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Laura crouched down and hugged him. “I’m so sorry you had to see that. Let’s make sure you’re all right and then we’ll find out about Jessie, okay?”

“Will you come with me?”

“We’re going to crowd poor Doctor Vivian’s office. But I’ll phone later to find out how you are, okay?”

“’Kay.”

The front door opened and Vivian stepped out, smiling. “Good morning. Come on in. Hi, Luke.” She held out her hand to the little boy.

“She’s so good with kids,” Arlene said while Vivian spoke to Luke. “You go with them, Hayden. I’ll tell Laura what happened before I join you.”

Hayden’s gaze met hers briefly before he turned and walked into the house with Vivian and his son.

“Willow called a few minutes ago,” Arlene said, dabbing at her eyes. “Tim Higgins arrived on the ranch this morning…” She quickly explained what had happened. “Will you excuse me, please? I want to hear what Vivian says.”

“Of course. We’ll talk later.”

With a wave, Arlene disappeared into the house and closed the front door. Molly was now also shivering. “Let’s go home, sweetie. I hope Luke is okay. He’s so pale.”

With her mind racing in circles, she walked home. The house was nice and warm inside. Molly immediately stretched herself in front of the fire.

Laura couldn’t settle down. The long list of things she should be doing was out of her mind. All she could think about was Luke. He was so pale. And then there was the memory of Hayden’s arms around her, his warm breath on her neck. The whole incident probably only lasted a few seconds, but she remembered everything.

With a groan, she walked toward the kitchen. Warm tea sounded nice. She couldn’t believe what Tim Higgins had done. If she remembered correctly, he was the same man who’d hit Hayden at the Winter Ball. The guy was obviously unstable. Why would he do something like that?

While the kettle heated, she looked out of the window. Hayden’s truck was still parked in Vivian’s driveway and there was no sign of Arlene.

*

It was onlywhen they were leaving Vivian’s office that Hayden’s heart settled down. He’d convinced himself Luke had somehow been injured and had waited for Vivian to give the verdict. Why was his son so pale?

He’d been really scared, Vivian explained, but she’d checked all his vitals and was satisfied that his heart rate and his blood pressure were fine, and he wasn’t in shock. Apart from a scrape on his one knee, he was unharmed. The color had returned to his face and over the last few minutes, he’d stopped asking about Jessie.

Just then, his phone rang. It was Cooper.

“That’s Uncle Coop,” Luke said, without looking at Hayden’s phone. “Jessie will be okay.”

“Hi, Coop,” Hayden answered.

“Jessie is fine,” Cooper said. “But I have an idea Luke knows that.”

Resignedly, Hayden shook his head. “I’m not even going to ask how you know or he knows, but he’s just told me.”

“And Luke’s okay?”

Hayden chuckled. “He’s okay. Next time, I’ll skip going to the doctor and just ask you or Willow.”

“What about you?”

“What about me?”

“Still grumpy?”

Hayden glanced in the direction of Laura’s house. Those few seconds he’d held her in his arms would forever stay in his heart, but nothing had changed. Everything inside him was urging him to go to her, talk to her, kiss her, but he couldn’t give her what she wanted.

“Nothing has changed. We’re on our way.”

“You sure you don’t need to make another stop?” Cooper asked.