Cal would not torture himself that way again.He stayed where he was and watched her in the dim light from the kitchen stove, keeping himself still and silent.
The knock came again.He tensed, waited.No one should be out tonight, not in the storm and ice.
She answered the door quickly, the baby in her arms.That kid just did not sleep.No denying that.Auggie was whispering to her late-night visitor now.He turned his head and peeked, wanting to see if it was a man.The real reason she didn’t want a husband.Maybe she was dating someone and hiding it from the kids?
He could see that being possible.
The woman was damned near fascinating, after all.Men would want her.Deeply.
“Quick, get her inside.It’s pouring and freezing out there.”
“No kidding,” another female voice whispered.“And we had to stop three times along the drive so she could toss the cookies.I was slipping everywhere.We probably shouldn’t have tried to make it back tonight, but she wanted Love-Stud.She was feeling a bit weepy.We almost made it all the way around, and then it got to be too freaky out there.So here we are.”
Auggie stepped back.Two women came in.Including his own younger sister.The other woman was recognizable in the light—her friend, the sheriff’s deputy, married to Auggie’s asshole cousin Gil.What in the hell was Claudia doing out this late?In this weather?Yes, she was a cop—but that didn’t mean he wanted her out at three a.m.in a freezing rainstorm.Hell, his three sisters needed keepers, lately.They were just always getting into so much trouble.
“Pitiful.So, so pitiful.Guys on drugs, burning buildings, bullets and knife-wielding homicidal maniacs can’t stop SuperSage, but…”
“Oh, just stop,” the sheriff’s deputy said.She sounded beyond pitiful.
“Gil Tyler’s sperm sure did.Stopped her right in her tracks,” Claudia said.“Thanks for the loan of the couch tonight.It’s appreciated.”
“Anytime.Shecan have the bed in my office.I think she deserves it.”
“I called Gil for her already.Let him know we only made it halfway but are safe.He was starting to panic and was getting ready to come looking for her.”
“He has it so bad.It’s sweet.”
Cal stayed still, while they got the deputy installed in Auggie’s guest room.Then Auggie and his sister headed toward the kitchen, whispering quietly, comfortably together.It was obvious Claudia had spent a lot of time here at the demon-woman ranch.
“So…spill.You’re bottling something up right now.Time to tell me what it is.Everything,” Auggie said.“What’s going on?”
Cal’s attention sharpened.Sometimes, his sisters didn’t keep him or Cadell in the loop the way he wished they would.How could he protect them, if he didn’t know what they were coming up against?
They’d almost lost Claudia twice in October.Because of Auggie’s bastard of a father.He didn’t take that lightly.Both of these women had been through real hell lately.No denying that.
“I had a date Friday.”
“I remember.”
Well,Calhadn’t known that.From her tone, that was probably a good thing.
“Well, everything was going great, until he asked about my father…”
“Ouch.”
Cal had a feeling he wasn’t going to like what his sister said next.Who the hell was the bastard she’d dated anyway?He needed to know, so he could do any face rearranging that was needed.
“I should have lied,” Claudia said, almost bitterly.“But I told him my father was in prison for shooting two people and for arson.Figured I’d get it right out there ahead of time.This guy was a defense attorney, Augs.You’d think he wouldn’t be so shocked, right?He left me sitting there in the restaurant.I had to call Cloe to come get me.”
“Bastard.He’s not worth your time.”
“No kidding.And the same thing happened to Clancy two months ago.That guy she was living next to.He made it so uncomfortable for her, practically taunting her, blaming her for things around the complex she didn’t do—she ended up moving in with Cal to get away from him, and I told him we’d be getting a restraining order if he didn’t stop harassing her.”
So that was what it was.He had known Clancy was having some sort of problem when she’d asked to move home, but she wouldn’t tell him what.And of course he had said yes.It was her home, too.
Besides, how else was he supposed to keep that one out of trouble?Clancy was worse than Claudia and Cloe combined, when it came to being a trouble magnet.
“I understand.Last time I had a date I wanted to get naked with, you know, before six kids and lifelong partial paralysis, the guy took one look at my scars on my back, asked how I got them—first time I had my shirt off with him, too—and couldn’t get away fast enough.Like I was damaged goods, back then.Well, I have more scars now.I’m not too anxious to repeat that experience.”
