9. Sawyer
Watchingmy house rise up over the hill to greet me after a long, busy day at work was the second-best sight of my day.
Getting to pull Denver into my arms, stealing a kiss and watching those bright eyes of hers dance with happiness, would forever be my number one. Whether it’s in bed, just out of the shower, or walking in from the day, I’d cherish it—her—always.
I parked my truck on the street so I didn’t block Paul’s truck in. Leaving my bag on the seat, I hopped out and headed around to the side of the house. I could hear the guys hammering away from here. The noise died down about the time I got to the gate. I went through and looked around.
“Y’all aren’t done yet? Sheesh, gettin’ slow in your old age.”
“We’re getting there. Ran into a few minor problems,” Paul said, dropping his hammer to the toolbox at his feet.
“Ah, old houses, gotta love their little surprises.”
“Sawyer,” Gramps called out.
“Sir?”
“You have a package that came; I set it on your bed.”
“Awesome.” I grinned. “Thanks. It’s a surprise for Denver. I found that book she was talking about the other day. Speaking of, how’s things been next door?” I asked no one in particular.
“Good. She’s been in there since you left, but she warned us that it would be an all-day affair. I’ve seen her moving through the house through the windows a few times. She’s taken Jersey out a couple of times, so she’s just doing her thing.”
Archer was bent over a piece of paper, his eyes narrowed in on something.
“Paul, your handwriting sucks.”
“Sorry, princess, I’ll work on it.”
I heard Jersey’s excited bark from the back yard, the jingle of her tags as she barreled through the gate alerting everyone to her presence.
Paul jerked around; his gaze was laser-focused on Denver’s house. At Jersey’s arrival, I noticed that they’d all stopped what they were doing.
“Hey, girl.” I scratched her head. She pulled away, still barking. The guys looked off. “What is it?” I asked.
“That’s not right.”
“Jersey must have already been outside…” Tripper said, dropping the tools in his hand.
“What are you on about?”
“There was a shout. I called up to her; she said she was fine, she’d just tripped over Jersey.” Paul waved his hand in the air.
I let that sink in for a second. “Fuck!”
It was then that everyone reacted, coming out of their sudden freeze. Archer was the first one to take off running. I was right behind him. The sudden rush of adrenaline and fear swamped me. I wasn’t sure what they’d heard or reacted to, but the looks on their faces told me all I needed to know.
I banged on the back door after trying the handle; of course, it was locked.
“Denver! Open up.”
There was no answer from inside. No movement, no shuffling feet heading to the door.
Jersey was standing in the side yard, barking at the house. The hair on her back was standing on end now. I’d never seen her do that. She was always a calm, happy dog.
That made my need to get inside increase.
Archer and I hit the door with our shoulders at the same time and nothing. The second try yielded nothing. The third strike, however, popped the doorframe. We used our shoulders again to barrel at the door. It slammed against the fridge. I ran through the kitchen.
“I’ll go low, you go high,” Archer instructed.
I called out for Denver as I hit the stairs. “Sweetheart? Are you here?” Fuck being quiet and stealthy, we’d blown that out of the water by breaking down the door.
The brown and black streak that went by me, almost knocked me over. Jersey was at the top before me. I heard a vicious growl, barking, and then the cry of pain from someone. I took the last stairs three at a time. The moment I saw her on the floor, limp and bloody, my heart stopped. “Up here, we need an ambulance. Call Chris!”
Jersey had a man by the ass cheek and was tugging at him. Dodging his attempt to punch her. From the loud cry of pain, she had more than his pants. I didn’t ask questions; I didn’t try to figure out who he was. I moved closer, put my fist to his temple, and watched him crumple to the floor.
Jersey, having lost her chew toy, ran to Denver and whined. Her nose nudged her mistress and nothing. There was zero reaction.
“Denver, baby, come on, stay with me.”
A body landed on the other side of us. Trigger pulled open his med kit. “Keep her head still; she might have a neck injury.” I let my brother and his team assess and make sure she was stable. I had something else to handle.
I went for the asshole on the floor. Grabbing him up by his shirt, I got in his face. “What did you do to her?” I snarled, slamming him into the wall.
His unfocused eyes met mine. “Bitch…got...hers...”
I shook him, thumping his skull on the wall again. “Who are you? What are you doing here?”
His grin sent a surge of anger through me.
“She’s mine.”
“The fuck she is!” I threw him down the hall; his body thumped against the office doorway. I stalked forward, my hands reaching for him. We scrambled back into the office.
I punched, he punched. We fell over the ottoman and crashed into the floor. The tables turned quickly when my head slammed into the bookcase and started to spin. I felt a burn across my arm and moved just in time to grab his wrist. He had a knife. If I’d been a second slower, it would have buried itself in my shoulder.
I shoved him back. He and I were about the same size, so the fight was by no means easy. Jersey helped out by running in and grabbing a hold of his arm. He screamed and kicked out, catching her in the side. Her yelp of pain pushed me over the edge.
I grabbed him by the back of the shirt and with all of my strength, I slammed him back against the wall. I’d made a critical mistake though. I’d forgotten about the knife until it slid into my gut.
With the last bit of rage I had coursing through me, I punched him so hard that he bounced off the window, which shattered. His body went through the glass balcony doors, the glass under his feet crunching. I kicked, clipping him in the chin, spinning him around. He went over the small railing and landed on the ground below with a thud.
I turned, ready to go back inside, but the world around me spun. I fell to the glass-covered floor.
“Fuck! Paul, Sawyer’s down!”
Archer’s face filled my field of vision then faded to darkness.
Something was beeping. I reached out, patting the air for my alarm. Or my cell. Whatever that was needed to stop.
“Hey, man. Easy.”
Why was Archer in my room? My eyes slowly came open. He sat in a chair beside the bed, his brows drawn together.
The attack. Denver. It all came crashing back. I sat up with a jerk. Pain had my breath whooshing out of me.
“Denver!”
“Hey, easy, man. You just had surgery, you idiot. She’s fine. I swear. She’s in the cafeteria with Carl. You’ve been out for the last twelve hours, Sleeping Beauty.”
“He hurt her.”
“Well, she’s okay. Sore, and it’s gonna be a rough few weeks, but she’s going to be okay.”
“How bad?” I winced as I sat back.
“Mild concussion, three broken ribs, a broken nose, bruised jaw, and a busted lip.”
“Fuck, man! I shouldn’t have left her.”
“It was my fuck up. She told us she was okay because that bastard threatened to kill us. She got hurt on my watch.”
“Don’t start that again, Roger.”
I turned my head to see her and Gramps coming in. She was moving slowly, but her smile eased some of the tension in me.
“I’m glad you’re awake,” she said, stopping at the bedside. I wasn’t expecting it, so when she punched my thigh, I jerked.
“Shit. Sorry. Sorry.” Her tears rolled down her face. “I was so scared you wouldn’t wake up.”
“Oh, baby. Come here.” I tugged at the stupid bedrail. Archer got it down, and she sat beside me slowly. I eased the bed to a better sitting position and pulled her to me. We both groaned.
“I’d never let that asshole take me from you. I saw you…I lost it for a bit.”
“Well, she did too. She punched Tripper in the face when she came around. He and Paul had to restrain her until she calmed down enough to see them.” Archer chuckled.
She tucked her chin and sighed. “I thought he was still there.”
I smiled, pressing a kiss to her head. “It’s okay, baby. You’re not the first one to punch either of them. They can take it. So what happened here? You said I had surgery?” I met Archer’s gaze.
“You did,” Gramps responded, taking the other chair beside the bed. “They had to fix a nick on your intestines. It went seamlessly. You’ll be fine, zero issues. But you will be out of work for at least six weeks, maybe longer. Your abdominal muscles need to heal.”
“Dammit. I have a root canal and partial implant scheduled for today…tomorrow. What day is it?”
“You had them for today; they were moved to another dental office. Doctor Lorie said he wasn’t able to fit them in with what he already had. We took care of calling and letting them know what was happening. Your books are cleared.”
“Okay. So now what? Where is he?”
The room went quiet. “About that,” Archer rubbed the back of his neck, “Seems when he fell off the house, he landed in a bad spot. He’s no longer with us.”
“Good riddance,” Denver whispered. “I won’t be sad he’s gone, but I hate any of this happened. I ran from him, needing a change. A chance to be free. I became a new person, and yet, he still tried to ruin it.”
She sat up and turned slightly, her brows pinching in pain. “My real name is Denise Walters. Denver Rhoades is my pen name. He didn’t know anything about this identity until someone posted that video of the incident at Whataburger. That’s how he found me.”
“I don’t care about your name. You can be whoever you want, as long as you do it with me. We can legally change your name. Do whatever you want. Just don’t think about leaving me. If you do…” Jersey jumped up on the bed and barked.
“I’m okay. I’m okay.” She leaned into the big dog. “I’m not going back to Denise. That woman was broken, beaten down; she was a lost soul. The me now, Denver, has a good life and a career that’s going places. I don’t want that to change.”
“Then nothing changes, baby.” I leaned in to press a kiss to her lips.
“The doctor said you can go home tomorrow morning.”
“Good. I’m ready for some downtime with my girl. You’re gonna be my nurse, right?” I teased.
“None of that, boy. You’re down for the count, and so is she. The boys will be in and out doing what they can. Roger here will be staying at the house to take us all to and from doctor appointments.”
There was a knock on the door. Paul walked in. One look at the small bruise on his face and I started to chuckle, pain be damned.”
“Yuck it up, asshole. I’m just glad she hits like a girl.” He grinned.
“I am a girl, jerk face.”
“You are. A brave one at that.” He moved to give her a hug and me a fist bump. “I got word from my commander, I’m on leave for two weeks. So I’m here to play nursemaid, too.”
“It’s going to be a family affair it seems.”
“Damn straight.”
I reared back against the pillows holding Denver to me. I thought I’d lost her. I could have lost more than I wanted to think about.
We would overcome and heal from this together.
One day at a time.
We would be better for this. She would be whole again.