“Fucking hell,” Beau groaned before turning back into her room.
Colt stepped back after a minute, phone still pressed to his ear. “Jessie, the operator wants to know if you need an ambulance.”
“Of course she does?—”
“Don’t you dare,” she groaned, holding her hand out at Hawk. He got the message, and handed her the box of tissues that rested on the back of the toilet. She cleaned her face before leaning into his chest. “It’s just the smell of the guy who was in here. I’m good now. Have them send out a deputy. I don’t want to forget any details about what happened.” Jessie moved so her face was buried in Hawk’s shirt, taking a deep breath. Yup, that settled it. He was going to wrap her up in his arms and never let go.
“You okay now?” Hawk whispered as he tucked her head under his chin.
“Yeah. You smell so good. It’s helping. Even the baby agrees.”
“What do you mean?”
“He’s wiggling around in there. The bubbles are back.”
He shifted her weight across his lap and she sat back against his chest, knowing what he was looking for. Hawk’s hand landed on her belly, and Jessie placed her hand on top, guiding his low towards her left hip where she must have felt the baby. His fingers pressed gently against her skin.
“Do you feel it?” she whispered.
Fuck. He wished he did.
Seventeen
Colt bent down and placed a hand on his sister’s shoulder. “Jessie, I need to know about the person that was here.”
“That can wait,” Hawk growled, his hand still resting possessively over Jessie’s belly. Like hell was anyone going to upset her more than she already was now that he was there. “She doesn’t need to be upset right now.”
“No, I’m fine. And he’s right. Whoever it was might still be on the ranch.” Jessie winced as she moved her face towards her brothers. “He was Beau’s height. Wore a mask. It honestly happened so fast I couldn’t really get any other details before he was rushing out. But…”
“But what? Jess?”
“Like I said, he smelled like cigarettes. I know that’s not super helpful, but he smelled just like when Lach would sneak home when he was in high school and he’d been smoking. I think that’s what set off the nausea.” She shook her head. “He’s been smoking again. I don’t know if either of you knew that, but I had to ask him to stop a few weeks ago.”
“You don’t think it was Lach up here, do you?” Beau asked, the color draining from his face.
“No! Lachlan’s not as tall as this guy was. And he’s too skinny. Whoever this was had broader shoulders. They barely fit through my window. Oh,” she groaned and Hawk steadied himself, ready to help her through another round of sickness, but thankfully it never came. “Shit! They took the shop’s laptop. God. Lach’s gonna freak.”
“He’ll just be happy you’re okay, Jess.” Hawk smoothed back the hair that was sticking to her face. She shifted against him, her palms pressing down on his thighs as she started to stand.
“Whoa. No way. I think we should just sit here a minute more. Maybe one of your brothers can grab you some water, and something to put back in your stomach.”
She shook her head, and he had no choice but to let her stand. As soon as she was steady on her feet, Hawk jumped up beside her.
“I’m fine. Besides, I need to clean everything up.”
“You can’t.” Colt’s voice was stiff and commanding. “We’ll need pictures of everything. You’ll have to sort through it all eventually, to see if anything else is gone other than the laptop, but not right now. You and Hawk should go downstairs. I’ll be down in a minute and we can all wait for the deputy there.”
His words left no room for argument, and for that, Hawk was grateful. He shot off a text to Nash to let him know what happened and headed downstairs with his arm wrapped around Jessie’s waist. It was easy enough to get her settled on the sofa before turning to find something to help settle her stomach. Hawk was returning from the kitchen with a cup of water and toast when Jessie leaned her head back against the sofa and groaned.
“God, this isn’t the way I wanted it all to go,” she sighed as she took a sip of the water he brought her.
Hawk nodded. She’d worked so hard on the shirts that announced her family’s new status as grandparents and uncles. Hawk watched her push through exhaustion to iron on every last decal and letter with precision. He hated that Colt and Beau had found out the way they did, but there were still her parents, and her brother Hayes. Something could be salvaged.
“I know. I’ve got all of those bags out in my truck. Should I bring them in?”
“Not right now. I don’t know what deputy is going to show up, and I don’t want Bee to end up being a talking point around whoever it is.”
“Mom? Dad?” Hayes’ voice bellowed through the front door. His feet stomped into the living room, freezing as soon as his eyes landed on Jessie. “What the fuck happened? I heard the break-in call come through the radio. Is everyone okay?”
