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“Is this warm enough for you?”
“Mhmm.”
When he was quiet for longer than I expected him to be, I cracked open one eye. He was smiling at me. “You’re really out of it. It’s adorable.”
“Thanks. I think?” I responded.
He laughed and, thankfully, didn’t try to make me help. I got to rest my head against the wall for most of the time as he washed my body and hair. It really was like the first day we met. Only this time, I wasn’t worried about him being some creep who was trying to attack me.
“We’re finished,” he said, and the spray turned off.
“Mmm,” I muttered, not wanting the warmth to go away.
“Come on, sweetie pie. I know you want your independence, but let Daddy take care of you right now.”
I wasn’t going to argue with him and, in fact, wanted to kiss him when he combed out and blow-dried my hair, toweled me off, and helped me into some comfy clothes.
Once we were settled in bed, all snuggled up together, I looked at him and said, “Thank you. I—”
He interrupted me, by putting a finger over my mouth. “You don’t have to apologize for earlier.”
“How did you know I was going to?” I asked, seriously wanting to know.
He smiled. “I’m your Daddy. It’s my job to know what’s on your mind.”
I smiled up at him. “You’re the best, and all I’ll say again is, thank you. You’ve made me feel more special and taken care of than I ever have before.”
“You’re welcome, sweetheart. Now go to sleep.”
I couldn’t argue with him as I needed to catch some extra z’s. I closed my eyes and thanked God I had fallen into this cowboy’s loving arms on that fateful day a week ago.
Epilogue
“I’m going to catch you, Champ,” I yelled as I chased after her. We had been helping Austin in the west pasture with some of the cows. He was finishing up, so I decided it was time to play. Champ had the same idea and began running. I thought a game of tag would be fun and chased after her.
We were rounding up the driveway when she stopped suddenly and I almost collided with her. “Did you get tired on me?” I huffed out. It took me a couple of minutes to catch my breath. Once I did, I looked around to see why she stopped. It was unlike her. Normally, we’d play in the front yard until Austin came home.
I looked up at the front porch and felt like a bucket of water from the coldest part of the Arctic Ocean had been poured over me. My brother, Evan, whom I hadn’t seen in the past few years stood at the top of the stairs looking out at me.
My breath got stuck in my throat. How many nights had I prayed for him to show up, so we could figure out a way to solve his problems together? To make sure that he was still alive? Now that he was here, after everything that happened, I wasn’t sure I wanted to talk to him.
Champ began to growl when he walked down the steps and headed toward us.
“It’s okay, girl,” I said as I moved to her side. I kept my hand on the top of her head to stop her from attacking my brother and for my own comfort.
“Hello, Miranda,” Evan said, stopping a few yards away from us.
“Hey. Long time no see.” There was a sharp tone to my voice. I felt more than justified to have it. “How’d you even find me?”
“Jenny,” he said, shifting his weight a bit as if uncomfortable.
I couldn’t decide what surprised me most. The fact that Jenny told him where I was or that Evan had actually remembered the name of the only real friend I kept in touch with. Jenny and I had worked together and I’d promised to let her know I was safe once I’d settled. I’d finally spoken to her after Declan had been taken into custody, to ease her mind and let her know I was happy on the ranch and wouldn’t be coming back to Utah. While I hadn’t specified a wish for her to keep my whereabouts to herself, I had never even considered she’d spill the beans to Evan. I hadn’t kept his past a secret from her. So, she knew what he had put me through.
“Just so you know, she didn’t make it easy,” Evan offered. “It took actually meeting me in person to persuade her that it was okay to give me any information.”
Well, that made it just a little bit easier to accept his presence before me, but we both remained quiet for several minutes as we stared at one another. He had changed. He had put on some weight, which was much needed. He was clean shaven, his hair well-trimmed, and he was wearing clothes that fit him well and didn’t have holes in them. He looked better than he had since I could honestly last remember.
“You look good, little sister,” Evan said, speaking first.
