Fractured Sky (Tattered & Torn #5)(64)

I simply shook my head. Within a matter of hours, Cain and his team had wired Ramsey’s ranch to within an inch of its life. Cameras showed each fence line, and they’d put more on each gate. There were motion detectors around the houses and each of the outbuildings. No one would get onto this property without being seen.

Ramsey draped an arm around my shoulders and guided me towards the front door. “The cameras aren’t exactly inconspicuous. That should be enough to keep people away.”

I hoped he was right. But whoever was behind my attack wasn’t exactly thinking logically. I had to believe that they would at least have some sense of self-preservation.

We stepped out onto the front porch just as four SUVs pulled to a stop in front of the house. “It looks like a presidential motorcade,” I muttered.

Ramsey squeezed my arm as he held me close. “It’ll be good.”

I looked up at him, searching for any signs of regret. There was a hint of tension in his jaw, but that was it. He wanted this for me. Even if having a bunch of people in his space made him twitchy.

Elliott jumped out of Hayes’ SUV. “Shiloh!” He charged towards me, hitting my middle with a force far greater than his size should’ve allowed.

I let out a soft oomph and looked up at Ramsey.

He shrugged. “I asked Hayes to pick up Elliott and Aidan, too.”

I ruffled Elliott’s hair. “I missed you.”

“Me, too. I’ll come to work with Aidan tomorrow, and we can hang. I missed Onyx, too. How is she? And where’s Kai?”

Aidan shook his head, but a grin played on his mouth as he climbed the porch steps. “One question at a time.”

Kai bounded out of the house in answer to one of those questions. Elliott dropped to his knees and threw his arms around the dog.

Hayes’ eyes flared as he headed towards us. “I’ll be damned.”

“What a gorgeous dog,” Everly said. “Is he a husky?”

“He’s half wolf,” I explained.

Her jaw went slack. “Well, he’s clearly a love.”

Ramsey glanced at me. “Shiloh brings that out in him, apparently.”

Heat hit my cheeks, and I looked away.

Birdie charged up the steps, and her eyes narrowed on Ramsey. “You whisper to horses?”

His lips twitched. “I do.”

“Ones that are wild?”

“Sometimes, they’re wild. Other times, they’ve been in bad situations and need someone to help them heal.”

She looked harder at Ramsey as if trying to see beneath the surface to whatever was below. “And you’re helping Aunt Shy heal, too.”

My heart gave a painful squeeze as Ramsey glanced in my direction. “He is,” I said softly. I’d been given so many gifts since I found this place. It was an embarrassment of riches, really. But this healing with Ramsey…it was the greatest.

“I want to meet this famous Kai,” my mom said as she headed up to the front porch.

Holt took the pie from her hands. “Don’t want you to lose precious cargo if that beast jumps on you.”

Mom laughed. “Always thinking with your stomach.”

“Isn’t that what we should all be doing?”

Mom shook her head and gave me a quick hug. Kai looked up at her, tongue lolling out of his mouth. She bent to give him a scratch. “You’re the most gorgeous thing I’ve ever seen.”

“He knows it, too,” I said with a laugh.

She straightened and looked at the man next to me. “Thank you for having us, Ramsey. I’m Julia.”

Ramsey held out a hand to shake hers. “It’s nice to meet you.”

My father stepped up behind my mom, squeezing her shoulders. “Good to see you, Ramsey.”

“You, too, Gabe. How’s Shadow treating you?”

“One of the best-trained horses I’ve ever had in my barn. In fact, I might be in the market for another horse or two.”

“After we eat, I can introduce you to a few more who are ready for homes.”

My dad nodded with a smile. “That would be great.”

Holt looked down at the plate in his hands. “But we get pie first, right?”





I leaned back in the Adirondack chair on the back porch, taking a long drink of my lemonade. The sun had dipped below the horizon, casting the back lawn in a golden glow.

“He’s good with them,” Hadley said as she took a sip of her beer.

I watched as Sage let out a squeal of laughter as she ducked around Ramsey. They were playing some form of tag that I didn’t completely understand. “It’s that same gift he has with horses. That empathy.”

“I can see it with those two boys.”

My gaze moved to Elliott and Aidan. Elliott had teamed up with Birdie, and they were going after Beckett in a coordinated attack. Aidan watched with a huge grin on his face. They were more at ease tonight than I’d ever seen them. Maybe it was the knowledge that they were safe. Maybe it was being surrounded by a boisterous family that clearly loved one another amidst the chaos. Or maybe it was the haven that Ramsey had given them at the ranch.

I swirled the ice in my glass. “I think those three are bonded for life.”

Kai let out a bark as he charged through the crowd, and I laughed. “Or should I say four?”