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Doc left, and William and I sat down on either side of the bed, each holding one of Sassy’s hands and watching her pale face for any sign of movement.
“We’re going to have to get back to the ranch, eventually,” I murmured unhappily. We both wanted to take care of her, but part of that included taking care of the ranch. If our source of income fell apart, we would all suffer. Yet leaving our wife alone when she was injured felt plain wrong.
William nodded reluctantly. “We could trade off. Just for the rest of today and tomorrow. See how she’s doing after that.”
Sassy stirred, causing us to fall silent. Sitting up alertly, we waited to see what happened. Her lips parted, her eyelashes fluttered, and a little moan escaped. William and I squeezed her hands, giving her whatever comfort we could.
“It’s okay, sweetheart, just relax, you’re safe,” William said soothingly. To my surprise, she did relax as soon as she heard his voice. I was glad he was there. I hadn’t even considered she might wake confused, not realizing she was safe.
Slowly, her eyes opened, and she focused on us, one after the other.
“Lord Carmichael is dead?”
“As a doornail,” I said quickly. Her eyes widened, and William coughed. Damn, might have been too crass. “How’s your head? The Doc left some medicine if it hurts too much.”
“It’s okay.” She winced, wrinkling her nose as though she wasn’t sure of what she’d just said. “I think. It doesn’t hurt as much as it did… it…” Her voice trailed off, eyes shifting, then she tried to jerk her hand back. I tightened my grip, and she stared up at me. “Why are you being so nice to me?”
I frowned. “Why wouldn’t I be nice?”
To my horror, tears sprung to her eyes.
“You… you were so angry. You called me… you called me a… lying whore.” Her voice dropped, whispering the last two words, and my heart dropped as well.
I hadn’t realized she’d heard that. Shame filled me, and I hung my head, but I didn’t let go of her hand—I couldn’t.
“I’m sorry, sweetheart, I was angry that you’d lied to us, but I should have never said that, never called you that.”
“He’s got a temper, but it moves fast,” William said, also sounding apologetic on my behalf. “He says things he doesn’t mean sometimes.”
“I’m working on it,” I added hastily. I was never going to call her that again. Just the hurt look in her eyes made my heart ache. “If I forget again, William will pop me a good one.”
Instead of smiling, her lips tightened. “I didn’t like you two fighting. Not over me. I’m not worth it.”
Both of us scowled down at her.
“The hell you aren’t,” I said.
“Yes, you are,” William said, right over top of me. “You’re worth everything, Sassy.”
The expression on her face was disbelieving, which made me scowl even harder.
“I don’t care that you lied to us. I mean, I do care, and we’re going to discuss that later,
” I quickly amended, “but it doesn’t change how I feel about you.”
“How you feel about me?” Her eyes widened again.
“I love you.” There, I’d said it. Something inside me eased once I had the words out. I’d never said them to a woman, other than my mother, but it felt right… because it was. Sassy was my wife. I was still ticked she’d lied to us, but my anger didn’t diminish my feelings.
“And I love you,” William said, right on top of my confession.
Sassy’s eyes filled with tears, and her hand squeezed mine tight.
13
Sassy
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