20. Guarded
TWENTY
Guarded
SAGE
I woke in a hospital bed; the sterile smell of antiseptic and the steady beep of machines pulling me from a foggy sleep. My head throbbed, and when I reached up, my fingers brushed the bandage hiding the small row of stitches on my forehead.
The accident came back in flashes. The roar of snowmobiles. Carter’s urgent voice. The sleigh tipping. The fall down the ravine and the cold snow rushing up to meet me. And then nothing.
“Hey. You’re awake. Just a mild concussion is all. You’ll be fine,” Daisy explained, holding my hand. Maybe I’d be fine in a few days. But my heart? That had been shattered into pieces.
Through the window in my door, I saw Carter in the hallway, looking wrecked with Dad’s coat covered in dirt. His face was pale, and his eyes locked onto me. Ash, Jake, and Colt were there, talking to him, but he wasn’t really listening. His gaze never left mine, full of concern and worry.
For a moment, everything in me wanted to reach for him. To let him hold me and tell me it was all going to be okay.
Then the truth crashed back in. Carter Magnus? Who was that? He lied about himself. Did he lie about everything?
I turned away, tears burning my eyes.
Ivy took my hand. “That man is trouble, Sage. He lied about everything. Who knows what else he’s hiding.”
I wanted to argue. To defend him. But the hurt was still too fresh, and the shock of everything left me speechless. So I stayed silent, letting their worry wrap around me like a shield.
By the time I looked back at the window, he was gone.
The stomping on the steps at the farmhouse announced that my sisters were about to wake me up.
Ivy entered and sat on the edge of the bed, eyes red-rimmed.
Daisy stood in the doorway, holding a tray of breakfast. And Poppy, who had driven back from college the moment she heard about the accident, shifted behind Daisy with a mug of tea.
Ivy reached out and brushed my hair back gently, careful around the stitches. “How do you feel?”
“Like I was thrown from a sleigh,” I said, trying for a smile. It hurt. I shifted into a sitting position.
Daisy set the tray on my lap, with toast, eggs, and a small bowl of fruit. “Eat something. You need your strength.”
I picked up the fork, but the weight of their worry pressed down on me. They hovered around me, fluffing pillows, adjusting the blanket, refilling my water, checking the time for the next dose of pain medicine, and adding another blanket.
It was sweet. But also suffocating.
“Stop,” I shouted, setting the fork down. “I love you all, but I can feed and do all of this myself. I’m not made of glass.”
Ivy’s mouth tightened. “You could have died, Sage. We already lost Mom and Dad. We can’t lose you too.”
The room went quiet. Poppy’s eyes filled with tears, kneeling beside my bed. Daisy sat on the other side and took my hand.
“We’re just scared,” Daisy whispered. “You’ve always been the steady one. The one who stayed around, and we could count on. And then this man comes along?—”
“The dashingly different cowboy,” Poppy interjected.
“—bringing all kinds of trouble, and what do we really know about him? He lied about his name and who he is.” Daisy finished.
“But he saved me, pulling me back to safety.” He’s my hero. My cowboy. But was he really mine?
He wasn’t here; I knew that. Jake had stopped by after I was released from the hospital yesterday and told me Carter had flown back to New York. And then he told me everything Carter had told him about the inheritance, his real reason for being in Montana, and his real name.
I spent far too long searching for Carter online last night and reading everything I could about him, but it got exhausting trying to reconcile that Carter Magnus with my Carter James, the man I fell for.
And everything inside of me was desperate to see him again and figure that out.
“I think I know his heart. A name means nothing; it’s the person behind it.
Carter is good; I know it.” I swallowed hard, willing the headache away.
“I love him. I tried not to fall, but I did. It happened fast, I realize that now. And I don’t know what’s in store for the future, but I want to see him somehow.
Talk to him. I need to figure this out. Even if that means I might have to leave and see him in New York.
No matter how scary that is to leave the only home I’ve ever known. ”
Ivy looked away, blinking rapidly. “We just want you safe. And happy.”
“I know. And I love you for that. But you both have men you love now, too. Colt and Knox. You know what it’s like to choose love even when it’s terrifying.”
Daisy let out a shaky breath and nodded. “I do. I also know that sometimes you have to take the risk.”
Poppy squeezed my hand. “We’ll support you. Whatever you decide. You know we are always, always here for you.”
“This will always be our home.” I held out my hand and the three of them piled theirs on top. “It’s the Wylde sisters against the world, like always.”
I didn’t have to decide today to go to New York. I didn’t even know if Carter—Magnus—would want me there with him. But knowing I had the support of my sisters meant everything.