The Montana Marshalls Collection by Warren Susan May

Author:Warren, Susan May
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: SDG Publishing
Published: 2023-10-24T00:00:00+00:00

Ford was going to miss his brother’s wedding.

He’d come to that conclusion within twenty-four hours of arriving in town, when he heard the doctor’s prognosis.

When he saw Scarlett break in front of him.

And sure, Ford had stayed for Gunnar and the gleam the kid got when someone—anyone, probably, but especially Ford—showed him any attention.

And he’d stayed for Sammy-Jo, who needed someone to collect her memories with her, to care that they were fading, turning her world smaller with each day.

He’d stayed, of course, for Scarlett because he didn’t exactly know how he’d cope with leaving behind a mother who might not remember him the next time he returned. Or worse, giving up the one thing he’d worked his entire life for—his career—to return home and watch his mother throw her life away. So he stayed because she needed a friend.

But mostly he stayed because of Axel.

Because the man set his teeth on edge the way he now watched Scarlett’s every movement. He didn’t even bother to hide it from Gunnar, from Sammy-Jo, even from Ford.

Which is why Ford kept the boyfriend card on the table. Why he put his arm around Scarlett just often enough to make it believable without going over any personal lines between them.

Why, after that first night when he’d seen Axel consume an entire six-pack, he’d carried his sleeping bag onto the porch, right under Scarlett’s open window, just in case he heard anything.

Why he’d slept poorly that night, his dreams a poor place for his fears to linger.

And, why he stayed up on the porch, sometimes listening to an audiobook, watching Axel until the man turned off the glow of the television and went to bed.

Truth was, he couldn’t leave her. Because he still heard her voice in his head. Gary.

But for a moment there, at the ball game, he’d nearly bolted. Panicked as his heart pulled a Rambo on him and went renegade, wanting to cast the truth at her feet. I don’t know how I’d do my job without you. I mean I would, but it would…it would stink.

The words almost tipped his lips. And it would stink, but he was a pro and he’d get the job done—Hooyah—even if she wasn’t on the other side, feeding him quiet information. Truth was, he could probably figure out how to do his job without Scarlett. He just didn’t want to.

Worse, he knew how terrible it sounded. Because she was in a no-win situation with her mother, and of course, all he’d thought about was himself.

So, if she decided to leave, he’d suck it up. He didn’t do vulnerable and needy, and his panic belonged in some sappy television show they always got wrong about Navy SEALs. Something that might happen, but no one really wanted to admit.

Still, his brain had tangled up into a mess of catastrophes and left him with nothing but staring at her, trying to figure out what to do next.

Until Gunnar had hit that home run today and he was saved by the seven-year-old.

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