Chapter 16
16
Ayla had spent the night at the ranch again, staying close to Greer. Gunn had spent most of the evening trying to wrap his head around what Greer had said.
She was moving home. She was going to have a baby. And the father was a man she wanted nothing to do with.
He didn’t think that was how it would end up playing out—Gunn suspected there was more to the story than his sister was saying. He would be there, though. For his sister, and her baby. However she needed him.
But Ayla had stayed the night there, helping Greer get settled back in. Ayla and Hala. The two of them had stuck close.
Gunn hadn’t gotten much time with Ayla after that.
He’d spent most of the evening trying to keep his brothers from going on a manhunt, honestly. Grady was especially ready to find the father of Greer’s baby and rip him apart. Grady and Gene. They had tangled with that man several times before, and were beyond furious right now.
But Gunn had calmed them down as best he could.
No matter what happened going forward, he had faith Greer would be just fine. She’d stay at the ranch, Greer and the baby, and he and his brothers would make sure they were okay. Taken care of and protected forever, if that was what Greer needed.
Family took care of family.
Now, he had volunteered to drive Ayla to the library, after he had taken it upon himself to feed her and Greer and Genny breakfast. He hadn’t liked the idea of her riding the transit, not when he was perfectly capable of driving her. And… it was just that much more time they could spend together.
He walked her inside, mostly to make sure she got inside safely and to confirm Jake wasn’t planning to leave at any point during the rest of the afternoon. If she needed a ride home, he’d make sure someone could be there to get her.
He’d wanted to stay and watch her do story time with the kids, but… church business.
Church business came before his love life. It was just the way it had to be. He finished his meeting, then got a later start to the airport than he’d intended. They’d discussed that after the movie, too, how his job wasn’t a regular nine-to-five. His job was to be there when his congregation needed him. Whenever that would be.
He had a lot of time on the drive to the airport to just think. He had almost kissed her in her backyard. He had sat right there next to her on the chaise lounge, probably far closer than he should have, and just talked to her. Long after he had taken her home from the movie.
He’d even left his own little sister inside Ayla’s house with Aubrey, and the two of them had looked at the stars from Ayla’s yard, too.
Gunn had told her things he had never told anyone before. He had made certain to keep that blanket between them like a barrier. But he’d been on alert the entire time. Every single time she had moved, he had felt it almost to his soul.
No wonder his brother stared at her sister like he was starving. Gunn… Gunn finally understood what that meant. He was going to have to tread carefully here, or he would do something he would regret. He hadn’t touched a woman since before he had applied to the seminary.
Not that he hadn’t kissed women in that time. There had been a few he had been seriously attracted to. He was thirty-three years old, not a virgin despite what his family thought, and a healthy single male.
But he had wanted to kiss her so much. Every time she’d laughed, he’d fought the urge to wrap his arms around her and pull her closer and do things to her. Things he hadn’t done in a long, long time.
Gunn rolled the window down. Time to cool himself off. Before…
He was going to have to marry that woman as soon as he possibly could. There really wasn’t any other solution. She was driving him mad.
And whirlwind romances worked for his family. Hadn’t his parents married after knowing each other three weeks? Yes, he was reaching here. He knew that. But…
How was a man supposed to deal with a beautiful woman like her?
The man he was there to find was easy to spot. Reverend Emerson Riordan was around Gunn’s own six-four. Around Gunn’s own age, they had met when Emerson transferred into the seminary in Finley Creek Gunn’s second semester. They’d roomed together for a little while, in an apartment near the campus. Emerson was one of his closest friends on the planet. And Gunn hated how his friend had struggled the last few years. How Emerson had hurt.
It had been in Emerson’s church where the JD Rei Hope Lifer cult had been first discovered. That kind of blow had nearly destroyed Emerson. Gunn had flown up there to be with his friend after. He would never forget how hurt and broken Emerson had been then.
“Gunn,” Emerson held out a hand to him. Gunn hugged him quickly. Emerson was almost as close to him as his own brothers. “How are you?”
“I’ve had better months. But… faith is getting me through. How are you?”
“As good as I can be, considering. With… Mom… Dad finally signed the papers to put her in assisted living.” Emerson’s mother had had a stroke after the fire at Emerson’s church had destroyed so much of Emerson’s life’s work. She had never fully recovered. It was another blow Emerson had had to face. “He’s getting… a bit harder to handle since. She took care of his medications, kept him from causing too much trouble in town. That kind of thing.”
Emerson’s father was the retired sheriff. His older brother Collin was the sheriff now. “I’m sorry to hear that. Let me know if I can help somehow. You know I will.”
Gunn had met Emerson’s family. He wasn’t particularly fond of the other man’s father as a person, but as a child of God… well, Gunn didn’t expect to personally like everyone he encountered. But the older man seemed to like causing difficulties for his two sons. Gunn suspected it was a way for him to still feel relevant.
The man had told Gunn and Emerson when they’d graduated from the seminary that they had wasted good money and time on this foolishness. That only weak men turned to God in times of trouble.
He hadn’t ever changed his attitude since.
Gunn knew how much that had hurt Emerson, even though his friend had never opened up about it.
“Let’s get back to the ranch, get you settled. I’ll introduce you to the ones you haven’t met yet.”
“Beautiful sisters would be a good place to start,” Emerson said. He smiled at a woman walking by, two small boys in her arms. When the younger boy, around two, dropped a stuffed Jilly Silly doll, Emerson bent down to grab it for her. Her cheeks turned red when she said thank you.
Emerson had always had that effect on women—but Gunn had never seen any hint that Emerson even realized it. Or maybe he just didn’t acknowledge it?
There had been a woman in Emerson’s life at least once. He’d told Gunn she was the reason he’d joined the seminary. That he’d made a rash decision to leave law school, but it had been the right decision for him. It had just taken him a while to accept that.
God worked in mysterious ways.
“They are all back at the ranch now. Gia told us she’s moving back in, too. All three of them. Though Genny isn’t staying long. Just until I can perform the ceremony.” And they were already planning when that would be. Genny was beyond excited. And Chad looked at Gunn’s sister like he adored her—Gunn couldn’t think of anything better than that. His sister was in love with a good man who loved her fully in return. That was what he wanted for all of his sisters.
“That’s good. You like the guy?”
“A great deal. He’s a good friend. He’s a pediatrician at the hospital where she works, and he adores her. He was there… when she was attacked.”
Gunn still had trouble speaking about what had happened to his sister.
“What?”
“A doctor with an obsession attacked Genny at the hospital one night. Genny and her good friend, Aubrey. Aubrey is a doctor at the hospital, she runs the ER. Genny was stabbed and Aubrey was roughed up. Aubrey and her… sister… someone broke into their house that night, and they stayed with us a few days.” Gunn told him the details. He wanted an outside opinion—from someone who would understand his side of things, too.
His brothers were his best friends, his confidants, of course. But there were some things only another minister could understand.
“And… then there is Ayla. Aubrey’s younger sister.”
“What about her?”
“She… does something to me.”
By the time they arrived at the ranch, he’d run his plan by Emerson. The other man agreed—slow and steady. No matter what.
Then they were at the ranch. And by then Gunn just knew…
Something was eating at Emerson. Something was wrong.