LITMIR.BIZ

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his gaze down her length once more for injuries. There were none visible aside from the scrapes on her hands.

      “Go,” Cissy insisted, patting his chest. “I’m fine. Go help Amy.”

      “Aunt Cissy?” Kayden ran to her side and reached a hand up to her belly.

      Logan grabbed it and tugged the boy around to face him. “You and your brother go straight to the house and tell Mrs. Betty she’s needed down here right away.”

      Kayden blinked, blue eyes darting over the chaotic fields surrounding them.

      “Kayden.” Logan shook him. “Do you hear me?”

      “Yes, sir.” He motioned to his brother and they ran toward the safety of the main house.

      “Traci, stay with Cissy,” he said. “You’re not to leave her side until your mom gets here. Understand?”

      Traci nodded and wrapped an arm around Cissy. Logan hesitated, stomach dropping as Amy gained more distance.

      Cissy shoved at his chest. “I’m fine. Go.”

      Logan scrambled around in the dirt for the rope. Fisting it, he tore off after Amy.

      She was ahead of him, climbing over the fence. Logan ran faster, slowing as he approached the pasture Amy had entered. Thunder paced at one end, tossing his head and eyeing the chaotic movements of guests. Amy stood several feet away, motionless, with her right side facing Thunder.

      Logan froze. Thunder was scared and confused. And Amy would be no match for a thousand-pound animal that fought to protect itself. If Thunder felt threatened enough to attack...

      She’s dead.

      Logan flinched. Jayden’s innocent whisper from earlier returned, spearing his gut and reverberating in his skull.

      His hands shook. Exactly as they had years ago. The night he’d sat beside Amy’s hospital bed, watching her work her way silently through the dark delivery of their stillborn daughter. Unable to help her. And unable to save their baby girl.

      She’s dead.

      Logan’s heart slammed against his ribs, his eyes blurring. “Get out of there, Amy. Let me handle it.”

      She glanced at Thunder and walked a few steps away from him. “Just give him a minute.”

      Logan frowned and studied her determined expression. She wasn’t leaving that pasture and there was no way he could drag her out without spooking Thunder even more.

      Thunder eyed Amy, jerking his head and shuffling from side to side. Amy moved further away, stopped then murmured words of affection.

      They watched and waited. After several restless movements, Thunder stilled and took a hesitant step toward her.

      She walked a few more steps, slowing as Thunder approached and halted calmly at her side. Amy reached out, stroked Thunder’s forehead with the back of her hand and eased away. She applied and removed her touch on both sides of the stallion, speaking to him in soothing tones.

      A few minutes later, she walked away again. Thunder followed, stepping behind her and waiting for direction. Logan sighed as Amy stroked Thunder’s forehead with one hand and held her left side with the other. A small amount of blood seeped through her shirt.

      “You’re hurt,” he rasped, stomach dropping to his knees.

      “It’s only a scratch.” She glanced at the cut then him. “A nail caught me when I was going over the fence.”

      Logan held her stare, shoulders sagging with relief. The wind rifled through the trees lining the pasture, scattering rust-colored leaves around the fence and sweeping over them in a quiet whisper. Thunder leaned further into Amy’s soothing touch and dropped his head.

      “Good boy.” Amy gently scratched Thunder’s neck, her gaze lingering on Logan’s mouth. “I think we can work with this.”

      Logan’s chest tightened, heat buzzing in his blood at her coy grin. She looked so much like she used to. Vibrant and strong. Eager to gain his approval. Scaring him with her impulsive actions and impressing him in equal measure.

      He smiled. “We’re still a helluva team, yeah?”

      “The best one around,” she said.

      It all rushed in at once. The flirtatious gleam in her eye and confident tilt of her chin. The excitement lighting her expression. Every bit of her as wild and unpredictable as that horse she gentled.

      Logan’s fist tightened around the rope in his hand. He’d never wanted her so much. Had never been more drawn to her. Or, so terrified.

       Chapter Six

      “I told him, I’m fine,” Cissy grumbled.

      She shifted beneath the stark, white sheet covering the exam table and huffed. A strand of blond hair slipped down over her eyes. Cissy batted it back only for it to fall again.

      Amy smiled. She reached out from her seat beside the exam table and tucked it behind Cissy’s ear.

      “I compromise on a lot, Cissy,” Dominic said, pausing his restless movements and leveling a stern look on her. “But I’m not taking any chances with this.”

      Amy winced. It was a wonder Dominic hadn’t worn a hole in the floor with the amount of pacing he’d undertaken over the past hour. At this rate, he’d be in a hospital bed alongside Cissy for high blood pressure.

      Cissy sighed. “There’s no winning with Dominic when he’s in this mood.”

      Amy smiled and squeezed Cissy’s hand. She glanced at Logan hovering in the corner on the other side of the room. He crossed his arms over his broad chest and planted his feet wider apart. There was never any winning with him, either. Both Slade men could bow their back up better than a bull. Dominic had proved as much a few hours earlier.

      After successfully moving Thunder back to his stall, Amy and Logan had returned to the main house to find Dominic bundling Cissy into his truck to make the drive to the nearest hospital. Amy and Logan followed close behind in Logan’s truck, leaving the boys in Betty’s care.

      They’d ended up spending the afternoon and early evening waiting in the emergency room near the revolving entry doors. Dominic’s agitation had grown with each passing hour and remained after they were ushered into an exam room then to an ultrasound lab. He stopped pacing momentarily and crossed the small room to touch a kiss to Cissy’s forehead. “There’s no way we’re leaving here until I know my girls are safe.” His voice lowered and he placed a hand on her belly. “All of them.”

      Logan shifted, dragging a hand over his face and closing his eyes. The dark stubble across his chiseled jaw matched the black night that had fallen outside. His broad shoulders tensed and he maintained his silence.

      Amy’s chest ached. She’d only ever seen him this anxious once before. When she’d been the one in the hospital bed and they’d shared the same worry as Dominic and Cissy. And the outcome had been exactly as they’d feared.

      Logan caught her eyes on him. He drew his head back, composed his features and turned to stare at the open doorway. She couldn’t blame him. This was the last place she wanted to be, too.

      Amy slipped a hand under her sweater to rub the throbbing cut on her side, careful not to dislodge the bandage covering it. A warm dampness met her fingertips and she stifled a wince. It’d been a close call earlier but they’d all been lucky. She just hoped their luck for the day continued a little longer.

      A nurse swept into the room and closed the door behind her. “Sorry for the long wait.” She smiled with apology and sat on a stool by the exam table, tugging a latex glove on each hand with a snap. “It’s been a busy night.”

      Amy’s

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