Claiming the Enemy: Dustin (Porter Brothers Trilogy 3)

Treepoint was a small town, and she had never heard a peep of gossip about them being together until Sam died and it had come out that they’d had a child.

When the gossipmongers spread it around town that Dustin had killed Sam in a fit of jealous rage, even before it made the newspapers, she hadn’t doubted it was an accident. Dustin would never hit a woman, not even if his life depended on it. If he had been in a jealous rage, he would have killed the man, not Sam.

When Holly had enrolled Logan into her daycare, she dreaded him attending. Truthfully, she had thought the Porters would have talked Holly out of it, but they hadn’t.

The feelings of Logan being Samantha’s child disappeared the moment Logan had come in through door. She had fallen in love with the child; so much so that she had to hide her emotional attachment that was building and not show favoritism toward him among the other children.

Logan leaving for kindergarten had affected her just as much as any first-time mother experienced.

That Dustin no longer needed to come in the daycare was both hell and a blessing. She still saw him in town and for church events, but that was the extent of their contact.

Until Holly had invited them to her wedding, a Hayes hadn’t stepped foot on Porter property since the day her father had shot their dog. Sutton, Rachel, and Holly would invite church members for dinners and parties, but no further invitation had been extended to her. She was sure it was for the same reason that she hadn’t invited them—the women were trying to keep the peace between the two families.

Keeping the families separated was second nature for the townspeople, too. No one wanted their business or party trashed because of the inevitable fight.

The night of the auction at King’s restaurant, she wasn’t trying to get back at Asher and Holt for trying to meddle in her life. She had built the courage to try to end the feud … and get the man she loved. It had failed, practically causing a fight and having her leaving with neither of her brothers talking to her for two weeks. If they hadn’t been sick of take-out, it would have gone on longer.

Back in the present, she thought, If I was raped, I would know, right?

Jessie, you don’t even know how you ended up hanging off the side of mountain, she then warned herself.

Conflicted, she shut the doubts down. The possibility of having been raped was too unthinkable.

Just as her eyelids started to sting as if they were on fire, a gentle palm came to rest on the top of her shoulder, barely touching, just letting her know that he was there.

It was Dustin. She would recognize his touch if a thousand hands were on her body.

A star belonged in a sky, homing pigeons knew where their home was, and her heart had always known where it belonged.

10

“Jessie is being moved into a recovery room, Dustin. You can visit her after the nurses get her settled. She’s going to be here for a while.”

Dustin stepped back from the gurney as the nurses wheeled Jessie from the ER.

Dr. Price gave him a discerning look. “How are you doing?”

“I’ve been better. Is she going to remember what happened?”

“It’s too soon to know. She has a bad concussion, and a fracture in her eye socket and maxillary sinus. A specialist is in there with her now. He doesn’t think she’s going to need surgery, but he’s going to get more imaging to make sure.”

As they talked, they left the ER, walking toward the lobby. Both men came to stop at the multitude waiting to find out how Jessie was.

“We want to see our sister.” Asher had to use his shoulders to push his way through the swarming onlookers. Dustin didn’t have to ask why—the man’s hands were handcuffed behind his back.

Jessie’s brother was so furious that he hadn’t been able to see Jessie that he was practically foaming at the mouth.

“Asher and Holt, I will talk to you privately now if you’ll follow me.” The doctor motioned Asher and Holt toward the hallway.

“Tell Greer and Knox to take these handcuffs off me.”

The doctor stared at his angry features. “Perhaps it would be better to leave them on for now.”

Before Asher or Holt could argue further, Dr. Price walked away.

“That’s not going to go well, is it?” Tate said, coming to stand with him and Greer.

“No,” Dustin agreed. They had only had a brief glimpse of their sister as she had been wheeled into the ER, and Asher had gone apeshit. Holt hadn’t lost it to the same extent that Asher had, but Dustin was smart enough to know that he was seething inside.

“Have they identified the other woman?”