Kurt drove as fast as he could. Will was quite a bit taller than Kate and Jane, and he had them both by a hundred pounds. He might even have a gun he’d be willing to use. A lot of people in Montana owned firearms, especially single men who lived out in the country. Kurt could easily see Jane trying to step in to save her sister, and...
He forced his mind away from the gruesome picture his thoughts were painting. That there was even the potential for that kind of violence enraged him.
By the time he reached Will’s house, which he’d been to once, years ago, for a poker party, there was so much adrenaline pouring through him he didn’t even turn off his engine. He shoved the gearshift into Park, jumped out and left his truck running with the keys inside.
He’d called the cops before leaving the ranch, but he lived fairly close to Will, while the police station was in town. No one in law enforcement had reached the scene.
The door of Will’s house stood open. As Kurt ran across the driveway, he could see a rectangle of light falling onto the porch.
He took the four steps to the landing two at a time. But then he stopped. He wouldn’t be able to help Jane or Kate if he barged in like an idiot and got shot.
Pressing himself to the outside of the house, he leaned around the doorway so he could retain some cover while peering in.
There didn’t seem to be anyone in the living room—certainly no one he could see. He could hear Will swearing and calling Kate or Jane terrible names, and he could hear Kate’s voice, higher in pitch than usual, screaming back at him.
“You started this!”
“You’re the one who came over here, thinking you could do whatever you want in my house!”
“Stop. Everyone please...just stop!”
That last comment came from Jane. He recognized her voice and was instantly relieved. God willing, he’d arrived before the situation had gotten too bad.
“Jane?” he called. “Kate?”
“We’re back here,” Jane yelled, and he followed the sound of her voice to the main bedroom.
He wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting, but it certainly wasn’t what he saw. Jane had blood on her face, but it was Will who was lying on the floor, acting like he couldn’t get up. Kate was kneeling next to him, her cheeks streaked with tears, and Jane was standing over them both, wielding a frying pan.
“Are you okay?” he asked. Because he was most concerned about Jane, his eyes locked with hers first.
Dropping the pan onto the floor, she burst into tears and ran into his arms. “I hit him,” she said. “We need to call an ambulance.”
“I don’t need an ambulance,” Will said, but he winced as he spoke and seemed too unsteady to get up.
“I was scared,” Jane explained. “He had a hold of Kate’s hair and was dragging her around. I...I thought he might hurt her—he was hurting her.”
“You didn’t have to hit him!” Kate said. “He was just mad.”
Kurt blinked in surprise. “You’re taking his side?” he said to Kate. “After what he’s done to you?”
“No,” she said but seemed to realize a second later that she had been sticking up for him. “She could’ve killed him. She hit him with that thing.” She gestured at the frying pan. “You don’t hit someone with that!”
“You do if you’re trying to defend yourself,” he said before Jane could respond. “You do whatever’s necessary.”
“But he wasn’t doing anything to her!” Kate argued. “It was me he had a hold of.”
“She was trying to protect you!” he yelled.
Will managed to lift himself up onto his elbows. “I feel woozy.”
Jane winced. “I want to go home. I might be sick.”
“I’ll take you,” Kurt told her, but they heard a siren outside, coming closer, and by the time they reached the porch, a squad car was parking behind Kurt’s truck, blocking him in.
Ross Smith, someone Kurt had known in school, hopped out. “What’s going on?”
Kurt led Jane down the steps to meet him. “Domestic disturbance.”
“I think I’m going to need a little more information than that.”
Kurt hated to say too much. He didn’t want to get Jane in trouble. None of this was her fault. But if Kate minimized what her ex-boyfriend had done, it could be that Jane’s actions would seem unwarranted. “Will got physical with Kate. Jane was afraid he was going to hurt her, so she hit him over the head with a frying pan to get him to let go of her. That’s the gist of it.”
“You hit him over the head with a frying pan?” Ross echoed, addressing Jane.
She wiped the tears from her cheeks. “That was all I could think of at the time. I panicked, didn’t know how to stop what was happening any other way. He wouldn’t listen to me. He was shouting too loudly. Besides, he pushed me first.”
Ross lowered his voice. “Pushed you?”
“Yes. I fell and hit my mouth on the concrete,” she told him, showing him her cut lip.
“Are you okay?”
She nodded.
Ross winced as he scratched his neck. “Is he?”
“I think so,” Kurt said.
“I wasn’t trying to hurt him,” Jane assured him. “I just...had to get him off my sister.”
“Someone should take him to the emergency room and have him checked out—in case he has a concussion,” Kurt said.
“I’ll definitely keep that in mind.” Ross pointed back at them as he moved into the house. “Don’t go anywhere.”
Kurt wanted to take Jane to the ranch, where he could comfort her and reassure himself that she was okay. He’d always known, especially lately, that he liked her. But the level of panic he’d felt when he thought she might be in harm’s way surprised him. “It’s getting late, and we both work tomorrow. Why can’t we leave?”
“Because I may want to talk to you again,” Ross replied.
Kurt frowned. “You know where to find us. It’s not like we’re going to skip town.”
“Like I said, you’re not going anywhere,” he reiterated and went inside.
It was chilly out as they stood on the porch, but Kurt could easily guess it was more than the temperature that was making Jane shiver. She was reacting to the violence. He lifted her chin to get a better look at her mouth and wiped away a trickle of blood. “Looks like you still have all your teeth.”
“Thank God. When I fell, I thought I’d at least chipped one.”
Kurt felt himself tense. Will was lucky he was already subdued. Otherwise, Kurt would’ve been tempted to do a lot more than Jane had. “Doesn’t look that way. Are any loose?”
“No. Physically, I’m fine. Just rattled. That fight erupted so fast...”
“I’m glad you called me.” He pulled her against him, rubbing her arms to help keep her warm. He thought she might resist getting that close to him for fear Kate would come out and see them, or another police officer they knew would pull onto the scene. But she didn’t. She closed her eyes and rested her head on his shoulder as if she was infinitely relieved to see him.
“I’ve got you,” he whispered, kissing her forehead. “Everything’s going to be okay.”
Kurt was solid and warm and caring. Jane considered it fortunate she’d accidentally dialed his number because the police were not nearly as sympathetic to her. After asking them to come back inside the house, Ross had them take a seat in the living room with Kate and a wobbly Will, who’d used the walls to help him stay on his feet. Ross asked each of them to explain what’d happened.
“They showed up at my house, accusing me of stealing her necklace, and I don’t have it,” Will said. “I tried to tell them that, but they got pushy.”
“Pushy!” Jane exclaimed. “You’re the one who shoved me. How do you think I cut my mouth?”
“That was an accident,” he responded sullenly. “I wasn’t trying to hurt you, and you know it.”
“Well, you did hurt me. Then you started in on Kate. Tell Officer Smith about that, Kate.”
Kate covered her face and hung her head.
Jane felt a flicker of panic. “You’re not going to say anything?”
“I don’t know what to say,” her sister mumbled.
“You had no right to hit me,” Will said, then glared at Kurt. “She’s lucky I didn’t deck her.”
“So are you,” Kurt said. “Because you’d be hurting a lot worse right now if you had.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Will tried to get up but groaned and fell back onto the couch instead.
“I’m sure you can figure it out,” Kurt snapped.
Ross lifted one hand in the classic stop position. “That’s enough. There’s been too much trouble already.”
“I should never have come over here,” Kate said as though she was speaking to herself.
Jane caught her jaw before it could hit her lap. “What about your necklace? The one Mom gave you? I thought you were sure it was here, that he was keeping it from you. Did you find it?”
Will piped up before she could answer. “No. I don’t have it, like I tried to tell both of you before you caused this mess.”
Jane regretted going here with Kate. She’d come to offer support and had broken up an ugly scene, and yet her sister seemed almost as angry with her as Will did. What did they expect her to do? Let the fight continue? She’d had no idea what he might do! “Then where is it?”
“I don’t know,” Kate admitted.
“Not here,” Will reiterated.
Kate began to rub her forehead. “Maybe I lost it in the move.”
Jane gaped at her sister. Now she showed some doubt?
“How are you feeling?” Officer Smith asked Will. “Why don’t I drive you over to the hospital? The rest of you can go home and get some rest. We’ll see how everyone feels in the morning.”
“I already know how I’ll feel,” Will said. “She hit me over the head with a frying pan. I’ll feel like shit, and I want to press charges.”
“You assaulted me first!” Jane cried.
“This was all so stupid,” Kate said.
Jane gave her a dirty look. “He was dragging you around by your hair!”
“I wasn’t hurting her,” Will insisted.
She’d been screaming, and it hadn’t looked good. Whether he was actually hurting her or not was beside the point. He didn’t have the right to lay hands on her. Jane expected Kate to speak up and say as much, but she didn’t. “Thanks for standing beside me,” she grumbled.
Kate stiffened. “I never asked you to hit him!”
“I did it because he was hurting you!”
“That’s enough,” Ross repeated, putting up both hands this time. “Will, let’s go.”
Instead of getting up, Will scooted lower and covered his eyes with one hand as if the light was hurting them. “I’m not going to the hospital. Why spend the money that’ll cost when there’s nothing they can do for a concussion?”
“To be safe,” Ross said.
“I’m fine.”
Ross rested his hands on his utility belt. “How do you know?”
“It’s just a bump on the head.”
“Go to the hospital,” Kate muttered.
His eyebrows drew together as he glanced over at her. “No way. I’m not going—unless Jane’s paying the bill.”
Feeling defeated, Jane sighed. “Fine. I’ll pay for it.” After all, he could be truly injured. She couldn’t risk having him refuse to seek medical help.
“No, you won’t,” Kurt argued. “It’s his own fault he’s hurt, not yours.”
“I’ll stay over tonight to watch him,” Kate said. “If he starts to throw up or act weird, I’ll take him to the hospital.”
That seemed like the perfect solution, except that Jane didn’t want Kate around Will. She was afraid they’d get back together, and she no longer believed Will to be a good guy. If he could cheat on Kate like he did, and then drag her around the house by her hair...
But she was so upset by how Kate was reacting, she didn’t argue. She didn’t think it would do her any good, anyway.
“Sounds good to me,” Kurt said, getting up.
It was only then that Kate seemed to register the fact that someone was at the house who didn’t really belong. “What are you doing here?” she asked Kurt, sounding confused.
Jane hurried to answer before Kurt could. “It was an accident. I...I was trying to call for help, but I was so panicked I was hitting the wrong buttons, and somehow Kurt answered the phone.”
Kate’s eyes slid from her to him and back again. “And he came? Right away?”
“Of course,” he said. “I didn’t want anyone to get hurt.”
“There’s something odd about this. I mean, that you, of all people, would show up to save the day?”
“She reached me by accident,” he clarified. “But I live close, so I hurried over to see if I could help.”
“That’s not all of it,” Kate said. “The way you’ve been looking at her—like you’ll go after anyone who threatens her... What you said to Will when he said he should’ve decked her.” She peered closely at them. “You’re not seeing each other or anything like that, are you?”
Jane caught her breath. They’d been sleeping together. Jane assumed that qualified for a category called “anything like that.”
“I just came to help,” he said, avoiding the question altogether and moving to the door. “Come on, Jane. I’ll give you a ride so Kate will have a car.”
Jane let her breath seep out before she agreed. “Okay.”
Officer Smith seemed to be waiting for them to leave first, just to be sure there’d be no more trouble tonight. And Kate didn’t try to stop them. But now that she suspected there was more going on between them than she’d realized, Jane knew there’d be more questions to answer later.
And what if she was pregnant?
“You okay with going to the ranch with me?” Kurt asked after they’d waited for Officer Smith to follow them out and move his car so they could back out of Will’s drive. He knew Kate wouldn’t be going home, since she was staying with Will, but that would leave their grandfather alone.
Jane surprised him by nodding.
“Your grandfather will be safe?”
She pulled her phone out of her purse, seemed to think twice about whatever she was going to do and looked over at him. “Can we just swing by to check on him? Make sure he made it to bed and we can take Otis out one last time?”
“Of course.” It wasn’t on the way, but Kurt was so pleased Jane was willing to go home with him he certainly didn’t mind driving over there. When they got to the house, she even let him come inside.
“Hey, Papa,” she said as she held the door for Kurt to follow her.
“There you are,” her grandfather said. “I’ve been worried about you.” The old guy ignored Kurt; he was too worried about the injury Jane had sustained. “What happened to your lip?”
She reached up to touch where her lip was cut and swelling. “Oh, I...bumped into a door.”
He started to get up. “Let me get you some ice.”
She waved off his concern. “No, it’s fine.”
“Where’s Kate?” he asked, falling back into his seat as if it was too much effort to get up unless she would allow him to get the ice.
“Kate is going to stay somewhere else tonight,” Jane said. “And I’m going to go have a drink with Kurt—”
“Isn’t it a little late for that?” he broke in.
She glanced at the clock on the wall over the fireplace. “It’s only eleven. But that’s past your bedtime, so let me help you to your room.”
The TV was still on, but Jane’s grandfather seemed disoriented enough that Kurt guessed he’d fallen asleep before they got there, and they’d awakened him when they came in. He bent to pet the dog, which had to be Otis, who’d come over to sniff him and say hello.
“I could wait up for you, watch another show,” he offered.
“No,” she said. “I wouldn’t be able to have any fun if I was worried about you sitting here for too long. Besides, you need your rest.”
He allowed her to take the remote from his hand. “Who’s your friend?” he asked when he finally noticed Kurt crouching down with Otis.
“This is Kurt Elway. He’s going to take Otis out while I get you to bed. You know his parents, Derrick and Jeanie,” Jane said, trying to help orient him. “You used to buy beef from them.”
“Oh, yeah. This is one of their kids?”
“I’m the second youngest of the four boys,” Kurt volunteered as he straightened and stepped forward to shake hands.
Her grandfather still had a strong grip. “What are you doing with my Jane?” he asked.
“I’m just...” Kurt cleared his throat. “I’m just going to take her out for a drink.”
The old man gave him a stern look. “Make sure you bring her back safely.”
Kurt tried not to smile too widely. “I will, sir.”
Jane chuckled when he addressed her grandfather as “sir,” and he grinned back. Then he took the dog out while the two of them disappeared down the hall.
“You don’t need any help, do you?” he called out when he brought the dog inside.
“No, we’re okay,” she yelled back.
He could hear voices even though he couldn’t make out the words. Then Jane came into the room with a small overnight bag. “You’re staying the whole night?” he asked in surprise.
“Won’t that be better than making you get up to drive me home? Will I be able to slip out in the morning without any of your brothers noticing?”
“They’ll be on the ranch by the time you’re ready to leave. I’ll have to be there with them at first light, but I’ll come drive you to the store whenever you text me.”
“Okay,” she said and let him take her hand as they walked to his truck.
Jane couldn’t sleep. After what’d happened, she was too wound up, too angry at Kate for being more sympathetic to the man who’d cheated on her and dragged her around his house by the hair than the sister who’d been trying to protect her. But the warmth of Kurt’s body in the bed beside her felt comforting. She liked listening to the steady metronome of his breathing, too. They’d made love before he dropped off—a sweet but intense coupling that’d been far more satisfying that it should’ve been, given the distance she was trying to maintain between them. She was beginning to crave his body, she realized. She was also starting to crave his presence and the sound of his voice and the sight of his smile—and all of that was making her think. Could there be more between them? Was she rejecting the idea that they could become a couple for all the wrong reasons?
She hadn’t wanted to hurt Kate. She still didn’t. But she was feeling less inclined to sacrifice a relationship that could be fulfilling for her after how Kate had just behaved. That incident with Will proved how much she still cared about her ex. She couldn’t have dibs on Kurt, hold him in reserve, indefinitely. That wasn’t fair. Kate wouldn’t be happy to see them get together, and Jane had no idea how she’d react or just how mad she’d get, but she was beginning to worry more about what it might mean for her own future. If she could get over the stigma of his age and dating one of her younger sister’s previous love interests, could she also get over her desire to leave Coyote Canyon? Could she be happy here indefinitely if she were to get married and have a kid? Was Kurt even ready for something like that?
“You okay?” he muttered when she shifted.
“Yeah.”
He didn’t speak again, just pulled her into the cradle of his body and drifted back to sleep.
Jane heard someone else in the house. A door closed and a toilet flushed. But she wasn’t alarmed. That she was in Kurt’s bed would surprise his brothers as well as almost everyone else in town. But it felt as though she was right where she belonged.