Standing His Ground: Greer (Porter Brothers Trilogy 2)

“Greer!” Knox yelled as he was about to get in his truck.

“I’m going to the hospital. You want to know what happened here, ask Tate!”

“You’re going to need these.” Knox tossed him the truck keys.

So concerned with Holly, he hadn’t noticed Knox had moved it, so he wouldn’t have to run to Tate’s house to get it.

“Thanks.”

“I’ll drop Tate off at the hospital as soon I get his statement.”

Greer was already putting the truck in gear, leaving it to Tate to explain what had happened.

As he drove down the driveway, he saw a deputy put Sutton and Ema in his car, while another took pictures of the two bodies lying in the yard with the fairy lights swinging in the wind.

It was a sad ending to the beautiful day he had imagined for Holly. He cried alone in the cab as he drove to the hospital, yet he managed to swallow the large lump in his throat when he strode toward the ER, seeing Cash’s friends pulling into the lot as the sliding glass doors closed behind him. He started to go to the reception desk when he saw Cash coming through the door in the hallway. Greer went to meet him halfway, hearing the sliding door open again behind him.

They would never be able to admit to being friends. Their prides had them barely tolerating each other. But from the broken expression on his brother-in-law’s face, he cast his pride aside, taking the man into his arms.

“Is Rachel okay?”

“We lost the baby.”

Greer’s arms tightened. “I’m sorry. I tried not to …”

Cash straightened. “Rachel wouldn’t have been able to live with herself if Holly had died. I couldn’t have, either. It was our choice to help.”

His expression broke again before he managed to regain control. “Logan is fine. They’re going to keep him overnight to keep an eye on him. Dr. Price said he couldn’t tell he had been shot, other than having the scar as proof.

“Holly is in surgery. He said as soon as he is out with her, he wants to talk to you. He said she’s stable, and that he’s never seen anyone shot so badly and still be alive. He said she’ll be in surgery for a while.”

“Thank you, Cash.”

Cash nodded, starting to walk toward his friends, when he halted. “Greer, Rachel said you saved her once when she was little.”

“When she was seven years old.”

“She said, even if she had survived, she wouldn’t have walked again.”

Greer remembered the tragic accident that would have probably left her breathing through a machine if a higher power hadn’t intervened.

“There’s always a price,” Cash stated. It was obvious yesterday wasn’t the first time he had heard it.

“Always.”

“You think we’re even now?”

Greer’s own face broke. “Yes, I think you’re even.”

Cash brushed his tears away before turning to face The Last Riders.

“Cash, you can’t …” Greer started before Cash got too far away.

“I won’t,” he promised as he was enfolded in the group of bikers.

Greer found a seat in the waiting room.

Shade said something to Viper before he came to sit down next to him, straightening his long legs out in front of him.

“I don’t need company.”

“Didn’t think you did.” Shade crossed his hands over his stomach.

They sat there as the waiting room gradually filled with even more Last Riders.

“Cash has a lot of friends, doesn’t he?” Greer stated, seeing the sliding doors couldn’t close with all the people waiting to talk to him.

“They aren’t only Cash’s friends. They’re yours, too. They just know you’re too much of a jackass to accept any sympathy from them.”

“I don’t need any sympathy from them. Holly’s going to be fine.”

“It’s hard for a man to almost lose the woman he loves. Some men need friends to lean on. Others don’t.”

“Which one were you when Lily almost died?” Greer’s lips curled in the beginning of a smile.

“I was a jackass, too.”

Greer saw The Last Riders make room for Sutton, who was carrying Ema, and Tate. Cash held his arms out for his sleeping daughter, brushing his cheek against her hair. The sight of Cash and his daughter broke his heart. The baby they had lost would never feel the earthly love of being held in her father and mother’s arms.

After talking to Cash for a few minutes, Sutton and Tate came to sit down with him and Shade.

His older brother looked as if he had aged ten years. He took his responsibility as head of their family seriously. Almost losing two was a bitter pill to swallow.

“Sutton, you look about ready to drop. You and Ema should have stayed home.”

“Cash wanted Ema, and I wanted to see Logan, Rachel, and Holly.”

“Holly’s still in surgery, and they’ll let us see Logan when he’s situated in his room.”

Shade stood. “I’ll give Cash a few minutes with Ema and then call Lily to come get her. That way, Sutton can stay.”