CHAPTER 55
Phoebe
“Rick.” I press my hands together as if in prayer. “Please get up. Right now. Put the box away, ‘cause this is not happenin’.”
“Come on, Pea. Let the man state his case.”
I swing my head around to glare at Kyle, then turn to glare at Rick again. He hasn’t moved.
I want to check on Evander, but I can’t. If I look over there and see that he’s hurt or angry, I’ll lose my shit.
Maybe I already have.
“Last chance, Rick. If you don’t get up right now, everyone will hear what I have to say to you, and I don’t think you want that.”
“Have mercy,” Mama says.
Rick remains in position.
“Fine. Then here it is—as I told you three months ago, you’re a nice man, but I don’t love you. You deserve to be with a woman who does because we all deserve to be with a person who can return our feelings. I am not that woman, and I never will be.”
“Good gracious.” That’s my mother again. I fear she’s running out of G-rated commentary.
Rick looks defeated
“Please, Rick.”
Finally. He stands, puts away the box, and returns to the bathroom doorway.
“Now, all of you, listen up!” I stare at everyone crammed into this med-surg patient room in the Sweetbriar Regional Medical Center.
It’s a room that was never intended to accommodate five Navy SEALs, five professional athletes, one delusional ex-boyfriend, a teary middle-aged mother, and a veteran rancher.
Thank goodness the three nurses gathered in the hallway with their mouths hanging open aren’t trying to squeeze into the clown car this scene has become.
Jake steps toward me. I stiffen my arm to block him, palm out. “Back off. You asked a question, and you will stand there and listen as I answer it.”
Finally, I turn to see Evander. He’s casually leaning against the wall, arms crossed over his chest, one knee bent and a bare foot propped against the tile behind him. My wild man has a half smile on his face. I can tell he’s enjoying this.
At least one of us is. But he gives me a barely detectable nod and I know what I have to do.
Nothing but the truth.
“Evander MacLaine saved my life. More than once. I should be dead, all right?”
My mother gasps.
“I was on the ATV when the storm hit. My phone and GPS failed. I had zero visibility, and I got totally lost. I tried desperately to find shelter but ended up driving on top of some iced-over body of water. I have no idea what it—”
“Ryan Pond,” Declan says.
“Thank you, Declan. Ryan Pond. Lovely. Anyway, the ATV and all the supplies it carried broke through the ice, and I fell into the water a few moments later. I went into shock and was drowning.”
Mama puts a hand over her mouth and squeaks. Jamie pats her back.
“What?” Jake’s eyes bug out.
“Yeah. Evander happened to be close enough to hear me blow this whistle…” I hold it up as a visual aid.
“And he heard me scream for help. Then he risked his own life to save me. He relied on his SEAL training to belly crawl across the shattering ice, grab me, and drag me back to land, just as the whole ice sheet disintegrated under us.”
“Oh, son,” Jamie says. He lets my mother lean against him as she cries.
“And then Evander somehow managed to keep me alive until he found a rickety old surveyor’s shack, and he brought me back from the brink of death once we got inside.
The old shack eventually collapsed under the weight of the snow and burned to the ground, but Evander got me to safety and kept me alive by digging out an ice cave—”
“We dug it together.” Evander pushes away from the wall and walks toward me. My brothers part the way to let him through.
Hot as Satan’s six-pack…
I smile down at him. He looks up at me, his eyes mellow and his mouth quirked in a sexy smile.
“Phoebe’s a badass.” Evander looks at my mom and brothers.
“She’s exceptionally brave and resourceful.
Most people wouldn’t have survived what she did, and no one could’ve done it with her brand of cheerful determination.
I’m the lucky one because I found the exact right person to survive this blizzard with. ”
“So, yeah, Jake,” I say, emboldened. “Evander touched me. A lot. And if you don’t like it, that’s just too damn bad.”
Rick sticks his head out from the bathroom and asks, “Who’s this guy, again?”
“You’ve made your point, Pea.” Jake steps toward the hospital bed. “And now it’s your turn to listen. This is not the time for you to decide to recklessly throw yourself at a MacLaine. A lot’s happened in the last few days that you aren’t aware of.”
“Huh?”
My mom’s crying grows more desperate.
“What’s going on?” I look from Jake to my mom to all my brothers. “What’s wrong?”
Bo steps closer. I remain standing on top of the hospital bed, but suddenly, my knees are shaking. I rest my hand on Evander’s shoulder for balance.
“Dad’s taken a turn for the worse,” Bo says.
Rick moves into the room again. “The stress of your disappearance has been extremely hard on him,” he says. “It’s a good thing I was there when I was.”
“Declan?” My mother’s voice is wobbly. “Would you be so kind as to take me back to Travis Ranch? Now that I’ve seen with my own eyes that Phoebe is safe, I need to get back to him.”
“Of course, Mrs. Travis.”
“I’ll see you back at the ranch, my sweet girl.” Rick and Mason are walking her toward the door. “I love you and I’m so relieved that you’re all right.”
She stops and turns to Evander. “I can never thank you enough for what you did. You’re a very brave and good man, Evander. I’m deeply grateful.”
She continues toward the door.
“What’s going on with Dad?” I’m looking from one face to another, attempting to piece together what’s being said—or not said. “I thought he was doing okay.”
“Your only job right now is to be by Dad’s side, Phoebe.” Jake’s voice is grim. “Like Rick just said, getting yourself stranded in a killer storm was the last thing he needed.”
Evander catches me when I start to collapse. He helps me down and balances me as I stand next to the bed.
Cal and Finn step aside so that Mama can get through the door, while Declan and Special K wait in the hallway for their passengers.
“I’ll stay with you overnight and get you home tomorrow, when the roads are clear.” Jake makes sure I understand that this is a statement and he’s not asking for my permission. And I don’t miss the look he gives Evander—it’s not a friendly one.
It’s right then that I feel Evander’s warm hand clasp my own. He gives my fingers a reassuring squeeze. But before I can say anything to him, he turns away from me and heads for the door. Jamie, Cal, and Finn leave with him.
Since my coworkers have wisely decided to step away from the madness and return to the nurses’ station, that leaves me alone with only Jake, Ryder, Kyle, and Bo.
All of them look crestfallen.
“Rick is a great guy,” Ryder says.
“He helped Dad a lot the last few days,” Kyle adds.
Bo shrugs.
Okay. I see the story that’s taking shape here.
Somehow, it’s my fault that an unexpected Sierra Nevada blizzard nearly killed me.
And that Dad had a setback when I was missing.
My ex has been crowned the hero.
While Jake thinks the actual hero is a villain.
Thank goodness Jake will keep watch over me tonight, since I’m still a dainty damsel in need of protection.
In other words, he didn’t hear a thing I just said.