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Gavin glared at her. “
Sarge?”
She blushed, nodding. “I named him while we were waiting. Thank you for coming. I thought we were going to be stuck there all night.”
Trace kneeled beside her, brushing her hair back off her face. “Don’t ever terrify us like this again, please. I can’t stand it. I thought we were never going to find you, I thought that maybe your mother and that asshole had returned, maybe taken you…”
“Oh God.” She hadn’t even thought about that. She clasped his pale cheek with her hand. “I’m so sorry; I should have left a note.”
“Yes,” Gavin agreed solemnly. “You should have.”
“Come on,” Colin said, reaching down to pick her up. “Let’s get you home and get that ankle looked at.” He placed her on top of Sunshine. “We’ll ride while we’ve got sunlight left.”
“Sarge is hurt,” she protested. “Can you lift him and put him up before me?”
Colin snorted. “Dream on, shorty.” But he bent down and patted Sarge before gently picking up his paw. “You’re okay, aren’t you, fella, just a bit bruised. Can you still walk?”
Sarge licked his hand and Colin laughed. “He’s all good. Let’s go.”
By the time they reached the house Lila was so tired and in pain she felt nauseous. It had been a long trip, the men having to move slowly once darkness hit, climbing off their horses to walk while leading Sunshine. Sarge had limped along beside Lila, seemingly happy to follow them home.
Gavin reached up and pulled her off the horse, holding her close against his chest as he walked into the house. “Colin, will you take care of Sarge?” she called back over her shoulder as Trace led the horses away.
“Will you stop worrying about that damn dog,” Gavin snapped and she tensed, looking up at him. Gavin wasn’t the type to ignore an injured animal. But right now he was wound up tighter than a jack-in-the-box.
He walked into her bedroom and placed her on the bed.
Lila grabbed his hand as he went to remove her shoes. “Gavin, I’m okay,” she told him. “I’m here and I’m alright.”
His gaze snapped up to hers and she nearly flinched at the furious worry in his eyes. “You very nearly weren’t. Do you know how close you came to having to spend the night outside? Anything could have happened to you…” he trailed off with a shudder.
“But you found me and I’m fine,” she soothed.
“You’re injured,” he snapped, removing the shoe on her good foot first.
“It’s just a sprain, I promise I’m okay.” She’d say it as much as he needed to hear it.
“What the hell were you doing? Why didn’t you leave us a note?” he asked harshly.
“I needed to get out of the house, to think. I’m sorry, I just didn’t think about leaving a note. I had to get away.”
“Not good enough. We could have been looking for you all night.”
“Gavin, I’m okay,” she told him again. “I’m here, safe with you.”
Gavin shuddered, dropping his head. Then he stared straight at her. The fury had diminished but the fear was still there and it felt like a lead balloon in her guts.
“You terrify me,” he told her. “You’re so fragile and precious and you don’t seem to know it! Don’t you realize how much you mean to me? Since that encounter with your mother you’ve put up this barrier between us and I don’t like it one bit. I get that you need to think things through and that your mother upset you, but you have to let us in.”
“You’re right,” she said quietly. “I did a lot of thinking. I’ve been letting Abigail get to me and that’s exactly what she wanted. I’m not going to let her ruin my life. She didn’t raise me or love me and she has no part to play in my life. You guys have always been there for me and I’ve been keeping a part of myself blocked off from you. It wasn’t fair of me and I’m sorry.”
Gavin leaned up and kissed her as he leaned back, she looked up and saw Colin and Trace standing there.
“You heard that?” she asked them. They nodded, smiling.
“How’s Sarge?” she asked Colin.
“He’s fine, just a bit bruised. He’s down in the kitchen, feasting. I brought up some ice.” He held up an ice pack. “How’s that ankle looking?”
