Chapter 19
Nineteen
“ I ’m having such a good time.”
“Me too.” Gunner leaned over and tickled Sage’s belly. “Seems like our little one is enjoying being passed around by everyone.”
“I was so nervous about that part of it, but she’s done really well, and all the guys hold her so gently, like she’s a ticking time bomb. It’s adorable.”
“I’ll let them all know you think they are adorable. It’ll be good for some of their egos to get a reality check like that.”
“You are terrible,” Lily laughed. “Do you know who that woman is talking to Gage?”
Gunner looked towards the grill and nodded. “I think that’s Sloane. Gage said he was going to invite her.”
“Really? He wanted to invite her?”
“I think the team wanted to. She works next door to us. Apparently, she’s some type of shrink.”
“I don’t think therapists actually like that term.”
“Maybe they should talk to someone about that.”
“Gunner. Don’t be like that. Let’s go say hi. If he invited her, maybe there’s something going on between them. ”
“Lily…” he grumbled.
“No. We can’t just sit by ourselves and be anti-social. These are your best friends. I want to get to know everyone better.”
“Fine. But I want Sage.” He scooped the baby from Lily’s arms before she could protest. Lily laced her fingers through his like it was the most natural thing in the world and for a moment, he felt like maybe it was.
“Using my daughter as a shield?”
“More like protecting our girl from all the hands that want to hold her.”
Lily laughed. “I think it’s too late for that.”
“Yeah, well, it’s a good reason for me to scowl.”
She rolled her eyes and pulled his hand, but Gunner dropped behind just far enough to get to enjoy the view of her walking ahead. When had her ass become so perfectly heart-shaped?
Gunner shook his head as he caught Gage smiling at him.
“What are you smiling at?”
“I think you know. Should I tell Lily?”
“Tell me what?”
“Nothing Lil,” Gunner turned to the redhead standing next to Gage. “You must be Sloane.”
“Yes.” She extended her hand out, and he shook it. First read, the girl was shy. Her bright red hair and freckle-covered face made her stand out, but her body language screamed, please don’t look at me . Interesting.
“I’m Gunner. This is my wife, Lily, and our daughter, Sage.”
“It’s so nice to meet you, Sloane. Gunner was telling me you’re the other business in our building.” Lily took over chatting and Gunner was glad. He hated small talk.
“It was so nice of Mr. Montgomery to let me stay when he bought the building. I know there are more renovation plans in the works, but I’ve loved having him as my landlord so far.”
“Are you joining us for self-defense classes in a few weeks?”
“Mae certainly would like me to, but I have to see if it will work with my schedule. I have a few clients who can only meet at night, so I try to be flexible to accommodate them.”
“That’s really nice. Very small-town friendly of you.”
“I do what I can. Silver Springs has been a great community to move into, but I’m sure you see that firsthand.”
Lily only made it five more minutes into her conversation with Sloane before the extra water she’d been drinking to make sure her supply stayed up for nursing Sage turned into a problem.
“I hate to ask because you’ve been holding her for a bit, but would you mind keeping Sprout for a minute so I can run to the bathroom? I’ll come back and nurse her when I’m done.”
“Why don’t we walk over there with you?” Gunner replied.
“I’m perfectly fine going on my own.”
“Even if you are, I’d feel better going with you.”
“Gunner, stay here with your friends. I’ll only be a minute. Are you good with holding onto Sage or should I try to take her with me?”
“I’ll hold on to her,” he said as he patted her baby’s back. “I wanted to take her to see that statue over by the river walk, anyway.”
Lily’s eyes widened. “Just make sure?—”
“Lil, I was in the Navy. I know how to make sure she’s safe around water. Besides, that river is more like a dried-up creek right now. She’ll be fine.”
“My brain knows that, Gunner, but my anxiety doesn’t.”
“I won’t take her near the water, I promise. Just to the statues and then we will come right back.”
The park where they had set up the picnic was absolutely brimming with summer fun. Families played basketball games, children rode their bikes along the meandering paths, and every picnic table was filled with overflowing dishes and coolers. When Lily thought of the life she wanted Sage to have, the picture that day painted was exactly what she had in mind.
Although it would be a few more years until Sage could enjoy everything that made Silver Springs charming, Lily was falling more in love with the town with each passing day.
“Oh, excuse me.” Lily smiled at a woman who brushed past her on the small footpath. The bathrooms were on the edge of the park, surrounded by forest, and it was more of a trek to get over to them than she was expecting. As she shut the door behind her, Lily wondered if Sage would be all smiles for Gunner while she was away, or if her baby could sense the physical distance between them. Lily certainly could, and even though she’d only been gone a few minutes, she was more than ready to be back with her family and new friends.
She washed her hands in a hurry, opting to wipe the water off on her shorts rather than wait for the air dryer to do its job. Besides, she’d once had someone tell her that the dryers were a breeding ground for germs, and she wanted to protect Sprout as much as possible.
As she stepped out of the restroom and turned to make her way back towards the group, a hand clamped over Lily’s mouth. Her hands flew up to wrench the arm away from her face, but it didn’t move. Panic flooded her veins as the person behind her slowly moved her away from the bathrooms and towards the edge of the forest lining the park.
“Stop fighting me,” a man’s voice growled low in her ear. “This won’t be fast, but it will be fun, I promise. Maybe you even want it. Never seen a married woman before who didn’t wear her wedding ring when she went out. Are you a little slut who wants more than what your husband can offer?”
Saliva filled her mouth as her stomach rolled. No. No way was she going anywhere with the person trying to kidnap her. She needed to think. If she could get his hand away from her mouth, she could scream and alert the team.
Without hesitation, Lily stomped down on the man’s shin while she bit into the flesh of his hand. He stumbled, releasing his grip on her with a yelp. The scream that tore through Lily’s throat sent birds scattering through the trees and she ran as fast as she could back towards the picnic area.
“See, Sprout. I told you this statue was neat.” Gunner couldn’t help but smile as the little girl in his arms stared wide-eyed up at the massive statue in front of them. She was going to love history just as much as he did, and that made his heart swell with pride. “I can’t wait to take you up north. There is such rich history all around us. Maybe your mom would even let us watch a civil war reenactment one day. I’ve always wanted to see one.”
“Fatherhood looks so good on you, Reap,” Stone said from over his shoulder.
“I never would have thought I’d get to have this, Doc, but it really is the best.”
“You deserve it. Lily and Sage have really changed things,” Stone smiled.
“For the better,” Gunner added.
“Oh, definitely. You were such a grumpy bastard. I mean, you still are, but it’s nice to see you smile at them. Maybe one day, your team will get to see it, too,” he laughed.
Gunner was about to snap back at his friend when a scream ripped through the air. He immediately moved to get Sage into Stone’s arms and took off running. All he could think about was how stupid it had been to let Lily go to the bathroom by herself. If something happened to her…
His eyes scanned the area, finally landing on his wife running through a crowd of people. He tried to look for anyone leaving the area, but all his eyes could focus on was the look of pure terror painted on Lily’s face. Fuck.
Her frantic eyes finally landed on him, and they didn’t stop running towards each other until her body slammed into his.
“Lily!”
“I’m okay. It’s okay.”
“What happened? Why did you scream?” he asked as his face landed in her hair. Her whole body shook against him.
“Where’s Sage? Is she okay?”
“She’s with Stone.”
“I was so worried…He tried to take me.” She snuggled down further into his chest, tightening her arms around his waist.
“Someone tried to take you? Jesus. Who, Lil?”
“T-there was a man. He tried to drag me into the woods, but I slammed my foot into his shin and bit his hand. It was covering my mouth.”
“What the fuck? Did he say anything to you?”
“Hey! Are you guys okay?” Hawk called out as he and Gage ran towards them.
Gunner didn’t respond, other than to hold up his hand in a silent gesture to say that he didn’t know yet.
“He said that what he was going to do to me would be fun. That I’d like it.”
Gunner’s eyes snapped to Gage and Hawk’s.
“Fuck,” Gage mumbled.
“Let’s figure out the best way to pack up and have everyone head back to the apartments,” Hawk said as his eyes scanned the park.
“I’m so sorry,” Lily whispered, “I didn’t have my ring on because my fingers were swollen this morning and I couldn’t find the silicone band you got me before. I know it’s packed somewhere, but I haven’t had the time yet to get everything sorted.”
“I don’t care that you weren’t wearing your ring. We’re married, if it’s on your finger or not.”
“I know, Gunner. It’s just…the man. He said that I’d enjoy what he was going to do because I clearly was looking to cheat on you. He noticed I wasn’t wearing a ring.”
The hair on the back of Gunner’s neck stood up. It wasn’t random. The man had to have been watching Lily, otherwise how would he know they were married? Gunner pulled her back into his embrace and walked her over to the picnic tables.
“Sit and let me see your hands.” Lily held them out in front of her. “They still seem swollen. How are your feet? Your ankles? Do you have a headache or any nausea? Maybe Stone should come over here and check you over.”
There was a reason Stone’s nickname was Doc. He’d been the team’s medic and had saved Gunner’s ass more than once in sticky situations. He trusted Stone to handle whatever might be going on medically with Lily.
“I’m fine, Gunner. I promise. That man putting his hands on me just threw me off. Otherwise, I’m okay.”
“No.” Gunner laced his fingers through Lily’s. “Just try to take some deep breaths.”
He had his phone out and up to his ear a second later. Stone answered after the first ring.
“What’s going on, Reap?”
“Can you grab Mae and come over to the picnic tables?”
“Yeah, I’ll bring Mae and Sage right over. Is Lily okay?”
“I’ll explain when you get here. ”
“Sure thing.”
He ended the call and shoved the phone back into his pocket before sitting down next to Lily.
“Gunner, you don’t need to fuss over me. I’ve stayed on top of my medication and I’m fine.”
“Let Doc tell us that, okay?” He sat next to Lily and ran his thumb over her skin. How close had he just been to losing her again? If the fucker who touched her caused her blood pressure to go high, he’d hunt him down and enjoy ending his pathetic life. Not that it wasn’t the plan right now, regardless.
“Sage!” Lily’s eyes filled with tears as Mae walked up with their daughter.
“What’s going on?” Stone asked.
“A guy grabbed Lily. We’ll talk about it in a sec, but I want you to check her over. She had postpartum preeclampsia after Sage was born that landed her in the hospital, and now her fingers are swollen and she said she feels off. If there’s any worry about her blood pressure, I want to know so I can get her to the hospital.”
“Gunner, it seems like you’re the one who needs to take a breath.” Lily turned to Stone and smiled. Suddenly, Gunner was pissed she wasn’t smiling at him. “I’ve just been hydrating well the last few days to make sure my supply isn’t lowering for nursing Sage. The medication I’m on warns that a little swelling can happen. And the rest is just from the stress of that guy putting his hands on me.”
“Well, there’s no harm in me checking you over, just to be sure. Since we’re heading back to the office, why don’t you guys follow me to my car? My rucksack is up there and should have everything we need to get you checked out.”
Forty minutes later, the team had everything packed up and moved over to Stone’s apartment. Lily’s blood pressure had been perfectly fine when they checked it, just like she knew it would be, but Gunner was still hovering around her, asking if she needed anything and checking in on how she was feeling.
“I can’t believe he just tried to grab you like that, Lil. It’s terrible,” Mae said as she scooped some potato salad onto her plate. The food certainly had not gone to waste, and Lily’s belly was full from indulging.
“It was probably just some creep who saw an opportunity and tried to take advantage of the fact you were alone,” Gage offered.
Lily shivered.
“Lil, you okay?” Gunner asked as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders, tucking her into his side.
“Silver Springs just feels so safe. I know we aren’t really a part of the community yet, but there was a sort of new place glow. I think I’m just shaken, knowing Sage could have been with me. Something could have happened to her.”
Gunner nodded.
“Even more reason for us to have those self-defense lessons for the women in the community. Lily, you should share with the class about what happened and then we can show the moves you used to get away.”
“I don’t think I used any moves, Mae,” she laughed. “I literally just panicked and stomped on his leg. That was about it.”
“That’s not nothing, Lil. You were amazing.” Gunner looked down at her with nothing but pride in his eyes, and for some reason, emotion choked her.
“Thank you,” she whispered. “But I don’t think I’ll be going to any public restrooms without you by my side anytime in the near future. ”
“Well, you’ll have to do without him for girls’ night. No boys allowed and all that.”
“I’m not sure I’ll be up for it, Mae. Maybe I can catch the next one?”
“No! I’m going to introduce you to some of my friends from Bell Ridge! It’s going to be so fun! Tell her it’s fine, Gunner.”
“I don’t think you’ll like my position on this Mae. If my wife is uncomfortable going, then I’m team ‘Lily Stays Home’ all the way.”