“Matt, Tate’s at the hospital.”

Matt sat down again. “What? Oh my God! Shane, is she all right? What happened?”

“I don’t know everything. It happened at her parents’ trailer. She’s got a head wound. I’m on my way to the hospital just now. She’s unconscious. One of my deputies is asking questions at the scene. I thought you’d want to know.”

“Yeah. Yeah. Thanks. I’ll be there as fast as I can.”

He ran out the door, calling Nathan and getting voicemail. Getting the same from every other one of her siblings he tried. He called his mother and she told him they’d meet him there.

He burst through the emergency room doors and the staff directed him upstairs. Rushing up the stairwell three steps at a time, he saw her family, Shane and Cassie there waiting.

“What happened? Is she conscious?”

“My father happened,” Tim said, his voice tight and very controlled.

“Your father put her in the hospital?” A sense of cold, deadly calm slid through Matt then. He’d never been one for fighting, always a kind of laid back guy but at that moment he was sure he could have beaten the hell out of Bill Murphy.

“One of their neighbors heard an argument. Nothing new. He called Tate because it got pretty bad. My dad and mom were on the steps, screaming at each other. He kept threatening to kill her.

“Tate went because that’s what Tate does. Tate fixes things. According to my mother, Tate arrived and tried to calm my dad down. Told him someone would call the cops if he didn’t stop yelling. She went up the steps to the little landing where he was standing. He pushed at her, to get her away and she lost her footing and fell back. She hit her head on the concrete pad the trailer sits on.”

Nathan put his arm around his older brother and took up the story. It occurred to Matt that this probably wasn’t the first time something like this had to be related to someone else.

“Head wounds bleed a lot. My mom saw it and yelled at one of the neighbors to call the cops. My dad took off.”

“We were already on the way.” Shane put his hand on Matt’s shoulder. “Thank God, one of the neighbors had already decided things were too far gone and called 911. An ambulance got there right as we did and brought her here. We’ve got a warrant out for her father.”

“Can I see her? Is she going to be all right?” Helplessness clawed at Matt, thoughts of her alone and hurt in the hospital bed filled his brain.

“She’s unconscious but they said her vitals were good. I’ve had a few concussions. She’s in for a long night of being poked awake every hour but Tate is strong, she’ll be all right. Physically.” Cassie smiled at him, squeezing his shoulder.

Matt swallowed and nodded. If he fell back on his professional training as well as the support of his family and his love for her, he’d be a bigger help to her.

“Where’s your mother?” Matt looked back at Tate’s siblings.

Nathan’s mouth flattened and he shook his head. “She’s at home. Apparently she told the cops she doesn’t remember much about what happened even though what she told Tim was pretty detailed. Said she had to get out of town. She’s more worried that she might have to testify and it’ll put a kink in her social calendar than about Tate.”

“I’ve got to see her.” Matt had to hold it together for Tate’s sake.

“Go on in.” Tim nodded. “She needs you.”

“Little Venus? Hey, gorgeous, time to wake up.”

Tate opened her eyes and found herself staring into the most beautiful eyes she’d ever seen. Matt. Then the light brought a sharp new blast of pain to her head and she winced.

“What happened?” she croaked.

“Your father,” he ground out through clenched teeth. “He was drunk and arguing with your mother. Threatening to hurt her.”

“Oh that’s right. I went up the steps to try and calm him down. His face was so red, I thought he might have a stroke or something. He turned to me, screaming, his hands waving all around. He went to push me back and I lost my footing and slipped. Hit my head on something.”

“Yeah, the damned concrete. He could have killed you.”

“Is he all right?”

“You’re worried about him?”

“He was so red. It’s hot. He was drunk, really drunk. Is my mother all right?”

“She’s fine.” Tate may have had a head wound but she knew enough to understand his silence meant her mother hadn’t bothered to show up. Tate wished it didn’t hurt as bad as it did, still these years later.

Matt brushed fingers up her arm. “Your dad left the scene. There’s a warrant. Don’t you feel sorry for him. Damn it, Venus. My brother has blood all over his uniform pants from where he rushed to you when he got there. Why didn’t you call me?”

“He saw it?” She was horrified that Matt had been exposed to this part of her life and now Shane had been too? Great.

The doctor came in and pushed him out of the way to shine a pen light into her eyes and check her other vitals. Matt stood to the side, not letting her out of his sight.

“You’re all right. Concussion. I told you the last time to watch yourself. Ms. Murphy, your father—”

“Yes, I know, Doctor.” Tate cut him off before he could say anything else but she caught Matt scrubbing his hands over his face. The last time echoed in her ears and she knew he’d heard it too. Shame, sharp and acute roiled in her stomach and she had to fight back heaving her breakfast.