to be home last night. And Dirty Harry here has a gun.”
Grace’s eyes snapped to Molly. “You just had to tell him.”
Wyatt stepped away from her, and she felt a prick of guilt for exposing him.
“We were worried!” Molly said. “You go off with a stranger—no offense, Wyatt—then you call and tell me he’s carrying, and you don’t show up when you’re supposed to. Not for a whole day! Not a text, nothing. Of course I told him. Of course we were worried. You’re our baby sister.”
Grace let out a low growl.
“And then you come home with a shiner,” Levi added. “What were we supposed to think?”
“I told you, it was an accident. And there was no signal. We would’ve been on time but the bridge on Cut Away Road was flooded. We had to go all the way around. What would you have me do? Send Indian signals?”
Some of the starch left Levi’s shoulders. “Well, we didn’t know all that.”
“You could’ve asked like a reasonable person before you started throwing punches.”
“Agreed. He shouldn’t have done that, especially since the man carries.” Molly nailed Levi with a look. “But in all fairness, we were so worried we called Chief Dalton last night. The police and game wardens were out searching for you, not to mention us.”
Grace palmed her forehead. “You what?”
“Maybe I should just go,” Wyatt said.
Grace grabbed his sleeve. “No. You didn’t do anything wrong. And you’re not finished here.” She faced her siblings. “If you had any idea how this man’s come through for me the last couple days, you’d be thanking him instead of making accusations and punching him in the face, Levi.”
Her brother cupped the back of his neck, his sheepish look bouncing off Wyatt. “Sorry ’bout that, man. Guess I jumped to the wrong conclusion.”
“You think?” Anger churned in Grace’s stomach.
“I’m sorry too,” Molly muttered. “I promise we’re not normally this crazy.”
“Great.” Grace propped her hands on her hips. “Now that that’s settled, we’re going inside to ice his jaw. And you’re going to call Chief Dalton and clear this up.” She marched Wyatt right past them and into the house.
Two hours later, Grace was fed, showered, in her pj’s, and in a much better frame of mind. Her siblings had wisely kept their distance while Grace heated up some chili and cornbread. Wyatt’s jaw didn’t look too bad after being iced. Either her brother didn’t pack much of a punch or Wyatt had jaws of steel.
He’d been tense and guarded with her in the kitchen. She couldn’t blame him. Not only had Grace blabbed to Molly about his gun, but he’d been attacked by his host. He’d continued to make overtures about finding another place to stay, but Grace thought she convinced him to stick around, at least for now.
In her en suite bathroom Grace dragged a comb through her damp hair, wincing as she glanced at her bruised cheekbone. The discoloration and swelling carried to her outer eye, making it look like a shiner. Makeup would help. She hoped.
A knock sounded at the door. Grace straightened from the mirror and went to open it, hoping for Wyatt.
Instead she got Molly, who stepped across the threshold and wrapped her in a hug. “I’m so glad you’re all right. I was so worried, and Levi was too. I know he acted like an idiot, but don’t be too hard on him. Between the two of us, he was the levelheaded one. I was ready to call in the National Guard.”
“Never expected him to go all Rambo on us.” Grace gave in to the hug. Was Levi an alpha male after all and she just never realized it? “I’m sorry I worried you. I shouldn’t have mentioned the gun.”
Molly pulled back. “Why did you?”
Grace led her sister into her room and plopped onto the bed. “I admit I was a little concerned at first, and maybe I wanted someone to know, just in case. But Molly, remember those guys I mentioned, the campers? One of them got me alone and harassed me. Manhandled me, actually, and I thought I was toast. Then Wyatt showed up and . . . let’s just say he took care of the guy—of all three guys. He protected me, and he was really something to see.”
“Wow. That must’ve been scary. Are you all right?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
“That guy—is that how you got this?” Molly touched her tender cheek.
“No, that was—Wyatt was having a nightmare, and I woke him up and startled him.