Chapter Twenty-Nine
Ty stared out the window at the mountains. Shay had been in the hospital for two days now, and he hadn’t left her side – other than when Cash frog marched him down the hallway to take a shower this morning. He hadn’t wanted to go, but Alexis, Davin, and Booker had all stayed in Shay’s room with her – and Cash hadn’t given him any choice. Once he was dressed in the clean clothes that Kolby had brought for him, he understood how bad he’d smelled in what he’d been wearing since Thursday morning. It didn’t matter now – nothing mattered. Shay was safe, and she was on the mend.
He’d been scared stupid while he carried her down the mountain. The side of her face was all bruised, and the swelling around her temple had him worried that she’d sustained a major head injury.
Davin had radioed it in, and Cash had an ambulance there to meet them by the time they made it down to the forest service road. Deacon and his deputies had escorted them, and Trip was waiting at the doors of the hospital to meet them. Ty had paced like a lunatic while they ran tests. Trip had told him he needed to do an MRI; Ty knew that meant he suspected bleeding in her brain. She’d slipped in and out of consciousness for the first twenty-four hours.
Her other injuries were bad enough. Her arm was broken in two places, and she had torn ligaments in her ankle and knee. She was covered in bruises and long ragged scratches marked her skin. He imagined that most of those were a result of her crazy roll down the mountain.
He shuddered at the memory. Echo had started barking and taken off, and they’d all run after her. Ty hadn’t been able to understand what he was seeing at first. Shay was rolling down the mountainside like a log. His brain hadn’t been able to make sense of it. She was rolling too fast; the ground was too steep. His heart had stopped – thinking that she might be dead.
He’d chased after Echo, risking breaking his own neck as he scrambled down the slope after her.
He’d never in his life felt the kind of relief he had when she smiled at him and said, “Hi, Ty.” He had her back in his arms, and she was still breathing. The last couple of days had been torture, not knowing what was going on with her brain, but this morning, Trip had reassured him – and the others – that she was going to be fine. It’d take time, Trip had laid out a concussion protocol that he knew Shay wasn’t going to be happy about – it involved far too much rest. But since her arm was in a cast and she had braces for her knee and her ankle, he figured she wouldn’t be able to get into too much trouble.
He didn’t plan on letting her out of his sight, anyway.
He turned at the sound of a knock on the door. It opened, and Travis popped his head around.
“She still sleeping?”
He nodded. “Come on in.”
“Where is everyone?”
“They went to get some food.”
“You need to eat, too, squirt.”
“Cash is going to bring me something back.”
“Okay. I just wanted to check in. See if you need anything.”
“We’re good, thanks.”
“Has Trip said when you can bring her home yet?”
“He wants to keep an eye on her for another day or two.”
“Good. I’m not planning on going back with Cash when he leaves. I’m waiting around to close the deal on the Woodfield place, so consider me at your beck and call, okay?”
“Thanks, Trav.”
There was another knock on the door, and this time Kolby came in. He handed Ty a bag. “Callie sent you some lunch.”
He smiled. “Tell her thanks.”
“Did she send any for me? I’m starving.”
At the sound of her croaky voice, Ty shot across the room to Shayna’s side and perched on the edge of the bed as he took her hand. She’d been awake on and off since they arrived at the hospital, but she’d mostly been out of it. This was the first time he’d seen her smile since he and Echo had reached her on the mountain.
“How you doing, sweetheart?”
She ran her tongue over her lips. “Thirsty. And hungry.”
Ty grabbed her water from the table and held the straw to her lips.
She looked exhausted after taking a few sips.
“Thank you. Still hungry.”
He chuckled. “What do you want? Anything you like. You tell me, and I’ll get it or make it or …”
She smiled. “I don’t suppose they opened an In N Out in town while I’ve been asleep, did they?”
“’Fraid not, sweetheart. But as soon as I can, I’m going to start working on perfecting a copycat version for you, okay?”
“Thanks, Ty.”
The door opened again, and Cash, Alexis, Davin, and Booker came in. Ty loved the way each one of them reacted when Shay lifted her good hand in a little wave and said, “Hi, guys!”
Booker came straight to the bed and took hold of her hand. “Hey, sis, it’s about time you woke up, sleepy head.”
Alexis’s eyes shone with tears as she said, “Well, hello, sweetie. How are you feeling?”
Davin just smiled and nodded at her, but he looked as though the weight of the world had just been lifted off his shoulders,
Shay smiled at them. “I’ve had better days.”
Cash chuckled. “Yeah, but the worst ones are behind you now, honey.”
He handed Ty a Styrofoam box from the cafeteria. “Here ya go, squirt. It’s not up to your standards, but it’s food.”
Shayna perked up and sniffed the air. “What kind of food?”
He chuckled and opened the box so that she could see.
“Ooh!”
He took one of the fries from the box and fed it to her.
“Take it easy with that crap, honey,” Cash told her. “You should probably stick with hospital fare till you’re feeling a bit better.”
Ty loved the way she grinned at his brother. “I bet you’d be eating the burger and fries if you were in my position,” she told him.
“Too damn right I would. All I’m saying is take it easy.”
Travis laughed. “And you can bet your ass he wouldn’t be taking it easy; he’d be in his truck and driving to the nearest In N Out.”
“Oh! You like them, too?” Shay asked. “Can I hitch a ride with you if you’re going to drive off in search of one?”
Cash chuckled. “I’ll see what I can do, honey.”
He was right: after she’d eaten just a few fries and a couple of bites of the burger, she was drooping back against the pillows.
“I’ll get out of here, and let you rest,” said Travis.
“I’ll come with you,” said Kolby.
Ty smiled to himself as he watched them both lean in to kiss her cheek.
Cash came closer. “I’ll get out of your hair, too.” He glanced at Ty. “Stick your head out the door if you need me – I won’t be far.”
Shayna turned white and grasped Ty’s hand.
“What’s wrong, sweetheart?”
“We have to be careful – he’s going to come back for me.” She turned to Cash. “That’s why you’re not going far, isn’t it?”
Cash leaned in close and looked her in the eye. “Relax, Shay. You don’t have to worry about him ever again.”
“But … you don’t get it … he said … he told me … he …”
Ty hated to see the fear in her eyes and the way she trembled. He scooted closer to her on the bed and wrapped his arm around her shoulders.
“It’s okay, Shay. He’s gone. He can’t hurt you.”
“You mean … Is he dead?”
Ty nodded.
“What … what happened?”
Ty looked at Cash, who glanced over at Alexis. The two of them were the only ones who’d ever know the truth.
Alexis stepped forward. “He didn’t make it down the mountain. His body was found at the bottom of a ravine.”
Shay met his gaze, and he shrugged. He hoped that the bastard had suffered a long and painful death, but even if he’d simply fallen and broken his neck – which Ty highly doubted was the case – he didn’t care. All that mattered to him was that Carey Duncan was dead and would never be able to come after Shay, or any other woman, ever again.
Shay looked around at them all, and Ty relaxed when she smiled and said, “Okay, thank you.”
~ ~ ~
It had taken another few days before Trip finally decreed that Shayna could go home. She really liked him – he was another one of Cash’s gang of friends, and all those guys were awesome – and hot – she’d come to appreciate the appeal of silver foxes since she came to Montana. Of course, none of them were as hot as Ty.
Sunday had rolled around again, all the family was here for lunch, and when she looked over at the grill, there he was smiling at her. She gave him a little wave, and had to laugh when Tanner, who was standing next to him, waggled his fingers at her in that cute little wave of his.
Ty scowled at him and handed him the spatula, leaving him in charge of the burgers while he came over to check on her.
“She’s fine, Ty,” Laney told him.
He ignored his sister and gripped the arms of Shay’s chair, caging her in as he leaned down to kiss her.
“Are you?”
She nodded but regretted it immediately; it still made her feel dizzy when she moved her head too fast. “I’m great. I’ll be even better when I can get back to work.”
“We’ve already talked about it, sweetheart. It’s going to take time. You might as well give in and accept that the only thing you’re going to be able to do for a while is study.” He winked at her. “And if you stopped whining about wanting to work, and buckled down to it, you could knock a couple of classes out and …”
“Hey!” Laney slapped the back of his head, hard. “Don’t you dare tell her that she’s whining!”
Shayna laughed, but she needed to defend him. “It’s okay, Laney. I’m the one who says that I whine – he’s only using my word.”
“Yeah, but still …” Laney scowled at him, but he just laughed.
“He’s right though,” said Callie. “Not about whining, about making the most of your recuperation time. You can’t exactly ride horses or stand behind the bar for a while, but you could sit and study.”
She nodded. They were right and she knew it, but she didn’t feel right about taking more classes – or taking on the cost of tuition – when she didn’t know how long it’d be before she was bringing money in again.
Ty held her gaze as he dropped a kiss on her lips. “We’ll figure it out,” he said, as if he’d heard what she was thinking.
She was relieved when Callie’s phone rang, and she got up saying, “It’s my mama, I need to take it.”
As Shayna watched her walk away, she reached for the little beehive around her neck – she was so grateful that Ty had found it. Watching Callie talk to her mom made her think about her own parents, and the way they’d been there with her when she was all alone on the mountain.
Ty rested his forehead against hers – it seemed like he didn’t miss a thing. “You okay, busy bee?”
“Yeah. I just don’t know how to not be busy.”
“We’ll come up with something. Maybe we can go away for a couple of days.”
“Maybe. I’d like that.” If she wanted to go anywhere, it would be to Summer Lake. Alexis, Davin, and Booker had only left a couple of days ago – they’d wanted to stick around until they were convinced that she was all right.
When Ty pursed his lips, she wondered if he knew that she was thinking that, too.
“I’d better get back to the grill.”
“Okay.”
~ ~ ~
Ty frowned to himself and took the spatula from Tanner without even looking at him.
“What’s wrong?”
He shrugged. “I just wish I could convince her that she doesn’t have to work so hard – and that I wouldn’t mind sharing the load on her tuition.”
Kolby appeared next to Tanner and handed them each a fresh beer with a grin. “Maybe she’ll believe it when you marry her.”
Tanner laughed, and Ty stood up a little straighter.
“Just because you married Callie after you’d only known her for five minutes, doesn’t mean that Ty’s going to …” Tanner stopped when he met Ty’s gaze. “Shit! You’re thinking about it, aren’t you?”
Ty grinned. “I am. Not rushing her into it, but it’s what I want. I know she’s the one for me. I don’t know if she’d be ready to tie the knot yet, but I can ask her – put her a ring on her finger, and maybe that’ll help her relax and know that it’s all right to let me help.”
Kolby grinned at him. “Want to go ring shopping tomorrow?”
“Hell yeah, I do!”
Tanner laughed. “Well, shit! If you’re going to do it, I want to come too!”
Ty laughed. “It’s a date.”
Kolby raised his eyebrows expectantly, but Ty didn’t know what he was waiting for.
“What?”
“There’s another detail you’re forgetting.”
“Which is?”
“Don’t you want to talk to Davin and Alexis? I know they’re not her parents in the traditional sense, but …”
He ran his hand through his hair. “Shit. Yeah. And that’s not something I can do over the phone, is it?”
Kolby shrugged. “I asked Retta over the phone but only because everything happened so quickly.”
Ty’s mind was racing. “Okay, so tomorrow, we go ring shopping. On Tuesday …” He stopped short when Callie came running over to them.
Kolby went straight to her. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
“It’s my mama. She says she’s fine, but she had an accident. She didn’t even tell me at first. It was only when I heard a PA system in the background – she’s in the hospital in San Diego.”
“What happened? Why’s she in San Diego?”
Callie blew out a shaky breath. “She’s at a cheer competition with her squad. Someone pushed her or something, I don’t really understand; she didn’t want to tell me. She says she’s all right, and she only called because she was afraid that the school might contact me. She says she doesn’t need me to go but …”
Kolby already had his phone in his hand. He kissed Callie’s forehead. “I’m calling Cash to see where the plane is. We won’t be able to get a commercial flight out of here tonight. It’ll probably be quicker if we wait – he can have the jet here by morning.”
Ty hoped that Retta was okay, but if she said that she didn’t need Callie there, it mustn’t be too serious. As he listened to Kolby talk to Cash, he started to formulate his own plan. He’d just told Shay that they should take a few days away – and if Kolby and Callie were heading to San Diego, they’d have to fly right by Summer Lake. It wouldn’t take long to drop him and Shay off.