Chapter 14
Fourteen
“Lieutenant Donnelly, come in. Over.”
Sebastian snapped fully awake, mentally braced for action.
But he was no longer in a war zone. Not waiting for an extraction for his team.
A warm weight draped over him, her hair spilling across his chest. Laurel.
Beneath his palms, her back rose and fell in a slow, steady rhythm.
Early dawn light filtered in through the windows of the cabin.
From somewhere to his right, the radio crackled again. “Damn it, Sebastian. Answer me.” He recognized Harrison’s frustrated voice.
Laurel groaned, nuzzling into his chest, even as he reached for the radio. His bare skin pebbled to instant gooseflesh. The fire had gone out sometime in the night.
“Good morning to you, too, Captain.”
“Thank Christ. Status?”
“We’re both okay. What are you doing on this channel?”
“Sheriff briefed us last night. They saw your flare but when nobody could raise you on the radio, we were ready to roll come first light in case the situation called for it. ”
“Negative. I’ll be able to get her down myself.”
“Do either of you need medical?”
Laurel shifted propping her chin on his pec and blinking at him with sleepy hazel eyes.
“She should probably get checked out, just in case, but it’s not ER worthy. We’ll be on our way as soon as I can get gear packed up. Whoever mobilized can go on home.”
“Roger that.”
A new voice came over the line. “Can we talk to her?”
At the sound of it, Laurel lost the bonelessness of sleep.
Sebastian took his finger off the mic button. “I know you may not want to talk to your dad right now, but he probably needs to hear your voice. And if not him, your mom and Logan and Athena will.”
On a sigh, Laurel nodded. “Dad?”
The silence stretched out so long, Sebastian wondered if the radio had gone out again.
“Are you okay, baby?”
Her lips pressed into a line. “I’m alive and all in one piece.”
Did her father recognize she hadn’t answered the question?
“Thank God.” Laurel’s brows drew down at the shaking in his voice. Sebastian was willing to bet Lawrence Maxwell wasn’t prone to displays of emotion.
“Thank Sebastian.” Her words held the whip of a closing argument. “We’ll see y’all when we get down the mountain.”
“Donnelly out.”
Before he even set the radio aside, she was attacking the zipper and scrambling out of the sleeping bag.
As the frigid air hit his skin, he wanted to swear.
But other than hunching her shoulders, Laurel didn’t make a peep of complaint as she hustled across to where he’d laid their clothes out by the stove last night.
“Are they dry?”
“A little crunchy, but yeah.” She shimmied into hers almost before he rolled out of the bag, but he still noted the assortment of bruises painting her skin. They were a stark reminder of what she’d been through.
The images that evoked left him feeling gut-punched over everything that might have happened. So many variations where she didn’t come out of this alive. Where he was too late. Where he’d failed.
“Sebastian.” Laurel’s arms came around him and he buried his face in her hair. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. I just—” He held her close, careful not to squeeze too tight. “You could have died.”
“But I didn’t. I’m safe and whole because of you. I’m okay.”
He pulled back far enough to study her face. “Are you okay? You seem…a little off.”
She ducked her chin. “I’m just dreading facing everyone. I feel stupid for riding off like that. Like I had a tantrum and did something reckless, and messed up everyone’s Christmas.”
Shit. It’s Christmas Day. In all the chaos, he’d forgotten.
“You didn’t know Ginger has a phobia of storms. And I’m pretty sure whatever you said to your dad—however you said it—was justified. Speaking of, you should know he and I, uh, had some words before I left.”
“Oh?”
“He came out verbally swinging when I got back. Apparently I’m a bad influence on you. I let him know exactly what I think about his treatment of you, so I’m probably not his favorite person at the moment.”
“The saving my life part should probably mitigate that.” She tipped her mouth up to his for a soft kiss. “Thank you for standing up for me.”
“Always.”
Her stomach gave a monstrous growl, and she laughed. “I can’t wait for food!”
Sebastian dug out an energy bar and some water. “Here. Work on these. I’ll go saddle Brego.”
He made quick work of it, leading the gelding back around to the front of the cabin to load up the rest. Checking the stove one last time to make certain the coals were all the way out, he finished loading the saddle bags and helped Laurel mount.
Once he swung into the saddle behind her, she leaned her back against his chest, resting one arm over the one he’d circled around her waist.
“Let’s go home,” she sighed.
Home. That was right here in his arms.
The ride down took longer than he wanted, but at two-up, he didn’t want to strain Brego any worse than necessary. As they hit the farm road that circled up past the north pasture and beyond, the gelding picked up the pace.
“The siren song of breakfast,” Sebastian observed.
“I could definitely still go for that myself. And a shower and clean clothes. Not necessarily in that order.”
Conversation turned to fantasies about what kind of food they were dreaming about.
“Surely we can sweet-talk Athena into cooking for us. I mean, what’s the point of having a sister-in-law who’s an award-winning chef if I can’t beg for…
” Laurel trailed off as they topped the rise and the house came into view.
Cars were everywhere, parked cheek-by-jowl all in front of the barn and farmhouse.
At least a couple dozen people milled about in the yard.
“I thought you sent everybody home.”
“So did I.” Sebastian scanned the vehicles, recognizing several belonging to search and rescue team members. “Guess they needed to see for themselves that we’re okay.”
Someone evidently spotted them because a cheer went up from the assembly.
“You ready for this?” he asked.
“Do I have a choice?”
“Probably not.” He tightened his grip around her waist. “I’ll be right beside you.”
“Holding you to that.”
Logan, Harrison, Ty, and Porter were at the head of the pack as they rode into the yard, stopping just far enough away that Brego didn’t balk at being crowded.
The elder Maxwells spilled out of the house as Sebastian dismounted.
Lawrence looked like hell, his steel gray hair standing on end, and lines carved deep around his eyes and mouth.
The night had aged him a decade. Laurel’s gaze flicked to her parents, uncertainty in her expression before she blanked it and reached for Sebastian.
He lifted her down from the saddle, automatically wrapping her in the shelter of his arms as he met Lawrence Maxwell’s eyes.
So many threats and warnings wanted to spill out of his mouth, but Sebastian stayed silent. He was pretty sure his expression spoke for him. After a long moment, Lawrence nodded. Message received.
Then the tide of people broke over them and Laurel was tugged out of his embrace and surrounded by her family.
Brego needed seeing to, and Sebastian wanted to check on Ginger, but he kept a close eye on Laurel. He’d promised she wouldn’t face this alone.
“Oh my God, I’m so glad you’re both okay!” Ari burst through the crowd to throw her arms around his waist.
Sebastian rocked back on his heels, surprised by the onslaught of affection. Not sure what else to do, he ruffled her hair. “Hey, kid. What are you doing here?”
“Are you kidding? The whole family’s here. Actually we’re way past the whole family at this point.”
“So I see. I thought everybody was disbursing after my radio transmission.”
“Well, we were, and then Athena offered to feed everybody breakfast for their trouble,” Harrison explained.
“Yeah, nobody’s dumb enough to turn that down,” Porter added.
“Can I take care of Brego?” Ari asked.
“That’d be great. He’s had a rough night, and he’ll be wanting breakfast and a good rubdown.”
Ari saluted and took the reins, leading the gelding toward the stable.
His friends stepped up, one after another, pulling him into back-slapping hugs. Then came Logan.
He clasped Sebastian’s hand in both of his, his eyes full of emotion. “I don’t know how to thank you.”
“Not necessary.”
“You saved her life. How bad was it?”
There was no sense in scaring him witless after the fact. “Save those gray hairs for when you have kids. The important thing is, she’s safe, and she’s home.”
“Lieutenant.”
They both turned as Lawrence stepped up. Sebastian looked back at Laurel, who had her arms wrapped around her mother. She seemed none the worse for wear after the encounter with her father.
“Sir.”
The man hesitated, then offered a hand. “Thank you for bringing her home.”
Sebastian angled his head in acknowledgment.
“And I’m sorry for being a jackass.”
Sebastian didn’t like Lawrence Maxwell, but chances were, they were gonna be in each other’s lives for a long time in the future. It’d serve him well to learn to be civil. So he took the proffered hand and angled his head in acknowledgment. “I’m not the one who deserves an apology.”
The older man nodded again. “Working on it.”
Well, that was a start.
“You’re injured. You sit,” Athena ordered. “Dinner’s nearly ready.”
“But the doctor said it was just a mild concussion,” Laurel protested.
“And a sprained shoulder,” Logan added. “Sit.”
She started to push up from the sofa. “Then I’ll help Sebastian with the evening feeding.”
“Nope.” The man himself leaned over to brush a kiss to her temple. “You are officially off-duty. I’ll be back in a little bit.”