If I had to describe the feeling permeating Killian and Willow’s kitchen this morning in one word, “tense” wouldn’t even begin to cover it. I’m not sure anything would.
Connor exchanges a look with our older brother as Willow finishes laying out the breakfast spread she always makes for us before we head out for the morning. But something tells me that none of us are likely to be eating much this morning. Despite the fact that we’re going to miss lunch because all three of us have to go up beyond the gorge to the far side of the mountain to deal with ongoing issues with the clearing operation over there, I don’t think anyone has an appetite.
It’s impossible to think about eating after what happened this morning, when I’m sitting here looking at her like this.
Lucky sits in her chair next to me at Killian’s table with a cup of hot tea in front of her, grasped between her hands as tightly as she had clutched that gun this morning.
Christ.
I scrub my hands over my face and take a sip of my coffee, trying to shake off the last vestiges of that fear that soared through me when I heard Connor call out my name and got to the top of the steps and saw through the filtering morning light that Lucky had a weapon pointed at him.
The true terror I saw in her gaze, that I felt in her body when I took the gun from her and held her, was enough to convince me that maybe letting her come to me and talk when she’s ready isn’t an option.
Not if she’s carrying a gun.
Not if it’s that serious.
She doesn’t seem like the type to have a weapon, let alone be willing to pull it, unless she believed there was a very real threat. And I can already tell Killian and Connor will have a million questions once they get me alone.
Rightfully so.
I have a million of my own for the woman beside me.
Willow takes her seat at the table, setting down the final plate of food, and smiles, completely in the dark about what went down this morning. Though, just because she wasn’t given any details doesn’t mean she’s clueless. She knows us all well enough that she can sense something happened even though we didn’t tell her about it.
Connor went straight to Killian before we came over, but there was no way he was about to throw the situation we faced this morning at her without more information.
None of us will.
There isn’t any point in getting Willow worried or worked up when we don’t know what brought on that reaction from Lucky.
Willow looks at all of us and at our empty plates. “Why isn’t anyone eating?”
She raises her dark brows, and we all clear our throats awkwardly and reach forward to pile our plates with pancakes, bacon, eggs, and sausage.
Killian leans over and presses a kiss to her cheek with a smile. “Thanks, Honeybee, this looks great.”
It does.
And any other morning, we would have already dug into it and half-cleaned our plates by now.
Which is exactly what Willow does because we all know Niall will be awake soon and she’ll lose the opportunity to eat without a baby on her hip. She chews a few bites as the rest of us force ourselves to do the same—except Lucky, who continues to sit motionless, as if in a trance. Willow watches her for a moment. “So, are you coming into the shop again today?”
Lucky doesn’t respond, just stares down into her cup of tea.
I clear my throat, sliding my hand onto her thigh and squeezing gently. “Lucky?”
She glances up at me, and I incline my head toward Willow.
Lucky’s blue eyes widen, then move over to her. “Oh, sorry, what did you say?”
Willow offers her a confused look laced with concern. “Um, I asked if you were going to come in and help today.”
Shit.
I hadn’t even thought about today.
With us gone up the mountain, that would leave Lucky here alone at the cabin on the unfamiliar homestead, but she likely planned to go into town and help Willow today—which probably isn’t a good idea given how she reacted to the sheriff yesterday and after what happened this morning.
