Total pages in book: 142
Estimated words: 133849 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 669(@200wpm)___ 535(@250wpm)___ 446(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 133849 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 669(@200wpm)___ 535(@250wpm)___ 446(@300wpm)
But there was blood staining the ground. It soaked into his jeans.
“Uhm, it’s my stomach. Or somewhere close to it.” Her eyes opened. “It hurts when I try to move.”
“Don’t,” Josh said, holding her hand. “You let Grim take care of you.”
“I’m going to get the EMTs up here.” Their dad took off.
“Is he dead? I think I killed him this time, but I should make sure. He came back. Like a bad movie. I don’t like this part of the movie,” she said, sounding a bit loopy.
Blood loss. “Nic, he’s dead, and I don’t want you to talk.”
“Harlow,” she began.
“Is alive and being taken care of,” Josh promised.
“We have to turn her over.” He didn’t want to, but he had to minimize the bleed.
“I think I should stay here,” Nicole said.
“I’m so sorry.” He nodded Josh’s way. “We’re going to move her gently, and then we’re going to put pressure on the wound. Nic, baby, this is going to hurt.”
She groaned as they turned her over, and Josh gasped at the amount of blood on her clothes.
Her eyes rolled to the back of her head, and she passed out. Grim applied pressure and prayed the EMTs got there in time.
Chapter Twenty-One
Josh held up the pudding cup as Nicole groaned.
“I would rather have a cheeseburger,” she said with a frown. “Christa will totally bring me one.”
“Says the woman who recently had abdominal surgery,” Grim replied with a shake of his head. “You’re on a soft foods diet for the next two weeks, and don’t think you can get our momma on your side. She used to be a nurse, and she will watch you like a hawk.”
He wasn’t wrong about that. Mom had been up here every day since Nicole had been admitted. She went over her charts with the nurses and discussed the physical therapy Nicole would need. Their mom was taking care of her newest baby bird, and Nicole was about to find out how fierce Abby Barnes-Fleetwood could be when protecting someone she loved.
Oddly, he thought Nicole wouldn’t mind, her cheeseburger cravings aside. “I got you chocolate and butterscotch.”
“No vanilla?” Nicole asked.
He leaned in and brushed his lips over hers. “Baby, you left vanilla a long while back. You’re never getting vanilla again.”
She blushed but winked at him. “Yeah, I guess I did. It’s a good thing I’ve got a taste for butterscotch. Has anyone checked in on Harlow? Did she make it back to Dallas?”
That had been fun. “Oh, yes, but I think she should have hidden out here for a while. Uncle Chase was a paranoid bastard before. He’s vowing to get her out of the PI business.”
“And Harlow is basically not speaking to him. She might have just had surgery, but she knows how to use her middle finger.” Grim sat up, stretching.
The cots they’d been sleeping on were hell on a man’s back, but they weren’t about to leave her. Luckily there was an actual Barnes-Fleetwood wing to this small rural hospital, so no one tried to keep them out. “It didn’t help they brought Greer along. Greer is the perfect child. Or at least that’s how Harlow sees her. Greer is perfect, and she’s the wild child everyone worries about. She loves her sister, but it’s an interesting dynamic. Kind of like ours. Grim is the perfect one in our case.”
His brother merely grinned. “I can’t help it.”
Nicole picked up her spoon and the butterscotch pudding. “Well, you weren’t perfect a couple of days ago. You could have been a little faster finding me. I think I’m going to avoid getting shot again. All my girlfriends used to say it. Go to a small town. Get shot. It’s so much fun. They were wrong.”
His stomach took a dive even at the thought. “You are never leaving the ranch again.”
“That’ll be hard to do since I start work soon.” Nicole looked so much better after a couple of days of healing. “Also, Kim told us everything is cleared up now. The Holloways don’t care about me at all anymore. They blame Laura for everything.”
“Kim is helping her.” They were all worried about Nicole’s sister-in-law. She’d risked a lot. “She’s safe, and they’ve hired a lawyer to ensure they can’t get to her. There’s nothing they can do.”
“And there’s nothing they can do to me, either, so I’m going to enjoy my new car when I drive Buddy and me to work in a couple of weeks. He’s going to be my work friend,” Nicole announced.
“I thought we would drive in together,” Josh pointed out.
“I’m sure we will sometimes, but I’m going to have meetings to attend. Abby wants me to join the historical society and a couple of her charity boards. I’m also thinking about going back to college. Either online, or I can drive into Tyler a couple of times a week. I’d like to finish my degree.”