"Thank God," he murmured, yanking her hard against him. The sun had risen fully, but the air still should have been icy cold. Instead, heat from the fiery crash below scorched them and dense smoke rose, making breathing difficult.

"We need help, Haley." He cupped her face and held her slightly away from him, "Are you able to walk?"

Nodding, she tried to look over the side, down into the fire, but he pulled her back.

"Don't look," he said.

"Is he dead?"

Ripping his sleeve off, he pressed it to her cheek, wincing when she jerked back. "Haley, you're bleeding everywhere."

"Is he dead?"

"Hold still a sec!" He applied pressure, frowning when she yelped. "Dammit. You need stitches."

"Is he dead?" Haley had to know, felt as though she couldn't even take her next breath until she did. "Cam, tell me!"

"No doubt, he's very dead." His voice was very uneven and his fingers shook as he worked on her face.

She sat back, as shock took over. Dead. Branson was finally dead.

"Have to say this for you, Haley. Life hasn't been a nap in the hammock since I met you."

What she'd put him through suddenly stopped her cold. She couldn't bear it. She stood, with some half-baked idea of running and never stopping, but she cried out and nearly collapsed at the sharp pain that speared through her ankle.

Cam hooked a hand around her waist. "Lean on me," he murmured. "Don't put any extra weight on it."

She stared at him. His mouth was moving but she could hardly make out the words. She could, however, make out the haggard lines on his face, the blood seeping from a series of shallow cuts over his bare arms and hands. Her fault. A shiver racked her. "I'm fine." But she took one step and would have fallen flat on her face if not for Cam's arms. The pain twisting through her made her feel nauseous.

"Damn. Okay, darlin', sit down a sec." Lowering her gently to the ground, he glanced back at the flames leaping in the air from the ravine below. "Tuck your blouse up and over your mouth and nose," he instructed. "Like this." He pulled the neck of his T-shirt up over the bottom half of his face. "It'll help you breathe."

Breathe. She had to breathe. Branson was dead. It was like a mantra in her mind. She couldn't believe it.

Cam knelt before her to peel back her pants from her ankle. His strong fingers touched her lightly while his mouth tightened. Already, the ankle-a lovely, mottled shade of blue-had swollen to twice its normal size.

"It's just a sprain," she said, struggling to stand again.

"It's broken."

"Okay. I'll just wait here for you."

"Like hell." Before she could protest, he lifted her up behind him, piggyback-style. He shifted her into a better position, looping his arms around her knees, then started walking away from the smoke and flames.

For a moment, Haley allowed herself to cling, to close her eyes and hug his back, so thankful, so very thankful he was alive. It had been so close. Branson had almost killed him. She opened her eyes and saw Cam's grim profile, saw the blood on his temple from a cut. She knew he must be every bit as exhausted as she, yet he hadn't said a word. Guilt overwhelmed her. She couldn't believe she was letting him carry her when she'd almost gotten him killed.

"Put me down," she said. "I want to try walking again."

He didn't answer, didn't even slow his pace, just cleared his throat from the now fading smoke and kept going.

"Cam."

"You can't walk, Haley."

This wasn't about her ankle and they both knew it. "He can't hurt me anymore."

That stopped him. He looked over his shoulder at her. "That's right. He can't. But why don't I believe that you believe that?"

Because Branson and EVS, and what he almost did to your family, stand between us, she wanted to cry.

Unable to maintain the soul-searching eye contact, she laid her head against the strong width of his shoulder and sighed.

He continued across the top of the ravine and back into the shelter of the woods. After another minute, his arms, where they were hooked around her legs, squeezed gently. "You okay?"

"Yeah." She had to clear her throat of the thick tears that stuck there. "I'm fine." But she wasn't, and she didn't know if she ever would be again.

They stopped at the stream and he lowered her to a rock. He plopped down beside her to the bed of fallen leaves, his chest rising and falling harshly.

"Leave me here while you go the rest of the way. I'll be fine-"

"No… I'm not leaving you." He turned away and stared into the woods. "He's dead. Dead, Haley. Do you understand that?"

"Of course I do. So why won't you leave me behind?" She gulped, suddenly stricken with tears. She shuddered and shook, as shock again gripped her. "D-don't you t-t-trust me to stay and f-f-face the consequences?"

He took one look at her, then sighed as he pulled her close, rocking her. "You've got to stop doubting me, stop doubting yourself. Stop pushing me away."

She wished she could. But if she closed her eyes she could still see the blood of her colleagues, hear the wicked laugh of the man who'd tried to kill her, feel the pain of the man who loved her.

The sound of a helicopter had them both jerking back, startled. Cam shielded his eyes to see, then relaxed. "Finally. It's Search and Rescue. They're coming for us."

When the chopper lowered, hovering near them, a familiar blond head popped out and glanced down anxiously. Haley closed her eyes, sagging in relief, even as she continued to shake.

Zach had found them.

Chapter 14

"She's perfect. Looks just like me." Jason smiled proudly down at the small bundle wrapped in his arms and wiped a suspicious moistness from the corner of his eye. "We should call her Jason, Jr."

Nellie laughed weakly and winked at Zach and Cam. "She may look just like you, honey, but she's got my personality. Which means she's an absolute angel."

Zach shook his head. "An angel with a temper, that's for sure. For the last five hours I've been listening to you scream at poor Jas here from down the hall. And that was after I'd asked the nurse for cotton for my ears."

But he laughed softly over Jason's shoulder when the baby opened one eye and seemed to glare at him. "See that? Already, she's giving me dirty looks. Just like her mama."

Zach paled a few shades when Jason slipped the baby into his arms, but after a minute he relaxed, even smiled at the serious creature staring up at him. "What's her name?"

"Ally," Nellie said firmly, smiling when the brothers stared at her with their hearts in their eyes. Ally had been their mother's name.

Jason leaned over Nellie for a long, deep kiss. "She's gorgeous, baby. Just like you. Thanks for my little girl."

For once, even Zach seemed moved by the public display of affection.

Cam touched the soft tuft of blond hair on top of little Ally's head and thought he'd never seen a more beautiful miracle. He'd nearly had a heart attack when he'd learned Jason and Nellie had never made it farther than the end of the road before her water had broke. They'd driven straight to the hospital.

By the time Jason had managed to try to reach Zach, he was nowhere to be found. But that was because Zach had stayed at the ranch to make the calls to the police. Branson, who had come to the house when Haley hadn't been at the airport, had knocked Zach out, then left him for dead.

Which had Cam's poor heart leaping again. Thank God, he thought, staring at the white bandage across Zach's forehead. Thank God his brother had a head harder than stone.

It had been stress that had sent Nellie spiraling into early labor, and Cam knew that if something had happened to her or the baby, Haley would never have forgiven herself. He'd had a bad moment when he'd relived Lorraine's labor and how things had gone so badly, but apparently Nellie had done just fine. She glowed.

Jason, in contrast, looked positively awful. His hair stuck straight up and his eyes were ringed with dark exhaustion. Zach had told Cam that Jason had been a complete wreck during labor, and that every time Nellie so much as winced, Jason turned green. He looked like he'd been to hell and back.

But they had a precious bundle of life to show for it.

Cam knew the small twinge of envy was normal, but when Zach handed him the tiny baby, he, too, had to fight back the burning in his eyes.

She felt so light in his arms, smelled so absolutely sweet. The small mewling sound she made tugged at him, and when she opened her eyes to stare solemnly at him, he smiled at her. "Hello, precious," he whispered. The baby yawned, turned her head to his chest and smacked her lips against his shirt. Despite himself, he chuckled. "No milk there, sugar." Gently, he laid her on Nellie. "Better luck with those," he told the baby, grinning at his sister-in-law.

With an ease that spoke of her readiness to be a mom, Nellie soothed Ally while Cam watched, fascinated and yearning all at the same time. "You really okay, Nel?" he asked her.

Her smile was filled with love and understanding as she reached for his hand. "Yeah, I'm really okay." The amusement faded from her eyes. "Stop worrying. It wasn't your fault. Nor Haley's. It was just my time."

He shook his head and remembered the terrifying moments in the helicopter as Zach had told him what happened, how Nellie had suffered with the long labor. "When I first heard, I thought-" He sighed, knowing it didn't bear repeating. "Never mind what I thought."

Nel pulled him down beside her, placing his hand on the baby's warm body. "You thought the worst. I'm sorry I scared you, Cam. I know what you've been through. But I'm strong as a horse. So's the baby. See?"