She didn’t jolt or startle, which told me she’d known where I was at all times. “I’m not hiding away when someone’s messing with things on my property. When they still might be around, and you could need backup.”
My back teeth ground together. “I have training. You don’t.”
Her eyes narrowed on me. “I have more training than you could ever dream of. I started shooting when I was five—every weapon my father could get his hands on. I’ve run drills in the blistering heat, waist-deep snow, and the pouring rain. I’ve learned to fight off an attacker blindfolded. Been woken up from a dead sleep and taken through simulations that would never actually happen.
“And when that was all over? When I could finally walk away? I had to keep it up because I was so damn scared my brother might show up. And I refused to be surprised again. So, don’t you tell me I don’t have training.”
I moved fast, pulling her against me and wrapping my arms around her. “I’m sorry. I just don’t want anything to happen to you.”
“If it does, I’ll be ready.”
But the last thing I wanted was for Everly to have to face whoever had enough rage pulsing through them to do this to my vehicle.
32
Everly
“Hey, are you okay?”
Tim looked down at me as my head rested on the break room table. “Long weekend.”
He shuffled his feet, sneakers squeaking on the linoleum. “I heard what happened to Hayes’ SUV. But you guys were okay, right? You weren’t hurt?”
Normally, I would’ve blushed over the fact that everyone in this town likely knew that Hayes had been spending nights at my cabin. But I was too tired to care at the moment. After a crime scene tech and a couple of officers had come out to process the scene, we’d cleaned everything up and had Hayes’ SUV towed to a body shop a county over. Work had started again, but I hadn’t been able to rustle up the positive glow I’d had the day before.
I let out a long breath and sat up. “No. No one was hurt.” My stomach twisted at the thought of what might have happened if Hayes had heard the destruction. It was only the fact that he’d parked farther away to leave room for those helping out yesterday, combined with the noise from the storm, that had kept us from hearing the destruction.
Tim looked down at the tips of his sneakers. “You know, you’re welcome to stay with me if you need. I don’t have a ton of space, but you can have the bedroom, and I’ll sleep on the couch.”
“Thank you. That’s so kind, but I think I’m going to stick it out at the cabin. Hayes is staying in my guest room until they figure out what’s going on.”
“Okay. But if you change your mind, you have my cell. You can call anytime.”
I couldn’t help but smile at the tall but somewhat gangly boy-man in front of me. His kindness was more of a balm to the wounds of the past twenty-four hours than he would ever know.
“I want to talk to my fucking sister. I don’t care if she’s on her lunch break.”
I stiffened at the sound of Ian’s voice coming from the waiting room. I pushed to my feet and hurried out there. Kelly was scowling at my brother from behind the counter. “I’ll call the sheriff if you don’t back off, buddy.”
“You think I give a damn about some pig? I don’t.”
“Ian,” I clipped. “I’m right here. Why don’t we go outside and talk?”
Tim stepped up to my side. “I don’t think that’s such a good idea, Everly.”
I laid a hand on Tim’s shoulder. “I’m fine. Promise.”
Ian sneered at the action. “Just how many men are you spreading your legs for, Evie? There’s the cop who won’t get off my case thanks to you, this joker, and given the way Ben jumped to your defense, I’d guess him, too. I shouldn’t be surprised you turned into a slut. Mom would be ashamed.”
The room around us went deathly silent. That heat I couldn’t find earlier rose to my cheeks now. The shame that this was who I shared blood with, that my brother would speak to me this way. But I didn’t duck my head or hunch my shoulders. I wouldn’t let Ian see that making a scene at my workplace was a direct hit to everything I was building here. “Leave.”
“You’re not the boss of me.”
Tim took a step forward. “This is a private business, and we have the right to refuse service to anyone. We’re doing that now. Leave, or we’ll call the sheriff’s department.”
“I already have,” Kelly said from behind the counter. “Deputies are on the way.”
Ian spat on the floor. “Your little lap dog coming in handy yet again. Hope you’re sucking his dick good. I’m gonna sue both of you for harassment.”
The heat in my cheeks burned, but it wasn’t just there. It was in my blood, too. The shared blood that flowed through my veins. “You’re the one who showed up here. Somehow, I don’t think that makes for a very strong case.”
Sirens sounded, and Ian’s eyes flashed. “I should’ve killed you that night. Finished you off instead of settling for broken bones.”
And with that, he turned on his heel and jogged off. My ears buzzed. Kind of how a fluorescent light sounded, only amplified. I was only partly aware of Tim ushering me over to a seat in the waiting room and easing me down into it. I thought he might’ve asked something, but my brain couldn’t seem to comprehend the words.
I could feel the burn in my scalp. The crack of my ribs. I could taste the blood filling my mouth. All of it. And he wanted to hurt me more.
Hands gripped my calves, and I blinked as the face in front of me came into focus. Hayes. Somewhere in my jumbled mind, I put together that those dark eyes and the sharp, angular jaw belonged to Hayes.
“He wishes he’d killed me.” My voice broke on the words, but the tears didn’t come. I was simply empty. Too many tears cried over the brother who was supposed to love me. The family who had never stepped up for me when I needed them.
For some naïve reason, I’d thought my brother could have outgrown this hatred. That he would never be a fan of mine but wouldn’t wish me ill, either. That he might be mad that Mom had left the property to me but would get over it. That he would’ve grown up. Matured. But he hadn’t gotten over anything.
Hayes’ jaw ticked as he framed my face with those rough hands. Hands I was beginning to know by touch alone. The pads of his fingertips. The raised scar on his palm. “I’m so sorry, Ev. I had to send a deputy out to talk to him and Allen since we’ve had a few run-ins lately. It’s just procedure.”
“I know.” This was why Hayes and I would never be. Because my family would destroy it. Just like they ate away at any other good thing in my life. I’d been so stupid to think that all I had to do was face them again to put this haunting anger to rest. They’d never be done with me.
I blinked around the room, a worried Kelly and Tim filling Miles in on what’d happened. I loved working here. And I truly believed I could create a sanctuary at home that was so needed in our community. But maybe I’d have to give that up, too.