Divine Charity(Divine Creek Ranch 18)(105)

Someone else in the crowd coaxed her to lie back as she asked, “Where’s Grace? I told her to run.” She could hear more sirens coming closer.

Bernadette smiled encouragingly at her. “She’s fine, honey. She’s inside where she’s nice and safe. We’re gonna get you taken care of real quick.”

“She’s okay. That’s good.” To her own ears her voice sounded slurred.

The last thing she saw was Eli Wolf as he ran up with his kit and set to work. “Hey, ass-kicker, we gotta stop meeting like this.”

“Ain’t this some shit, Eli?” she asked with a weak smile and then everything went gray.



* * * *



Val’s heart pounded wildly as he ran through the emergency room doors with Ransome at his side. Grace had called him and Ransome out on a jobsite just a few minutes before, telling them only to get to the hospital, and that Charity had been shot by Trevor Dornan.

God, please let her be okay! This is our fault! Thanks to their jobs, they’d placed people they loved in danger. The topper was the fact that she’d been so upset with them earlier that morning. He hadn’t had time to smooth that over yet, neither of them had.

He spotted Justin standing at the reception desk with Grace and Jack. Val studied Justin’s face as they both strode over to him, searching for a sign as to Charity’s condition. The man looked like he’d aged ten years.

Grace nodded at something Justin said and smiled at them and that gave him hope.

“She’s okay,” Justin said, laying hands on both their shoulders. Relief surged inside of Val.

“Where is she? How is she?” Ransome asked, sounding about as desperate to see her as Val felt.

“They’ve removed the bullet from her upper arm and they’re taking care of the wound right now. She’s lucky.”

“She’s crazy is what she is,” Grace said, stroking her bulging abdomen. “That guy—Trevor Dornan, wanted me to get in his truck, and do you know what Charity did?”

Oh hell.

“She pushed me behind her and told him no. ‘No.’ Can you believe that? I was ready to wet my pants I was so scared and she told him, ‘No.’”

Justin gazed at Grace and Jack and smiled. He took a deep breath and let it out. “Actually, it sounds just like her.”

Val nodded. “It does.”

Jack and Grace explained to the two of them what had transpired in Cheaver’s parking lot and Val said, “He wanted to take Grace because he couldn’t find Jessica?”

This is our fault.

“That and also because Jessica had a baby girl. He wanted a boy, and in his mind, Grace was a likely candidate to give him that, since it’s no secret she’s carrying a boy,” Jack said. The fire in his eyes told them how he felt about Dornan’s strategy. The possessive way he laid his hand over Grace’s abdomen said he was going to have a hard time letting her out of his sight for a while. Val couldn’t blame him.

Ransome ran his fingers through his hair and said, “I’m so sorry.”

“What?” Grace asked, looking mystified.

Val nodded in agreement. “You nearly got kidnapped, Charity got shot, Jessica and her baby have had to hide out— it’s all blow-back from one of our last jobs. We drew Dornan’s crazy ass here.”

Grace waved a dismissive hand and shook her head, a confident grin on her face. “No, Val. Let me tell you, ‘crazy’ has a habit of finding its way to Divine on a regular basis. We’d never hold the two of you responsible for the actions of that lunatic.”

Val shook his head, unwilling to accept her ready explanation. “If this had ended differently, if you’d had no choice but to do what he’d said, if he’d—God forbid—actually killed Charity. That would all be on us.”

Grace reached out and squeezed his forearm. “Talk to Charity about it, okay? I doubt she feels that way and I know I don’t. Jessica sounds like she’s happy to be here with her baby and now she no longer needs to hide. Don’t take on unnecessary guilt, Val. We’re happy you’ve made Divine your home and we wouldn’t trade that for anything.”

Giving Grace an affirming nod, Justin said, “She’s right. And you should already know how Charity feels about that, too.”

The doctor came out and spoke with them about Charity’s injuries. They’d removed the bullet from her upper arm and she’d needed stitches. Because he’d prescribed intravenous fluids and antibiotics, he wanted to keep her overnight.

They followed the doctor back to her curtained cubicle in the emergency room and the knot in Val’s chest finally unfurled when she looked up as the pale blue privacy curtains parted for them. The slow, playful smile on her face said she was feeling very little in the way of pain. “My guys,” she said in a wispy voice. She tried to sit up but the nurse cajoled her into staying where she was.