Chapter 23
I know that I suck at texting back, but please don’t call me.
—Quaid to his brothers
QUAID
2 weeks later
I was in the middle of nowhere, Arkansas.
There were multiple reasons for this.
One, we needed to get the hell out of Dallas, because the nationwide manhunt for Dr. DarronSimpson and Dr. Brewn was driving me insane. I couldn’t stand sitting around waiting for the other shoe to drop.
WhenHarvey, Ellodie’s dad, called and asked for help with some harvesting, I’d taken a half a second to agree before I’d loaded Ellodie up and we headed toward her parents’ farm.
The second reason we were headed to Arkansas was because Ellodie literally didn’t know the definition of bed rest.
She was, by far, the worst patient I’d ever encountered.
Worse than Garrett, and that was saying something.
Despite having a revolving door of people to help, she’d refused any and all helping hands, and had shut down unless it came to her mother and me.
The second reason was that her father needed help with he fields, and I had mandatory leave until the psychos were found. I was told, and I quote, I couldn’t be trusted to handle things in a way befitting the DallasPoliceDepartment, so take the time off or else.
The third reason we were headed here was because Ellodie was right.
I did ask her to marry me.
I did so on the day she was discharged.
It wasn’t romantic.
It wasn’t the stuff of dreams.
But it was us.
We did everything backwards, so why would we do this correctly?
On her finger was a rubber ring that expanded really well with the swelling in her hand.
The bruises on the side of her face were healing, but the rest of her still looked like she’d been chewed up and spit out.
The last hour of our drive I’d been given the silent treatment because I hadn’t let her walk through Buc-ee’s, and instead forced her to ride in her wheelchair to the handicap bathroom.
I’d even asked an employee to push her into the handicap stall since I knew the moment I left her, she’d try to walk.
Which led to now, pulling into her parents’ driveway, with her angry as fuck.
Harvey met us at the driveway and helped Ellodie into her wheelchair, luckily saving me from the fight.
And, before either of us could push her inside, Hall came around the corner and waved manically, a small shovel and a bushel of flowers in her hand.
“Mom,” Ellodie pleaded. “Please, take me to the garden. Give me something to do!”
“Tsk, tsk,” Hall teased. “Let’s go.”
And together, the two disappeared around the house.
“She’s by far the worst patient I’ve ever encountered in my life,” I said to the man at my side.
Harvey chuckled, slapping me on the back.
“Thank you for keeping her safe,” he held out his hand for me to shake.
I took it but was shaking my head as I did. “I didn’t keep her safe, though.”
He leveled me with a look, one that spoke volumes about what he thought of my assessment of the entire situation.
“Son,” he said quietly. “I know my girl is stubborn.”
I snorted.
That was an understatement.
Harvey grinned wide at me. “AndI also know that she does what she wants, when she wants. So, the fact that you were able to find her after she did just that, knowing there was a serial killer gunning for her? That is what I need. What she deserves.”
I blew out a breath.
“Let’s go inside,” he said. “I have some ice-cold beers in the freezer, and they might explode if I leave them in there too much longer.”
We went inside, and he showed me around the old farmhouse.
I stopped a few times to take a look at the multiple photos that lined the wall, grinning like a fool when I got to one of Ellodie at prom.
“She looks thrilled,” I said to the man who’d stopped with me.
“That’s my Ellodie. She hates wearing a dress unless she’s trying to impress someone or she’d promised herself she’d wear it. She doesn’t break her promises.” He paused. “Not sure how you’re gonna get her into one for the wedding, though.”
I shrugged. “She can wear a suit for all I care. As long as she meets me at the end of the aisle.”
“Well, funny enough, I keep expecting a fight to end all fights,” he admitted as he walked into the kitchen and pulled the beers out of the freezer, handing me one.
“What do you mean?” I questioned as I took the beer and popped the top before taking a long pull.
My eyes went to the outside area where I could see Ellodie pulling leaves off of tall flowers and putting them into the basket in her lap.
“I keep expecting Ellodie to ask her mother if she can turn her wedding dress into a pantsuit.” He chuckled.
“Is it a family dress?” I asked.
“Yes. The wedding dress is special,” her father said as he heard the girls giggling outside. “Her mom wore it. Hall wore it. NowEllodie.”
“What’s so special about it, other than the sentimental value that you’re alluding to?” I asked.
“Caught that, did you?” He turned his gaze to study the women outside. “The dress was made out of the parachute that saved Hall’s dad’s life during WorldWarII.”
“Whoa,” I said. “That’s pretty damn cool.”
“I’ll bet she doesn’t change it, though. She’ll wear the dress. Even if it kills her,” Harvey said as he placed his beer onto the counter, then went outside.
He had his girl up and in the kitchen in the next second, placing her gently on a padded chair in the corner of the room.
She grumbled under her breath about being able to do it and glared at me.
I held up my hands. “I didn’t say anything. He did that all on his own.”
I would’ve let her climb the stairs. But only because it would give her the false sense that she’d done something besides being pushed around in the chair.
“Don’t whine, baby girl,” her mother said as she came in with the basket of flowers and walked to the sink with them. “You should just be happy that your man is taking care of you. Daddy would’ve thrown you out the window the first time you yelled at him that you could do it yourself.”
That launched into a retelling of the stubbornness of both Ellodie and Harvey.
“Two peas in a pod, those two.” Hall sighed in exasperation, then launched into a story about Ellodie as a baby.
I took the seat next to Ellodie and caught her leg and placed it on my lap.
She sighed and stretched out her toes, causing me to catch them with one hand and squeeze.
“Or, how about that time Ellodie told her first grade teacher she could speak a foreign language?” Hall laughed in delight.
I looked over at her with a raised brow. “You can speak a foreign language?”
Ellodie’s cheeks flushed. “Actually, no.”
“I feel like there’s a great story here,” I teased.
“It was the greatest,” Harvey admitted. “So, when she was younger, I used to curse. And when I would curse, I used to tell her to excuse my French.”
I started to snicker.
“When the teacher asked if she could speak a foreign language, Ellodie excitedly tells her yes. Then proceeds to spit out every curse word she’d ever heard Harvey say.” Hall’s eyes danced. “It was, by far, the funniest phone call I’d ever gotten from her school.”
“I can imagine,” I winked at Ellodie. “Looks like I can speak a foreign language, too.”
“I…” she started, but stopped when my phone rang.
I pulled it out, hope flaring in my chest, and saw it was Dad’s name on the screen.
I answered it on speakerphone by saying, “Tell me good news, Dad.”
“Great news,” Dad confirmed. “As of seven minutes ago, both men were apprehended at a gas station on the way to BrokenBow, Oklahoma. DarronSimpson resisted arrest, and he was shot three times in the forehead by three different cops. Dr. Brewn caught a round to his spine. He’s alive, but he can’t feel his legs.”
“Woo hoo!” Hall cried out, throwing her hands into the air. “Wish that man would’ve gotten shot in the balls first, though. Maybe suffered a little bit more.”
“Same,” Ellodie replied.
I winked at her, then said, “Keep me posted, Dad.”
“Will do,” he agreed. “Take care, y’all.”
Then he was gone.
I looked at Harvey to see him turn away, dropping his head to his chest, and placing both hands on the sink in a bracing position.
I turned my eyes toward Ellodie to see mirth shining in her eyes. “It’s over.”
“Damn right it is,” I confirmed. “Now we can get married, have a baby, and live happily ever after.”
“Now the only thing we need to figure out is how we’re going to be balancing two very demanding careers with a newborn.” She winced.
I squeezed her toes. “Let’s get you healthy, and the baby here, before we worry too much about that.”
She met my eyes and said, “Deal.”