Ever Hopeful Read online

  “Someone will have heard the gunshots,” he said and Laura finished his thought.

  “A ranger will come to investigate. They’ll get us out of here,” she said and wiped some of the blood from his face. As Laura held him, Cade gave in to the blackness that washed over him, taking him under completely. Laura was safe.

  Chapter Thirty-eight

  Laura sat by Cade’s side in the hospital watching him sleep. The nightmare was finally over. She couldn’t believe Alec Hall had poisoned Patrick and shot Justin. She hadn’t really liked the man, but if anyone had told her he was a murderer, she probably would have laughed.

  The police were looking for whatever evidence Alec thought she’d had, but so far it hadn’t turned up anywhere. Laura believed it was entirely possible Patrick had told Alec he had evidence of some wrongdoing when he didn’t have any at all. The police had a specialist going through the books at Kensington-Hall Developers, and they suspected Alec had been skimming money from the business.

  There wasn’t any sign of the private investigators that had come after Laura with Alec at the ranch. Honestly, Laura didn’t care where they were. As long as they didn’t come back, she just wanted to forget all of this.

  Shane, Josh, and May had arrived in Kansas to be with her and Cade until he was well enough to travel home. He’d suffered a concussion and several cracked ribs, on top of bruises and contusions that Laura hoped didn’t hurt as badly as they looked like they did.

  Cade’s eyes opened slowly, and he turned his head to look at her. Relief swept through Laura, making her weak. She’d never been as scared as she was when she’d seen Alec and Cade fighting. When it looked as if Alec was going to kill Cade, she couldn’t bear the thought of life without him. At that moment, Laura believed she’d lose everything she’d found all over again. Everything she’d dared to hope for. And because of her, Cade had nearly been murdered….

  “You okay?” he asked and winced as he tried to raise a hand to her face.

  “Try not to move. You have cracked ribs. I’m told that’s very painful,” Laura said and sniffed, trying not to let tears come.

  “You’re okay? The baby?” Cade’s eyes flashed to her stomach.

  “The baby’s okay. I’m okay. May and Doc are down in the cafeteria getting a cup of coffee and Shane is outside sitting with Red.” She took his hand in hers and held tight. His right hand was too swollen to hold. He would be getting a cast on that in the next few hours. “They’ve been taking turns sitting with her since she can’t come inside, and I didn’t think it was safe to leave her out in the car alone.” It had killed Laura to sit outside with Red before Cade’s family had arrived, but she knew he’d want Red to be safe and not feel frightened. The poor dog was traumatized enough by the whole episode.

  Cade smiled and closed his eyes, his breath returning to the steady quiet of sleep once again. Minutes later, though, he woke again.

  “Is now a good time to talk about that honeymoon? Will you take pity on me while I’m injured and agree to marry me?”

  “No, I won’t” Laura laughed. “But I’ll let you take me on a date when we get home.”

  Cade nodded and closed his eyes again. She could tell he was fighting the effects of the drugs the doctors had given him. He pushed open his eyes once again and looked at her.

  “I love, you, Laura. I couldn’t have made it if Alec got to you.”

  Tears ran down Laura’s face as she nodded. “He didn’t get to me. I’ll be right here when you get up, I promise,” Laura said, thinking about the possibilities of that. Of staying with Cade forever. Laura knew in her heart that was what she wanted, and she had finally found the courage to accept what she wanted for herself, to embrace it and let herself hope and dream and believe in love.

  Cade looked into her eyes. “I love you Laura. I want you in my life forever.”

  “Well, you do live a charmed life. I imagine your dream will come true.” Laura leaned down and kissed Cade gently, careful not to hurt his swollen jaw. “I love you, Cade Bishop. I’ll love you forever.”

  Epilogue

  Laura looked down at the perfect tiny nose and rosebud lips of Jamie May Bishop. Her baby had been born two weeks before her due date, and only fourteen hours after Laura Kensington had become Laura Bishop in a ceremony attended by nearly every resident of Evers, Texas.

  “She’s incredible,” she said and looked up into Cade’s eyes with tears in her own.

  Cade looked down at Laura, and then back to the baby neither of them seemed to be able to keep their eyes off of for long. “Just like her mama. Absolutely incredible.” The awe in his voice was clear.

  Cade leaned in and kissed Laura’s lips, but the private moment didn’t last long. May and Josh knocked on the door and entered with an armful of balloons and stuffed dolls.

  “Really, you two? Did you buy out the entire gift shop?” Laura chastised.

  “You bet we did, Princess,” said Josh as he bent to kiss Laura’s head. Josh hadn’t gone back to his job in Connecticut. He had used up his vacation time and then officially retired. He and May seemed to be growing closer and closer, much to Laura’s delight.

  Cade and Shane were a little uneasy about the change in the relationship between a man they’d always thought of as their uncle and their mother, but when pressed, they both admitted they liked the happiness Josh brought to May’s life.

  May reached for the baby with a question in her eyes, but Laura didn’t hesitate. “Of course, you can hold her,” she said and passed over the swaddled bundle.

  “Don’t get used to this,” May said with a smile as she looked down at the baby, who didn’t bat an eye when the transfer took place. “They sleep like mad for two days, but then the honeymoon’s over and you’re only in for short bursts of sleep in between feedings and diapers.”

  May paused to look at the bundle in her arms. Cade and Laura hadn’t planned a honeymoon. They knew since they were getting married so close to Laura’s due date, there likely wouldn’t be time for a honeymoon. They planned to take a long vacation for their first anniversary instead.

  “She’s just beautiful, Laura. Just like her mother,” May said, and Laura felt her heart swell at the love in May’s voice. She would never have believed she would find the kind of love and family that now surrounded her.

  A knock on the door announced new visitors. Shane poked his head in and Laura waved him in. He was followed by Justin Kensington, who had settled in Evers after checking out of the hospital himself a few months back. Laura had been hesitant when he’d come to see her after moving to town, but she valued his friendship now. He was nothing like Patrick. In fact, at times, it was hard to believe they were related. Justin had given up on traveling, and was now using some of his wealth to start outreach programs for women and children in abusive homes.

  Martha Kensington had been shunning the limelight recently and attempting to repair the damage done to her relationship with Justin. She had even been talking about moving to Evers to be closer to Laura and the baby. Justin was now at least speaking with her, although their relationship remained strained, but Laura wasn’t sure yet that she wanted to have Martha in their lives. It would be hard to let someone who had ignored the abuse Laura had endured for so long be around her and her child now. In some ways, though, Laura thought forgiving Martha would help Laura heal even more than she already had.

  A nurse came in and chased the visitors out and urged Laura to get a bit more rest before they checked out the following day. Cade took Jamie from his mother, letting his daughter rest in the crook of his arm as he and Laura said good-bye to everyone.

  “I love you, Laura Bishop,” Cade said and kissed her lips.

  Laura closed her eyes briefly, feeling the light touch of his love. Hope. Laura watched Cade and Jamie and knew it had been worth it. The risk of hoping, of dreaming of a love and a life like this one she’d been given…. It was all worth it in the end. To have the gift of love like this, the gift of family and fr
iends who loved her…was a gift and a blessing for which she would always be grateful.

  Thank you for reading!

  Thank you for taking the time to read one of my books! You have no idea how much each of my readers mean to me. This is the first in the Evers, Texas Series but I will be putting out two more books in the series in 2014. In the meantime, please check out my Sutton Capital Series available online and in print. It is a higher heat level than the Evers Series and includes adult language and content, but the romantic suspense theme can be found throughout the series. I hope you love the series as much as I loved writing it. Visit www.LoriRyanRomance.com to find all of my books.

  Acknowledgements

  Thank you to my wonderful husband for his patience and support. It’s truly a wonder that you put up with me. No, really. Truly. Thank you to Susan Smith for her endless brainstorming and reading, to Cathy Cobb for brainstorming the plot over and over with me, and to my critique groups for reading bits and pieces and helping to shape the characters and the story. Thank you to Patricia Thomas whose editing proved invaluable once again, and to Bev Harrison who provided additional copy editing. Thank you to Patricia Parent, my final set of eyes, for cleaning up after me. Thank you to all of the friends and friends-of-friends who read the pre-release version for me. I owe you all so much.

  About the author

  Lori Ryan is a NY Times and USA Today bestselling author who writes contemporary romance with a twist of suspense. She lives with an extremely understanding husband, two wonderful children, two mostly-behaved dogs, and a lone little cat in Austin, Texas. It’s a bit of a zoo, but she wouldn’t change a thing.

  Lori published her first novel in April of 2013 and has written three more books since then. Each of Lori’s books has made its way to the Amazon bestseller list and she quickly climbed the Amazon bestselling author list, as well. In November, 2013, Lori and a group of romantic suspense authors landed on the USA Today and NY Times bestseller lists with an anthology only eight months after the release of Lori’s first book. Lori loves to connect with her readers. Follow her on Facebook or Twitter or subscribe to her blog. Oh, and if you’ve read Lori’s books and loved them, please consider leaving a review with the retailer of your choice. Writers live and die by their reviews and Lori promises to do a happy dance around her office every time you write one!