She spun around. She couldn’t let the woman see her. She did not have the energy for that conversation right now.
Speed-walking in the opposite direction, Sadie spotted Eastern and Cody up ahead. They’d stopped beside a truck.
Split-second decision time. It was probably crazy, but who the hell cared. It was survival right now.
She stepped in front of their big bodies, knowing the mountainous men would block her from Mrs. Chase’s view.
Eastern frowned. “Sadie? Are you okay?”
“This is going to sound crazy, and I’ve probably lost my mind, but I just need you guys to hide me for two seconds.”
The muscles in Eastern’s forearms visibly flexed. “Is something wrong?”
“What happened?” Cody asked, turning his head.
“No!” She grabbed Cody’s arm to tug his attention back to her—then she began talking in a rush like word vomit she couldn’t stop or slow.
“Don’t look. Everything’s fine, I’m not in danger. If anything, thatwomanis in danger—from me. I probably shouldn’t be saying this to the town sheriff and his brother, but if she sees me, she’ll come over and speak to me, and thenI don’t think I’ll be able to keep my cool, because I have a feeling she knew what her son did, and she didn’t tell me. They’re close. Like,reallyclose. I’m not saying I’d kill her or anything crazy like that…”
The men frowned, but she barely noticed. She was too far gone.
“But hurt her? Yeah, I’m definitely capable right now. I’ve never hurt anyone before, but give a girl a reason and these things can just happen. Please, just let me hide for a minute while she gets into her car, then everything will be okay.”
CHAPTER 2
The corners of Eastern’s mouth twitched. The woman in front of him was actually admitting to wanting to hurt another person.
He studied the brown specks in her black eyes, which, in this moment, looked a bit crazed. She wore a T-shirt with a picture of a cupcake that read, “A cupcake without icing on it is good for muffin.” She also sported jeans that pulled tightly around her ample curves, but fuck, he was trying not to look at those curves. Sadie Sandler was too young for him, and he’d known her since she was a teenager.
The last time he’d seen her was only a few days ago when he and his daughter had bumped into her at the grocery store. She’d looked sad. Hell, he’d almost drowned in the sadness of her eyes, it had run so deep. Today, though? Today she looked angry and a little wild.
When she finally stopped speaking, her chest heaved up and down in fast succession.
There was a short beat of silence before he asked, “Are you okay?”
“I’m not sure.” She peeked around his shoulder and the air rushed out of her. “She’s gone. It’s okay. I won’t hurt anyone today.”
His brows slashed together.Today?Was this something he should be watching out for?
He shot a look over his shoulder, seeing no car and no woman.
“What did she do?” Cody asked.
“Maybe nothing.” A scowl cut across Sadie’s face. “But if she knew what Ithinkshe knew, then it’s bad.”
Okay, Eastern wasn’t following at all, and by the look on his brother’s face, he wasn’t either.
“Maybe you can ask her on a different day…a day when you feel less violent,” Cody said, humor in his voice.
“Yeah, maybe then.”
The sudden smile that lit her face was in complete contrast to the scowl a few seconds earlier, and Eastern felt it like a kick in the gut.Fuck, she was gorgeous. Was that even appropriate to think about his daughter’s former nanny?
“Don’t worry,” she added quickly, “you won’t be arresting me anytime soon. I promise I’m not usually a violent person.”
“I know you’re not. Avery’s only said nice things about you.” His eight-year-old barely stopped talking about her.
Sadie’s eyes softened, and that familiar sadness washed over her features. “I miss her. How is she?”
