Courtney walked up and leaned down. She whispered in my ear, “You’re causing him to worry about you, Whit. Please go with Reed. I’ll wait here until you come back.”

I nodded and reached for Reed’s hand.

I walked over and bent down to kiss Layton. “I love you so much. I’ll be back soon, I promise you.”

Layton let out a small laugh. “Baby, go get some food, and please get a few hours of sleep. I know you’re not leaving me. I’ll be here, promise,” he said with a wink.

I gave him one more quick kiss good-bye before walking out with Reed. As we walked by the nurses’ station, I saw the police officers.

“Oh wait, Reed—”

Reed grabbed me tighter and kept walking. “He’s fine, Whit. Courtney is there. Come on, let’s go to Chick-fil-A. I’m starving.”

I watched them walk into Layton’s room with the nurse. As the elevator doors closed, I let out the breath I had been holding, and I walked right into Reed’s arms and cried.

“I don’t think I could listen to him talk about what happened. Oh God, Reed. He almost died. What if he hadn’t gotten there when he did, and Roger—”

Reed began stroking my hair as he said, “Shh…Whitley, it’s over. Sweetheart, it’s all over now. You never have to worry about him again. Layton made sure of that.”

I sat down on the hotel bed and looked around. For one brief moment, I panicked. I jumped up, ran to the bedroom door, and pulled it open. Reed was sitting on the sofa, watching TV.

He got up and ran over toward me. “What’s wrong?”

“Um…nothing. For a second, I just thought I was alone, and I don’t want to be alone.”

Reed smiled and sat back down on the sofa. “I’m not going to leave you, Whit. I promise.”

“Reed?”

“Yeah?”

“Would it be inappropriate if I sat on the sofa with you and slept? I just don’t want to be in a bed all alone, and…” I felt my throat tighten up as I tried to hold back my tears.

Reed smiled as he moved over and grabbed the blanket sitting at the end of the sofa. “Come on, baby girl. I made my own promise to Layton to always protect you when he wasn’t around. He’d kick my ass if he knew you were scared, and I let it go.”

I giggled as I sat down and curled up next to Reed. I started to think of Courtney and how she was in love with Reed but wouldn’t admit it.

“Can I ask you a question, Reed? And you can tell me to mind my own business.”

He let out a small laugh. “Go for it.”

“How do you feel about Courtney? I mean, what are your feelings for her?”

I felt him take a deep breath and slowly let it out.

“I’ve never in my life met a girl like her. She’s so confident in herself, yet she seems unsure of herself sometimes, too. She’s so damn beautiful, inside and out, but she makes me madder than hell. She’s stubborn, and she’s a smart-ass. But I lie in bed every night and wonder how I could have let her slip away from me. I hate that my pride kept me away from her. It kept me from just telling her that I…” His voice trailed off.

I looked up at him. “That you, what?”

“That I love her. I think I’ve loved her since the moment I laid eyes on her. It’s just that I’ve made so many mistakes in my life, Whitley. I’m no angel, and I just feel like I’m not good enough for her. She could do so much better than me.”

I pulled back and sat up. I crossed my legs and just stared at him. “Reed, first off, no one is perfect, and we’ve all made mistakes. I can tell you that Courtney is no angel herself, but she has a good heart, and she tries her damnedest to be a good person. I know you’re the same way. I’ve never met anyone who would do anything for his friends with no questions asked, like you do. Reed, if I asked you right now to give me the shirt off your back, I know you’d say okay and not think twice about it. Don’t let your past stand in the way of your future. What’s in the past is meant to stay in the past. Trust me…I know.”

He smiled and pushed my shoulder back. “Layton is one lucky son of a bitch. I’m so glad y’all found each other. But I think it’s too late for Courtney and me. Too much has been said between us. Besides, she’s with Mitch, and she seems to be…very happy with him.”

He frowned, and I swore I saw tears in his eyes.

“Reed, don’t give up. Trust me, I know Courtney cares about you…a lot.”

Reed’s eyes lit up, and he smiled. “Yeah?”

I smiled as I nodded. “I’m probably breaking some kind of sisterhood code by telling you this, so you have to swear this stays between us.”

Reed sat up straight and nodded as he used his index finger to cross his heart. “I promise. My lips are sealed.”

I took a deep breath and let it out. “Courtney is confused, really confused.”

He tilted his head and scrunched up his nose. “Okay…about what?”

I rolled my eyes. Men—everything has to be explained in full detail.

“She’s confused because she has feelings for both you and Mitch. She loves you, Reed…but she’s also slowly falling in love with Mitch, and that confuses her. Mitch is her safe choice.”

Reed’s face fell. His eyes filled with sadness, and a part of me was wondering if I should have just kept my mouth shut.

“Her safe choice? She thinks I’m going to hurt her? How?”

I took another breath. I wished to God I had just fallen asleep and not started this conversation. “I’m not really sure, but I think she thinks you’re a player. Something happened to Court in high school, and she changed. She began not trusting any guy. I mean, none. I never could get her to tell me what happened. She’s so scared of being hurt that she’ll never give her heart fully to anyone. But with you…I think she would hand you her heart in a second, and that scares the shit out of her.”

Reed looked away for a few seconds. “What do I do? She’s with Mitch, and he’s a friend. I won’t do that to him. And then, there’s Anna.”

“Do you have strong feelings for her?” I asked.

“I did, once. She’s probably the only other girl besides Courtney who I’ve felt like I wanted to really be with. I was crushed when she left for college, but—”

“But, what?”

“What I feel for Courtney is so different than anything I’ve ever felt before for anyone, even Anna. Half the time, when I’m with Anna…I’m thinking of Courtney. I mean, I know we’ve only been out a few times, but that night she stayed with me…I kept thinking…ah shit, I’m such a fucking dick.” He shook his head and let out a sigh.

I put my hand on his shoulder. “Did you sleep with her, thinking it would hurt Courtney if she found out?”

He shook he head. “No. I mean, in a way, I was hoping it would make her jealous. I wanted to be with Anna…I really did. At least I used to dream of being with her, but the whole time…I couldn’t stop thinking of Courtney. I’d close my eyes and…” His voice trailed off. “That’s not fair to Anna. I know that. The last thing I want to do is hurt her.”

I snuggled back up next to him as he leaned back onto the sofa.

“I’m so confused, Whitley, because I don’t want to give up something with Anna to chase someone who won’t ever want me in her life…or give me a chance to be in her life.”

I nodded. “I understand, Reed, but if you truly love Courtney, don’t give up.”

Reed let out a long sigh. “Get some sleep, Whit. I’ll set my alarm in case I fall asleep, so we can head back up to the hospital in a few hours.”

I slowly felt my body relaxing for the first time in four days. “Mmm, okay.”

As I drifted off to sleep, I saw Layton’s face. I could almost feel his love wrapping around my body, keeping me warm and safe.

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Layton

As I rode up toward the house in the ranch truck, I saw Whitley standing out front, talking to someone. It had been two months since the whole Roger incident, and even though he was in jail, my heart still stopped anytime I saw Whitley talking to a stranger. I knew the moment she saw me, she was going to be pissed that I had taken off.

All this sitting around is killing me. I’m bored out of my fucking mind and ready to do manual work, something with my hands.

As I drove by, making my way down toward the barn, Whitley glanced over and waved. I knew she would ask a ton of questions. I’d told Mitch to tell her I was going to mend a fence even though I knew that would piss her off. I couldn’t tell her what I had really done.

As I was walking toward the house, Whitley came around the side of the house, laughing at something the guy had said to her. I instantly didn’t like him. I didn’t like the way he was looking at her.

Jesus. Calm the hell down, Layton. She’s a beautiful woman, and men are going to look. Get over it.

She walked up to me, and the smile she gave me caused my heart to skip a beat. I smiled back as I leaned down and kissed her gently on the lips.

“Hey, baby.” I looked up and reached my hand out to the stranger standing in front of me. “Layton Morris.”

“Mr. Morris, my name is Robert Mitchel. I represent a law firm in New York and Chicago.”

Oh great. Watch that motherfucker Roger try to sue me for beating the shit out of him.

“I guess I can see the whole lawyer thing now with the briefcase and all. Listen, if this is about Roger and—”

Whitley put her hand on my arm. “It’s not about Roger. Mr. Mitchel is being very secretive, but I can tell you it’s not about Roger at all.”

“Is there somewhere we can go to sit down, Mr. Morris?”

“Am I being sued?”

Mr. Mitchel let out a laugh and shook his head. “No. No, sir, you’re not being sued.”

I started walking toward the back door. “Then, come on in for a glass of sweet tea. It’s a beautiful December day, and the heat has made me thirsty for some tea.”

Whitley grabbed my arm. “Where did you go? Are you in any pain?”

I smiled as I leaned down and whispered in her ear, “The only pain I feel is the pain of not being inside you right at this moment.”

Her face blushed as she pushed me gently away.

We got inside, and Mr. Mitchel sat down at the table in the kitchen as Whitley got out three glasses. I took out the sweet tea from the fridge and poured us each a glass. As I sat down, I gestured for him to start talking.

“Well, Mr. Morris, I’m afraid I’m here on some rather disheartening business. My law firm, um…we represent your father.”

My heart dropped to my stomach, and Whitley reached for my hand.

“What has he done? Has he gotten into some kind of trouble?” I asked, trying to force the lump down my throat.

Mr. Mitchel looked away and then back at me as he shook his head. “Mr. Morris, your father passed away a few weeks ago. He’d left specific instructions for all of this information to be hand-delivered to you in person, here in Texas. I’m so very sorry to be the one to break this news to you. I understand that you and your father had a strained relationship.”