Montana SEAL (Brotherhood Protectors #1)(21)

“You miss them, don’t you?” Hank glanced her way, his gaze softening.

Sadie nodded. “My folks were what kept me grounded. For the first year after they passed, I felt completely lost. My career had taken off, but I couldn’t find the joy I thought I’d feel in it. I didn’t have anyone I cared to share my success with.”

“What about your brother?”

She smiled. “Fin was too busy picking up the slack on the ranch. He held down the fort, working through his grief. At least he had Carla.” Sadie sighed. “I worked through the toughest time, throwing myself into making movies. I’d make myself so tired, I’d fall into bed, too numb to feel.”

The road continued up into the hills, the light of day fading as the sun dipped below the peaks of the Crazy Mountains.

“What about you? I take it your father never forgave you for leaving Bear Creek Ranch.”

“No. He was highly disappointed when I didn’t choose to stay in Montana and work for him.”

Sadie laughed without humor. “He never understood how difficult a man he was to work with.”

“No.”

“How does Allie do it?”

“Thankfully, he isn’t as hard on her as he was on me. I think it’s because she looks so much like my mother.”

Sadie nodded. “I remember the photos your father kept on the mantel. Allie does look a lot like her.”

“She tells me she’s getting serious about someone she’s been dating from Bozeman. A lawyer she met when she went skiing with the church group up in Big Sky.”

“I’m glad she’s found someone.” Sadie sensed Hank wasn’t as happy. “Are you concerned?”

“I haven’t met the man. I don’t know if I should be worried.”

“You’ll be here a while. Perhaps you’ll have a chance to meet the guy who’s stolen your sister’s heart.”

“We’ll see.” The road grew steeper and curved around a bluff. Hank slowed the SUV before he entered the curve, and then slammed on the brakes. “Damn!”

The seatbelt kept Sadie from sliding forward and crashing face-first into the dash or windshield. She yelped and clutched the armrest. “What the hell—”

Two rocks, each the size of concrete blocks, lay in the middle of the road.

Hank swerved to miss them, careening off the road and down the steep embankment.

Bounced, jolted and thrown against the door, Sadie held on, her heart banging against her ribs, as the SUV raced toward a stand of trees in the ravine at the bottom of the incline.

“Brace yourself!” Hank yelled. He pulled hard to the left. The SUV tilted on two wheels and teetered a moment before coming to a halt on all four tires.

Sadie sat for a moment, trying to remember how to breathe, her body bruised and her breath coming in ragged gasps. Then she turned toward Hank.

He sat with his fingers gripping the steering wheel, his face white beneath the tan. When he met her gaze, he asked, “Are you all right?”

She nodded. “I’m fine. Are you?”

His hand went to his leg and he rubbed it, wincing. “I am.” He glanced up the hill. “Guess we’ll find out if this vehicle has what it takes to climb a hill.” He pressed the button to engage the four-wheel drive. “Do you want to climb out on your own two feet or risk the ride up?”

Sadie wrapped her fingers around the oh-shit handle above the door. “Go for it.”

Hank eased his foot onto the accelerator. At first, the tires spun on the loose rocks and gravel, then they gripped the terrain and propelled the SUV up the hill.

Sadie closed her eyes, the angle of the slope on the way up feeling even steeper than it had on the way down. She practically lay on her back as the vehicle climbed. Any minute, she fully expected the SUV to perform a backflip and tumble back down to the line of trees waiting at the bottom.

Only when they crested the top and leveled out did Sadie open her eyes and let go of the breath she’d been holding.

Hank pulled the vehicle forward on the very narrow shoulder and shifted into park. He pointed at Sadie. “Stay here and stay low, while I move those rocks.”

She swiveled in her seat to peer out the back window, watching Hank as he studied the two big rocks before lifting and tossing them over the embankment he and Sadie had been down moments before.

When he climbed back into the SUV, he shifted into drive and headed toward the ranch, his jaw tight, his hands gripping the wheel. He drove much slower than before, creeping around every curve.

Sadie touched his arm. “You couldn’t have done anything different than what you did, if that’s what has you worried. If I’d been driving, I’d have swerved off the road, too.”

His lips pressed into a tight line before Hank responded. “If I had followed you home, you would have either hit those rocks and crashed, or you would have driven off the side of the hill in your Jeep. Although I’m sure you can handle a vehicle in rough terrain, keeping us from crashing into those trees took all of my strength.”

Sadie frowned. “It’s one of the hazards of living in the foothills of the Crazy Mountains. Rocks fall on the road all the time.”

“Those rocks didn’t fall from that bluff. They were placed there, deliberately.”

Sadie’s stomach clenched. “Do you think it was another attempt to hurt me?”