by Jeannie Moon
Sitting in her Jeep, she took Zero out of his carrier and secured him in the bright red harness. The dog licked her cheek a few times and snuggled under her chin. He’d grown in the two weeks he’d been with Jonah, and he was a cutie. She couldn’t imagine anyone abusing this little puppy. Keely imagined Jonah and Dan had shown that ranch hand exactly what they thought about it.
With the leash attached, Keely got out to join the group. She saw Charlotte and her sister Emily, along with Jonah’s brother, Gavin, and his new wife, Ally. Dappled sunlight spread across the open meadow, making for a beautiful scene. In isolated spots, clusters of wildflowers had started to sprout and bloom, and the evergreens were strong and vibrant. The kicker, there was still snow. Talk about contrast.
Jonah been instructed to let his beard grow for a day, because on him the scruff made for a sexier look. Keely would agree with that assessment.
Lucy was on the edge of the crowd with her own photographer from the newspaper. She waved Keely over with a big smile. That wasn’t happening, not this time. As much as she loved her friend, reporter Lucy wanted information, and Keely wasn’t giving it.
Lucy had been in and out of town over the last few weeks, but never to see Keely. Nope. Her friend was busy turning the Men of Marietta into international phenoms. The response to the calendar had been amazing, and Lucy’s article, which had broken the story of the town and the Harry’s House initiative, went viral. Between calendar sales, demands for personal appearances by the models, and a crowdfunding site, there would be enough money to keep Harry’s House running for a couple of years.
It was an appropriate legacy for a quiet, modest man who only wanted to help others. Keely put Zero on the ground next to Ally, Gavin’s wife, who was coordinating a lot of the events around the calendar. Ally had grown up in Marietta, but had moved away after high school. She and Gavin had gotten back together last year and married just a couple of months ago.
“Hey, Zero,” Ally crooned. “Hi, Keely. He’s so cute I can’t stand it.”
“I know, right? He’s got me wrapped around his little paw.”
She didn’t have a chance to say much to Ally, because as soon as she got herself settled with the dog, someone on a radio announced that Jonah was almost there. Charlotte got into position and pointed her camera in the direction of his arrival. The videographer was standing by, because the optics of this kind of entrance would play great online.
In the distance, she heard the telltale sound of the rotors. It wasn’t long before the red and white Crawford County SAR logo was plainly in view as Jonah banked around so he could land.
“This is amazing,” Ally shouted above the noise. “He certainly knows how to make an entrance.”
And here Keely thought Jonah wasn’t a show-off. Apparently, he was.
He landed to a round of applause, and whoops and hollers from the other calendar boys. They were definitely going to give him the business, and frankly, he deserved it. Once the blades stopped rotating, Keely could see Jonah removing his helmet. But his badass aviators stayed on. What a diva.
Charlotte was moving around, shooting frames like crazy. This was going to be an amazing spread. Sure, all the guys were gorgeous. And each one was a hero in his own right. From the smoke jumpers, to the local firemen, law enforcement, and other emergency personnel, Keely was glad someone was making a fuss.
They deserved it.
As he exited the helicopter, Charlotte circled. Jonah wasn’t doing anything special, these were candids, and they showed the man in his natural state. Calm, strong, quiet, and utterly irresistible.
Once he decided to start paying attention, that’s when Charlotte could go to work. This was going to be fun.
When she and Jonah locked eyes, he smiled, winked, and Keely’s ovaries exploded. If she wasn’t already pregnant, he’d sealed her fate. She was a weak, weak woman.
“Now, Jonah,” Charlotte said in her clipped boarding school English. “I need you to position yourself just so. Ignore the idiots out there, and listen to me.”
Checking the light, the direction of the sun, and probably a million other different things, Charlotte moved Jonah exactly how she wanted him. “Now,” Charlotte said. “Unzip the top of your flights suit.”
That did it, the boys went crazy. On cue, Kyle Cavasos triggered music from a small speaker propped on the front of the deputy’s car. The twang of a guitar filled the clearing, and even Charlie had to laugh.
Nothing said take off your clothes like Pour Some Sugar on Me.
Payback was, indeed, a bitch.
Yeah, Jonah. Take it off, baby. Show me what you got. From where she was standing Keely couldn’t see who was saying what, but the cat calls were brutal and unrelenting.
It was all in good fun, of course, but Jonah wasn’t amused. He flashed his middle finger right at his friends. No emotion, no words, just the bird.
First she took photos with his flight suit unzipped. Then Charlotte and her sister helped Jonah out of the top, fixing it so it showed off all his assets from his broad shoulders, the tattoo on his bicep, and his washboard abs.
Charlotte came around to the front, to adjust the front as low as possible without getting indecent. Jonah was taking it like a champ, trying not to flinch as she revealed the lovely V around his hip bones, that some people called the Adonis Belt.
Keely called it hot. And hers.
There were more catcalls. Atta boy. Take it off for a good cause. Go a little lower, Jonah.
“Would you guys knock it off?” he snapped. “I’m trying to work here.”
“Well, excuse us,” Logan said. “Aren’t you special with your big hunk of hardware.”
Jonah grabbed his crotch in response, not caring who was watching.
By the time he was fully oiled up, the boys had run out of comments. She didn’t know if that was a good thing, because they had been entertaining. Charlotte went to work taking pictures, going at it from different angles, directing him, but it looked like her very grumpy boyfriend was a natural. He was so ridiculously handsome, the camera couldn’t help but find something good to capture.
“Keely!” It was Emily, Charlotte sister. “It’s time for the puppy.”
Walking toward him, Keely felt the heat spread in her belly, but the little vibration in her girly bits was something she’d grown used to whenever he was nearby. When she got to where he was standing, Jonah didn’t hesitate—he leaned in and kissed her. If there was any doubt about how he felt about her, showing it to all the people assembled would make it obvious.
He took the puppy and smiled at her. “Everything go okay with Mom?”
“Fine. She was very nice.”
The way his eyebrow shot up, she could tell he didn’t quite believe her. “Really?”
“Absolutely. Are you having fun?”
He rolled his eyes. “Oh, yeah. A ball.”
The shoot continued with the puppy cooperating, and providing Charlotte with great material. Jonah completely hammed it up for the camera, but it was the quieter shots, the one with him just being himself that were the sexiest. The good man that he was shone through, and there was nothing more attractive than that. It could not have gone better, or been less humiliating for Jonah.
Once he was finished, he grabbed a towel and wiped off the oil, then reached into the helicopter’s cockpit and pulled out a T-shirt. After tossing it on, he walked to where she was standing. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. Why?”
“Because…” He leaned in and whispered, “You keep touching your belly.”
Was she doing that? Looking down and seeing the flat of her hand against the lower part of her stomach made it clear that even when she wasn’t thinking about having a baby, she was thinking about having a baby.
“It’s been on my mind.”
“Mine too.” He pressed a kiss to her cheek before handing her the dog. “Meet me at my place. Okay?”
There was no need for her to answer. It wa
s very okay.
Keely looked at her watch. She had some time, so she figured it was a good opportunity to check the sensors nearby. Dan, Jonah’s brother, had offered to take the dog back to the ranch, which left her free to check the electronics she’d planted in this section.
Jonah’s helicopter had just lifted off when Keely felt a vibration in her boots. She wasn’t the only one either. Logan, Kyle, and Todd looked at each other, then looked at her.
“Was that a tremor?” Deputy Tate asked, going on full alert.
Keely nodded. “It was small, but definitely something. They happen all the time, just so you know.” Looking at her phone, she grinned at the reading. “It was barely a 2. Nothing to worry about.”
“Jesus,” Gavin said. “I realize there’s a lot going on in the ground, but we just go about our lives without realizing.”
“All the time. There are at least two quakes a week in this general area.”
Just as she was about to turn away from the tree line, she thought she saw something zip by. Pulling her jacket around her, she felt the bitter cold wind blow in, and all she could think about was the time she got trapped on the mountain in a storm. She had a phone, she had a way out. If there was a kid hiding in that cave, he had been here the better part of a month, and probably didn’t have a way out. Keely wasn’t going to let that happen, not without trying to help.
Looking back at the people readying to head down the mountain, Keely broke in the other direction. Behind her she heard voices calling to her, but she waved them off. She knew these woods better than most anyone and the only thing on her mind was the boy she saw. That was it.
The trails were clear, but there was no sign of the runaway. Heading toward the cave, she wondered if he’d gone up and over the rock formation. Grabbing hold of a piece jutting out, Keely hoisted herself up and scrambled to the top. Just as she did, someone called her name. It sounded like Gavin, but she couldn’t be sure.
“Keely, get down. What’s going on?”
“There’s a kid hiding out in the woods. I just saw him.”
“We’ll let the rangers know, but you’re putting yourself at risk. Come on down.”
“Gavin, I do this all the time. When did you guys turn into old women?”
“Stop.”
Just then, she spotted the boy. He was watching her exchange with Gavin and this was the first time she’d gotten a good look at him. What surprised her most was that the boy, was a girl. If she was thirteen, that was old.
“Behind you, Gavin.” Keely kept her voice low.
As Gavin turned, Keely moved. She heard rocks falling, a crumbling noise, and her feet shifted suddenly. Taking a breath, she steadied herself. The sandstone had been there thousands and thousands of years, it wasn’t going anywhere, she just had to be cautious.
Nothing was going to happen.
Until it did.
*
The call over the radio was like a punch to the gut. Jonah received an order to go back to the mountain and assist in a rescue. A hiker had gone off trail and taken a fall. There was a head injury. Medical personnel were on the scene already.
In his heart, he knew it was Keely. He didn’t know how he knew, he just did.
In less than three minutes, he was on the ground and out of the cockpit. He ran toward Dan, who was giving instructions to someone on his phone.
“SAR is here. I’ll get back to you.”
“What happened?”
“You have a stretcher in there?”
“Yes. What happened?” he barked. “Just tell me.”
“Keely took a fall. Hit her head pretty hard on a ridge over near that cave where we used to play when we were kids. Gavin and Kyle are with her now.
“Jesus. I just left.”
“She thought she saw a kid and went after him. The surface where she was standing was loose and she lost her footing when some of the rock face crumbled.”
“Aw shit. Her and that kid.”
“Let’s get the stretcher. Gavin wants her in the ER as soon as possible.”
Jonah nodded and retrieved the stretcher from the hold. He threw the first aid pack over his shoulder and was on his way out to the cave with Dan behind him.
Coming around a bend in the trail, he immediately saw Gavin and Kyle, who was a paramedic, kneeling over Keely. There was blood trickling down the side of her face and she wasn’t moving.
“Dammit,” he muttered.
Logan approached, the calm head during the crisis. “Let them check her out and you can fly her to Marietta Regional.
“Jesus. Why didn’t she stay where it was safe?”
“She’s babbling about a boy in the woods. I don’t know. She’s confused.”
He watched as Gavin pulled off a blood pressure cuff. “I think she’s going to be fine, but let’s get her out of here.”
Jonah unstrapped the stretcher and folded it open. He kept it steady as Keely was loaded on. She was mumbling, barely audible. He was worried sick about her, but at least she was awake. He bent towards her, kissing her temple. “I’ve got you. Just a few minutes in the air to the hospital.”
“Jonah, I saw him, well, her. She’s skinny. Blondish. Maybe about twelve years old.”
“Keely, settle down. We have to take care of you…”
“No, she could be hurt. She’s just a kid.”
“Is that why you went in the woods? Some non-existent kid?”
“Jonah… please. Gavin saw her too.”
Looking at Gavin, his brother nodded.
“Okay, okay. I’m sorry. Calm down. I’ll see what I can do.”
Before Jonah got in the chopper, he pulled Gavin aside. “I have to tell you something.”
“We really should get going.” There was an urgency in his brother’s voice. Enough to make him nervous.
Of all his brothers, he and Gavin were the closest. They were just a year apart and they shared everything growing up. Jonah was going to share something big with him now.
“This is confidential. Doctor-patient stuff.”
Gavin nodded. “Shoot.”
“She might be pregnant. It’s still early, but just be aware.”
Gavin’s eyes went wide. “Got it. Alright. I’ll make sure we take precautions.”
“I mean, probably not… I’m guessing she’d know by now, but I just want to make sure you know.”
“I’ll handle it.” Gavin patted his shoulder. “Get your bird in the air.”
Climbing into the cockpit Jonah reminded himself that he had one job right now: get Keely to Marietta Regional safely.
Then he could give her hell.
Chapter Fifteen
Keely sat up on the gurney in the treatment room at the hospital. Her head was throbbing, and everything hurt, but based on the examination, nothing was broken. She considered herself lucky.
She had no warning part of the ledge she was standing on was going to give way. Her feet went right out from under her, and Keely was lucky she didn’t fall down the rock face. The next ledge was at least fifteen feet down; she would have been badly hurt if the fall didn’t kill her. Fortunately, Gavin had followed her into the woods and saw her go down. With a half-a-dozen first responders, plus an emergency doctor right at the scene, she was in good hands.
It was a dumb thing to happen, but there was no way to know the sandstone was going to crumble. The earth wasn’t always predictable.
She saw Gavin in the hallway. He’d donned his white coat with his jeans and boots and looked every bit the small-town doctor, except for the fact that he was movie-star gorgeous and made the coat look good. She’d said it before, there was some good DNA in those Clark boys. Every one of them could make a woman weak at the knees.
Gavin stepped in the room and Jonah was with him. “Keely, is it okay if Jonah stays?”
“I guess, why?”
Grinning, he pulled a stool toward the gurney and sat down, chart in hand. “Because I’m about to give you the results from your
examination. That’s private, and if you don’t want the information shared with Jonah, he will leave.”
She couldn’t imagine there was anything Jonah couldn’t hear so she nodded. “He can stay. It’s fine.”
He hadn’t given her any indication of how he felt about it one way or another, so she was surprised when he looked relieved at being allowed to stay.
Moving to the other side of the bed, he stood by her head.
“You have a concussion,” Gavin began. “Mild, but still a concussion. You’re going to need to take it easy for about a week.”
“A week?”
“Rest, acetaminophen for pain—you’re going to have a headache—no driving, avoid screen time, and give yourself lots of time in low light. Your brain needs rest. Anything that could strain your eyes is out.”
“Sounds like I can’t do anything.”
“You can’t. A concussion is a traumatic brain injury. Even mild ones have protocols.”
“Anything else?” This was not good news.
“You have a nasty bruise on your back. Nothing is broken, but you’re going to be hurting. Acetaminophen, rest, ice.”
“Nothing stronger for pain?” She was wondering why she couldn’t take Ibuprofen. She wasn’t asking for a controlled substance.
“No,” Gavin said quietly, scooting the stool a little closer to the bed. “And that’s the last part. We did some bloodwork. You’re pregnant.”
The words drifted around the room and echoed in her head. Pregnant.
Jonah’s hand dropped on her shoulder. Looking up at him, she didn’t know what to say. But he didn’t seem surprised.
“Gavin, why did you do a pregnancy test? Is that standard?”
The doctor glanced at his brother, and Jonah answered. “I let him know it was a possibility.”
“You what?” She was trying to form a coherent thought in her scrambled brain. “I was conscious when you brought me in. The nurse who triaged me asked if it was possible. I didn’t lie. They took all kinds of precautions.”
