Chapter 23
Twenty-Three
D usty rose colored light streamed into the bedroom as Sam opened his eyes. He blinked, trying to wipe the sleep away from his eyes.
Holy shit.
He’d slept through the night.
He’d slept through the night, with Evie wrapped in his arms. Her warmth suddenly surrounded him, and he never wanted to move again.
Sam let his eyes wander over her body. She was pressed into his side, her face resting peacefully on his chest. He hated the way the bruise on her cheek had darkened even more in the hours overnight, but her lip was looking a little less raw.
Her belly rested against his hip, and he couldn’t resist sliding his hand down over the swell to see if the baby was awake. He waited, holding his breath, until there was a sudden thump against his hand.
“Hey, little one. Are you hungry? ” he whispered. “I don’t want to miss out on you moving, but I have to go make something for you and your mama to eat. So, no more rolling around in there until I come back. Okay? ”
A tiny kick landed right in his palm and Sam had to stifle his laughter.
“That’s my girl.”
Ten minutes later, Sam cracked the last of the eggs into the bowl and began whisking. His plan was coming together. Bacon sizzled away in the pan, fresh fruit already neatly chopped and in a bowl. Now, he just needed to finish the scrambled eggs and everything would be ready for when Evie got up.
A groan pierced through the symphony of kitchen noises. Abandoning the sizzling pan in front of him, Sam took two steps closer to Evie’s room, waiting. A second later, the same pained sound came again, but this time, Sam didn’t wait. He rapped once on her door, before all but knocking the damn thing off its frame as he shouldered his way in.
Sam’s eyes went wide at the scene in front of him. Evie was sitting on her bed, half dressed with tears in her eyes as she ran her hand over her belly. He walked right over to her, sinking onto his knees in between her legs.
“What’s wrong? What is it?” His chest constricted painfully as he searched her eyes. Fuck. He let out a measured breath to release some of the tension as the agonizing seconds passed while she continued to cry.
“Sam,” she sniffled.
“What, Bluebell? Is it the baby? Are you in pain?”
She shook her head. “I can’t get this stupid dress over my boobs. They’re too big now and it won’t zip up.”
“Evie…” he tried to hide his smile.
“It’s my favorite dress, Sam! Don’t laugh,” she barked.
“No, I’m not laughing. I’m just relieved. I thought something was really wrong.”
“Something is really wrong! I don’t have anything comfortable to wear! All my pants are too tight, and I haven’t seen a single place in Bell Ridge to shop for maternity clothes. Am I just supposed to wear my bathrobe for the rest of my pregnancy? You want me to just be down in the barn flashing Zeke and Derrick every time they come in?”
A low growl rumbled through Sam’s chest.
“You won’t be wearing your robe to the office. Besides, you’re not working today. So let’s just do this.” Sam stood, offering Evie his hand. She took it, and the instant her hand slid into his, that warm feeling settled back into his chest. He dropped his hands to her waist, trying his best to not pay attention to the way her breasts perfectly filled out the lace bra she’d put on. He certainly wasn’t thinking about how delicious they’d tasted when he’d helped Evie with her, uh, frustrations in the barn.
“What are you doing?”
“Helping you out of this. Then I’m going to tuck you back into bed, bring you your breakfast, and you’re going to rest. You didn’t eat last night, there’s no way I’m letting you be up and about without getting some food in you first. And there’s no work for you today, so there’s no reason you even need to worry about getting dressed.”
“Sam, I need to?—”
The dress fell around her feet and his hand raised to gently run across the edge of the bruise on her cheek. “No arguments, Bluebell.”
He grabbed the throw blanket from the edge of her bed and wrapped it around her shoulders.
“I know you have to go. I know you don’t owe me anything.”
“But?”
“But… I really don’t want you to go.” The whispered confession hit him right in the chest. She clearly hadn’t taken him seriously when he said he wasn’t ever leaving her unprotected again. There would be times when he couldn’t be there, but he already had a plan in place to make sure someone was .
“Zeke and Derrick can handle the ranch duties again today. I need to stop down at the office and then run to the house, but I promise, Evie, you won’t be alone.”
“She might be back asleep, but if she is, you can just leave the clothes with me and I’ll let her know where they came from.” Sam’s voice drifted through her closed door. He’d brought someone back to her apartment with him.
Evie scrambled off the couch, running her fingers through her hair and praying that if she left it down, it would cover the darkening bruises on her face. There was no way that whoever was with him wouldn’t notice her split lip.
The door opened and Sam’s tight smile was the first thing she saw. Behind him, Abby stepped inside, her face full of regret. Daisy walked in right after her with an armful of clothes. What was going on?
“Bluebell. You should still be in bed.”
“Couldn’t sleep.” She shrugged her shoulders. “Needed to try and get some work done. Hi, Daisy. Abby.”
“Hi, Evie.” Daisy’s eyes went wide a second before she threw the clothes she’d been holding onto the sofa and ran towards Evie, arms outstretched.
“Did you tell them?” Evie whispered, terrified at the repercussions he may have caused.
“No. But I think you need to.”
Daisy’s fingers brushed over Evie’s face, tears welling in both women’s eyes.
“Hank is downstairs with Sunny. Sam wasn’t sure if you’d want him up here, and now I see why. Are you okay?”
Evie nodded, taking a step back to wrap her arms around herself. “I’m fine. There’s no need for you or anyone else to be worried.”
Daisy spun around, facing Sam. “Would your mom be willing to watch Sunny for a few minutes?”
“Absolutely.”
“Cowboy…”
“No, Evie.” Daisy stepped back shaking her head. “Hank and John need to be here. Whoever did that to you… it’s not okay. And we’re not letting them get away with it.”
Sam stepped towards her, cupping her cheek. “It’s up to you. But for what it’s worth, I want you to tell Hank what happened. I want our friends to be able to keep you safe, too.”
“Okay,” she agreed. “Go get them.”
Sam nodded, giving her an encouraging smile as he turned and walked out of her apartment.
“Evie,” Abby stepped away from the wall. “I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry for what I did at the bar. There is no excuse, and I’m so sorry that the way I said things made it seem like I was upset with you. You did absolutely nothing wrong. I was… I still am… furious at my idiot brother for not telling you about his heart. I don’t know what he was thinking.”
She bit the inside of her cheek.
“Do you think you can forgive me? I understand if you need some time…”
“I don’t need time. It’s already forgiven. I could really use my friends right now.” Daisy reached up and wiped another tear from Evie’s face.
“You’ve got us.” Abby pushed past Daisy to give her a hug.
“Good. Now that things are back on track with you two,” Daisy smiled, her eyes dropping to Evie’s belly. “Sam called and said you were running out of clothes that fit.”
“That was really sweet of him. I kind of lost it trying to get ready for work this morning. He nearly broke down the bedroom door when he heard me sobbing because my dress wouldn’t fit over my boobs.”
Daisy smiled. “I remember those days. I lost it on the floor of my closet with all my clothes in a giant heap all around me. Hank came home from work and panicked that something was wrong with Sunny. He was trying to scoop me up off the floor while I tried to tell him I was fine in between sobs.”
“God, you don’t know how glad I am to hear you say that,” she laughed. “I felt like I was going insane, and I was so mad at him for laughing at me when I explained!”
“He did not! I’m going to set him straight the minute he gets back up here with my husband.”
“No, honestly I mean, how sweet is it that he called you to cheer me up?”
“Not just cheer you up. I brought all the maternity clothes I have for you to use! You can take whatever you think will fit best. I’m not going to have another baby for a while, it might as well get put to good use instead of just sitting in our storage room.”
“Daisy, that’s too much. I couldn’t possibly…”
“Oh you can. I already shared a few things with Grace, but she’s a bit bigger in the bump area, so she said as soon as she grows out of something, she’ll bring it over for you to try on! I think she has a few pieces already set aside, but had some meeting with Seb and some fancy pants property developers this morning that she couldn’t get out of.”
Evie swallowed down her tears. “I don’t know why it’s making me so emotional. Thank you. For everything.”
“Shh, we’re friends,” she said, pulling Evie into another warm embrace. “And whether you like it or not, you’re stuck with me for the long haul. I fully expect to be Aunt Daisy to Jellybean and I wouldn’t be a very good aunt if I let her mom walk around naked because she couldn’t find clothes that felt good to wear.”
Evie gave a watery laugh as she stepped back to start looking through the items .
Abby giggled. “Or maybe, you should be letting her walk around naked. At least around a certain cowboy.”
“Abby!”
“What? You cannot tell me that you and Sam aren’t an incredible match. The way he looks at you… my god. It’s the same way John looks at me. And even though I may not want to hear all the details, I still want that for you both!”
“I think I’m still struggling with what happened the other night at the bar. It was so embarrassing. He explained things yesterday, and I get it, I really do, but there is a part of me that just isn’t sure there can ever be an us when he didn’t ever consider me important enough to tell about his heart.”
“I totally get it. But if there is one thing I know about my brother, it’s that deep down, at the root of who he is as a man, he’s always looking to protect and to provide. I can’t speak for him, but I’m sure with everything that happened with his heart, he didn’t want you to think that he couldn’t do those two things for you.”
“I know. I just wish he’d told me about it before I found out from someone else.”
“I don’t know what happened…” Daisy grimaced as her eyes dropped to Evie’s lip. “But I’m sure he’s freaking out, thinking he failed to keep you and the baby safe. It’ll be eating him up inside. We’re not asking you to forgive him, but give him the chance to keep opening up to you. These men are as tough as they come, but sometimes, what they really need is the permission to be vulnerable.”
Evie let Daisy’s words wash over her as she sifted mindlessly through the clothing items on her couch. As she reached for a floral top that looked perfect for the hot summer barreling towards them, the door to her apartment opened, and Sam, Hank, and John all stepped inside.
Hank took his hat off, and walked next to his wife, curling her into his side before sneaking a not so chaste kiss .
“Hank.” Daisy laughed. “I’m just going to put these in your room, Evie, so there’s a place for all of us to sit.”
“Thank you. For everything.”
“So, what’s going on?” Hank asked as he took a seat in the dining chair Sam had brought into the living room. Daisy sat next to him, while Sam had Evie tucked protectively into his side on the sofa, and John stood next to the armchair Abby had claimed.
“Do you want me to start?” Sam asked, pressing a kiss into her hair.
“No.” Evie already felt like her lungs were too tight in her chest. “This might not be safe. He said… he warned me not to tell anyone what happened. That he would know, and there would be consequences if I did.”
“You think someone bugged your apartment?” Daisy asked, shock written all over her face.
“I’m not really sure. If he did, I’m already in trouble. Jake came out to check on me yesterday after Sam found me like… well, like this.” She gestured to her face. “I told him more than I meant to. More than what I should have after the threats that were made.”
“Okay. Why don’t you start from the beginning, Evie, so we can get a better understanding of what happened.”
“The night we were all at the Broken Spoke… I came back to the apartment, and there was someone here.”
“Someone you know?”
She shook her head. “They were looking through some of the business ledgers I had brought up from the office. I think… I’m not sure if they expected me to be away longer, or what, but when I came back, they froze for a second before grabbing me. I should have tried to get away, but my feet wouldn’t move.”
“The flight, fight, or freeze response is really strong. Don’t blame yourself for not being able to break through that.” John smiled softly at her. “What happened next?”
“He slapped me. I fell back against the sofa and tried to curl in on myself to protect the baby.”
“You did, sweetheart. You kept her safe.” Sam’s arm wrapped tighter around her shoulders and her stomach did a funny little swoop when his hand landed on her belly. She didn’t miss the way Daisy’s eyes were glued to Sam’s movement, a hidden smile crossing her lips at his protective action.
“What happened after that?”
“He climbed on top of me. There was a knife…” Evie swallowed roughly. “And he told me if I didn’t stop looking into the business accounts for the ranch, he would come back and cut the baby out of my belly and leave us both to die.”
Daisy and Abby both gasped.
“Oh my god, Evie! I’m so sorry. Who is this person?” Abby asked.
“You said they were looking at business ledgers?” Hank’s question trumped Abby’s, mainly because she didn’t know how to answer hers.
“Yes. I’m working on digitizing the last decade of the ranch’s invoices.”
“Evie’s found some discrepancies,” Sam offered.
Daisy and Abby both nodded their heads. That caught Hank’s attention.
“Did you both know about this?”
“Evie mentioned it to us when we were over one day. But we knew they were working on figuring it all out.” Daisy shrugged. “They didn’t want to alert anyone yet.”
“That’s right. Sam was protecting me. My former boss accused me of stealing from his business. It was leaked to the local news agencies.”
“I know it’s not you, Bluebell. No sense bringing it up to anyone before we had concrete evidence. ”
“Except now, it seems like the person stealing from the ranch knows you are on to them.”
“Yeah.” Sam rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand.
“Evie, I wanted to tell you before I forget that Ryan Bowman is going back to Wisconsin.”
“What—”
Hank held up his hand to stop Sam. “There were multiple arrest warrants issued for him a week ago, including for embezzlement and fraud. We can continue processing the restraining order against him for you, but he’s looking at spending the next few decades behind bars.”
Relief flooded her body. She nodded at Hank. “I’d rather be safe than sorry. I have my phone for you, too. Oh, Sam.” Evie turned to face him. “The man… he broke my new phone before he left. I’m sorry.”
“Bluebell, that’s not important at all. We have insurance and can get you a new one.”
“I know, but you just spent all that money. God, I hate him. You were right, I needed to talk about this. Because there is no way he should get away with what he’s doing.”
“We’re going to do our best to figure out who he was, Evie.” Hank promised.