chapteR Fifteen

Hope felt slightly uncomfortable, listening to Eliana tell what happened. She noticed the look on the faces of the people who were not involved. If she was one of them, she'd be listening with a prejudiced ear. Not because she was completely closed-minded, but because it sounded too far out of the realm of reality to be real.

It was one thing to speculate about life on other worlds in distant galaxies or fantasize about alternate realities, parallel universes, and supernatural beings. It was entirely another to say you unequivocally believed any or all of it.

She didn't know what to call it or how to make the experience relatable. She had no clue what to call it, so she didn't try to label or define it. It seemed like a dream or hallucination. She couldn't say definitively, and it didn't matter right now. Eli was fine and believed her fetus was as well.

It would take a medical exam and possibly tests to confirm that. When Eli finished speaking, Hope dared to raise a hand.

"You don't have to wait for permission here," Grace noticed. "You're free to speak."

"Thanks. I just wanted to say that I feel very strongly that Eli should go to the hospital and get checked out. Just to be safe."

"I agree," Cal immediately chimed up.

"Then make it so," Clay ordered. "We'll call ahead so the doctors will be expecting you."

"Cal, I'm sure—" Eli was quickly cut off by a chorus of voices arguing that she needed to go. She looked at Hope, and Hope nodded.

"Fine," Eli agreed. "Let's do it. But listen up, big fella," she said to Cal. "I plan on sleeping in our bed tonight."

"Yes, ma'am," he agreed. "If the doctors clear you."

"Oh, oh," Jud murmured, and Brady chuckled.

"Yeah, he's got that stubborn chin thing going."

"Chin thing?" Hope asked.

"He juts out his chin when he's not going to budge no matter what train you send to run over him," Jud answered her question.

"Good to know," Hope replied and looked at Brady. "Is that a trait you and Cal share?"

"Hell no. Cal's the stubborn one. I'm easy to get along with."

Jud stepped back. "It's getting deep in here. Am I going to need my waders?"

That made everyone laugh, which was just what they all needed. Cal and Eli hurried out to the lawn when the helicopter landed, and everyone watched them leave.

"Okay, that's it for me," Grace announced. "I'm going to go for a run and a swim, and then I'll think about dinner."

"Still have stuff to do," Jud said, heading for the door with his father calling out. "Wait up, I need to head over to the campers' bunkhouse and check on things."

"And Audrey and I are giving an impromptu class on the native plants," Sadie revealed and gestured to Audrey. "Let's go get things set up."

"What about you?" Hope asked Brady.

Brady elected not to tell her about the plans for a family meeting. He felt like Hope had been through enough with the scare over Eli and Cal's baby. So, instead of a family meeting, he opted for an evening that would, with luck, be special for her and Andy.

"I have a date with a gorgeous woman to take a ride to the lake and swim, followed by dinner with Andy, smores on the fire, and sleeping under the stars. How does that sound?"

"Perfect." The way she breathed the word told him he'd made the right decision.

"Then let's get to it, beautiful."

Nothing could have delighted her more, and she put her hand into the one he extended. She was trying as hard as she could not to worry about the nagging sensation that there was something in the wind that should concern her.

*****

Clay rose and used a stick to adjust the burning wood. A sudden vision in the flames brought a rush of emotion. He watched his young son look up at him with a questioning expression on his face.

"Why do you do that, Dad?"

Clay glanced away as he asked. "Do what?" He poked at the fire.

"That," Brady answered. "Poke the fire. Does it make the jumble in your head disappear?

That's when Clay realized Brady was much more like him than Clay had thought. It delivered a bit of a sting. Why did it take him so long to see it?

Now, he used the moment to gather his thoughts. A sizeable chunk of him was not at all pleased to be having a meeting about one of their own, but his family had outvoted him.

If there was no merit to the information, then it served as a reminder that family should not lie to family. Ever.

Nor should they have this clandestine manner of gathering. He was ashamed and angry. "Well, here we are." He took the old sturdy staff that'd survived since his sons were kids and stabbed it into the dirt, "Shall we dive in? Who'll start?" He looked around.

"I will," Judson stepped up to the fire, and intelligent man that he was asked his father to recall a moment that was special in both their lives. "Remember when we were kids and got in trouble over that Mustang I roped and corralled?

"Twice, someone showed up and asked about the Mustang. Twice, we kids said the same thing. Our dad buys and sells horses all the time. Are you looking for something special?"

"I swear it seemed like that guy was trying to look inside our brains. It drove Brady bat-shit crazy, and honestly, it started to get kinda creepy. I hate that I thought about telling the truth. Maybe whoever he was, he'd realize there wasn't anything mean or harmful being done to the animal.

"Or, maybe we could do it like Brady thought way back then. We fight back and not let them take anything from us. Together, we're strong. Together, we could win. Some may come against us and try to take what is ours, but they will not succeed as long as we breathe. Period."

Clay felt that same swell of pride he felt all those years ago. He had extraordinary sons, in his opinion. Jud was the successor to the throne, so to speak, and Clay saw his son had grown in wisdom. He couldn't be prouder.

Brady had always been quick to anger, eager to test himself, and not as self-disciplined as he would become, but he was once a hell of a kid and was now a hell of a man.

Clay pulled back from his thoughts and looked at his oldest child. "Talk to me, son. Come stand at the fire."

Jud found a decent stick and walked over beside his father. "I know you want to understand. I'll try, but don't push."

He glanced at Clay, and Clay nodded. So did Jud, right before he turned his head off to one side and made eye contact with Cal. Cal nodded, and Jud returned his gaze to his father.

"Don't ask them, or anyone, to prove it or tell you how it works because they can't. They can tell us honestly that they hear one another's thoughts. Do you understand? They literarily can hear one another in their minds."

Clay cut his gaze to Cal, who met the look and held it. "Keep going, Jud."

Clay turned his attention back to Jud, who continued. "They don't know what to call it. Maybe it's part of that twin thing, but they can hear one another. That's what you wanted to know, isn't it?"

He winked at Cal, then smiled at his father, "It might, one day, prove beneficial. He stepped up close to Clay and said very softly. "Remember what you said, sir? All we have are ourselves and our family. Grace echoed that when she told us that in her belief, all we have are ourselves and our family, our pack, which is what her people's early groups were based on. You live with and for the good of the pack, and your role is essential to its survival. And because that is your driving force, you are, therefore, worthy."

He stepped back to look at Clay and saw his Dad smiling and nodding. "You don't have to worry about Brady, dad. He's seen shit the rest of us don't want to, and it didn't break him. Whatever trouble you think this Wingate guy will bring to the table to try and hurt Hope and Andy we'll cut it short when it shows its head. I'm guessing most of you are with me on that?" he paused and looked around. "If he shows up here, he is most definitely going to prison."

"If he survives," Ellis added.

Grace cut Ellis a look. "Really?"

"Really." He met her stare unflinchingly. "No one harms a person we've invited to be on our land. They're our guests and will be treated as such."

No one spoke, and Ellis looked around. "What are you smiling about?"

"The man you grew up to be," Jud remarked. "Thank you."

Jud then looked at Clay. "So what's the call, Pop? Are we playing offense or defense?"

"Defense," Clay said without hesitation but added, "for now. Tomorrow night is the banquet. Call the Group and have them send everyone on standby or anyone interested in double time and a half. I want boots on the ground asap."

So, we pray for peace and prepare for war." Jud remarked.

"Seems like the name of the game," Clay answered and looked at Cal. "You've been quiet."

Cal looked around. "You all have just heard about the most private and intimate relationship in my life until I met Eli."

He took Eli's hand. "Brady and I are—I don't quite know how to say it – it's almost like there's part of me in him, and part of him in me. It's not like something you feel one moment and not the next. It's always there."

He turned to look at Grace. "Like you said, whatever I lack, he has a surplus; whatever deficiency he experiences, I have an excess. It's like the yin and yang symbol, the same but different, apart but together, with some of each in the other. But he's his own man and one I trust and admire.

"And," he added after a little nudge from Eli, "Hope is a stand-up gal. She might be like Sadie and Grace and have some abilities others don't have, but she's also got a heart as big as the sky and is a good person. I see it as a good thing if Brady and Hope are becoming close."

Clay smiled and returned to his seat. "I agree. Brady is quite capable of making his own decisions. As to this Wingate character, I fear if the man shows up here, he will find Wyoming less than hospitable."