“I don’t want to leave you out here alone, but I have to go back in there for a second, Jess. Do you… Do you think–”
“I’ll stay out here with her.” Colt’s voice drifted over his shoulder as the porch door clanged against the frame.
Hawk waited for Jessie’s nod before turning to walk back inside the house, taking all the warmth with him. She shivered as the evening breeze wrapped around her.
“Mind if I sit down?” Colt asked as Jessie tucked her feet up under her on the porch swing.
“Of course not.” She bit into her bottom lip. “Are you upset with me?”
Colt was more than just her big brother. He’d always been the one looking out for her when Hayes, or Beau, or even Lachlan went too far with their roughhousing. He taught her how to ride her pony. How to face her fear of feeding the mean chickens. And how to protect herself against someone who would try to take advantage of her. Deep in her heart, Jessie knew she’d be broken beyond repair if her brother’s response was like her dad’s.
Before Colt could answer, Beau and Hayes walked out the door. They didn’t acknowledge her. Their eyes stayed trained to the ground in front of them as they stepped off the porch and walked off towards the barn.
“They’ll get over it, Jess. You didn’t rob a bank. You’re having a baby.” Colt held out his arms, and she leaned into his embrace. “I’m so happy for you. For our family. You’re going to be the best mom. And I’m fucking thrilled to be an uncle.”
The strain in his voice made her throat burn with emotion. “I was scared to tell you. After everything you went through with Vi.”
He nodded. “Are you okay? Is the baby healthy?”
“Yeah. We’re good.”
“Good. And you’ll call me if you need anything, right?”
She nodded.
“I’m proud of you. I like Hawk. A lot. He’s a good guy, Jess. Dad’s freaking out, but that’s on him.”
“You’re normally the one repeating his rules,” she sniffled. “’Jess, don’t climb on the gate.’ ‘Jess, don’t hold the reins like that.’ ‘Jess, get that goddamn goat out of this house’.”
“Very funny. I think Dad got a lot of things right in this life. But I don’t think anything he said tonight is right. I’m so fucking proud of you. Of everything you do for this family. You have every right to go off and have your own life. You don’t owe Mom or Dad or any of us anything, Jess. You’re a Ford. And you will always be one, even if your last name changes to Morgan.”
“Oh, I don’t think that’s–“
Colt chuckled. “He’s in love with you, Jess. The way he stood up to Dad. The way he said you were his family. Yeah. It doesn't take a sappy heart to see that man is falling head over heels for my little sister. He looks at you the same way I used to look at…”
“Violet.”
“Yeah. But your story is going to have a happy ending, Jess. I know it.”
Eighteen
“You’ve lost the plot if you think I’m going to let you be the reason we’re cut out of our daughter’s life. Our grandchild, Danny! She’s having a baby with one of the nicest, most protective men I’ve ever met. What is wrong with you?”
Hawk closed the front door behind him. Beau and Hayes walked into the living room, stopping as soon as they laid eyes on him.
“I have just one more thing I need to say to your dad before I leave.”
They nodded, heading out the door without saying a single word.
“His life is dangerous, Doll! In the time those men have been in Silver Springs, they’ve been targeted by a crime syndicate, a serial killer, someone they knew from the SEALs. She was already taken from us! The first time she decided to spread her legs for him… boom. We get a frantic call that she’s gone and they don’t know where the fuck she’s been taken. Our daughter knows better.” Danny turned and his eyes finally found Hawk’s. “She’s meant to be a respectable young woman in this community. Not some fucking whore who chases after an adrenaline rush with a man fifteen years older than her!”
Hawk’s fist slammed down on the table.
“Now, I know this is your house, which is why I’m biting my tongue this time. But I want you to understand with unwavering certainty that whether we are standing on your property or not, if I ever hear you speak about the mother of my child, the woman I fucking love and plan on spending the rest of my life with, like that again, you’ll see just how dangerous of a man I really am. Donotdisrespect a member ofmyfamilylike that again.”
Hawk turned and marched straight out of the house. He didn’t want to make things worse for Jessie, but her father and brothers needed to know that there was no way he’d let the way they’d spoken to—and about—her stand.
When he stepped out onto the porch, Hawk’s eyes narrowed on Jessie’s red eyes and tear-stained cheeks.
