Page 81 of Montana Rain

Daniel answered. “Good to hear from you,” he said.

“She’s alive. Superficial injuries. We’re at the hospital now.”

Jude blew out a breath. “That’s good news we will happily pass on. Everyone here has been worried.”

I knew enough about the Resting Warrior women to understand they would know about this already. They knew their men better than they knew themselves, and something this big? They would know.

“Tell them she’s all right. I think we’ll stay here a few more days to make sure and help her mom and sister get their apartment back together.”

Daniel chuckled. “You’ve got plenty of that kind of work to do back here. But we’re going to help you.”

Swallowing, I fought the nerves in my gut. “I have a question for you guys.”

“What’s up?”

“Well.” I took a deep breath. “I just told the FBI I didn’t want to come back after my leave. And what all of this has shown me is I’d rather be on the other side of it. I know I still have a lot of work to do with your trust, but—”

“Cole,” Jude said, stopping me. “No one questions you. We can see it.”

“And yes. Absolutely, you have a place here. With the way things are changing around here, we need the extra set of hands,” Daniel said.

“Thank you.” The nerves fell out of me, and I gave the wall more of my weight. Hearing them say yes and that they trusted me meant more than I let on.

“Take care of Rayne, and we’ll see you when you’re back.”

“Sounds good. We’ll keep you posted.”

I hung up and closed my eyes, the last of my stress melting away. I wasn’t going to be living in Jimmy’s cabin anymore, but that didn’t matter. I’d find a place. I’d move in with Rayne if she’d have me or build her a new place if she wanted.

“Cole, get in here,” I heard Ava calling me.

The nurses were gone, and it was just the three of them in the room. “Hey.”

“Hey.” Rayne watched me. She was in a hospital gown and had bandages around one arm, all around her hand, and bruises were forming on her face. The fucker had sliced her in between her fingers. I wished I’d shot him somewhere more important than his leg, but my only thought had been to disable him without hitting Rayne.

“We’re going to go,” Rayne’s mother said.

“You just got here,” I said. “Are you sure?”

She looked at her daughter. “Yeah. I hope you guys will stay a few more days?”

“Definitely. I still need to try Rudy’s.”

“Fuck yes, you do,” Ava said.

“Language.”

Ava just smirked and wheeled herself past me, stopping briefly. “Thank you. And not just for this. You’re good for her.”

I looked back up at Rayne. “She’s good for me too.”

Rayne had tears in her eyes, and she shook her head. “You guys don’t have to go.”

Her mom leaned over and kissed her head. “You’re safe, and we’ll see you as soon as you’re ready. But I think you need some time. We wanted to show you we were all right.”

Rayne nodded. “Okay.”

They left, and I just stared at her. Like she was staring at me. “Want to get the hell out of here?”

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