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“Are you feeling up to a few more visitors, honey?”
“I think Quinn is tired, Mom, maybe later—” Brody began.
“No, I’m fine. Come in, please,” I insisted, trying to push myself up the bed.
“Just let me know when you get too tired, and I’ll make them leave,” Brody whispered as he kissed me on the cheek before moving away from the bed so that Claire could sit next to me. I gave him a smile, wincing as pain shot up my cheek. Hiding my pain, I turned my attention to Claire and the others as they entered the room.
“Sweetheart, look at you!” Claire exclaimed, her face etched with worry as she sat in the chair that Brody had just vacated. “Are you okay?”
“I’m a little sore but I’m okay.”
“A little sore?” she repeated. “Honey, you’ve been shot!”
“I think Quinn knows she’s been shot, baby,” Ryan said, as he came to stand next to her, his arm resting on her shoulder. Rolling her eyes, she ignored him.
“I’m okay, really.” I paused and closed my eyes. “I feel like I need to apologize.”
“Apologize?” Claire asked in surprise. “Whatever for?”
“For bringing all this trouble to the ranch. I put everyone in danger. If anyone had gotten hurt, I never would have forgiven myself.” She reached over and took my hand.
“Quinn, none of this is your fault. You didn’t bring that man here. You didn’t ask for any of this.” She paused, and I saw her glance over to Brody. “We’ve only known you a short time, sweetheart, but you’re a part of this family now and we all love you. You’re going to get better and then we're all going to go home, together.” I nodded as I felt the tears that had been threatening to fall, spill down my cheeks.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
Pulling myself together, I looked past Claire and Ryan to see Mason and Libby standing by the door. “I’m so glad you’re okay, Quinn,” Libby said, walking around the opposite side of the bed to stand next to me.
“Me too.” Turning to Mason, my eyes met his. “Thank you,” I said quietly. He smiled and nodded his head. There was nothing more to say; he knew what he’d done for us, and I would be eternally grateful. Stifling a yawn, I winced as pain shot through my cheek again.
“Right, guys, time to let Quinn sleep. She needs to rest,” Brody announced, moving toward the bed.
“Yes, of course,” Claire agreed, bending down to kiss my forehead. “We’ll leave and let you get some rest. We’ll be back tomorrow. I’ll bring you some clothes and toiletries for while you’re here.”
“Thank you,” I told her gratefully.
After everyone had said their goodbyes, Brody came back to sit next to me.
“I think I know how Evan found me. The hospital wrote to me at my home address and Evan intercepted the letter. He knew I’d had treatment in Marble Falls and came looking for me.”
“I know, sweetheart, my mom showed me the letter earlier. It’s over now though.”
I shook my head.
“No. It’s not.”
“What do you mean? Evan’s dead, baby. He can’t hurt you anymore.”
“Evan might be dead, but the reason they sent the letter was because I’ve no medical insurance. Evan stopped paying the bills when my mom died. The hospital is going to bill me for the treatment I received after the fire. I don’t have insurance to cover this stay either. How the hell am I going to pay, Brody?”
“This stay will be covered by the ranch policy. Mom had your details added to the policy once you started working for us.” I looked at him in surprise. “As for the stay after the fire, we’ll figure it out, Quinn. I don’t want you worrying about it now. You need to get better.”
“Your mom added me to the family’s ranch policy?” I asked in disbelief. “Why would she do that?”
“I asked her to. I knew even then I was falling in love with you, and I knew you were in no position to pay your own insurance.” He smiled sheepishly at me. “I hope you don’t mind?” I shook my head. How could I mind? He was right, I was in no position to be paying for anything, especially now. It would take me weeks to be fit enough to work again.
“Thank you. You never fail to surprise me, Brody Parker. But know that I’ll be paying you back.”
“We’ll see,” he replied with a chuckle.
