Chapter 7

For the first time in days, Hunter slept. Even in his sleep, he heard the murmurs of the medical team as they kept a close eye on Landry. He heard the way Edie ran to the bathroom several times. Then he heard when the flaps changed and the landing gear was activated and opened his eyes.

It was strange not landing at the Air Force Base, but instead at a private airfield where an ambulance was waiting for them. "You called an ambulance?" Hunter questioned.

Kenzie nodded. "It's all good. I know all the EMTs. That's my friend and he's one hell of an EMT. He's not on duty. Technically the vehicle is going to get serviced, so there's no log of him picking anyone up."

"You are so sexy when you're sneaky," Ryker whispered to her before placing a kiss on her cheek. "And I've called the president of the hospital and they know the situation. Landry will be entered into the hospital under a fake name. We'll claim John Doe status until Landry is safe. I also hired private security."

"Ryker, that's too much," Lydia said. "I can't pay for this."

"Lydia, I'm not asking you to, nor would I even allow you to. All I want you to do is focus on Landry. The town is taking care of the children and we'll bring them to visit when the coast is clear."

Hunter worked with Ryker, Gavin, Rowan, Tristan, and the EMT who had been introduced as Charlie to move Landry onto the ambulance. Hunter sat in the front seat ready to protect them as the medical team drove to the hospital with Ryker, Edie, and Lydia in the SUV directly behind them.

"I've got this part," Kenzie said as they went into the employee parking garage. "Stop here, Charlie." Kenzie jumped out, knocked on the door, and waited. A moment later, a nurse opened the door. "Thanks, Jen."

"Take him to the Faulkner suite," Jen ordered as she placed a mask and a hair net over Landry's head as if taking him to surgery. "Goodness," Jen said, looking up at Hunter after the medical team and Lydia hurried into the hospital. "We need to be careful of you."

"Me? Why?"

"You're obviously a Townsend and the nurses have a pool going on who can nab one. You'll have nurses stopping by to flirt constantly." Jen looked back at Ryker, who was now the only person left with him. "You need to bring Olivia if you bring one of the Townsend brothers. She's the only person scary enough to keep them at bay."

"Noted," Ryker said proudly. Hunter hadn't appreciated that about Ryker when they'd thought Ryker was dating Olivia. However, now he did. The man had given their sister a chance when others wouldn't hire a female attorney. Not only that, but Ryker fully enjoyed and appreciated the badassery of their sister. He was very much like them—a proud brother.

"Just try not to draw attention to yourself," Jen huffed and then muttered to herself about impossibly sexy Townsends ruining her shifts as they took the stairs up to the Faulkner suite. It was a hospital room that was large enough to hold the Faulkner family that Ryker had paid for with one of his donations.

The medical team already had Landry hooked up by the time they made it to the room. "We're going to take eight-hour shifts," Gavin told them, "Jen, Kenzie, and I. Kenzie, you're on in sixteen. Jen's on now and I'll stay on tonight but will sleep in the room for the next eight hours."

Hunter felt the change in the room without turning around. Someone had quietly joined them. Hunter moved fast and had a knife to their throat before anyone could say anything.

"You're getting slow. I got a good eight feet into the room," the woman teased.

"Thanks for coming, Blythe," Ryker said, no one seeming to care about the knife to the woman's throat.

Hunter dropped the knife and smiled at the petite bodyguard. "Good to see you again. That leaping scissor hold to the neck flip thing you taught me saved my ass a couple of months ago."

"Glad I could help. So, this is the special man I'm to protect? I read his record. He's one hell of a hero."

"Thank you for coming," Lydia said from the chair at the side of Landry's bed. She hadn't let go of her husband's hand since Hunter had entered the room. "I feel much better with you here watching out for him."

It took about an hour, but everyone settled in. Rowan took Ryker, Kenzie, Edie, and Tristan home as Hunter hunkered down to talk with Blythe. He told her everything they knew so she'd know what to be on the lookout for.

Gavin fell asleep on the couch within a minute. Apparently, it was a doctor thing. They could sleep anywhere, anytime. Just like soldiers. Jen did one last check-up on how Landry was, and while still not fully awake, he was squeezing Lydia's hand when asked to.

Lights were dimmed and Blythe moved to the chair on Landry's other side—the one that faced the door. They both looked toward the door when they heard footsteps approaching.

"That's not Jen," Blythe whispered, slowly pulling a gun and hiding it under the blanket by Landry's hip.

"I know. Female though," Hunter whispered back, moving into the shadows of the room.

There was a soft knock on the door and then it was slowly pushed open. The familiar scent of food hit first, then the sweet floral scent that was embedded in his brain. Hunter put his gun away and opened the door, surprising Maggie. Her loose hair was in waves down her back, held back by a pearl encrusted headband. Her pink dress hugged a figure that Hunter could only dream of.

"Hunter!" she smiled up at him and his heart did this strange flip thing. "It amazes me every time you come back. I didn't think your ego could fit on a plane."

Hunter laughed, but his stomach betrayed him and grumbled before he could zing one back at her. Her lips frowned as she reached into the purple and teal paisley monogrammed carry case she had and pulled out a to-go box and handed it to him. "I made fried green tomato and pimento cheese po'boys. I figured y'all would be hungry."

"Oh my gosh. You're the best. Thank you so much," Lydia said with a smile and a sigh. "I think I can finally eat now that I have Landry home. It's been almost two days since I've had anything. And Maggie, he's squeezing my hand now!"

Maggie walked past Hunter, leaving the smell of her light floral perfume to haunt him. "That's such good news. And Blythe, I have something for you too. And I'll put this one over here for Gavin when he gets up. I also made a pecan pie for everyone to share and some sweet tea."

"Is that a Mary Poppins bag?" Hunter asked as he watched Maggie pull item after item out of the large rectangular monogrammed monstrosity with two metal handles.

Maggie rolled her eyes and ignored him as she gave a rundown on how Georgie and Kord were doing taking care of the kids. Landry Jr. and Lacy were stepping up in a big way and had helped to put all the kids to bed.

"Landry," Maggie finally said after she emptied her bag. "I'm so glad you're home. I made your favorite, pecan pie. You can have a slice as soon as you wake up and Gavin allows it."

Lydia beamed up at her. "He squeezed my hand again."

"Dear Lord, what are you trying to do?" Jen asked as she rushed into the room. "First was the rumor of a Townsend sighting and now whatever that is you made smells so freaking good. Hungry nurses are like zombies out for brains. They're all trying to find the source, and if they find Hunter here . . . well, he'll be put out to stud."

"Is it Tuesday already? That is what he does, after all," Maggie said snarkily, even as she said it with a smile.

"How nice that you think I can pleasure the entire nursing staff at once. You must have been thinking about me sexually to come up with that." Hunter loved that Maggie blushed and sputtered. "If you think I can do that, imagine what I could do if it was just you and me?"

"Live to flirt another day," Jen said, grabbing his arm. "You need to leave."

"I don't have a car. I can handle a couple of nurses."

Jen looked at him as if he were dumb. "They're hungry, starting the night shift, and horny. You wouldn't survive three minutes."

Maggie sighed. "I'll take you home."

Maggie hugged Lydia and then, at Jen's urging, hurried from the room with Hunter hot on her heels. Damn, the man looked fine as hell, even if he looked exhausted. She wanted to feed him and tuck him into bed. Although, he was eating and making the most erotic groans as he ate her po'boy while they took the stairs to the parking garage.

"That was really good. Where did you get it?" Hunter asked as they walked into the garage.

"I made it," Maggie said as she used her key fob to unlock her car.

"It was really good. I thought you just ordered take-out." He paused and looked at her truck. "You drive a pickup truck? I thought this was your brother's."

"No, it's mine, but he borrows it a lot."

"It's not pink."

Maggie looked over her shoulder and stared daggers at him. "Why do you think so little of me? Yes, I like pink. Yes, I like to feel pretty in cute dresses. Yes, I cook. Yes, I drive a truck. Yes, I shoot. Why can't I do all of that and do it well?"

Hunter glanced into the back of her truck and frowned. She knew what he saw. She had a locked gun safe back there. It was bolted to the frame of her truck. The one she took to competitions or out on hunts with her family. He probably thought it was to protect her dresses.

Hunter climbed into the truck and was quiet for a moment. "I'm not used to women being all those things. I've had my share of women like you—you know, into pretty, frilly things—in my life before, but the moment things get tough, they cry. I have to leave, they cry. I can't afford huge diamonds, they cry. I miss their birthday because I'm on a mission, they cry. I don't spend every minute of the day fawning over them, and they cry."

"Are you serious?" Maggie asked incredulously. "You literally read the book by the cover and never looked inside. Have you ever seen me cry? Have you ever heard me ask anyone for diamonds or anything? I can afford my own diamonds, my own fancy clothes, and my own rifles, thank you very much. I don't need a man to buy them for me. I'm secure in who I am, Hunter. If your fragile male mind can't fathom a woman being multidimensional, that's on you. Not me."

"I'm beginning to see that," Hunter said, looking at her with such intensity it made it hard to focus on driving. "But, don't tell me you never do the same?"

"Of course, I don't."

Hunter raised an eyebrow. "Okay then. Who was the worst boyfriend you ever had?"

"Cooper Vandersmith. Met him freshman year of college. Total frat boy type. All he cared about was knocking back drinks and partying."

"Why did you break up?" Hunter asked.

"He believed if he was drunk and slept with other women, it wasn't cheating because it was the alcohol's fault," Maggie said dryly. She'd broken up with him right away and never looked back.

"Did you ever date anyone like him again?" Hunter asked as if he were interested.

"No," Maggie paused. "I see what you're doing. It's not the same."

"How is it not the same?"

"I would like to think I would look beyond first impressions if I was interested in a man."

Hunter raised an eyebrow. "You mean, in the ten years since freshman year, you never came across a guy who liked to party and tried to get to know him more?"

Okay, so when she saw guys super drunk at bars and they hit on her, she always said no. It was a giant red flag. But wearing pink wasn't a red flag . . . it was a pink one. For Hunter, who had gone through the same type of thing as she had—a broken heart. "So, you're saying you've given women like me a chance but, while not cheating on you, they've hurt you, and I remind you of them?"

"Exactly. Do you know how hard it is to go off on a mission and not have support back home? You're leaving to tears and why can't you be more like my ex who works in finance? When I leave, I need my mind focused. It's literally life and death. I see how I took out that past pain on you, and for that, I am sorry."

Maggie felt her anger begin to ebb. Cooper had done a number on her too, and her life didn't hang in the balance. She remembered Edie throwing up, finding out she was pregnant, and refusing to tell Tristan since he needed his head in the mission. "I'm sorry too. I guess everyone has a history. Sometimes we can get over it, and other times it stays with us."

Maggie pulled onto Main Street in Shadows Landing. They were both quiet until Hunter looked at his phone. "My family wants to meet me at Harper's. Can you drop me off there?"

Maggie nodded and pulled over across the street from Harper's Bar. "I'm going to go check on Kord and Georgie. I'm sure they're overwhelmed with all the kids."

Hunter put his hand on the door handle but didn't open it. He turned around and, for once, looked introspective. "Thanks for the ride, Mags. And the talk. I never told anyone about that before."

"It's easier to take a bullet than be vulnerable, isn't it?"

"I know one will hurt, but the other can destroy you." Hunter shrugged and got out of the truck. "Thanks again, Mags. I'll see you soon."

Hunter closed the door and stood on the sidewalk across from the bar, waiting for her to leave. Maggie pulled a U-turn, and as she drove away, she looked in the rearview mirror to see a man had joined Hunter as they watched her drive away.