“I was wrong. I thought I could watch her leave, but this shit isn’t working for me. You were right—she’s it. She’s everything. And we can’t let her leave. Not without us.” He held out his radio. “Tell Ty to stall them at the gate. I need to grab my stuff.”
Zach looked incredulous. “Are you fucking kidding me? Now? You decide now that you can’t live without her? You wait until she breaks my fucking heart? What the hell is wrong with you?” Graham didn’t even try to dodge Zach’s fist as it connected with his jaw. He staggered back a step and stared at his friend.
“You done? Or you need another?”
“You’re such a prick, G. If I had more time, I’d beat you into the fucking ground.”
“So, we good?” Graham held out a hand.
Zach clasped it. “Yeah, fucker. We’re good. Now get your shit so we can go get our girl. I’m not letting her get away. No matter what she thinks is the right choice.”
Graham took off running toward their cabin as Zach radioed Ty with instructions to stall the Callahans. He spotted Beau leaving the clinic, a black civilian backpack slung over one shoulder.
“Where you headed?”
“Going after our girl.”
“Shit. They already leave?”
“Yeah, but we’re holding them up at the gate. They’re missing a couple passengers.”
Beau looked confused. “Little Rambo Girl miss the train?”
“No, man. Me and Zach.”
“But I thought—”
“Can’t explain. Gotta hurry.”
“Well, then just give this to Ro.” Beau tossed him the backpack. Graham slipped it over his shoulder without asking about the contents. He was already running down the list of things he needed.
Ro stared out the window. The farther away they got from the walls, the harder the tears fell. Her fingers tangled in her hair as she silently promised herself that once they'd crossed through the gate, she'd stop crying. It made her feel better to believe her own lie.
The main gate was in sight, and Ty appeared to be fiddling with the lock. Her dad braked and cranked down the window.
“What’s the problem, son?”
Ty rounded the hood and poked his head in the window. “Grabbed the wrong set of keys for the padlock. But don’t you worry, one of the guys is bringing ‘em out. It’ll just be a few minutes.”
They waited. And waited. Ten minutes later, Ro’s dad said, “We’ll just go back and get the keys.”
“No need,” replied Ty. “Here they come.”
They? Ro’s head snapped around, and she saw Graham and Zach stalking toward the truck, loaded down with gear, determined looks on their faces.
What the hell?
“Now what’s this about?”
“Not my place to say.”
As if synchronized, Graham and Zach threw open the back doors of the cab. Ro looked from one man to the other, dumbfounded.
Zach leaned on the doorframe closest to Ro, and said, “Move over, babe. You ain’t leavin’ without me. No way, no how. Don’t care what you say.”
Mouth hanging open, Ro looked to where Graham was shoving gear under the bench seat.
“What … what are you doing?” Ro asked him.
Graham looked up. “You were right. It’s all or nothing for us. And nothing isn’t something we can live with.” He’d heard that?
“But the ranch … your team … I thought—”
“I was dead wrong to think I could let you go. You’re more important than the ranch. They’ll be fine. It’s Zach and me who won’t be fine if we let you leave without us.”
Ro was still processing his statement when he tossed her an unfamiliar black backpack. “That’s from Beau.”
“What is it?”
“No clue, babe. Didn’t take the time to check. Was in a little bit of a hurry.”
Erica leaned over the seat and snatched the bag from Ro before she could unzip it. Rowan didn’t argue, because Graham and Zach had finished stowing their gear and were climbing into the back seat, sandwiching her between them. Where she belonged. The warmth of that thought chased away any lingering confusion.
Ty smiled. “Sorry for the hold up, folks. It turns out I do have the right key. It’ll be just a minute.”
“What the hell is all this?” Erica said. She held up two white rectangular boxes and a fat pill bottle. “Is there something you aren’t telling us?”
The main gate swung open, but Rick didn’t put the truck in gear. He was staring at the bottle and whatever else Erica was holding. Graham nabbed the bottle just as Rick grabbed one of the boxes and opened it.
“Rowan Elizabeth Callahan, why am I holding a pregnancy test?”
“Umm …” Ro mumbled.
Graham read the label on the bottle out loud. “Prenatal vitamins.” He turned and stared at Ro and then met Zach’s gaze over her shoulder. “You know about this?”
“One of them knocked you up?” Erica asked.
“No! I mean, I don’t know. Nothing’s for sure. The last test was negative. Beau is just being overly cautious.”
“You were going to leave and not say anything about the fact that you could be carrying our baby?” Graham demanded.
Ty, sensing something was wrong, closed the main gate.