Cam’s brown eyes softened. “We missed you too, sweetheart. Now rest and get better.”
“Don’t go,” she murmured as she fought against the lethargy slogging through her body and brain.
“We’re not going anywhere, Reggie,” Sawyer said close to her ear. “I promise.”
She drifted off with the comfort of that promise echoing in her mind.
CHAPTER 3
The sun hadn’t yet peeked over the horizon, and the pale glow of predawn had only just begun to lighten the sky when Sawyer climbed out of the truck and met Cam around the front.
Together they stared at the large two-story house situated on one of the rolling hills of the hundred-acre spread they’d purchased a couple years earlier.
Sawyer’s chest tightened with pride. This was theirs. A piece of land. A home. When he was a child, the idea of home and family had been a fantasy. A dream that was for other kids. Not him. Never him.
When Birdie had taken him in, Cam had been there a week already and was not appreciative of the competition for Birdie’s affection. He’d been resentful of Sawyer’s presence even as he had pushed Birdie away. He hadn’t wanted her and hadn’t trusted her, but he didn’t want Sawyer to have her either.
He hadn’t really understood until Hutch had arrived a few months later. Fear and insecurity, two things Sawyer had been well accustomed to back then, had made a terrible comeback. What if Birdie liked Hutch better? Hutch was quieter. He wasn’t as much trouble. What if she decided three boys were too much? Surely she’d keep whoever caused her the least amount of strife.
“Let’s go,” Cam said, shaking Sawyer from his reverie. “I want to make sure everything’s ready for her to come home.”
They walked to the front porch and Cam inserted the key into the lock. Though they’d visited the house often when it was in the building stages—(Cam had been more than obsessed with making sure every single detail was perfect and exactly according to the plans he’d drawn up)—Sawyer couldn’t help the sense of wonder that slipped over him when he stepped into the foyer.
No expense had been spared in the construction. While it looked and felt masculine, it hadn’t been built or decorated with their tastes solely in mind. No, it had been built for Reggie. It was her dream house.
He meandered to the stone fireplace and ran his fingers lightly over the mahogany mantel. Then he walked over to the French doors leading to the deck and stared out. She’d like it. Several trees shaded the sprawling terrace, including one large oak that they’d built around. It was intended to mimic the banks of the creek where she and Hutch had spent so much time nestled among the tree roots.
The deck overlooked a three-acre pond down a gentle incline from the back of the house. They’d stocked it with bass and catfish, and Sawyer was looking forward to challenging Reggie to see who could land the biggest.
“You think this will work?”
Sawyer turned in surprise to see Cam standing next to him at the doors. More surprising was the worry in his voice. Cam . . . he was the steadfast one. He’d been the one from the start to tell him and Hutch when they had doubts that it would work out. It had to. They loved Reggie.
Now Sawyer realized that Cam needed that reassurance too.
“Yeah, man. It’s going to work. It’s not us she’s running from. It’s herself. She’s afraid. Of what, I’m not sure.”
Cam nodded. “It’s just that sometimes I think we made a mistake. That maybe we pushed too hard.”
Sawyer eyed him before turning his gaze to the outside. “We didn’t push, Cam. It just . . . happened. I wouldn’t have let you or Hutch force her into anything, just like you wouldn’t have let me. We wanted her. But we’ve wanted her a long damn time.”
“I turned on the air and made sure her room was all set. We can head back to the hospital now if you want.”
Sawyer turned, accepting the abrupt change in subject. Yeah, he was anxious to return even though he knew Reggie was going to fight them tooth and nail about coming home with them, especially when she learned that home was here and not in Houston.
Hutch listened to Reggie’s quiet breathing and gently rubbed his fingers up and down her shoulder. She lay sleeping, her head against his chest, her body nestled into his. His arm was numb and had been for the better part of an hour, but he didn’t want to move it and disturb her.
With his other hand, he ran his finger up her slender neck where the vivid bruises marred her skin. The idea that she’d come so close to death scared the hell out of him. He knew her job as a cop put her in danger every day, but this just brought that fact home with a punch to the gut.
He didn’t want her putting herself out there like that. He wanted her at home, in his bed, where he could take care of her. If she had any clue of the direction of his thoughts, she’d kick him in the balls. Of the three guys, she considered him her ally.
If she only knew that he wasn’t nearly as tolerant as Cam or Sawyer. She’d been his for longer than she’d ever been theirs. There were times when he had no desire to follow through with the agreement he’d made with Cam and Sawyer. He knew they loved her. Like he loved her. But he was tired of waiting. One of them didn’t scare her, but the three of them did.
He sighed. She wouldn’t choose between them. They all knew it too, which was why they didn’t have any desire to make her. None of them wanted to lose her, and so they were willing to take the biggest gamble of their lives. Convince her that she belonged with all three of them. And hope to hell jealousy didn’t eat them all alive.
She stirred and let out a small groan. He kissed the top of her head, and she went still.
“Hutch?”
