Flash Bang (33 page)

“Now what’s this about?”

“Not my place to say.”

As if synchronized, Graham and Zach threw open the back doors of the cab. Ro looked from one man to the other, dumbfounded.

Zach leaned on the doorframe closest to Ro, and said, “Move over, babe. You ain’t leavin’ without me. No way, no how. Don’t care what you say.”

Mouth hanging open, Ro looked to where Graham was shoving gear under the bench seat.

“What … what are you doing?” Ro asked him.

Graham looked up. “You were right. It’s all or nothing for us. And nothing isn’t something we can live with.”
He’d heard that?

“But the ranch … your team … I thought—”

“I was dead wrong to think I could let you go. You’re more important than the ranch. They’ll be fine. It’s Zach and me who won’t be fine if we let you leave without us.”

Ro was still processing his statement when he tossed her an unfamiliar black backpack. “That’s from Beau.”

“What is it?”

“No clue, babe. Didn’t take the time to check. Was in a little bit of a hurry.”

Erica leaned over the seat and snatched the bag from Ro before she could unzip it. Rowan didn’t argue, because Graham and Zach had finished stowing their gear and were climbing into the back seat, sandwiching her between them.
Where she belonged.
The warmth of that thought chased away any lingering confusion.

Ty smiled. “Sorry for the hold up, folks. It turns out I do have the right key. It’ll be just a minute.”

“What the hell is all this?” Erica said. She held up two white rectangular boxes and a fat pill bottle. “Is there something you aren’t telling us?”

The main gate swung open, but Rick didn’t put the truck in gear. He was staring at the bottle and whatever else Erica was holding. Graham nabbed the bottle just as Rick grabbed one of the boxes and opened it.

“Rowan Elizabeth Callahan, why am I holding a pregnancy test?”

“Umm …” Ro mumbled.

Graham read the label on the bottle out loud. “Prenatal vitamins.” He turned and stared at Ro and then met Zach’s gaze over her shoulder. “You know about this?”

“One of them knocked you up?” Erica asked.

“No! I mean, I don’t know. Nothing’s for sure. The last test was negative. Beau is just being overly cautious.”

“You were going to leave and not say anything about the fact that you could be carrying our baby?” Graham demanded.

Ty, sensing something was wrong, closed the main gate.

An uneasy silence settled over the inhabitants of the truck. Graham figured they were all waiting for Rowan to speak. He sure as hell was. Her dad broke the silence first.

“This changes things.”

“Fucking changes everything,” Zach said. “I can’t ... I don’t even ... Why didn’t you tell us?”

“There’s nothing to tell!”

“Yet,” Zach challenged.

“When will you know for sure?” Graham asked.

“I don’t know, another few days. Maybe a week?”

Rick put the truck in reverse and then proceeded to make a three-point turn and started driving back in the direction of the walls.

“What are you doing?”

“Rowan, your mother almost died giving birth to both of you girls. There’s no way I’m taking you away from the only doctor we have available if you’re pregnant.”

“And if I’m not? What then? We’re packing back up and leaving because you’re so damn sure this place has a target on it?”

“If you’re not, well, I guess we’ll see then. But after this morning, I can’t imagine trying to separate you from these two boys. They’re willing to give up everything for you, and a man doesn’t do that unless he’s either crazy or in love. But you better believe, if you’re pregnant, I will stand by with a shotgun until one of them marries you.”

“I don’t care if she’s not pregnant,” Graham said. “We’re marrying her anyway.”

Ro stared at him. “You are?”

“We are.”

“Wait, you lost me,” Erica interjected. “How can you both marry her?”

“You let us worry about that,” Graham said, rolling the window down to yell orders to Ty about the change in plans.

“And that was the worst proposal ever, by the way,” Erica added.

“That’s because it wasn’t a proposal,” Graham replied. “It’s a done deal.”

The Great Rowan Callahan Period Watch lasted almost four days. Rowan refused to take a pregnancy test during those four days because it seemed indulgent when she could just wait it out. She’d finally been able to talk Graham, Zach, and her dad out of a wedding. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to marry them, but Ro didn’t see any point. First, it wouldn’t be legal, because they couldn’t exactly go apply for a marriage license for three. Second, the county clerk wasn’t exactly issuing marriage licenses
at all.
People had more important things to worry about—like surviving. And third, leaving the ranch to find an officiant would put everyone’s safety in jeopardy, and that wasn’t a risk Ro was willing to take just to placate the men in her life. She was still struggling to process the fact that Graham and Zach had both been willing to give up everything to be with her. A commitment like that didn’t get stronger because of some piece of paper or a ceremony. Ro liked to think that she’d demonstrated her commitment to them in the privacy of their cabin. Multiple times. After she’d atoned for not telling them she might be pregnant.

Graham and Zach finally lost their collective patience on the morning of day four and cornered her in the bathroom. Wordlessly, Zach held out the test and gave her the sternest look she’d ever seen on his face. After she’d peed on the stick, Ro sat on the bed trying to play out the scenario both ways. Heads, she, Zach, and Graham left with her dad and Erica to live for an indefinite period of time in an undisclosed location. Tails, they stayed. Her dad hadn’t said he and Erica would still leave, but Rowan couldn’t picture him willingly being separated from his only grandchild.

Zach sat next to her, fingers tangled with hers. Graham paced the bedroom. Rowan had a strong suspicion that he was counting to one hundred eighty very slowly in his head, because he spun and said, “It’s time.”

“Who wants to do the honors?” Zach asked.

“All of us,” Rowan said, voice hoarse with strain.

They crowded into the tiny bathroom—Rowan first and the two men just behind her, one on each side. Rowan looked down at the test on the counter and saw … a little blue plus sign.

“Holy shit.” She stumbled back into two sets of strong arms. She felt lips on her hair and her cheek.

“Let’s move this party out of the bathroom,” Zach said, ushering them back into the bedroom.

“No. We need to double check.” Now that the preliminary verdict was in, Ro’s concern about wasting pregnancy tests went out the window. She had to know for sure.

Graham went rigid. She hurried to explain, “I mean, it could be a false positive, right?”

“Do you want it to be a false positive?”

Ro shook her head. “I just need to be sure.”

Zach grasped her shoulders. “We’ve been dancing around the subject for days, but I have to know, are you regretting this? Do you want this baby or not?”

Ro stared at the floor, thoughts chaotic and approaching the thousand miles per hour mark. She forced herself to form words into a coherent sentence. “I … I’m. Shit.” She rubbed her face. “Does it matter that I don’t know whose baby it is?” she asked.

Zach maneuvered her backward, until she could feel the mattress against the backs of her knees. He gently pressed her shoulders until she sat. Both men crouched in front of her, and Graham spoke first. “This baby is
ours
. All of ours. Doesn’t matter at all whether I’m the father or Zach is the father. This baby is
ours
.”

“Do you care whose baby it is?” Zach asked.

“No,” Ro whispered. “But I don’t want either of you to be disappointed in eight months when this baby doesn’t look like you.”

Graham’s lips quirked into a smile as he smoothed her hair away from her face. “If the baby comes out looking like Zach, I’ll be sure to knock you up the next time.”

Ro could feel her eyes go big and her mouth drop open. “You’re going to want more?”

“Is that a problem?”

“I … hell. Let’s just make sure this one comes out okay first.”

Graham handed her another test. “Go make sure, babe.”

Ro took it, and then looked at them both carefully. “What if it’s negative?”

“Then you take another?”

“No. I mean, what if I’m not pregnant?”

“Doesn’t matter one goddamn bit. You’re ours, too.”

Ro stood, kissed Zach, and then Graham, and went to take the second test.

The plus sign was still there.

Holy shit, I’m going to be a dad
, Graham marveled as he followed Ro and Zach across the compound to the mess hall. He’d never considered the possibility before meeting Ro. Quite frankly, it still scared the living hell out of him to be bringing a child into the world when nothing was certain, and there was no hospital to run to if something went wrong. He had faith in Beau, but nothing was more important than protecting Ro and their baby. He still needed to convince Rick that the ranch was the safest place for them to be after the baby was born. He didn’t want Ro worrying for the next eight months about what might happen and whether she’d be faced with another devastating choice. She didn’t need that kind of stress, and he was going to make sure she didn’t have to deal with it. It was time to pull out the big guns. He was going to show Rick the bunkers and make whatever promises the man needed to hear in order to convince him to stay.

They filed into the mess hall. Erica, Rick, Grace, and Beau were seated around the scarred wooden table. Their heads popped up like meerkats when Ro walked into the room. He figured the shit-eating grin Zach had been sporting since they’d seen that second positive test gave away the results.

“So?” Rick asked.

Graham put his hand on Ro’s shoulder. Her eyes misted as she nodded. Erica was out of her chair and across the room before anyone could respond to Ro’s silent confirmation. She flung herself at Ro.

“I’m going to be an aunt!”

Graham studied Rick, thankful the man’s shotgun was nowhere in sight. His weathered face transformed into a wide smile as he rose.

“Come here, Rowan. Give this grandpa-to-be a hug.”

Erica squealed as Ro extricated herself from her sister’s embrace. When she stepped away from him, Graham realized that he was going to have a hard time letting Ro out of his sight—or hell, out of his reach—for the next eight months. The woman was his heart, his soul, and every other damn thing that mattered.

She hugged her father, and tears dotted her lashes.

“Don’t cry. Not unless those are happy tears.” Ro nodded, and her father wiped them away. “Everything’s going to be fine, Ro. We’ll figure it all out.”

That was his cue.

“I wanted to talk to you about that, Rick. There’s one more part of the inner compound here you haven’t seen yet, and I think it might change your mind about a few things.”

Rick released Ro from the hug. “What are you talking about? I’ve been over every inch of this place.”

“No, sir. You haven’t. But if you come with me, I’ll show you the rest.” Graham started for the kitchen. “Ro, baby, why don’t you stay up here and eat breakfast with your sister? Let Beau tell you all the stuff you’re not supposed to do for the next eight months.”