None of them had to be told twice. Trace grabbed Rachel’s hand tight and, with his brother, who had her other hand, ran with her to the place, just over the rise, toward the house where the most crucial drama of any of their lives had just played out.
And then Libby and Bonnie emerged from the house. Rachel let loose a strangled sob.
He and Brandon let her go, let her run headlong to their daughter. They were only a heartbeat behind.
* * * *
“I’m okay, Mommy. I’m okay.”
Rachel heard her daughter’s words, spoken against her heart. She held tight, needing just one more breath to let go the terror that had invaded every pore of her being.
Then Trace and Brandon bracketed them, their arms enfolding them completely. Our first real family hug.
Rachel eased back. These men loved their daughter as much as she did. They’d held fast and strong, even though she’d known how the last half-hour had eaten at them. So she eased away and let her men have their moment, too.
“Thank God,” Brandon said. He kissed Libby’s head then lifted her face. The most fearsome look entered his eyes. “He hit you. I’ll kill him.”
“We’ll kill him,” Trace said.
“No! No, Dads, it’s okay. Honest. He got mad when I called him a loser. Please, he doesn’t matter. He’s not worth it. Please.”
Both men’s expressions transformed from wrath to warmth. Rachel didn’t have to wonder why. She knew.
“You called us ‘dads,’” Brandon said.
“Well, of course I did.” Libby looked from Brandon to Trace. “I knew you’d see to it I was rescued. I also knew that, until that happened, you’d take care of Mom. Because that’s what dads do.”
“God, daughter, we’re so damn proud of you.” Brandon gathered her close, his hug completely enveloping.
I know how that feels, that hug. Rachel rejoiced that her daughter was finally experiencing the one thing that had been heartbreakingly absent throughout her young life—a father’s unconditional love and support.
Now that was something Libby would always have. Times two.
Brandon released her to Trace. “Very proud of you,” Trace said. “But I have to say, daughter, I’m not sure if we took care of Mom or if she took care of us.”
“Like a team.” Libby’s smile was the most beautiful one that Rachel had ever seen.
“We are a team. The four of us,” Rachel said.
The Dorchesters approached, and for a long moment, they traded girls, so Rachel and her guys could hug Bonnie and Clay, Tasha, and Gord could do the same with Libby.
Rachel knew the two girls called each other sister. Here was proof that all six of them honored and supported that relationship.
“Grandma asked if we all could go to the Big House,” Clay announced.
“That sounds like a good idea,” Adam said as he approached. “Clint and I will be there before long. It’ll be a good place for us to take the young women’s statements. Right there, in the heart of the family.”
Matt stepped forward and offered them a ride back to Lusty. They accepted, giving the Dorchesters a few minutes of privacy as they drove there on their own.
Rachel had counted the strong bond she shared with the other family as one of her most precious treasures. The Dorchesters had known hard times, as had she and Libby. For the two families, life was both precious and tenuous. The knowledge of how quickly tragedy could strike meant that no day, no victory, was ever taken for granted—not by any of them.
It was an attitude she knew her men shared. Trace understood devastating loss, and Brandon had survived battlefield conditions.
Today they’d survived one of life’s unexpected twists. It was time to celebrate.
Matt drove them to the guys’ house so they could get Trace’s SUV—Brandon’s would be arriving soon from San Angelo. The four of them took a minute, right outside in the driveway, to share another family hug.
Then Brandon lifted Rachel’s chin. “Trace and I both love you, Rachel. Totally, completely, and forever.”
“We absolutely do,” Trace said. “So, will you marry us?”
Rachel’s eyes teared, but before she could answer, Brandon reached for Libby’s hand. “We love you, Libby,” he said. Trace picked up her other hand. Both men were focused on Libby, and wasn’t that just perfect? “We want more than anything to be your forever dads, legally. What do you say?”
Libby looked at her mom. Rachel grinned because they both had tears streaming—happy, joyous, wondrous tears.
Their answers came in unison, and with joy. “Yes!”
It took a few more minutes for Rachel to kiss Brandon and then Trace and for Libby to hug each of her forever dads. Then they piled into Trace’s vehicle and headed over to the Big House.
The Dorchesters had already arrived. The hugs they received from all of the Benedicts, but especially Grandma Kate, were fierce and full of love.
Then Libby and Bonnie hugged each other—as if they hadn’t seen each other in days. Every adult in the great room understood completely.
The girls stepped back from each other and grinned. “I promised you if I ever saw that cretin, I’d kick him and call him a jerk,” Bonnie said.
“You did. Thank you, sister. Not just for that but for being quick on the panic button and for insisting on not leaving me. Not that the cretin would have let you. But still.”
“That’s what sisters are for.”
“Yes,” Grandma Kate said, “that is indeed what sisters are for.”
Robert and Jillian Jessop arrived with Colleen, as well as Jolene Langley.
“David will be by later,” Robert said. “He’s just finishing up helping the newest member of our community into the world.”
“Emily Ann just had a beautiful baby girl,” Jillian said. “They named her Melissa Mae.” Jillian grinned. “Mom and baby, being female are, of course, doing well. The dads when I last saw them were a little shaky but completely smitten.”
“Oh, how wonderful!” Grandma Kate beamed. “And how clever of y’all to have hired Nannette Howard to pitch
