His Old-Fashioned Love (Old-Fashioned Series) (18 page)

She pretty sure she’d rather have had the paddle.

*****

Brax came around to the passenger side of his truck to help Holly down. They were
coming to the end of their three weeks together. She had a ticket booked to fly back to Houston tomorrow and he really didn’t want her to go.

If he had his way, very soon they would be spending every night in each other’s arms. He patted his pocket, nervously worried he’d
lose the engagement ring he’d chosen for her. Tonight was the night he was going to propose.

“You okay?” she asked as they walked through the parking lot to
Macy’s. Maybe he should have taken her to Waco, but he didn’t want to drive all that way. Not when she had an early flight in the morning.

“I’m f
ine,” he replied.

“Are you sure? Y
ou seem rather quiet.”

He turned to look at her just as her eyes widened, a look of fear crossing her face.
He tried to swing around, to face the threat, but he never made it as blinding pain engulfed him.

Holly sat in the chair by Brax’s bedside, holding on tight to his free
hand. His other arm had all sorts of tubes and contraptions attached to it. Why wouldn’t he wake up? She couldn’t believe that just last night they’d been on their way to dinner and now Brax was lying unconscious in a hospital bed in Waco.

If only she’d seen
Mason Philips a few seconds earlier, she could have warned Brax in time. Instead Philips had managed to hit him with a tire iron. Holly had watched on in horror as Brax’s eyes had rolled back in his head before he’d dropped heavily to the ground.

That’s when she’d started screaming.
Philips had run off as she’d kneeled beside Brax, her hands shaking, sobs wracking her body as fear engulfed her.

“Holly?”
She glanced up, startled to see a large man standing in the doorway. He was dressed in dark jeans and a green shirt. His eyes looked Brax over in concern. “I’m Heath, Brax’s brother. How is he?”

Holly stood nervously. She
hadn’t met any of Brax’s family yet. She knew she had to look terrible, her eyes were swollen from crying, her clothes wrinkled. Not that any of that really mattered. Not with Brax lying unconscious.

She’d called Heath an hour ago,
having decided to wait for a semi-decent hour to wake him, knowing he had young children. Brax had spoken about his family a lot. She was envious of the close relationship he had with them and she knew he’d want them here.

“Thank you for coming.” She reached out a hand, but he surprised her by pulling her close and hugging her.

“Of course I came. He’s my brother. You should have called me straight away.” The last sentence was a definite reprimand. He pulled away to give her a stern look.

“Sorry, I wasn’t really sure what was going on for a start and then it took me a while to find his phone
to call you. He hasn’t woken up yet. The doctor said that it’s really just a waiting game. He has some swelling in his brain and there’s nothing much anyone can do until it goes down.”

H
e raised a brow. “But I could have been here to support you.”

She took a half step back in surprise. “M-me? I don’t need anything.”

“No? Have you gotten any sleep? Have you eaten at all? You didn’t get dinner last night, did you?”

When she’d called
Heath, she’d explained everything. Including how Mason Philips had run off like a coward. She hoped when they caught him that he spent a long time in jail.

“No,
I haven’t, but I’m not hungry.”

Heath sighed and looked over at his brother, moving to his
other side.

“The doctor’s due
back here in a few hours. They’re hoping the swelling will go down soon. I just can’t believe this happened.”

“Neither can I
,” Heath replied. “Has the sheriff been in to speak to you?”

She nodded. “Yes. He’s going to call m
e as soon as he has any news. I’m so angry that no one told us Philips was out on bail. He could have killed Brax.”

And what happ
ened if he never woke up? What would she do without him?

“Shh, shh, Brax has got a hard head.” Heath walked around
the bed, drawing her into his arms again. Although he was basically a stranger, she couldn’t help but feel like she knew him and she leaned against him, drawing on his strength.

“He’s going to be fine
,” Heath reassured her. “Right now, I’m more concerned about you, young lady. I’m going to get a hotel room close by and you’re going to go there for some sleep and food.”

She drew back, shaking her head.

Heath just watched her calmly. “You can wait until after the doctor has been by. But I’m here to watch over Brax now and he won’t appreciate waking up to find you completely worn out. I can just see his reaction, can’t you?”

S
he could. But she wouldn’t care, as long as he was awake.

“Why don’t you sit while I find us some food and coffee, all right?”

Holly sat, she wouldn’t admit it, but she was kind of glad to let someone else take over for a bit. She couldn’t seem to think past the fear clouding her head.

He had to wake up. He had to.

*****

After the doctor had been
, with the good news that the swelling was going down, Heath bullied her into going to the hotel room. It was only a block and a half away, but he insisted on escorting her himself, brushing away her objections. He’d just given her a look that told her he wasn’t going to put up with any arguments.

She
had a long shower before moving tiredly into the bedroom and laying down on the bed. Every time she closed her eyes, though, she saw Mason Philips raising that tire iron then Brax falling to the ground, unconscious.

She sat up. This was hopeless. She wasn’t going to be able to sleep.
Standing, she reached for the clothes Heath had somehow found for her. Some of them still had the price tags on them, so she guessed he’d sent someone out to buy them.

Pushing aside her exhaustion which was making her feel rather queasy, she walked back to the hospital as quickly as she could manage.

Heath was sitting right where he said he would be. He turned, his eyes growing dark with displeasure as he saw her.

She held up her hand to forestall any argument. “I can’t sleep, if I close my eyes I
just, I see Brax, I…” she broke off with a sob and Heath immediately rose, dragging her against his chest. Damn, she had to stop this. She was turning into an emotional wreck.

“You must think I’m insane,” she muttered.

Heath chuckled. “I don’t think you’re crazy, honey. Just exhausted and frightened. You heard what the doctor said, the swelling is going down.”

“I know,” she replied. “I know this is silly, but I just feel like if I’m not here something bad might happen. I just want to be here with him.”

Heath sighed then led her to a chair. “All right, sit here. But I know you’ve been ill lately and if you show any sign of risking your health I’m going to have you tucked up in bed sooner than you can say fried doughnuts.”

“Fried doughnuts?” she asked.

“Yeah, it’s what I feel like right now. My wife, Ava, is on a health kick. No fatty foods allowed in our household.” He grinned as he spoke about his wife. Heath was a large, stern-looking man, but he obviously adored his family.

“You don’t have to stay here,” she said. “I know you must be a busy man.”

He raised a brow. “There is nothing more important than family.”

“Don’t you have a young family?”

He nodded. “Two little boys. My wife has things under control. And my other brothers will be here soon. They’ll drop their wife, Bryony, off at my house. She and Ava can manage the kids together.”

Holly knew that Brax’s other brothers, Kent and Cam, shared their wife. It was an unusual relationship that had shocked her
a bit to begin with. But hell, she liked to be tied down and hit on the butt, who was she to judge?

“I really wish he’d wake up,” she whispered.

“Me too, Holly, me too.”

*****

Holly struggled to keep herself awake, it was late, nearly ten p.m. and everyone had left for the night. Heath and Cam had gone home around seven, saying they’d be back early in the morning. Kent was staying in the hotel room Heath had taken for her. He’d tried to convince her to get some rest while he stayed with Brax. But there was no way she was leaving Brax.

Sheriff Palmer
had been in earlier to tell her in person that they’d arrested Mason Philips. She hoped he was stuck behind bars for a long time.

“Please wake up, Brax,” she begged. “Please. I can’t live without you.”

She placed her forehead on the bed. “I love you so much.”

“Love you too, baby.”

Her head shot up, her gaze going to his face. He stared back at her, his eyes half open.

“Oh
God, thank you.” Reaching over, she hit the button to alert the nurse.

“Don’t cry,
honey,” he told her, trying to lift his arm.

Holly
grabbed his hand, placing his arm back on the bed. “They’re tears of joy, I promise. God, Brax, don’t ever scare me like that again.”

She moved aside as the nurse bustled in. But her gaze never left his face, her relief so intense she felt faint.

He was awake. Everything else would be okay, as long as she had him by her side. Enough was enough; she couldn’t do this living apart thing any longer. She’d been thinking it over and she was going to quit her job and move out here. If Brax wasn’t ready for her to move in with him, she’d find a place to live. She just couldn’t spend days and days apart from him.

Not again.

*****

Brax woke up, feeling
much better and more coherent than he had since Mason Philips had attacked him. The last couple of days had been a blur of doctors, nurses and his family coming in and out of his room.

He’d gotten the bare facts of what had happened.
Thank God Philips hadn’t hurt Holly. Brax didn’t know what the other man had been thinking. But apparently he’d been extremely drunk so he probably hadn’t been thinking at all, just acting out in anger.

Brax turned his head slowly, he still had a massive headache, but at least he could think now. The drugs they
’d had him on had made him fuzzy and slow.

Ahh, there she was. Even sleeping
she was beautiful. He frowned, taking in her pale skin and gaunt appearance. She’d just recovered from pneumonia—she couldn’t afford to skip sleep or meals.

A sound at the door had him turning back. Heath entered the room just as Holly stirred.

“How you feeling?” Heath asked in a whisper, although Holly’s eyes were opening.

“Much better. I’ll be out of here soon.”

“You’ll leave when they say you can and not a minute earlier,” Holly interjected sleepily.

Heath grinned at Brax. “I couldn’t agree more, Holly. I’m sure without you watching over him he’d be trying to get back to work even now.”

Brax groaned. “God, I haven’t even thought about work.”

“Don’t worry,” Holly said. “
Sloan and Case have everything under control. All you have to concentrate on is getting better. This time it’s your turn to listen to me.”

He grinned, raising an eyebrow at her bossy tone,
loving the way she fussed over him.

“Is that so?”

“Yes, it is so,” she replied firmly.

“And how are you going to make sure of that when you’re in Houston?”

He regretted the words as soon as they were out of his mouth. Hurt flashed through her expressive blue eyes before her mouth grew stubborn.

“I’m not going back to Houston. I’m quitting my job and moving here. And if you don’t like it, tough. Because I’m going to marry you.”

Brax’s jaw dropped.

“T
hat’s my cue to leave,” Heath said with a wide smile. “I think threes a crowd during a marriage proposal. Well, unless you’re Kent and Cam.”

Brax barely h
eard him leave as he stared at Holly incredulously. “Was that a proposal?”

“No. A proposal means you get to say no. It’s a demand. I want to marry you, Brax.”

“And I want to marry you, sweetheart. Although I was hoping for a more romantic proposal, in a somewhat nicer setting.”

She blushed, dropping her gaze. “Sorry.”

“Hey. Come here.” He patted the bed and she sat gingerly next to him. But he wasn’t having that. He dragged her down beside him, tucking her head beneath his chin. “Do you know what I was planning to do that night I was attacked?”

“Have dinner?”
she asked.

“Well, yes,” he said with a smile. “I was also going to propose to the woman I love.”

He felt her tense. She tried to move away from where he had her nestled against his chest but he held her tight.

“Really?”

“Really. And if you can find my pants there should be an engagement ring in the front right pocket. I love you, baby. I’ll try every day to be the man you deserve, will you marry me?”

“Yes,” she said instantly. “Yes.”

He let her sit up so he could bring her mouth down to his for a long, scorching kiss. She climbed from the bed and grabbed his pants from the drawer, pulling out the jewellery box. Brax held out his hand and she handed the small box over.

“Give me your hand, honey.”

He noticed they were both shaking slightly as he opened the box and settled the ring on her finger.

“It’s beautiful,” she told him, unable to stop staring at the glittering diamond.

Brax pulled her close once more. She settled down, holding him close.