“You are not doing it,” Selena informed him, never taking her eyes from her work.
“I’m fine!” he protested.
“Nurse’s orders. You are not doing it. In fact, I don’t want you walking around. It’s up to Cal, Amy and Gina. You can tel them where to dig, but then I want you to go back to your cabin and rest. If I find out you so much as picked up a shovel, I’l use it to knock you out again.”
“Fine,” he sighed trudging for the door.
“Ben the Gravedigger of the Tortured Orchard,” Blaire said in a mysterious voice.
Selena’s giggle forced her to stop sewing, and she almost forgot how tragic it al was.
Ben paused to smirk over his shoulder when he reached the door, “I kinda like that.”
“Ben,” Dan cal ed before he could leave. “What did Josie do with the last one?”
He hesitated. “She ... took care of it herself.”
Dan nodded grimly, and Ben went out.
“So much for lightening the mood,” Blaire drawled.
“Al done,” Selena announced. “Blaire, we’l need to rig up a sling.”
“A what?” Dan asked, his eyes widening as he made to stand.
She was ready for it and planted her hand on his good shoulder to hold him down. “You heard me.”
“No. There’s no way I’m walking around with my arm in a sling,” he argued, his eyes narrowing.
“You could stay in bed with it if you’d rather,” she threatened sweetly.
His mouth fel open but no answer came out.
“Gina should be able to get a sling together pretty quick,” Blaire muttered as she bustled out.
“You can’t be serious!” he exclaimed when they were alone.
“What’s the problem? Last time you
did
have to stay in bed for weeks! Your ankle was a mess!”
“That was cut and dry. I was down. I’m not down now.
It’s just a shoulder.”
“Just a shoulder? Wel , just a very important shoulder muscle got sliced. You know, that one that just connects to your col ar bone and just helps you raise and lower your arm,” she informed him severely, folding her arms over her chest. “If you don’t wear a sling, you may never ful y regain its strength.”
His defiance waned and he slumped in defeat. “It’s going to make me nuts. What the hel am I going to do with one arm?”
“You’l manage,” she answered gently. Feeling a wash of sympathy, she reached out to caress his face, drawing his sul en gaze to hers. “I’l just have to do more of the work.”
His expression softened and he kissed her hand.
“At least it’s not your right arm,” she added helpful y.
“What’s the difference?” he grunted.
“Don’t you use your right more than your left?”
He shook his head. “I use them both the same.”
The door opened and Josie stepped in, but hesitated when she realized they were alone.
Dan waved her in.
She leaned against the counter opposite him, looking angry and making no attempt to hide it.
“I’m sorry about your men,” Dan said.
She shook her head, her brows furrowing. “Now I have to question everything. I don’t know how Roark stole their loyalty from me.”
“Answer seems pretty simple. He lied to them. He made them think I was manipulating you and Bil both so I could take over your community. Probably told them I was trying to partner up with you and I was framing him to seal the deal, instead of the other way around. Why else would he have to force Bil to plant the medicine in secret? The other men had to think Roark was innocent.”
Josie and Selena both stared at him in revelation.
“I wouldn’t have let the last two walk away otherwise,” he added.
Selena knew it was true. If she hadn’t been in such a hurry to patch them up, she would have noticed how strange it was that he had just let them leave.
“You’re right,” Josie whispered, raising a hand to cover her mouth as it sunk in.
Selena eyed him, wondering what his prediction for Roark would be. He certainly made it clear this wouldn’t be the last they saw of him, but if he was even a little worried that Roark might ride back to Josie’s camp to stir up trouble, he wouldn’t be sitting here. Dan didn’t look edgy.
He looked somber, and that was natural. Roark, Victor and Jack had evaded him, one in flight, one in death, and one who’d been on the edge of both, but had accomplished neither.
Selena’s thoughts were interrupted when Gina and Blaire came in with some suitable fabric for a sling. He glared at it openly. Gina, on the other hand, seemed thril ed about the whole thing. Thanks to her, Selena was surprised Dan didn’t tel them al to go to hel and take their sling there with them.
The three of them fussed over him, trying to figure out the best way to rig it to support the heavy weight of his arm. He looked like he’d rather endure another stabbing than what they were doing to him now.
The moment Selena was satisfied, he rose to his feet indignantly, and she could tel he was chafing not only physical y under the constriction, but also mental y at the idea of looking like an invalid. Selena couldn’t suppress a giggle at the ridiculousness of such a worry as he towered above them al .
He fixed her with a sul en glare, and she smiled up at him patiently.
“There,” she said, her eyes twinkling. “You’re just as big and dangerous and scary as ever.”
A reluctant smile cleared his gloominess and a deep, gravel y laugh issued from his chest. He reached out to pul her against him with his good arm and kissed the top of her head. She squeezed him back tenderly, drinking in the wonderful safety that she felt at his side. After a moment, they released each other, but only a little. Selena found Blaire’s eyes misty and in Josie’s, she saw not only acceptance, but a renewed inspiration and hope.
“Alright Dan,” Josie said, standing up straighter with a chal enging smile. “When do we start building?”
Author’s Note
Thanks so much for reading my sequel! I hope you
enjoyed it. Without all those encouraging reviews and
recommendations on Surviving Passion, I could not
have written this book. With your continued support
on this novel, I hope to forge ahead into book three,
which I already have outlined. Thanks again!
facebook.com/maiaunderwoodbooks and
www.maiaunderwood.com.
~Maia Underwood