Chapter 18

CHAPTER 18

C ady couldn't go back to sleep. The second Colton took off for the serious fire, she got up and made a cup of tea. Okay, she might have also put a little bourbon in it to try to calm her nerves.

She knew Colton was a firefighter. She knew he put his life on the line. But knowing was different than seeing it firsthand. He was out of her house in under a minute. Then the worry had set in. Would he call her? Would he come back home? Would he be safe?

Time seemed to slow to a stop. She thought an hour had gone by, but when she looked at the clock, it was only two minutes. Seventy-eight minutes after Colton had left, she saw headlights approaching her house. She knew because she'd given up glancing out the front windows and had grabbed a blanket and taken a seat on the front porch.

Her heart dropped when she saw that it wasn't Colton's truck.

The car stopped and Cade got out of the driver's seat. "Is Colton alive?" she asked as she stood on wobbling knees.

"Yes, but he's with Jace. The barn roof collapsed on him. I don't know the extent of his injuries, but if they were severe, he'd be on his way to Lexington. Either way, I thought you might want to go see him before his family descends on him."

Cady's heart stopped. She could only nod as Cade held out his hand and escorted her off the porch, leaving her tea on the table.

"Why?" Cady asked as Cade sped toward downtown.

"I think they were focused on saving the horses, so the fire caused more structural damage than they'd realized and the barn collapsed."

Cady shook her head, her hands twisting the blanket, as she looked down the dark road in front of them. "No, why did you get me? You and Annie should see him, not me."

"You love my son, don't you?"

"More than anything," Cady admitted as she fought back tears as she remembered finding her father's body. She couldn't face it if Colton was gone too. But he was with Jace. It wasn't the same thing at all.

"And he loves you. There comes a point where parents need to step back and their child's future steps in. We'll be right behind you. We'll love you both every single day. But when you find that kind of love, you never put it second." Cade paused as downtown became closer. "I know you lost your parents, Cady. I'm not trying to take their place. No one can do that. But Annie and I will always be here for you, even if you don't marry our son, which would be really nice if you did marry him in sixty-two days."

Cady felt the smile come along with the tears. "Thanks, Cade. The last gift my father gave me was Keeneston. I think he knew you all would be the family I needed."

Cade stopped in front of Jace's office. The lights were on and Nolan's pickup was out front. "I'll wait here and block the door for as long as I can. Go take care of him Cady, as only you can."

Cady didn't have to be told twice. She was out of the car and running, barefoot, over the concrete, up onto the sidewalk, and into the doctor's office. She didn't trust her voice, so she didn't call out. She didn't have to when there was only one light on where the exam rooms were.

She heard male voices and her heart nearly exploded with relief when she heard Colton's voice. "Don't you dare tell Cady. I don't want to worry her."

"I can't because of HIPAA, but I think it's wrong," Cady heard Jace tell his cousin.

"Don't worry, Jace. I already know." Cady stopped at the door in the oversized T-shirt that covered the cute little sleep shorts she had on underneath and a blanket wrapped around her with her bare feet poking out.

Colton's eyes went comically wide. "Angel, I—"

"Don't you ‘angel' me, Colton Davies. You were going to keep me in the dark. No, sir. That's now how we're going to be doing this."

Nolan stood up from his chair and cleared his throat. "Um, Doc, my throat is parched. Could be from the smoke. Want to take a look at it?"

Jace placed a bandage over an angry red mark on Colton's shoulder and took off his gloves. "We better check that out, Nolan."

The two left rather quickly and Cady stepped into the room, shutting the door behind her. "Are you okay?"

Colton nodded toward his shoulder. "A part of the roof hit me on the shoulder. My gear protected me from the burn. It's bruised, not broken, which we feared. How are you here?"

"First, let's settle this not-worrying-Cady thing. I'm more worried not knowing what happened than if you had texted me or called me to tell me what happened. Everyone I've loved is gone, Colton. My mother. My father. I was alone until you."

Colton frowned and she saw exactly what he was thinking as he ran his hand over his dirty face. "Maybe—"

Cady cut him off. "Don't finish that sentence. I'm very proud of you for being a firefighter. I want you to trust me to be strong enough to take the good with the bad. I didn't give up when my mother passed. I didn't give up when my father passed. I didn't give up when I was living on cheap soup and dollar bread as I built my distillery. I'm not a quitter, and neither are you. I'm just saying, give me the respect I deserve as your girlfriend and be honest with me."

Colton held out his hand and she took it. "I don't deserve you. You really are my angel."

"And you're my heart. Now, tell me what happened and how you feel."

Colton told her about the fire. "We got all the horses out. Wyatt and Katelyn are helping treat them as they're rounded up. The horses got out and we got the groom out safely, too. Nolan and I were trapped. We knocked down the back wall, and I got Nolan out. I was about to crawl through when the roof collapsed. Part of it landed on me, pinning me to the ground. Nolan reached inside and together we got me out. The bone isn't broken, only badly bruised. I promise I won't hide anything from you ever again."

There was shouting coming from outside and someone tried to open the door, only to have it slam shut again. Colton and Cady glanced at their closed exam room door. Colton reached for her, pushing her behind him, even as he winced in pain.

"Cade Davies, don't you make me call your mother!"

Colton relaxed when he heard his mother, and then he looked with confusion at Cady. "Wait, how did you find out I was hurt?"

"A call came into Katelyn that she was needed at the fire and the caller mentioned you'd been hurt and was on the way to Jace's. Your Uncle Marshall overheard and called your father, who came and got me before your mother heard. He wanted us to have some time together before the town descended on you." She was going to keep the marriage date request a secret, but she'd just told him about trust. "And he wants us to get married in sixty-two days."

Colton looked amused and then laced his fingers with hers at the sound of his father's grunt and the door chime going off. Seconds later he heard Jace. "Now, Aunt Annie—"

There was another grunt and then his exam room door was flung open. Cady tried to take a step back out of fear, but Colton wouldn't let her. He kept her plastered to his side. "I'm fine, Mom."

His mother looked between Colton, his injury, and then to where he was holding Cady's hand. Cady saw Cade step up behind his wife and silently mouthed, "I'm sorry," to her.

"I heard that, Cade," Annie said, not turning around. "How do you feel, Colton?"

"He's got a bruised—" Jace tried to say, but Annie held up her hand, stopping him.

"No more pies for you, Jace. You didn't call me."

Jace took a deep breath and looked up at the ceiling. "That's all it took?" he asked with a smile.

Annie turned and leveled him with a glare. "What is wrong with my pies? Your grandmother taught me how to make them."

Jace, Cade, and Colton suddenly looked really interested in the floor. Cady got very interested in her blanket. Bless her heart, but Mrs. Marcy Davies probably shared that secret recipe with Annie solely because she knew there was no way Annie would be able to replicate it. Annie didn't have the best cooking or baking skills.

"Not a thing, Mom," Colton said. "They're great. Just like my shoulder. Nothing broken, just a little bruised."

Annie gave a satisfied nod and then looked back at where Cady was holding his hand. "Well, I see you're in good hands. Cady, take care of him. I've got a phone call to make."

"Mom, it's three in the morning," Colton called out, but it was too late. Annie was already on the phone as her sisters-in-law were converging, taking in the scene, and placing bets.

"Sorry to wake you, Father Ben, but we need to get to work. There's a pie in it for you from me if we can meet now." Annie held out the phone and frowned. "Huh, we got disconnected. That's okay. I'll just go see him."

"I held her off as long as I could," Cade said. "I'm glad you're okay. Next time, call Cady so I don't have to sneak out of bed in the middle of the night."

"Thanks, Dad."

The aunts tried to converge, but the uncles swooped in, whispered something to them, and rushed them out of the office. However, the aunts didn't look mad. In fact, they were all smiling and had a slight blush on their cheeks.

"Wonder what that was about?" Cady asked as Colton stood up from the table.

Colton grinned at her then and the look in his eyes answered her question. "How about I show you?"

Cady shook her head. "Your shoulder is hurt and that's what you're thinking about?"

"Angel, I will always think about that with you. Now come on. Take me home and have your way with me. It'll make my shoulder feel better." Colton batted his lashes at her and Cady laughed.

She wasn't laughing when she got home though. It was remarkable what Colton could do with one arm. When they were both too worn out to stay awake, and the sun was beginning to peek up from the horizon, Cady fell asleep with her head on Colton's good shoulder for all of two hours before her day began.