Page 31 of Wyoming Bodyguard (Sunrise Security #1)

L ily sat in the back of a parked ambulance with a blanket wrapped around her shoulders, but nothing could stop her teeth from chattering as she watched the collapsed barn burn.

Not even Madden’s body heat helped as he kept his arms firmly around her.

“You’ve got to keep the oxygen on your mouth and nose.” A young paramedic gently placed the mask back on her face then checked her heartbeat. The woman’s hair was cut short and pushed away from her round, serious face. “How are you feeling? Any dizziness or nausea?”

Lily drew in a deep breath of the clean oxygen, closing her eyes as it slid into her body and helped push out the toxins.

Opening her eyes, words escaped her as she watched the horse barn she’d spent so much time in continue to burn to ash.

Firefighters circled the damage and doused the persistent flames with streams of water from their giant hoses.

Plumes of smoke covered everything it touched like fog.

The eerie glow cracked and popped, sending embers shooting across the night sky like stars.

“Lily?”

Madden’s soothing voice brought her back to the question lingering in the confined space. Clearing her dry throat, she slid the mask down despite the EMT’s disapproving look. “Sorry. I already told you. I feel okay. Just tired and thirsty. I still can’t believe this happened. Are the horses okay?”

“Dax called and said they’re all tucked in back at Pop’s place. He’ll keep an eye on them.”

The EMT placed a stethoscope on her back. “Deep breaths in and out. I need to listen to your lungs.”

She did as was asked and winced. The burning in her lungs had subsided, but taking the deep breath still took more effort than it should.

“You sound okay.” The woman looped the stethoscope around her neck then placed clammy fingers on her wrist to check her pulse.

“But smoke inhalation is extremely dangerous, and you both have burns that need to be cleaned and examined. Hang tight for a few. I’m going to grab more oxygen and an extra mask for you,” she said, nodding toward Madden.

“Excuse me for a second. When I get back, we’ll head to the hospital. ”

Madden picked up a bottle of water beside him and unscrewed the cap. “Drink this.”

Lily removed the mask, took the ice-cold bottle with a trembling hand and pressed it to her lips.

Cool liquid coated her mouth and glided down her throat.

“It’s a miracle Dax saw the fire from your dad’s and called for help.

Thank God he did, or this could have spread so fast. I could have lost so much more. ”

Madden skimmed his knuckles along her cheekbone. “I could have lost you.”

She folded her hand over his and squeezed. “But you didn’t.”

Tears glittered in his eyes. “It was close. So damn close. I don’t want to diminish any of this,” he said, flicking his wrist toward the chaos around them. “But barns can be rebuilt. Things replaced. If I’d have lost you… Lily, I wouldn’t have survived that.”

“You didn’t lose me, Madden. You saved me.

Without you, I don’t want to think about what would have happened tonight.

” Memories of the terror she experienced in that barn, her fear and sadness, flooded over her.

She’d been ready to accept her fate, but that didn’t mean her heart hadn’t broken at the thought of never seeing Madden again.

“You never have to wonder what would happen without me, Lily. I love you so damn much.” Madden replaced the mask and kissed her forehead. “Now do as you’re told so we don’t get in trouble.”

She smiled as the clean air filtered through her nose. There was more she wanted to say to this man, but she could wait. She told him the most important part, and now they had the rest of their lives ahead of them to say everything else.

The screech of a siren sounded as a second ambulance peeled out of the driveway, taking away Marvin Williamson.

Madden tensed beside her.

Before she could ask him anything, the sound of heavy boots clomping on gravel grew closer. Deputy Sanders approached, his expression twisted in a heavy mask of pain and confusion. “Madden. Lily. Glad you’re both all right.”

Madden gave one, brief nod. “Thanks. It’s been one hell of a night.”

Deputy Sanders snorted and kicked at the ground.

“Did you have any idea about Marvin?” Madden asked, his voice coated in sadness.

“Not a clue.” Deputy Sanders ran a hand over his face.

“God, what the hell was he thinking? He should have come to me. Told me what was going on. I would have helped any way that I could. We all would have. Instead, he took matters into his own hands and ruined countless lives including his own. This will devastate Beth.”

Lily tried to find sympathy for Mrs. Williamson. It was difficult as she sat in the back of an ambulance after suffering at the hands of the woman’s husband. But she understood how it felt to be caught in the crosshairs of someone else’s secrets.

She drew in one more breath of oxygen then lowered her mask. “Mrs. Williamson will have a ton of people rallying behind her just like I did.”

Madden slid an arm around her waist and kissed her temple before returning his attention to Deputy Sanders. “Is Marvin going to make it?”

Her body tensed as she waited for the answer. As much as she hated the hell Mr. Williamson had put her through, she didn’t want his death on Madden’s conscience.

“He’s hanging in there,” Deputy Sanders said. “Not sure if he’ll make it, but if he does, he’ll spend the rest of his life behind bars, along with Jason Simon who just woke from surgery. I’m so sorry all this happened.” Dipping his chin, he walked away, his head bent and shoulders stooped.

Lily let her gaze drift back to the destruction on her property. The flames had died down, and the firefighters were busy packing up their equipment. A weight sat on her chest. “What now?”

“Now we go to the hospital and make sure we’re okay then head home and go to bed.”

She snorted. “That’s not what I meant.”

“I know, but it’s the next step. Then tomorrow we wake up and we take the next one then the next.”

“What if I don’t know what that next step should be?”

“You do. Listen to your gut, Lily. Look at the options. You can do anything you set your mind to, and I’ll be right here to help.”

“As long as I have you, everything else will fall into place. I love you, Madden.” Exhaustion hit her like a brick wall, and she rested her head on his shoulder. The future waited for her to make it whatever she wanted, but right now, everything she could ever want was right beside her.

* * *

Three days later, anxiety rolled around in Madden’s gut. He’d assumed racing into a roaring fire to save the woman he loved would be the most stressful event of his life. But that didn’t hold a candle to standing outside the hospital room of his girlfriend’s father, waiting to see him.

Dax stood beside him with his arms folded across his chest and way too much amusement on his stupid face. “How ya feeling?”

“Fine,” Madden snapped. “I don’t know why you’re even here.”

Despite Madden’s reassurances that Dax could care for the horses, Lily had insisted they visit his father’s ranch every morning to care for her animals.

He’d made her promise to take it easy and was helping Dax himself when the call from the hospital came.

Dax had insisted on driving them, even though Madden still didn’t understand why.

“Moral support for my brother of course.” Grinning, Dax peered through the thin rectangular window on the closed door. “She must be relieved he’s awake.”

Madden’s skin itched, but he couldn’t show his little brother his nerves. “She was shocked when the doctor called this morning. Relieved, yeah, but also anxious. There are a lot of questions that still need to be answered. Hearing them won’t be easy.”

“Sometimes the things we need to hear might not be easy, but they’re necessary. They help us grow and be better versions of ourselves.”

Madden’s jaw dropped. “Where the hell did that bit of wisdom come from?”

Dax shrugged. “Who knows. Don’t expect it to happen again.”

Madden laughed, suddenly grateful to have his brother with him. “I’m nervous, man. I’ve promised Lily that what her father thinks about us won’t change anything, but what if it’s a hurdle we can’t overcome?”

“Bullshit,” Dax said, scratching his chin.

“Excuse me?”

“I get the nerves. The rest is bullshit. You and Lily have been through more in the last few days than most couples have in a lifetime. You two were made for each other, always have been. Her dad’s opinion won’t change that.”

His brother’s no-nonsense response loosened some of the knots in his stomach. “You really think so?”

“You’ll find out soon. Here comes Lily.”

All his nerves settled in the base of his throat and made it hard to breathe.

The door swung open, and Lily offered a tight smile. “You ready?”

“As I’ll ever be.”

Not wanting there to be any doubt of his intentions, he linked his hand with Lily’s and walked into the room.

Mr. Tremont lay in his bed. The tubes were out of his throat, but an IV still pumped fluids into his veins.

The top of the mattress was inclined to help elevate his torso.

His wrinkles were more pronounced than before and his hair mussed, but there was no mistaking the spark of interest in his narrowed eyes.

“Good to see you awake, Mr. Tremont.” Madden nodded in greeting.

“Good to be awake.” The older man hacked out a cough then held out a finger toward the plastic cup of water on his side table.

Lily grabbed the cup and lifted the straw to her father’s lips.

He took a long sip then leaned back on his pillow with a sigh. “Thank you, sweetheart.” He shifted to stare at Madden. “My daughter’s filled me in on a few things. The most important being how you protected her. You saved her life. I’m grateful.”

The curt words were nicer than anything Mr. Tremont had ever said to him, but that’s not what he wanted. Madden wanted his blessing—or at least a commitment to not disapprove—of their relationship. “I’d give my life for her, sir. I love her with my whole heart.”

Mr. Tremont worked his jaw back and forth.

A few seconds of excruciating silence lingered in the room.

“I love her, too. She’s my world. I hate that my actions put her in danger.

I got involved with some bad people to try and save my ranch.

When I couldn’t pay them, I made more bad decisions that put both our lives in danger.

I’ll never be able to express how sorry I am. ”

Lily smoothed a palm over her dad’s arm. “We all make mistakes. What matters is you’re alive.”

“Madden, thank you for keeping Lily safe. She’s going to need you over the next weeks and months as I continue to pay for my crimes.”

“Dad, we don’t have to talk about that now,” Lily said, sniffing back tears. “Your only job is to focus on getting healthy.”

Mr. Tremont patted her hand. “I just want to get everything out in the open while I can. I need to make sure you’re taken care off when I’m not around.”

Madden slipped an arm around her waist and held Mr. Tremont’s stare. “Your daughter is strong. Stronger than me. She doesn’t need me to take care of her, but I’ll stand beside her as long as she’ll let me. I can promise you that.”

“Then I can rest easy.” He closed his eyes. “Lily, tell the deputies I’m ready to talk to them. It’s time.”

“I’ll be back later, Daddy.” Lily kissed his forehead then led the way back out to the hallway where she wiped tears from her cheeks.

“Damn that man. I can’t believe he ever thought working with a drug dealer was the answer to saving the ranch.

No wonder he never let me look at the finances or took any of my suggestions to bring in more revenue.

He was busy peddling drugs around town.”

“If he was using the drug money to keep the ranch afloat, why did he steal cattle?” He hated making Lily retell the transgressions her father had just admitted to, but curiosity got the better of him.

“Daniel dipped into the profits and Jason Simon was hell-bent on making him pay. Dad got the idea to rustle cattle. He and Daniel worked together to steal from ranchers to make enough money to keep their debtors at bay, but when things got worse, Jason Simon decided to take matters into his own hands. He went after Dad before he could find a different way out of his mess. I guess Mr. Williamson connected the dots when things went south.”

Not knowing what to say, he pulled her into his arms and held her tight. “He has a big heart. He just didn’t make the best decisions.”

She melted against him. “And he’ll pay the price. But at least he’s alive. The rest, we’ll figure out as it comes.” She pulled back and stared at him with rounded eyes. “Did you mean what you said? About standing beside me? Even after finding out what my dad has done?”

“Are you kidding me? Love isn’t contingent on anything, especially the deeds of our fathers.

And thank God for that or you and I would never stand a chance.

Pop’s been crucified for years, and your dad did a stupid thing to save his ranch.

They both had their reasons. But we aren’t our parents.

We get to make our lives exactly what we want, and for my life, all I want is to be yours. ”

She grinned through her tears. “And all I want is to be yours.”

Dax came around the corner and shook his head. “My God, could you two be any more adorable? Enough of this sappy crap, please. Can we head home? I’ve got stuff to do.”

“How is it possible I can’t remember a time you weren’t interrupting me and Lily?” Madden asked.

“Just lucky, I guess. Come on. Let’s go.” Dax didn’t wait for a response but started for the exit.

Lily giggled and tugged Madden’s hand to fall in step beside her. “Better catch our ride. I’ll get ahold of the sheriff’s department on the way back to the ranch. Let Dad rest for a little bit before he’s forced to go over everything again.”

“You’re okay leaving?”

“I just want to go home and focus on the good. Besides, we need to figure out what to do with that clean slate. I have a wedding to put on.”

Smiling, Madden squeezed her hand. They walked into the sunny morning filled with hope for a future they would build together.