Ty had promised that Beau would be ready and waiting. Ro hoped like hell that the ornery bastard would be able to help her dad. He’d woken a few times during the ride, which hadn’t been nearly as long as Ro feared. Even with the painfully slow pace, it had only taken a little over an hour.
Graham drove straight through the center of the compound and pulled up along the front of the clinic. Beau was standing in the doorway, hands already gloved. Jonah stood next to him holding a backboard. Erica and Graham shoved open the front doors of the cab, and they all climbed out. Erica opened the rear passenger side door and waved Jonah over. Jamie, Graham, and Jonah worked seamlessly as Beau directed them to move her dad into the clinic. When Ro tried to follow, Zach stopped her at the door.
“You should wait out here. Your sister, too. You need to let Beau work and not get in his way.”
Ro pushed against Zach’s outstretched arm. “I need to be in there.”
Jamie was dragging a screeching Erica from the clinic. “Let me go! You can’t keep me out.”
Jamie closed the clinic door with his free hand, leaving Jonah, Beau, and Graham inside.
“He’ll be fine. They’ve got it covered. Just give them some space,” Jamie said.
Ro hoped he was right, because she really, really needed her dad to be okay. The alternative was unacceptable. Every girl needed her daddy when the world fell apart. Especially since the last time she’d seen him, she’d been distracted, worrying about work and counting down the hours until she could safely sneak away to put out all the fires that had sprung up in her absence. And where had that gotten her? Ro tamped down the resentment. She needed to let it go. But it was hard when she looked at what she’d sacrificed for the sake of her ambition: time with her family, the people who mattered.
Ro sagged against Zach’s hold, and he maneuvered them until she sat in his lap, leaning against the side of the clinic. Instinctively, she curled into his big frame. Erica’s temper had calmed marginally, and she paced back and forth in front of the building. Jamie watched her intently.
Erica paused in her pacing and faced Ro. “So you and him, huh? Does that mean the big, grumpy one who drove us back is available?”
Ro knew her sister was only trying to take her mind off what might be happening inside the clinic, but she still wanted to snap out an unequivocal “no.” Except she didn’t have the right to make that statement.
Zach’s arm tightened around her as though he could read her thoughts. “Graham’s pretty hung up on someone, and it might be a long wait if you’re trying to get his attention,” Zach said.
Ro swiveled in his lap so she could see his face. “He barely looked at me …” She trailed off when Erica cocked her head.
“Wait … what? I was joking, but now I’m just confused. If you and him … and you and the other one …” The door to the clinic opened as Erica said, “You’re doing them both?”
Ro was paying diligent attention to the ground and mentally kicking herself for the rush of hope that flooded her at Zach’s words. She didn’t want to explain the situation to her sister, and she really didn’t want to look up at the doorway, because she knew, just knew, that Graham was standing there, probably trying to process the snippet of conversation he’d overheard. Then again, he’d have an update on her dad, and that was more important than dodging the awkward situation. Face burning with embarrassment, she met Graham’s appraising gaze reluctantly. “How is he?”
“He lost a lot of blood before we got it controlled, so Beau is giving him some. He’s working on cleaning the wood splinters out of the wound, and hopefully he’ll finish that up before your dad comes around. Beau thinks he should pull through just fine. You can go in and sit with him after Beau’s done. It’ll be about a half hour or so.”
Ro sagged against Zach, overwhelmed by relief. But Erica wasn’t satisfied.
“You have a blood supply?”
“We’ve got two universal donors. So we donate and rotate it out. Shit happens. Never know when you might need it.”
Erica sized up Graham. “Who the hell are you people?”
“Nobody special.”
Erica’s expression turned thoughtful. “If you somehow talked my sister into sleeping with you and him, I’d have to say there’s something special there. I mean …”
Ro closed her eyes and prayed that a sinkhole would miraculously develop beneath her.
When no sinkhole appeared, she settled for saying, “Can we not have this conversation right now?”
“I just wanted to know why the guy looks so pissed, when he’s got a hot piece like you doing the ménage thing. Is it because the other guy missed the hole and accidentally …”