Page 11 of Rescued Dreams

“I know.” He’d been dragging his feet for that exact reason. He’d also called his mom and talked about her coming home for a few months. “But they have a good college there.” He knew they’d been applying around, finding somewhere they could both land.

Ella said, “They already accepted us.”

Maddie nudged her. “But so did three other schools, so it’s not like we’re locked in.”

“We could all move.” Ridge set his plate on the coffee table and leaned his forearms on his knees. “Get a house there. You guys could go to school in Benson and get your degrees.”

Maddie stared at him, her expression almost brittle. Like it was about to shatter. “This is our home. We didn’t want to leave before, when Mom left, and we don’t want to leave now.”

“I know, kiddo.” Ridge sighed.

“Be a firefighter here. On rescue squad. I thought you liked it.”

He glanced at Ella. “There are some things you don’t understand.”

“You don’t want to work withher,” Maddie said. “Because she broke your heart.”

Ridge shook his head. “It didn’t get that far.”

“But she dumped you.”

“That’s not?—”

“Now you wanna run away. Like when Eric asked Stacey to prom, and I wanted to die…or switch to the high school across town because I couldn’t stand to see either of their faces.” Maddie winced, her eyes glistening with tears.

He’d been home for those two rocky days before the summer, when Maddison had been in bed in tears with a gallon of ice cream and a bag of chocolate chips. No one wanted to relive the Great Eric Firestorm all over again. Considering Ridge’s ankle injury at the time, he hadn’t been able to work out and couldn’t leave the house without Ella driving him. They’d all been trapped with nowhere to go, but they’d survived.

Before he could respond, she continued. “I worked through it. And you need to do the same thing.” She nodded, certain she was right. Her composure back in place. “So we can stay.”

Ella looked at her phone, then at her sister. “They’re here.”

“Who is here?” He scooted to the edge of his seat. “Who else do you have on that location app?” It had better not be more Joshes. “Ella?”

She lifted her chin. “We also can’t leave because this is where our family is.”

They only had Mom and…“Kane?” He glanced between them. “You convinced Kane to back your plan to stay here?”

Maddie’s expression matched her sister’s. “We knew you were serious, so we decided to get serious.”

Ridge strode to the front door and opened it in time to see Kane and his girlfriend Maria coming up the front walk. “So this is a setup?”

“Nah.” Kane grinned. “Just here to tell you we’re engaged.”

Maria lifted her left hand and wiggled her fingers. She looked as happy as anyone had a right to be, a smile spread wide across her face. The woman was gorgeous, all dark features and Hispanic coloring.

Ridge grinned. “Congratulations.” He gave Maria a hug, and she stepped in. He held out his hand to his cousin Kane, and they slapped each other’s backs. “I’m glad she said yes.”

“Me too.” Kane chuckled, twisting between Ridge and the doorframe. “How are my two favorite girls?” He spread his arms wide, and both twins came over to hug him. They hadn’t seen Kane since they were little, and barely remembered him. But since Kane had come back from the dead, and back into their lives, a couple of months ago, he’d become an ally. Even Maria seemed to be part of their little group now.

Ridge said, “All right. Sit, all of you. I still need to eat.” He pointed to the kitchen. “There’s more if you guys are hungry.” He grabbed his plate. “I’m not talking about anything else that’s serious until I’m done with my food.”

Maddie rolled her eyes and looked at Maria, who smiled. Kane’s fiancée said, “My father was the same way after work.”

Maddie leaned against Ella’s shoulder and asked Maria, “Did you figure out your jobs here yet?”

Maria said, “We spoke to a guy in town, Tate Hudson.”

Maddie looked at Ridge, who said, “He’s a private investigator,” then took another bite of pasta. Kane sat on the floor with his back to the couch, handing Maria one of the two bowls he carried.