Chapter 25
Devon
“I ’m going to owe you for this for the rest of my life,” I told Cole solemnly as I sat in a chair next to his bedside in the hospital.
They were keeping my cousin overnight. He’d lost quite a bit of blood, and he’d be getting more fluids and antibiotics before they discharged him tomorrow.
He’d gotten damn lucky. Kline had shot him with a small caliber weapon, and the location where he’d been grazed had been extremely fortunate. There were no injuries to any major organs or bone.
The bullet hadn’t entered his body, but it had left a nasty gash in his side that had bled like crazy and had needed quite a few sutures to repair.
It had taken me a while to figure out exactly what had occurred. I hadn’t learned everything until I’d gotten most of it from Reese.
I was still fucking livid that Kline had punched her hard enough to leave her face black and blue, but the doctor had assured me that she’d be fine as soon as the bruises healed.
She’d been discharged and I asked my family to take care of her until I could get home.
Knowing my cousin had saved Reese’s life had left me feeling like I owed it to him to be here.
“You don’t owe me shit,” he rumbled. “I did what any guy would have done if he saw some asshole pounding on a woman.”
He’d done more than that, and I knew it. Reese had given me the details. Cole had shielded Reese, knowing full well that he could end up shot because of it.
Even after he’d taken that gunshot, he’d still kept Reese moving so he could get her out of danger.
He could have walked away from the whole situation and just called the police, but he hadn’t.
“If you ever need a favor, I’m there for it,” I said. “If you ever need family, I’m there for that, too.”
“You must have it bad for Reese if you’re going that far,” Cole said drily.
“I love her,” I said honestly. “When you saved her life, you saved mine, too.”
Cole was quiet for a moment before he answered, “For what it’s worth, she seems like a pretty incredible woman. She was pretty brave and calm about the whole thing, even though I could tell that she was terrified.”
“She is incredible,” I verified. “Her entire world was turned upside down a year ago when she was shot, and her friend and colleague was killed. She left everything that was important to her and has been living under an assumed identity ever since. It’s taken a toll on her, but it’s hasn’t broken her.”
My phone pinged, and I pulled it out of my pocket, not surprised to see that the text was from Reese.
“It’s Reese,” I told Cole. “She’s worried about you and wants to know if you’re okay. She wants to know what treatment you’re getting. She’s a nurse practitioner.”
Cole smirked. “I have to say that I’ve never had a woman worry about me before.”
I shrugged. “It’s who she is. She worries about everyone but herself.”
“Tell her I’m going home tomorrow and that I’m fine,” he suggested. “Let her know you’ll be home soon. The nurse is going to give me some pain drugs, and that will knock me out. You don’t need to stay here and babysit me.”
I typed a message back to Reese and put my phone back into my pocket as I said, “You’re my family, Cole. I’m not here to babysit you.”
“Go home to your woman, Devon,” Cole replied. “She needs you more than I do.”
After this man had literally taken a bullet for Reese and stopped Kline from killing her more than once, he was always going to be family to me. Whether he wanted family or not.
I wished I had been there for Reese myself, but we’d still been searching the grounds near Cole’s house when he and Reese had flown out the front door.
I hadn’t known that Kline had found her, and I didn’t know that Cole was here.
During Kline’s rant and assault of Reese, he’d mentioned that he’d finally decided to follow her lead detective from Spokane to try to get information about where she was hiding.
Although Reese was under an assumed identity, Ralph was not.
The timing couldn’t have been worse.
My mother’s place was on the way into town from the highway.
Kline had just happened to see Reese as she was walking through the field closer to the road.
The bastard had stalked her to the property border before he’d snatched her.
“I’m so fucking glad that asshole is dead,” I said, hating that one moment of vulnerability had led to Reese being found.
Ralph had shot Kline just in time.
If he hadn’t, the bastard would have gotten another shot off from the porch that could have killed Reese or Cole.
“I’m with you on that,” Cole answered. “If I’d gotten a single second of opportunity, he would have been dead. But he never took the gun off Reese. He made her restrain my hands and legs before he tied her up. I couldn’t risk her getting shot if I jumped him.”
“Reese said you could have just called the police and not gotten involved,” I mused.
He shot me a disbelieving look. “I might be an asshole, but I wasn’t going to watch some lunatic beating on a female. I didn’t know she was your woman at the time, but that shit is never going to fly with me. There are certain times when I don’t mind getting my hands dirty. That’s one of the few things that sets me off.”
I was damn glad that Cole had a few triggers.
He’d always been pretty cool and distant when we’d spoken before, but there was obviously still a decent human inside Cole’s body. The decent side was apparently just harder to find in my cousin than it was in most people.
“You here for good now?” I questioned him.
He shook his head. “I was just here for a few days to do a final inspection of the work on the houses and the horse facilities. I didn’t plan to get shot.”
“Did you call Asher?”
“Nah,” he said nonchalantly. “He’d lose his shit, even though it’s just a flesh wound, and he’s out of the country on business. There’s nothing he can do. I’ll be out of the hospital tomorrow. My jet is at the airport. I’ll probably fly home sooner than I’d planned.”
I shook my head. “Not happening. I’ll be here tomorrow to pick you up. Everybody is going to want to see you, especially my mother. You have family here to take care of you. Be nice to Mom. She cares about you and Asher. She’s excited that you’re both coming home.”
He shrugged. “I have no reason not to be nice to her. I don’t have any hard feelings toward Millie.”
“Well, that’s good to hear,” my mother’s voice said cheerfully from the doorway. “Because I’m here, and I’m going to make sure that you get well. Go home, Devon. I’ll take over from here. I’ve already talked to the nurse about making that comfortable recliner into my bed for the night.”
I rose from that comfortable recliner and kissed my mother’s cheek.
I smirked at Cole as his brows rose and he said, “That’s not necessary.”
He obviously didn’t know my mother well.
I’d already known that she’d be back as soon as everyone was settled in at home.
“It is necessary,” Mom said as she sat the bag of stuff she’d brought with her on the side table. “You’re my nephew, and family takes care of family around here. I’m also your new neighbor. Neighbors take care of each other, too. You’re not going home with that injury. I’ll be taking care of you until you’re ready to travel.”
Cole sent me an alarmed glance that made me grin back at him.
My mother might have some arthritis, but she was still spunky as hell.
He wasn’t going to win this argument without having my mother bodily thrown out of the hospital.
“You’re not going to win this one, so just give it up,” I told my cousin.
“I brought you dinner,” my mother fussed. “Hospital food isn’t going to be enough for a man your size, Cole.”
He hid it well, but I saw a spark of interest in his eyes for a brief second.
Hell, he was definitely a Remington male who loved food, whether he wanted to admit it or not.
“I’m going to heat up your food and feed you, and then your nurse is going to give you something for pain that will help you sleep.
“Millie,” Cole said in a pained voice. “I’m fine. I’m not dying.”
My mother ignored him as she took some containers from the bag and marched out of the room.
“Is she always like this?” he asked in a strained voice after my mother left the room.
“Always,” I warned him. “She’s going to get her way. Roll with it.”
“I don’t need her here,” he said irritably.
I had to disagree.
My mother and the rest of his family was exactly what Cole needed.
He’d just been alone for so long that he didn’t think he needed anyone, and I doubted that Asher was the only family he needed.
I did have to admit that the two of them had thrived though.
They’d had no family.
No support.
Yet the two of them had been as successful as the rest of the Remington men from our generation.
“She’s not leaving unless you have her thrown out,” I informed him. “She’s stubborn as hell.”
He looked annoyed as he answered, “I can’t do that. Maybe we don’t know each other well, but she is my aunt and she’s trying to help.”
Yep! There’s definitely a decent guy beneath Cole’s rough exterior.
“It’s one night, and you’ll sleep through it,” I reminded him. “Let her fuss over you. She’s an excellent cook. You’ll like the food a lot better than what you’ll get here.”
It was almost amusing that Cole seemed to have no idea what to do with a motherly figure who wanted to fuss over his injury.
It was also kind of…sad.
Maybe I’d thought it was a pain in the ass at times because my parents had always worried about us with so much enthusiasm. But as an adult, I could appreciate the love and care we’d gotten as kids.
Cole and Asher had never had that.
Most likely, they’d always been in survival mode when they were younger.
“What do you think she made for dinner?” he asked grudgingly.
I already knew what she’d made.
I’d just never had a chance to eat it.
I was positive the rest of my family had already gotten fed when they arrived home from Billings.
“Chicken and dumplings with homemade biscuits,” I informed him as I glanced into the bag she’d left behind. “And a large piece of huckleberry pie for dessert. She probably took the ice cream with her so she could put it in the freezer.”
His face lit up a little. “It’s been a long time since I’ve had huckleberry pie.”
I clamped him lightly on the shoulder. “You’re going to get something good out of letting her stay. She’ll fuss over you, but you’ll get used to it.”
“I doubt that,” Cole grumbled.
“Just let her do it,” I requested. “She’s been worried about you and Asher for years.”
“Just this once,” he relented reluctantly. “And I’m only doing it because I’m starving.”
“You’re a good man,” I told him as my mother breezed back into the room.
“Most people think I’m a murderer,” he said bitterly in a voice only loud enough for me to hear.
“We don’t. We never did,” I said, keeping my tone quiet, too.”
“Go home, Devon,” my mother insisted. “I left your food at your house, and Reese needs you.”
The nurse came into the room to administer Cole’s medication, and I heard Cole mutter softly, “You’re going to owe me for this one, too.”
I shot him a look that told him I had no problem with that.
I already owed my cousin everything for what he’d done for Reese.
“We’ll pick you up tomorrow,” I told him as I headed for the door. “We’ll fly in the helicopter so it will be a smoother ride.”
I ducked out of the room before Cole could argue, knowing my mother had the situation under control.
As soon as I left the hospital, every thought I had turned to Reese.
Even though she was surrounded by my family right now, I knew she needed me after what she’d been through.
I tried not to think about the fact that there would be a day sometime soon when she probably wouldn’t need me anymore.
She’d be getting her old life back, and she’d finally be able to live without the fear of Kline trying to find her anymore.
I immediately shoved that thought out of my head.
She still needed me right now , and my gut wrenched at the thought of not being there for her.
She’d almost died today, and she’d had to face the man who had been wanting her dead for a long time.
I’d ridden with Reese and Cole to the hospital in my helicopter, but Kaleb had driven my truck here to Billings for me.
Kaleb and Anna had hitched a ride back to Crystal Fork with Lauren.
I’d sent my helicopter and my pilot back to the airstrip in Crystal Fork so the helipad would be clear for other emergencies.
As soon as I got outside I sprinted toward my truck.
Reese would hate it, but I knew I’d be driving like a bat out of hell to get home.