by Becca Van
Renewed energy flowed through her body, giving her the determination she needed to bear the pain she knew was coming. She took a deep, fortifying breath, letting it out slowly, and rolled to her stomach. She gritted her teeth together, using her aching shoulders to steady her upper torso, and bent her knees. She pushed the pain shooting from her right knee to the back of her mind and pushed up with all her might. The guttural growl emanating from her throat sounded like a wounded animal, but she panted through the agony. With one last breath and her remaining strength, she jumped to her feet. She stumbled, crying out, but remained on her feet by taking two little sideways jumps. She was standing, and that was all that mattered. She was going to make it back to her men if it took her all night.
* * * *
Jack saw Luke run to his car, pick up the microphone of his radio, and call his two deputies to get their asses out to the Double E Ranch pronto. While the sheriff was organizing his deputies and the equipment he wanted them to bring out to the ranch, Jack, Billy, and Tom were organizing the ranch hands to help search for the men’s missing lover.
Jack, with help from Tom and the hands, tacked up the horses and made sure they had any emergency supplies they thought they would need. Nan was getting food and water ready for everyone, and Billy and Tom placed the small packs of food in their saddle bags.
By the time Jack, his bosses, and the ranch hands had secured the packs and bedrolls to the back of their saddles, Luke was greeting his two deputies. Luke had called his deputies in to drive the four-wheel drive behind the horses in case the vehicle was needed to get Felicity back to the house or to medical help. He knew his bosses weren’t going to leave anything to chance. Luke handed out portable radios to him and the hands, mounted up beside Tom and Billy, and then they were off.
Jack had heard Luke tell Tom and Billy they weren’t going to head back home until they had their woman safely back in their arms. His two bosses and the sheriff let their mounts have their heads as they raced across the open fields.
Jack directed the remaining hands to head in different directions, hoping they would cover more ground as they searched separately. He hoped his bosses and the sheriff were the ones to find Felicity before nightfall, but he didn’t hold out much hope, since there was only about an hour of daylight left. He just hoped they got to her before that deranged bastard, James, could do any damage to the petite woman. Jack decided to head for the southernmost field near the old timber shack, which had been erected way before Tom and Billy had bought the Double E Ranch. The shack was a good place to bunk down in, if and when the weather turned bad in winter. All the ranch hands were aware of the shack, including ex-ranch hand James.
When Jack finally arrived near the shack, it had been dark for a couple of hours. His horse was breathing heavy and was sweating as Jack slowed him to a walk. He needed to cool his horse down slowly so he wouldn’t catch a chill. He’d ridden his mount hard over the last couple of hours. Jack had wanted to slow walk so his animal wouldn’t be so tired, but urgency kept them both moving. Jack stopped as he came to a section of tall grass that was flattened. He dismounted and hunkered down to peer at the ground. Something really heavy must have flattened the grass. He grabbed his flashlight from his saddle, flipped it on, lighting the flat grass. He could just make out tire tracks on the edge of the squashed grass. He quickly mounted, kneed his horse to a canter, and was sliding from his horse’s back minutes later. The door to the small timber shack was wide open, and there were fire embers smoldering in the hearth. Jack went back outside, flipped his flashlight on once more, and began to study the ground near the shack. He could see where a heavy vehicle had been, but hoped to find a sign of a lighter person.
Jack worked his way out from the door, methodically studying the grass, following any sign of movement he could. He found a long, thin line of flat grass and knew he had found what he’d been searching for. The trail was leading toward the trees in the distance. He grabbed Caesar’s reins and set off following the trail, pulling his stallion along behind him.
Jack froze in his tracks when Felicity’s trail merged with that of the vehicle. He studied the area diligently, praying to God the loopy bastard hadn’t run over his bosses’ woman. He shone his torch in every direction, studying the ground as he moved, being careful not to wipe out any signs of life nearby. He squatted down onto his haunches when he spied a sizable dark blotch on the ground. He dipped two fingers into the thick liquid, hoping he was coating his fingers with oil, but his intuition was working really well, and he knew before he shone his light onto his fingers it was blood.
Jack studied the ground around him for a few minutes then expelled a breath of air as he saw the trail once again leading toward the trees. He took off at a jog, pulling Caesar behind him. He traveled maybe another hundred yards and dodged to the side so he wouldn’t hurt the woman lying on the ground before him. He dropped his mount’s reins, walked to the back of his saddle, and pulled out his first-aid kit and the portable radio he had stored in his saddlebags. He picked up the radio and called Luke as he felt Felicity’s neck, sighing in relief when he felt a strong, steady pulse. Using his shoulder and chin to hold the portable radio to his ear and mouth, he untied the ropes around Felicity’s wrists, moved her arms to a more natural angle, then moved to her feet to do the same. He grabbed the thermal blanket out of his first-aid kit and covered her in it, hoping to get some of her body temperature back.
“Luke, I’ve found her. She’s alive but out cold. We’re in the most southern field of Double E Ranch, near the old timber shack. She’s pretty battered and bruised, and her arms and legs were tied with rope, but she’ll be okay,” Jack relayed.
“Thank God. We’re no more than twenty minutes away, we’ll be there as fast as we can. Don’t move Felicity. I don’t want her to suffer any more pain or damage than she already has. My deputies have already called for the paramedics. They should be able to drive along the gravel road near the trees. Access shouldn’t be a problem this time of year. We’re on our way. Thanks, Jack.”
Jack dropped the portable radio to the ground and set about making sure Felicity was comfortable. He lifted the side of the thermal blanket, shining the light over the length of her body. Aside from having a swollen, bruised jaw and raw skin on her wrists and ankle from the rope, the only real damage he found was to her right knee. Her jeans were ripped at the knee, so he grasped the denim material of her jeans and ripped it away from her. Her knee was nearly twice its normal size. A large deep cut ran beneath her patella, blood seeping from the wound, and she was extremely cold to the touch. Jack placed the flashlight on the ground, facing up, knowing the others would see the stream of light shining up from the ground as they got closer to them. He lifted the thermal blanket, moved his large body in close to Felicity’s back, wrapped his arms around her waist, and then settled the blanket back over her body. He knew the heat from his own body would help to warm her up faster. He also knew he loved Felicity like a sister. She had inveigled herself into his heart, and he knew he would do anything to keep her safe. He exhaled loudly, trying to control the raging fury at finding the small woman in such a state, but knew he was fighting a losing battle. The rage inside him was making his blood boil. He breathed in, held the breath, and then let it out slowly. He did this about ten times before the knot in his gut and his fury began to subside.
Chapter Twelve
Felicity could hear beeping sounds, but couldn’t work out where they were coming from. She frowned knowing she had heard that noise before, but couldn’t quite get her mind to tell her what the noise was. She licked her dry lips, trying to swallow, not quite managing the simple task. Her head was aching and her wrists were sore, but the pain in her knee was the worst of them all. She lifted a hand to her forehead, pushing her hair back away from her face, sighing with relief as the tickling sensations stopped. Someone took her hands in theirs and smoothed her hair back from her forehead again. She pried her sticky eyelids open to see her three me
n surrounding her, concern evident on their faces. She smiled at them, her eyes closing once more, too heavy to keep open. She was so tired and could feel herself beginning to drift off to sleep again. Just before she fell asleep, a cold ice block was rubbed across her lower lip, and she slid her tongue out, capturing the moisture. She felt her men kiss her tenderly. One placed a kiss on the forehead, and the other two on the back of her hands. She heard them speaking to her, but was too far gone to understand what they were saying. She drifted down to a deep sleep, breathing evenly as the numbing sensations pulled her back into unconsciousness.
* * * *
“God, she is so beautiful,” Luke said as he kissed Felicity’s forehead.
“Yeah, she is. I’m so glad she came to our ranch. I love her so much,” Billy stated.
“We all do, Billy. She’s absolutely perfect for us. We are gonna have to hire another ranch hand. There is no way in hell I’m having our woman busting her gut every day on the ranch. Do you think she’d marry us? Make a life and babies with us?” Tom asked uncertainly as he looked over at Luke.
“There is only one way to find out, my friends. We are going to have to tell her how we feel and then ask her to marry us. There is no way in hell I’m letting her out of my sight for the next month. I’ve put in for some leave owing to me and it’s been accepted. The county is sending another sheriff to fill in and maybe stay here permanently. Apparently this guy is an ex-Marine. He’s not long out of the Special Forces. He’s served quite a few years in the Middle East, but now that his time’s done, he’s looking for a quieter life,” Luke said.
“Can’t say I blame him. We’ll have to invite him out to the ranch for a meal. Let him take in the simplicity of country life, maybe go for a ride. It’s the least we can do after the way he’s heroically fought in a war, protecting our country. Do you know what his name is?” Tom asked.
“Nope. Apparently he’s still in debriefing for his job. The government isn’t letting anything out of the bag until he’s totally free of the services. I guess I’ll find out tomorrow. He’s supposed to arrive tomorrow night or early Tuesday morning. Apparently he has two brothers who are moving here as well. One of his brothers served with him and the other was a military mechanic,” Luke stated.
“You know a fair bit of information, considering no names have been released yet. Do you know what the brothers are going to do with their lives?” Billy asked.
“Well, the mechanic is hell-bent on opening a mechanic shop, and the youngest wants to open up and run his own bar.”
“Well, things are beginning to look up for Slick Rock. We only have the old hotel that’s about to fall down around the owner’s ears, and old Sly MacGregor has had an unfair advantage of being the only mechanic in town. It’s about time there was a little competition around here. I’d love to be a fly on the wall when Sly finds out about the new mechanic and his shop. I can see the steam coming out of his ears now.” Tom chuckled.
“It will definitely be interesting,” Luke replied with a grin then looked back down to Felicity. She looked so small and fragile lying unconscious in the hospital bed with tubes and monitors all over her.
“It certainly will,” Billy added.
* * * *
Felicity was happy to be back home on the Double E Ranch. She was lucky to have only suffered a mild case of hypothermia due to shock, bruising to her jaw, and abrasions on her wrists and ankles, as well as a deep cut, which had required quite a few stitches, beneath her knee. She had been lying on the sofa in the living room for the past five days, convalescing after her horrifying ordeal with James.
Luke and his two deputies had found James wandering the streets of Slick Rock, and now he was safely ensconced in a psychiatric ward in the large hospital in Denver, Colorado. She had been home for just under a week now and was looking forward to getting her stitches removed from her knee. She had an appointment to see Doc to have them removed in a couple of hours. Her injury site was totally healed, but the stitches were driving her mad. They itched like the devil.
Felicity’s men hadn’t touched her intimately since she been home from the hospital, and she was beginning to think they didn’t want her sexually anymore. She’d set plans in motion to seduce her men after dinner and could hardly sit still, anticipation of the evening ahead having her in two minds. She was afraid they didn’t want her, but she needed to find out. She was so in love with the three men, and she knew if they didn’t reciprocate her feelings she was going to have to leave.
All of her men had been driving her crazy, checking on her every half an hour to an hour. The first day they she arrived home, they hadn’t left her alone for a second. They were still very overprotective, but Luke was the worst of them all. He was on a month’s leave, and even though he wasn’t spending every waking moment with her now, he was still checking on her every half hour.
Felicity was becoming downright bitchy, but couldn’t seem to control her irritable behavior. She’d never been one to snap and snarl for no reason and knew she wasn’t being her normal, cool, emotionless self. She was putting her moods down to sexual frustration, as well as cabin fever. She had been a lot happier and freer with her emotions since coming to live on the Double E Ranch and found it harder and harder to go back to the ice-cold robot she’d hidden herself behind. She planned to get a thorough checkup at Doc’s this afternoon, hoping he would be able to tell her why she was so easy to become annoyed over the littlest things.
Felicity rose to her feet, walked to the back door, and took up her favorite position on the swing seat. She curled up in the corner, leaving her right leg on the decking, and set the swing into a gentle rocking motion. Breathing in the clean, fresh country air was a soothing balm to her restless soul. She closed her eyes, listened to the animals and birds, trying to get her tight muscles to relax. She let her mind flit from one thing to another, not really concentrating on where it was taking her. She heard the sound of footsteps on the timber decking of the veranda from a distance as she rocked the swing. She slammed her foot down onto the decking and froze as she began to count. Shock reverberated throughout her system as the penny finally dropped. She opened her eyes to see Luke standing before her, concern for her on his face.
“Are you all right, honey? You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” Luke asked, moving to her, squatting down in front of her, the palms of his hands rubbing her thighs.
“Yeah, I’m fine. What time is it?”
“Time we were heading out for your appointment with Doc. Are you sure you’re all right?”
“Yep. Let’s go. I can’t wait to get these stitches out. They’re driving me crazy.”
“Okay. Come on,” Luke stated, holding his hand out to help her up.
Moments later they were in Luke’s SUV, heading to Doc’s.
* * * *
Felicity was surprised she didn’t have to wait in Doc’s waiting room. She was called to go right in to his consultation room. Luke stayed out in the waiting room, giving her the privacy she had asked for, thank goodness. She knew he didn’t like to leave her alone but had appeased her this time. It didn’t take Doc long at all to remove her stitches, which was a relief. The scar below her knee was still a bright pink and unsightly, but Felicity didn’t care. She was still alive, and that was all that mattered.
“All right, is there anything else I can do for today, young lady?”
“Um, yeah. Can you give me a pregnancy test?”
“Sure thing. If you would just go into the restroom over there, I need a urine sample to test.”
“Thanks,” Felicity replied, taking the specimen jar from Doc.
She was back a few minutes later and waited with bated breath for Doc to complete the test. Doc leaned back in his chair and looked at her expressionlessly. Felicity began to become agitated. Then a smile formed over his wrinkled face, his blue eyes sparkling as he looked at her. “Congratulations, Mama. You’re pregnant.”
“Oh my. Are you sure?” Felicity asked, he
r hand covering her mouth in shock and awe.
“One hundred percent sure. Now, I want you to take these prenatal vitamins every day, and you are to come back in one month’s time for another checkup.”
“Thanks, Doc,” Felicity replied, hugging the elderly man, then left the room.
Felicity was quiet on the way home, not sure how to feel about her unplanned pregnancy. One minute she wanted to shout from the rooftops and let the world know, and the next she was scared how her men would react. Would they be happy or would they be angry? Not that it was all her fault. It did take at least two to tango. She was feeling rather unsure of herself. Doubts crept in, the worst-case scenarios filling her mind.
“Felicity, what’s wrong?” Luke asked, giving her a quick glance, then looked back to the road.
“Nothing, I guess I’m just feeling like a have a case of cabin fever. I haven’t been able to do much and it’s making me crazy.”
“Don’t worry, hon, you’ll be back to normal before you know it. How about going for a ride with me when we get back?”
