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“No.”
“But he said—”
“It doesn’t matter what he says. What matters is what I’m telling you now: I will do everything in my power to take care of what I need to do and meet you in Texas in time to start your rehab.”
“Well, let me help, and you can go with me instead of –”
“No. Riggs, listen to me. This isn’t the time you can help me.”
“Will there come a time I can?”
“That’s very possible,” she leaned over to take his free hand. “And I pray you’ll come if I call.”
“You know I will. Tell me what you want me to do.”
“Save me.”
“Save—save you?”
She nodded, and he lifted her hand to kiss her knuckles. “I promise.”
Georgie smiled at him. “My hero. And just so there’s no confusion, I love you. I want you to know that. You are literally my first and, I suspect, my last love. I want more than anything to make a life with you and Robby in Texas.”
“What about your career?”
“I’ll get a new one. And it no longer matters. I want to be with you.”
“I love you, Georgie, and that’s the first time I’ve spoken those words to a woman and genuinely meant them. But I do love you and want to build a life with you. I can retire, become a rancher, and we can create a good life.”
“I want that too.”
“Then go do what you need to do and come to Texas.”
“That’s the plan.” She stood and leaned over to kiss him. It was a long, slow, gentle kiss that conveyed feelings of love, tenderness, and passion kept in check.
“I’ll see you soon.” Georgie gave him another quick kiss, kissed Robby’s cheek, and then turned for the door.
When she opened it, Josh basically bullied her out of the way and stepped into the room. “Just so we’re clear, Mr. Walker. She’s my fiancé and I fully intend for her to be my wife. I won’t let you ruin our happiness and break her heart.”
Josh took Georgie’s hand and tugger her closer.“Say goodbye, sweetheart.”
She looked directly at him, then turned and left the room, passing by Naomie and Russell. They entered, giving Georgie and Josh bewildered looks. “What’s going on?” Russell asked.
“I wish the hell I knew,” Riggs replied, reaching for his phone when it chimed, signaling an incoming text.
He looked to see a delivery receipt beneath a text from his phone.“Everything is on go for the surgery,” he announced, then mumbled something and looked at Naomie. “And maybe you can shed some light on this?”
“This what?”
“ A text sent from my phone within the last ten minutes that reads,This is it. The scenario you don’t like. I now know what to do. It’s all in a file titled Take Out the Trash on our shared cloud drive. I’ll contact you when I can. It will be fine. But like you taught me, always have a backup plan in case it doesn’t. So, if it doesn’t go well, locate the chip you put in me. I love you.
Having finished reading the text, he looked up at Naomie. “You want to tell me what that means?”
Naomie looked from him to his father and back again. “It means sometimes a person has to step up to protect the people they love. I’m sure the file she mentioned will reveal everything, but you need to know that she believes with her whole being that she’s protecting you and Robby.”
“Then why did she say if she called, she hoped I’d come.”
“Come to do what?” Russell asked.