Spits is our team IT guy, he can find anything at any time. When I was a kid, I had an uncanny knowledge of computers and fell into the position of helping my uncle out with anything technology related. Before I ever enlisted in the Navy, I was learning how to hack into most any database in the U.S. But if I can’t find what I’m looking for, I know Spits can do it.
We call him Spits because he is constantly eating the dill pickle flavored sunflower seeds of the same name. He always has a red plastic cup within arm’s distance to spit his hulls into, we give him shit about it all the time. Mainly because it’s fucking disgusting.
“Do I need to stay longer?” Tucker asks Mason, he’s turned so we are facing each other in a circle, his fingers rhythmically curling into fists before flexing again.
I look over the crowd of people wondering if Mr. Harlow took the girls inside, but I find them close to the barn with Gray, his daughter tucked safely into one side and his girlfriend who I think might be only five feet tall tucked into his other side. Marley is standing close to her father with her arms crossed over her stomach, a stance she takes when she is worried or afraid, her eyes on us.
Thank fuck she doesn’t stand like that around me anymore.
“I’m staying.” I say with my eyes still on Marley.
“Why?” Tucker immediately barks the question like a demand, and I give him my attention.
He’s looking at me like Gray looked at me when I stood guard outside of Marley’s room after her stable was set on fire and she lost one of her horses. The company that tried to buy their land last year got pushy and sent someone to intimidate them, it didn’t work out well for him. Because of the stress from that night, Marley started having nightmares again, the same nightmares she had after she was raped.
There wasn’t anything that could have kept me from that spot. And there isn’t anything that will keep me from this ranch as long as I think there might be a threat to her safety.
Flashing my smile, I say, “Didn’t you hear my speech? I’d do anything for this family. And I love a good, home cooked meal.”
His eyes narrow as he assesses me, and Mason claps him on the shoulder. “It’s true. He eats more than I do, especially sweets. Sloane can’t keep the cookies stocked when he’s here. But, seriously, we don’t know what this guy is planning, it could be days, weeks, or months. I’d feel better with Jax here.”
Something tells me it will be sooner rather than later.
Tucker finally breaks eye contact with me and looks toward the barn at the rest of his family as he slides his hands in his pockets and nods. “We need to have a conversation with Hallie.”
CHAPTER SIX
MARLEY
THE BREATHlodged in my lungs breaks free as the guy gets in his car and drives away. Even forty yards away, he was making my skin itch all over. Watching Mason, Jax, and Tuck walk up to an obvious threat made my insides shudder, forcing me to press my arms and hands against my stomach to stop the shaking.
I hate that fear is like an old friend stepping out of the shadow to take control of me.
Why else would he be here? Hallie’s ex made the last three years of her life hell. Initially, he was sweet and gave her everything she wanted. Then she told me about his controlling nature and short temper.
She wasn’t allowed to do anything without him, he sold her car after she moved in with him and trapped her in the house. The night he put her in the hospital, she had a concussion from being hit in the head with the butt of his gun.
Everything about him is evil.
All around us, the guests are still dancing and the band has moved to the next song, completely unaware that the day has been moved from joyous celebration to a day eclipsed by a dark storm cloud.
Dad stood next to me with his arm around my shoulders the whole time, but the terror of what could happen to any one of the three of them had my heart beating so fast that I thought it might jump out of my chest. It was impossible to tear my eyes away from them.
Realizing I was worried about Jax just as much as I was worried about Mason comes as a surprise. I didn’t realize he had become one of the few inside of my very limited circle of trust. Outside of my family, no man has been able to do that.
There was a guy about four years ago I had high hopes for, but he eventually became impatient with me and tried to push. He only lasted a couple of months.
“Daddy, who is that man?” Lainey Rai, Gray’s daughter, is tucked into Gray’s side, her long brown hair in curls down her back, in her pretty sundress. She looks worried and keeps trying to see around my brother’s large frame, but Gray is holding her tightly to block her view.
Standing next to Sloane, her makeup smeared on her pale face from crying, Hallie whispers, “I’m so sorry, the police said he would be in jail for a while.” The fingers of both her hands are splayed across her lips and chin. She’s already naturally pale, but she’s turned white as a ghost and all her freckles across her nose and cheeks stand out like a milky way of stars across her face.
The last time Hallie’s boyfriend beat her, she was in the hospital for days. The police assured her he was going to jail and that she was safe to press charges. Everything she did was out of fear of what he would do to her, so that assurance by the police gave her the courage to get away.
But not without a price.
Our old housekeeper, Opal, retired last year after being with us for twenty-two years and volunteers a couple of days a week at the homeless shelter in Tulsa. That’s where she found Hallie, still bruised and destitute because her jerk of a boyfriend made sure that she relied on him for everything. Pressing charges on him caused her to lose it all.
Sloane came to work for us after Opal retired, and even after we found out she was pregnant, she still insisted on managing the house, so Mason and Dad brought Hallie in on Opals’ recommendation to help. It wasn’t hard, Dad has a soft spot for helping people and he trusts Opal.
