“Sir, are you sure? Harlan just donated to the new gym at the high school.”
The sheriff rolls his eyes. “I’m not debating this.” Then he turns to us. “I want the paramedics to check you out, Paige, and then y’all go home. I’ll come by later this afternoon with an update.”
Rhett scowls. “I want to go with you to the Gibson farm.”
“Do you want this guy put away behind bars? Or do you wanna do something dumb that could get your case thrown out of court?”
I tug on my husband’s arm. “Let’s go home. I’m starving.” I don’t know if it was the running or crying, but I’m ready to eat.
His eyes soften and his hand goes to my belly. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
I’m having Rhett’s baby. The reminder makes the residual fear from this morning recede. This pregnancy is inconvenient and a huge shock, but I couldn’t be happier about it. I put my hand over his. “I think so. I just got scraped up when I was running in the forest.”
Jace jumps on his brother. “Guess we’re having another little Walker to add to our collection of wildings.” He hugs me. “Congrats, sister.”
“Thank you.” I look over at Danny’s headstone. “Can I get a minute?”
Rhett immediately understands. “We’ll wait over here, sweetheart.”
I nod and walk over to my mom and brother’s headstones. Kneeling down, I put my hand on Danny’s grave. “I just wanted to let you know that I’ll be okay. Rhett’s got me, and so do his brothers. You don’t need to worry about me anymore.”
Just then, the clouds part, and the sun shines through the cemetery, and in my heart, I know Danny heard me.
48
PAIGE
Rhett hashis rough palm resting protectively on my thigh as he drives. “Tacos?” he asks. “Or do you feel like something else?”
“That’s fine.” I yawn, exhausted.
It’s just us now. Beau swung by to pick up Jace, and they’re driving over to the police station to give their statements about the sick cattle and Mr. Dods.
“Are you sure you don’t need to go with your brothers?”
“They can handle it. You’re my priority right now. I can give my statement after I’ve fed you.” He smacks the steering wheel. “I still can’t believe Harlan was behind this. He had the nerve to pull me aside at the Moonlight Mixer to ask if I knew you had a boyfriend until recently.”
“Are you serious?”
“He was acting like some kind of father figure who was looking out for me.” Rhett shakes his head. “And the whole time, he was plotting our demise.”
“At least we figured it out in time to do something about it.”
Glancing over, he reaches for my hand and kisses the back of it. “Youfigured it out. I’m hoping the bank will give me an extension given the circumstances.”
“You going to talk to them on Monday?”
“Yup.” He squeezes my hand. “Want to come with me? I’ll ask the sheriff for a copy of his report to take with us. Maybe if they hear what you saw, they’ll give me a few weeks to untangle this mess.”
I’m so relieved he’s fighting for the ranch again. “I’d be happy to help however I can.”
He pulls up to the Guac ’N’ Roll food truck and orders us breakfast.
On our way home, I motion to a golden field full of wildflowers. “Can we eat over here? It’s so pretty.” I’m also hoping to have some privacy so we can talk about what happened at the Moonlight Mixer.
He pulls over and parks. I start to open the paper bag with our food, but Rhett motions to the bed of the truck. “C’mon. Let’s have a picnic.”
Coming around my side, he helps me hop out, then lowers the tailgate, picks me up, and sets me on the back of his truck. With our food between us, we stare out at the horizon.
