“Eddie knows where you live.If he thinks the deed is there, that’s where he’ll go.”
“Cash will go with you,” I glance at my friend and long-term ranch hand over Daisy’s shoulder, but I know I don’t have to wait for a response.
“I got you, Daisy,” he says, anyway.“We’ll take Wade’s truck.I’ll make sure the house is safe before you girls even get out of the vehicle.”
She pulls away and sniffs hard, giving me and then Cash, a sad smile.“I’ll go get some stuff together.”
“Thatta girl.”
Daisy makes her way out of the room and down the hall—carefully avoiding eye contact with the dead man bleeding on her pink Persian rug.I turn to my brothers.“She’s right.Eddie and the other asshole are still a problem.”
“What the fuck was he thinking coming here?”
“He owes someone in Dallas a lot of money,” I say.“Thought the deed to Daisy’s house was the best way to go about it.”
“Did you get a good look at the other guy.”
“Yeah.Looked a lot like this fucker.”I tilt my chin in the direction of the dead man on the floor.“Listen, we need to get the street cleared up right quick.Miss Mabel next door is sweet, but she’s got this place on twenty-four-hour surveillance since Eddie left.We get the girls in the car with the baby, and we do it quietly.Wade and Wyatt, you two are gonna take Lemon’s car and look for Eddie and friend while Colt and I handle this mess.”
“Got it, boss,” Wyatt says, using his nickname for me.
“You boys find Eddie, I wanna know.”
“Don’t worry, brother.We’ll save a beating or two for you.”
Lemon and Daisy exit the bedroom armed with a bassinette and so much baby shit I wonder how it’s all gonna fit.We all help get the supplies stowed in Wade’s truck.
Despite Lemon’s protests, she hands over the keys for her pride and joy to Wade, stating that Wyatt was not to get behind the wheel of her baby.Colt kisses Lemon and promises to be careful as Wade peels out of the road with a squeal.
“Remind me to throttle my brother later,” I say to Colt.
He nods.“Not exactly the conspicuous departure we discussed.”
I turn to Daisy in the back seat beside Waylon’s carrier.“You doing okay, darlin’?”
“Not really.”
“You just listen to Cash, okay?Do everything he says.I’ll be home as soon as I can.”I lean in and press a kiss to her forehead and then quietly close the door, conscious of how close her neighbors are.I slap the roof and step back as Cash pulls away from the curb.
“You better hope like hell that Eddie never made it to the ranch, because everything we love is headed right there with Cash as their only protection.”
“I got a feeling Eddie didn’t even make it out of the city limits, but Cash can handle himself, you know that.”
“Hmm.Well, I know Lemon could beat a man seven-months-pregnant and hardly break a sweat, she was born with fire in her veins, but are you sure Daisy-Mae is strong enough to stomach everything ranch life will throw at her?”
“She’s strong enough.She might not have been born to ranch life like the rest of us, but she’s walked through the fires of hell and left a trail of embers in her wake.And she’d do anything for family.”
“That what you two are now?”
A sly grin twists my lips.“Yeah.That’s what we are.”
“Glad you’re finally talking sense where Daisy-Mae’s concerned.”
I chuckle darkly and head inside to clean up our mess.
