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Micah has his arm around him and frowns up at me. “You’re the doctor. Don’t you carry medicine around with you just in case? He’s burning up.”

For the second time in a matter of minutes, tears form behind my eyes. But this time, I can’t stop them.

The plane starts to taxi, and I reach out to grip the back of a leather recliner.

“Evie,” Micah bites. “Meds?”

I nod and slip into the seat across from them. “Chase, sit up and drink this.”

Chase downs the purple syrup and takes the juice after I pop the straw in the box. “When are we going to be there?”

Since we’re just taxiing down the runway, I don’t answer that. “Drink. You need the fluids and it’ll help your ears when we take off.”

Micah lifts his chin to me. “Buckle up, baby.”

“She’s not a baby,” Chase mutters and scoots farther into his seat to stretch out.

Micah looks down at my son. “It’s just a saying. Chug your juice.”

Chase barely takes a sip as I grab my sweater from my bag to cover him. “Try to go to sleep. The trip will go faster. We’ll be home in no time.”

Micah’s gaze turns to me, and his stare is heavy.

I know exactly what it’s about.

Home.

The destruction from the attack on my house has been fixed. My father pulled every string in the book to have it fixed right away.

New windows.

New doors.

Cadence even picked out new carpet and put a rush on it so my office would be blood free. I don’t even know what it looks like and told her I don’t care. As long as the memory was wiped from my home.

Everything is back in order.

Other than a certain hitman that’s still on the loose.

We escaped for a week. It was beautiful.

As much as I miss my job and my patients, I’ll never be able to focus. Not with Braim on the loose and worrying about Chase.

“Evie.” Micah calls for me and pats his lap. I kick off my sneakers and rest my feet on his thick thigh. Chase doesn’t say a thing. The three of us have eased into a weird sense of togetherness.

Together…

But not together.

Micah certainly hasn’t kissed me in front of Chase. Hell, we haven’t even talked about it. I think it’s better this way. Whatever we are is organic, and we’re rolling with it.

“Close your eyes, baby,” Micah says in a low voice since Chase’s are already closed. “It’s all going to be okay. I promise.”

I recline back in my seat and glance out the window as we lift off the earth. The mountains get smaller and smaller.

The safety and refuge of the Emmett ranch is nothing but a memory as we race across the country toward reality.

Reality that is no different than it was when we left.

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