s after us still on the loose, I say Thom’s going to be doing some heavy-duty ring shopping. Maybe we should plan a girl’s weekend in London, New York, or Paris to go dress shopping.”

“You guys are serious,” Avery exclaimed, unsure if the idea thrilled or terrified her more.

Her mind was racing. Marriage, she couldn’t… she just couldn’t wrap her head around that right now. It was ridiculous and she didn’t have time for ridiculousness. They had just been shot at, blew up an aircraft, had bad guys chasing them, and were now facing down a pretty serious (if she was lucky) lecture (although she already knew she wasn’t that lucky). With all that swimming around in her head, small wonder she never heard lead park ranger, Kurt Manderlay, approaching them until he said, “Ladies, everyone okay here?”

Startled, they all swung around. Avery didn’t know whether to be happy or disappointed to find Thom and the guys not with him. “We’re okay,” she called.

“For now,” quipped Willa.

“Thank God for binoculars. When we heard the explosion, I was about to spot you all from the top of the canyon. I’ve already talked to Mac and assured him you were fine.” Kurt smiled. “Hesaid, and I quote, tell them to wait for us at Phantom Ranch, end quote. He did not sound too pleased. I will say, in his defense, this was after we told him you had pretty much handled it yourselves.”

“That ought to really piss them off.”

His smile turning bewildered, Kurt watched the five women mount up and head back to Phantom Ranch to rendezvous with the men in their lives. It was a long and mostly silent ride, with each lost in her own speculative thoughts about what the immediate future might hold. And to think, if only Thom had waited a day to profess his undying love and his dominance over her, then she wouldn’t right now be in this mess.

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