Page 77 of A Dangerous Heart
Victor’s hand slid to her throat and squeezed with choking force. She reacted instinctively, going limp, hoping the fall would loosen his hold.
She caught the flash of metal from Isaac’s gun in the gleaming sun. His gunshot split the air. She flinched, waiting for the pain. Victor’s hold loosened and his body fell away, hitting the ground with a heavy thud. Thrown off-balance, she dropped to her hands and knees. The acrid scent of gunpowder drifted on the air.
And then Isaac was there, drawing her away from Victor’s unmoving body. Someone rushed in.
Nick.
She couldn’t bear to look at Victor’s fallen body, so she let Isaac turn her face into his chest and enfold her in his arms.
“It’s over,” he said into her hair.
She could barely believe it. Maybe she wouldn’t if it weren’t for her palms, taking in his warmth through the fabric of his shirt. Or her cheek, relishing each breath he took where she pressed close.
“I…I don’t know how you did that,” she whispered, her voice shaky as she looked up at him. “It all happened so fast. How did you make the shot?”
Isaac’s gaze softened, his expression humble, his eyes shadowed with something deeper. “I didn’t know if I could do it. I prayed that God would make my aim true. And I trusted.”
Her heart felt impossibly full, as though it were expanding beyond its limits, leaving her breathless with gratitude—for him, and for God’s faithfulness to rescue all of them. Especially Isaac. The haunted look in his eyes was gone, replaced by a quiet strength.
“Oh, Isaac.” She slid her arms around his neck and hugged him tight.
“Danna’s got her deputies tying up the last two. Eli’s safe. Drew’s got him. Taking him home,” he said, his voice rumbling through his chest.
Somehow, he’d known how to calm the storm of fear inside her. But she couldn’t quite calm the storm of tears that came on like a cloudburst. He didn’t seem to mind that she clung to him.
“Ben will be wanting you,” he murmured.
It almost felt as if he pressed a kiss into the crown of her head. But that couldn’t be right.
He held her until the camp had gone quiet, until it was just the two of them. Until her tears were spent.
When she pushed away from his chest, she couldn’t meet his eyes. She’d blurted out her feelings, albeit silently, but nothing between them was resolved. There were still doubts between them. She couldn’t forget the look in Isaac’s eyes when Victor had claimed she was still working for him.
He didn’t let her get far, stepping forward to close the distance when she tried to step back. He gently tipped her chin up with a finger. His eyes held an unexpected warmth.
“What were you thinking, running off in the night? Coming here alone. And what was that about blasting caps?” he chided gently.
Chagrin turned down her lips. “I had to.”
He shook his head. She didn’t know this teasing Isaac, with one corner of his mouth drawn up in a partial smile. “McGraws don’t ride alone. Trust me. I keep learning that the hard way.”
She saw it again, that settled look, the peace in his eyes. He glanced over his shoulder to Ed, in the distance, sitting on horseback. Watching over them.
Her heart warmed for Isaac. He had his family back.
McGraws don’t ride alone.
“I’m not really a McGraw,” she murmured.
“Yes, you are.” His reassurance came swift and fierce.
I meant those vows I said.
He’d told her once before. But she hadn’t been able to believe it. Not totally. Not with how they’d started, with mistrust and lies and a bargain-struck marriage.
He’d come for her. Fought off the demons of his past to be able to draw against Victor.
She was shaking.
