Page 63 of Montana Freedom

“You’ll have to hold on to me, or I might fall over.”

He laughed, but there was no humor in his whispered words. “Where did you get the idea I was letting you go?”

We spun together into the dancers, and I stared up at him. “You can’t just say things like that to a girl. She’ll get ideas.”

“I like it when you have ideas.”

The way he led me around the dance floor was confident and smooth. It was easy to follow him and not get lost. Also true to his word, he didn’t let me go. “Would you be offended if I told you I didn’t expect you to be as good of a dancer as you are?”

“No. Most people would probably say that. I’m very out of practice, regardless.”

“You said you were out of practice at something else, yet you’re pretty good at that too,” I pointed out.

Daniel threw back his head and laughed before pulling me straight against his body so absolutely nothing separated us. “Fair point.”

“Okay, everyone, the happy couple has to get on the road. Let’s go see them off!” Lena’s voice came through the speaker system.

It was dark now, and the entire wedding was given sparklers for Evelyn and Lucas to run through while the photographer took pictures. After another picture in which he dipped her back and kissed her against the backdrop of the glow, they were bundled into the car and gone. It was so beautiful, my chest ached.

I wanted that. The way he looked at her, and the knowledge they were together, no matter what.

As if he’d been reading my mind, Daniel stepped up behind me and wrapped me in his arms. “Want to stay?”

Shaking my head, I leaned back into him. “No, that’s okay.” In my head, I’d come up with plenty of other fun things we could be doing. Dancing was an option, but horizontal dancing was another, and we hadn’t had nearly enough practice.

“Couldn’t agree more.”

He turned with me in his arms, toward his truck, and theCrack!ricocheted out of nowhere. Daniel jerked and fell, taking me with him down to the ground.

Screams broke out, and sudden panic erupted as all the guests started running and taking cover behind the vehicles and the house.

Oh my god. Oh my god. That was a gunshot. “Daniel.” I frantically rolled over. “Daniel?”

Blood was seeping through his shirt over his right shoulder. The bullet wouldn’t have hit anything vital on the outside of his arm. The anatomy charts I’d studied in health class were vivid and clear in my mind. But there was still a lot of blood, and it was obvious it wasn’t a small wound. I wished I had more skill than just remembering things.

I didn’t have anything to use to stop the bleeding. It might not have hit anything life-threatening, but blood loss was still a real possibility.

“Get to cover,” Daniel groaned, pushing me away from him. “Now, Emma.”

Cold fear seeped through the panic. The shot had been meant for me. I came up to Daniel’s shoulder. If he’d delayed turning us around even for a second, the bullet might have gone through my head. And I was still out in the open.

“Jude!” I called, scrambling across the ground until I was behind the corner of the truck. No part of me wanted to leave Daniel, but I couldn’t help him if I was dead.

The big man was already at Daniel’s side, along with Liam. They were carrying him over to where I hid. Liam pointed at Lena. “Call nine-one-one. Get an ambulance here.”

“Emma, here.” Jude handed me his suit jacket. “Keep pressure.”

“Will he be okay?”

“I’ll be fine,” Daniel grunted out. “Find the shooter. Get everyone to safety.”

They sprang into action, and I covered the bleeding wound, pressing down on it with my limited strength. He grunted in pain. “I’m sorry,” I told him. “Oh god, Daniel, I’m sorry. It was meant for me.”

“Thank fuck it didn’t hit you, then.”

“You’re going to be okay.” My heart was in my throat. “You’re going to be okay.”

“I will.” One hand came up and touched my arm. “Don’t cry, sweetheart. I’m okay.”

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