Page 106 of Forever After All

They’d made it to the cabin a little later than they’d planned. He rebandaged her leg when they arrived, and Jess had seemed content to rest most of the evening.

It was a good thing because Linc couldn’t do anything without messing something up. His hands continued to shake, causing him to drop things and spend way too much time trying to untie the knots and buckles holding the supplies in the packs.

Now, his hands had stopped shaking, but his thoughts were still swirling. The words on the pages of the Bible were small and blurry.

He glanced over at Jess in the other twin bed. She lay on her side, facing him, but her eyes were closed in a peaceful sleep. Her light hair spread out over the pillow, and she tucked the blanket close under her chin.

His chest tightened as the fear from earlier rocked through him again. He’d never been scared of anything until Jess came along. Now, she could get a papercut, and he’d fall apart.

She was doing a really good job of acting like nothing had happened. Her breathing was even, and there wasn’t a single wrinkle on her face. Her eyelashes lay peacefully against her cheeks.

Linc grinned, knowing few people got to see this side of her. This wasn’t the tough barn manager, or the stern trainer, or the abrasive woman the world saw.

This was the Jess he knew–peaceful and vulnerable. She could put on a show and act like she knew the answer to everything. That’s why everyone who had business at the barns at the ranch respected her.

But inside, she cared so much. He’d been staring it in the face these last few days while she worried about Ava and the baby.

He’d seen it the night he’d left with her brother too. Thea was in danger, and when Brett jumped in the truck, Linc hadn’t hesitated a second before following him. No one got to harm a woman and get away with it. At least not on his watch.

There’d been a pleading in her eyes that day. He’d only caught a glimpse of it because he’d turned away as soon as he could. He couldn’t see that broken and scared look on her face.

That was the day he started to wonder if she cared about him. There hadn’t been any signs before that, but she’d cried for him the same way she cried for her brother, and he knew she cared about Brett.

His phone rang, and he quickly silenced it. Closing the Bible, he left it on the bed and walked as lightly as he could across the creaking wooden floor.

He stepped out onto the porch and closed the door behind him just as the phone stopped ringing.

Ridge. No one would send straight-forward Ridge to deliver bad news, so Linc returned the call and rested onto the top step on the porch.

“Hey, man. Y’all makin’ it?” Ridge asked.

“As best we can. Jess took a tumble today, but she wants to finish the work here. I’m planning to hit the ground running in the morning, just in case she changes her mind when the pain comes back.”

“You sure she’s okay?” Ridge asked.

“No, but have you ever tried to get that woman to do anything she didn’t want to? It’s a firm no from her right now.”

Ridge laughed. “You’re right. I wouldn’t go toe-to-toe with Jess. Glad to hear she’s okay.”

“What’s the word on Ava and Ron?” Linc asked. Calling the baby he hadn’t seen before by a name made everything seem even more real.

“He’s hanging in there. Ava is a nervous wreck. Jameson is trying to hold it together. Paul and Mr. Chambers are holding down the fort. We took on three wranglers and another stable hand. Everly and Linda hired an assistant to help with the weddings, and Cheyenne and I got a helper for the youth program.”

Linc whistled low. “That’s a lot.”

“We need more. The ranch is booked out. It’ll be our biggest season yet.”

“Are you trying to tell me we have a lot riding on getting this cabin ready?” Linc asked.

“Pretty much. I’m calling for the supplies list.”

Linc pulled a notebook out of his chest pocket. “Get ready. It’s a long one.”

It should’ve been reassuring knowing Ridge and Blake could finish up any projects Linc didn’t get finished, but they were running out of time. Pushing the deadlines to the last minute wasn’t ideal, but it was all they had at this point.

“How’s the roof?” Ridge asked. “There’s a storm heading your way. It doesn’t look like anything we need to worry about, but keep your eyes on the radar.”

Linc pinched the bridge of his nose. “We’ll hunker down. When’s it supposed to hit?”

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