Page 112 of Rangers Unexpected Return

At the tables, my brothers had repaired.

The walls they painted.

The photographs they hung.

“I got tired.”

“Of driving?”

“Of leaving.”

Her gaze rested on me for a moment.

Then she looked away.

“I understand that.”

I wondered what she had left.

Before I could ask, footsteps sounded on the stairs.

Rylie appeared with Max beside her.

Trigger followed.

“What are you doing out of bed?” I asked.

“I couldn’t sleep.”

“You’re supposed to stay upstairs.”

“I’m protected by one husband, seven Rangers, a sheriff, two detectives, three deputies, a crime scene technician, and Max.”

“Eight Rangers,” I corrected.

The words surprised me.

Wolf had said I was one of them.

Trigger had called me brother.

But until that moment, I had continued counting myself separately.

Rylie smiled.

“Eight Rangers.”

Trigger heard it too.

He didn’t say anything.

He didn’t need to.

Rylie sat at the bar.

Max settled between her and the room.

“I remembered something,” she said.