Chapter Seventeen

Meadow smoothed her fingers over the blue bruise on Colton’s back. “This is where Zach hit you.”
He turned his head to look at her from the corner of his eye. “Don’t worry about it. It doesn’t hurt.”
She stretched her fingers over his warm flesh. The muscles flexed under her touch. “I’m sure he hurts much more from what you did to him. But I wish you two wouldn’t fight.”
He let out a sigh. “You feel loyalty to him because of what he’s done around here.”
“I do. Just like all the other guys.” The silence of her bedroom enclosed them in a private cocoon. When he’d climbed through her window in the wee hours of the morning, she’d held out her arms in welcome.
He slipped right into her bed, and the rest was a warm melding of mouths and soft moans.
She wrapped her arms around him from behind and rested her head on the hard planes of his back. “Everyone knows about us. It won’t be long before Dad finds out.”
He grunted. “I don’t actually care what he thinks.”
She pulled back in surprise. “You sound…angry with him.”
“I am.” Colton’s forceful tone made her circle him to look up at his handsome face. His rugged features were set. His jaw tense and his dark eyes glimmering with barely-restrained anger.
“Talk to me, Colton.” She set a palm on his chest.
“He hasn’t been here for you.”
She couldn’t argue with that. “He’s been hurting for a long time. I don’t blame him for not caring.”
“You’ve been hurting too, Meadow. And alone with it all.”
She felt the need to defend her father. After all, he wasn’t a bad person. Just absent. “He still runs the ranch operations. Gives orders to Zach about what needs done.”
Colton grunted. It seemed to be the only response he was capable of giving.
She slipped her arms around his neck. “I appreciate you defending me.”
His throat worked. “I don’t know how to operate any other way.”
The man was a protector through and through. While the thought of him coming to her rescue left her a bit breathless, she was strong too. Strong enough to stand beside him and fight.
Their gazes locked. For a dizzying moment, she drown in those dark eyes, so full of shadows but light too. Small sparks seemed to burn like candles lighting up the night sky each time he looked at her.
She leaned against him. “I never knew I could have this.”
His arms came around her. He yanked her off her feet and turned for her bed again. When he lay her down, and covered her with his body, a hard banging on her door had it rattling the frame.
In one swift, tactical move, Colton leaped off her and turned for the door, hands fisted at his sides. She saw one hand twitch toward his spine, reaching for a sidearm he used to carry there.
Bounding to her feet, she grabbed for the clothes she’d stripped off him earlier that night. “It must be Daddy! You have to go!” She thrust the clothes at him.
He looked into her eyes for a split second before nodding. In the next heartbeats, he was out the window. She heard nothing as he dropped to the ground and probably took off running.
“Meadow, open up!” Her father’s angry tone sent her hurrying faster.
She grabbed for her robe and bundled it around herself, tying the belt. When she flung open the door, her father stood there swaying.
Meadow’s hand fluttered to her chest, hoping she didn’t wear the marks of Colton’s roughness with her. A roughness she relished—craved.
“What’s wrong?” She swept her gaze over her father’s red face. A vein bulged in his forehead.
“Did you touch the box on my desk?”
Her brows pinched. “I saw it open on your desk.”
“Did you take anything?” His words were slurred, either from alcohol or anger. Either way, her father never talked to her like this. He didn’t spout harsh words—he just ignored her.
She pulled her robe tighter around herself. “I took the letter with my name on the envelope. And one with Colton’s on it too. I left your letter there.”
His mouth opened and closed. A darker red flush crossed his face.
Then he clutched his chest and dropped to the floor.
Meadow screamed and fell to her knees next to him. “Dad! Dad, are you okay? What’s wrong? Oh god, are you having a heart attack?” She touched his face and felt it was cold and clammy in sharp contrast to the deep red—growing purple—spread of color over his skin.
“Oh god! You’re not all right! Colton!” She hollered as loud as she could, hoping her voice would carry through her still open window and reach him.
But she couldn’t wait for him to come running. She lurched to her feet and found her phone on her bedside table where she left it every night.
After unlocking it, she yelled for the voice assistant to dial 911. Then she rushed back to her father’s aid.
Hands shaking, she lay two fingers against his throat, over his pulse. It was weak—tripping in an odd, thumping fashion that could not be okay.
The 911 operator came on the line, and Meadow followed all her directions to stabilize her father until the ambulance arrived.
A tear dripped from her eye. “Stay with me, Dad. Don’t leave me all alone. You’re pretty much all I’ve got left in my family!”
Where was Colton? She wrapped her arms around herself and rocked on her knees, pain tearing at her chest like knives. If she lost her father, she and Ivy would be the last Graceys standing. And her sister might as well be gone too.
When the whoop of a siren sounded, her heart leaped into her throat. Then she heard footsteps as someone entered the house. Had the medics arrived?
Suddenly, one burst into her room, taking up the entire doorway the way only one man in her life could.
Colton looked around wildly. When he set eyes on Meadow kneeling on the floor next to her father, his face didn’t reveal his concern.
In fact, relief washed over his features. What would put that look on his face? Did he think she was in need of an ambulance?
“Help me! I think he’s having a heart attack!”
He landed on his knees beside her. “The ambulance is coming up the driveway. God, Meadow. Why didn’t you call me to come back?”
Her father let out a low groan.
They both turned their attention to the man lying there fighting for his life.
“Just lie still, Mr. Gracey. Try to breathe slowly. The medics are right outside.”
The next few minutes were chaos as they stabilized her father enough to transport him. Meadow stood back, shaking in Colton’s arms and watching her father being strapped to a stretcher.
So many fears ran through her head. What if he didn’t make it? How would she ever go on? Another generation of Graceys down, leaving only her and a sister who refused to come home to…well, whatever pieces were left.
Twisting her face into Colton’s chest, Meadow let out a soft sob. “Who is going to be here for me now?”
“Your father will. He’s not going to die, Meadow.” He took her chin in his hand and lifted her face to meet his stare. “And I’ll be here for you, goddammit. I’m not leaving your side. I told you once before, and I meant what I said. You are mine.”

Colton held the truck door for Meadow. She crossed the driveway quickly, head ducked, shoulders hunched.
She looked broken. And it gutted him.
When she got to the truck, he reached for the long strap of the duffel slung over her shoulder. After they loaded her father into the back of the ambulance, she’d taken off for her father’s room to gather some of his things. The way she muttered off a list to herself, saying that her daddy would want this or that, broke Colton’s heart too.
There were very few people left on earth who could earn that kind of concern from him. A few military buddies he’d served with…and Meadow.
She tilted her head up, looking at him with those huge, beautiful eyes.
Wordlessly, he took the bag from her and tossed it into the back of the truck. After she settled in the seat, he leaned in to brush his lips between her furrowed brows. Under his lips, he felt them pucker more.
“I caused this.”
He drew back, shaking his head. “No.” He almost said that he saw it coming with her father—the man was up to more than he was letting on. While he didn’t know what it was yet, Forest had suspected it too. Sharing his thoughts with Meadow—now—wouldn’t help ease her guilt or worry.
He cradled her cheek. “Let’s get to the hospital.”
As he closed the door, he spotted the ranch hands gathered outside, talking quietly. Zach’s stare followed Colton, but he ignored the guy. Whatever the ranch manager had to say about Sean Gracey’s heart attack would only upset Meadow.
Giving them a nod, Colton climbed behind the wheel and shot down the driveway. The blue lights of the clock on the dash revealed the late hour. Three a.m. Darkness swallowed the vehicle, only penetrated by the white beams of the headlights.
Reaching out, he settled a hand over Meadow’s where it rested on her thigh. Her skin was cool, her fingers lax, as if she couldn’t even muster the strength to react to his touch.
“I know you’re really upset, baby. But know that I’m here for you—whatever happens.”
A quiet sob tore from her. She bowed her head and for several moments, succumbed to her tears. He located a tissue in the console and passed it to her. She took it and mopped her eyes and nose.
“I’ve lost everyone, Colton. I can’t lose him too.”
“I know.”
She jerked her head to pierce him in her gaze. “You don’t know! You didn’t lose your parents and your brother.”
Falling still, he contemplated her claim. “That’s where you’re wrong. I’m not downplaying your pain—not at all. But my parents gave up on me when I was young and sent me away, to be raised by people they paid. I might as well have been alone. And the people I did accept into my world—a family I claimed as mine…”
He trailed off, struggling.
“Go on.” Her soft tone urged him with a note of compassion.
His throat seemed to bulge around the lump in it. “Forest was my brother too, Meadow.”
Her fingers fastened on his, and she clung to him the rest of the drive to the hospital.
When they reached the building, Colton took a page from Meadow’s book and parked in a spot designated for personnel only. She gave him a pointed glance but said nothing.
When they located the front desk and asked about her father’s condition, they were directed to a waiting room.
Colton took a seat next to Meadow and leaned forward with his elbows braced on his knees. He despised this kind of thing. While he’d never gone with a friend to the hospital, he’d carried plenty to safety. Something he never forgot was the feel of another man’s blood seeping through his own clothes.
Meadow seemed beside herself, leaning back in her chair and staring at the ceiling, then folding in half and dropping her face into her hands before repeating the cycle.
When he could stand her torment no more, he drew her into his lap. She curled against his chest and he tucked her head beneath his chin.
“Did you mean what you said about me, Colton?”
He brushed his lips over her hair. “What part?”
“About me being yours.”
He squeezed her closer. “You are mine. You belong to me. I think I knew it before I ever got off that plane.”
She shivered in his hold. At that moment, the nurse came in and looked at them wrapped in each other’s arms. “The doctor would like to speak with you, Miss Gracey. If you’ll follow me.”
Meadow jumped up. Colton started to follow, and the nurse held up a hand. “Family only. I’m sorry.”
“He is family.” Meadow’s blunt statement stopped any further argument, and the nurse led them down a hallway to the emergency area. Blue curtains hung between each patient bed, making Colton wonder which one held Meadow’s father, or if they’d taken him to another part of the hospital.
A doctor with a balding ring of hair and intelligent eyes met them. “I’m Doctor Rossi. I’ve been taking care of your father.”
“How is he? Is he all right?” Meadow’s voice got higher with strain.
“He’s stable, but not for long if we don’t intervene. Your father needs emergency heart bypass surgery.”
Her hand fluttered to her lips. “Oh no.”
Colton banded his arm around her waist, anchoring her to his side, lending her his strength. What he needed her to know more than ever was that she was not alone. He would be here for her as long as she needed.
He would be here forever.
“Will Mr. Gracey be all right?” Colton asked the doctor.
The doctor turned his attention to him. Colton’s chest burned. He recognized that look on the doctor’s face. He didn’t need to tell them that he held out little hope of Gracey surviving the surgery to save his life.
A heartbeat passed between them. Colton gave the doctor a nod of comprehension and drew Meadow tighter against his side.
In the flower of their love for each other, tragedy could change everything. He didn’t know how Meadow would take losing another family member. She could retreat deep inside herself and refuse to let him in.
He couldn’t allow that to happen. He would save the ranch and save her from herself if it came to that.
“Make no mistake, Miss Gracey. Your father is a very sick man. We’re going to do our best to save him.”
At that moment, one of the curtains whipped back. Two nurses wheeled a bed out and a third trotted behind pushing equipment that the man in the bed was hooked to.
“Daddy!” Meadow tore away from Colton’s side and rushed to her father. He lay still and pale. She grabbed his hand that wasn’t full of IV tubes and leaned down to kiss where it lay on the white sheet.
The sight sent a pang straight to Colton’s heart. She loved her father so much—and Colton loved her.
He turned to the doctor. “Save him. I’m not asking you—I’m telling you.”