I laughed. “Well, Rhys doesn’t look so bad.”
“Nope. He sure doesn’t,” my mama said in her wry, playful way.
Okay.
I thought we could all agree the man was gorgeous in his over-the-top way.
Big and outrageous and full of life.
Melanie grinned, brows disappearing behind her bangs. “Tell me you don’t think Rhys and I are actually a thing?”
“Haven’t you always been? I mean…the tension between you two—”
“Is not close to bein’ sexual,” she cut me off. “He teases the crap out of me, and I give it right back. Honest, kissing that brute would be like kissin’ my brother. My role in his life is trying to keep that bad boy in line. Besides, I’ve seen him in action. Hard pass. Believe me, I was not exaggerating when I told Daisy that boy is nothing but dirt and filth.” Mel laughed when she said it.
“I bet there’s a whole lot more to him than that filthy exterior,” Maggie said, a shot of defensiveness breaking right through the timidity.
Melanie’s brown eyes grew wide with mock horror. “Oh, lord, don’t let that charm and that body and those dimples get to you. That ‘stallion…’”—Mel air-quoted it—“…has starred in far too many rodeos. You do not want to sign up for a ride.”
Emily laughed a light sound. “I’m with Maggie…he’s not that bad.”
Maggie shook her head. “It’s… it’s not like that…no…never mind.”
“Just watch yourself, unless what you’re looking for is a little fun. I’m sure he’d be all too happy to oblige. Just don’t let your brother know. We don’t want to set any fires we can’t put out.” Mel smirked.
Maggie’s eyes flashed up to take in Rhys who had climbed to the top of the playset with Daisy, setting the child on his lap and sliding down with her.
They both had their arms in the air like they were riding a rollercoaster.
At the bottom, they toppled to the ground, both cracking up.
My mama’s voice wrapped through the mood. “Oh, good men come in all shapes and forms and fashions. Not one looks alike. Just the same as bad men. The one thing I’ve learned in my life is to listen with my heart.”
Memories swamped me.
Her hand on my chest when I was a child. When I’d be afraid or nervous or excited to try something new.
Listen with your heart.
My attention moved to Richard who’d snatched Daisy into the security of his arms and was currently darting around the lawn, Rhys trying to catch them, Richard outmaneuvering him with each pass.
Everything ached.
My heart listening too hard, screaming against the rational part of me that was terrified to accept what it heard.
“Talk about finding a man who’s all the things.” Maggie touched my knee, her head tilting, her moment of fluster shifting to understanding. “Don’t see any scraps there.”
I tried not to physically react, but it was useless, the way my gaze locked on Richard who kept stealing glimpses of me.
Emily took my hand and squeezed it tight. “No. There are no scraps there. Just a good man who’s scarred in so many ways, looking for a way to repair the damage he has done.”
She looked over at me in worried inspection. “I thought he was gonna lose his mind when I woke him up last night. I mean, not that we all weren’t freaking out, but Richard…I swear I could actually see a piece of him chipped away when I said you were hurt. Or maybe it was a piece being righted. Snapping back into place.”
My spirit shivered and thrashed.
Sorrow pulsed through Emily’s expression. “I can’t believe that happened. Right here on your property.”
Fear slithered in a slow slide across my skin. “Neither can I.”
“Do you…do you have any idea of who it could have been?”
I swallowed around the knot in my throat, glancing around the property as if it might offer insight. Knowing somehow…somehow it had to do with my sister, which was more terrifying than anything else. “I don’t know who it was, but they clearly couldn’t say the same thing about me.”
This attack was not by chance.
It was targeted.
I knew it all the way down to the depths of my soul.
Emily continued to hold my hand. Mel took the other and then reached for my mama’s. Maggie touched my knee.
“You aren’t alone,” Emily urged, her sweet voice tilted in emphasis. “Not even close. We are all right here with you until we find out who is responsible.”
Richard’s watch snapped our way, as if he’d felt the potency of the moment. As if he were a part of it. At the center of that promise.
I ignored the sting of tears, gulped down the terror, and pinned on a smile that faltered when I glanced over and noticed that my mama had slumped down farther. Her frail body sagging with exhaustion.
“Mama…you look tired. Why don’t we get you inside so you can rest?”
Mama smiled. So much joy that it shattered through me. A balm and destruction. “I am feeling a little tired.”
I pushed to standing and moved to lean over her, my hand twining back with hers. I hugged our threaded hands to my chest. “I love seeing your face shine under the sun.”
I didn’t want to acknowledge the fact that the day had begun to set.
The heavens changing shape. Strewn in hues of pinks and blues and oranges as the day drifted away.
Soon, darkness would come.
She reached up and touched my cheek. “As horrible as last night was, today has been one of my greatest joys. Being out here with you. With your friends. With this beautiful family who has come to surround my baby girl in their love.” She lowered her voice, her hand going to the thunder of my chest. “Listen
