Chapter 42
Auggie definitely hadn’t slept well at all.
Except when she’d been curled up in Cal’s arms on her couch that last time.
That had lasted only until Maeya had needed her a few hours later.
The girls were all restless, and since she was on the same floor they were, it usually fell to her to take care of them.
And that was the way she wanted it—she was their guardian now.
She wanted them to trust and depend on her and know that she would be there for them the moment they needed her.
With what had occurred the night before, she just didn’t know what was going to happen next. The girls were already antsy; it was just a matter of time before they figured out that something was wrong.
If she’d had the girls with her last night, she didn’t know that she’d have been able to protect them. That had been what had truly kept her from sleeping last night. Had been what she had poured her heart out to Cal in a moment of weakness.
What would she do if Bruce came back, and it was just her there? And the girls? Or if she was gone and it was just Junie, or just Em? She didn’t like the thought of any of those scenarios at all.
She tried to keep her turmoil from showing. Half the girls needed baths—they rotated morning/evenings on the schedule, they needed breakfast. They needed to go on like they always did.
The girls needed the stability of a routine more than anything.
Hell, so did she. And she and the girls were supposed to go to Gil’s in two hours.
Gil’s ranch—where he had armed ranch hands and even a pair of security guards who patrolled at all times. Gil wasn’t taking any chances with his family—not after what had happened before.
She probably wouldn’t breathe right until she had the girls at Gil’s, and Em and Junie were in town at the retail store and the diner.
And she still had to deal with Cal.
Not to mention—referee between his brother and Em. Cadell seemed to do everything in his power to aggravate Em, every chance he could.
Auggie took a deep breath. She could do this. First, dress her baby. Second, deal with the day.
Get through. Just get through, Augusta Dawn. Just get through.
Hadn’t that been her refrain her entire life?
She took care of the baby quickly, laughing at the little faces Maeya made while Auggie was trying to change her sleeper.
Most days she left the baby in a clean sleeper until she got to Gil’s.
It was easier to keep her warm. Winter was definitely not Auggie’s favorite season.
She had always hated the cold—probably from that asshole father of hers locking her in the basement when she hadn’t done what he wanted.
No escaping that memory.
She shivered, the held the baby closer. She was determined—her girls weren’t going to have any more of those kinds of memories.
She hadn’t been able to protect the older four girls from the nightmares he had caused, but Markie and Maeya—she was going to do her best to protect them as much as she possibly could.
Even though Markie had nightmares she never could articulate, too.
Auggie would do whatever she could to help them get through.
She stepped into the kitchen—to find a crowd.
Junie, still in her pajamas, was at the stove. Snapping something at the man standing in their kitchen. Well, Auggie hadn’t expected to see him. Zach wasn’t as neat and pressed and pretty as he usually was when she saw him.
“Apparently, Deputy Zach stayed up all night—at the end of our driveway,” Em told her, taking Maeya from her arms. “Now we are feeding him breakfast. If he stops pestering Junie, anyway.”
Auggie looked at him. “Thank you; you didn’t have to do that.”
She looked at her other surprise hero. “Cadell, I knew you’d arrived last night. Thanks. Both of you…it’s appreciated.”
And it always made her feel odd when someone did something to protect her family, or to help them. Especially if not asked.
She was independent, no denying that.
Then…she turned. There he was.
She almost winced. He looked like hell. She’d known he’d slept—he’d been sprawled in her guest room when she’d been up with Maeya the last time. But it didn’t look like it had done him any good. He had a black eye.
She didn’t know if it was from the accident three days ago—or from her father.
Auggie would never forget seeing Cal and her father battling it out on the bedroom rug. “Cal, I’m so sorry. I know you’re hurting…I…”
Everyone got quiet. Even the kids.
Then he stood up and opened his arms to her.
She never even hesitated for a moment—she walked right into his arms. And let him hold her.
In front of her girls. She smelled the clean, fresh scent of male around her.
He’d showered. She recognized the clothing as the same ones Gil had loaned him before—she’d laundered them herself and had just forgotten to return them to her cousin. His arms felt so strong around her.
Why was that even possible? She had never really liked it when someone held her. It had always felt so awkward and weird. Even as a child, when her aunts had tried to hug or hold her—she had always squirmed away. Until they’d just stopped trying.
She had been with a man before; she’d even had a relationship after she’d been nineteen—before Em and Junie had moved back in with her. It just hadn’t gone anywhere long term. She knew what it felt like when a man held her.
Nothing then had felt like this.
She just wanted to cling to him forever.
But…her family was watching.
And she had always been the strong one.
Still, she looked up at him. “I’m sorry. You feel like a punching bag, by any chance?”
“Something like that. But I’d do it again in a heartbeat.
No matter what.” His hand trailed over the back of her neck under the ponytail she’d used to try to tame her hair.
He rested it there for just a long moment.
“Your sisters are arguing with Zach and Cadell. It has been very entertaining to watch.”
“What are they arguing about?”
“I think…the best time to flip pancakes, honestly. Junie just told Lowell that she’s been working in the diner since she was fifteen—she knows how to make pancakes probably a lot better than he does. I think he’s just messing with her.”
Zach liked to do that. He was always teasing Junie about having the typical redhead’s temper.
Said that with as dark red as her hair was, she had to have it in spades.
Auggie just thought he liked to flirt, and Junie didn’t flirt back the way he expected her to.
She puzzled him, her sister. And it was obvious the two of them shot sparks off of each other. “And Cadell and Em?”
Those two just bickered. Constantly. And always had.
“I’m not sure. With those two, anything is possible. How are you feeling this morning?” He almost whispered the question in her hair. “I like holding you like this.”
Damn it, this man needed to stop saying things like that. She just couldn’t seem to resist it. “You sure know exactly what to say, don’t you?”
“I am a smart, smart man.”
“How much are you hurting?”
“More than I want to admit; it affronts my masculinity to admit things like that, you know. But…I can get through the day—probably with just some aspirin or something.” His hand trailed down her neck. “Truth? You okay?”
“I’m not sure, actually.” The words just slipped out. With him, it was really like she had no filters. She’d discovered that little fact in the wee hours of the morning, right there on her couch wrapped up in his arms. “I just need to get through the day. Starting with…apparently pancakes.”
He just nodded and stepped back. Taking the warmth with him.
But he was there. And that was what mattered most.