Chapter Five
Hailey waited as long as she could. The heat enclosed, along with the smell of the chicken coop, made her nauseated, and she couldn’t take another moment of it.
She was careful when she closed the back porch door and listened for voices or any sense of movement in the house.
She breathed a sigh of relief when all she heard was the refrigerator and the tick of the kitchen clock. She set the basket of eggs on the kitchen table and made a beeline to the sink before the blood from the wound hit the floor.
“Dammit,” she hissed when the water hit her injury. She left it under the cold water, hoping it would take down some of the swelling and bruising that was already occurring.
She sucked in a startled breath at the wall of heat that covered her back. She lifted her head to the side and relaxed a bit when she saw it was Drew and not her husband.
He reached around her and cupped her hand, pulling it from the water and studying it.
“What the hell happened?” he growled.
Hailey stiffened. Shit, she didn’t want to have to deal with another overbearing man right then.
She tried to pull her hand from his, but he just held tighter and pressed more of his weight against her, pinning her to the counter.
“Hey, give me my hand back and back off.”
“After you tell me what happened to your hand.”
“It’s not a big deal, one of the hens pecked me.”
Her stomach tightened when his scowl darkened.
“Those injuries aren’t something to take lightly. Where’s the first aid kit?”
“Oh, for God's sake. I can take care of this. It’s not the first time, and it won’t be the last time it happens.”
“Oh, hell, yes, it will since I’m taking over that chore.”
Her mouth dropped open. No way he could be worse than her husband. She hadn’t thought that was possible. God, she wouldn’t be able to take it. They’d have her wrapped in cotton before too long.
“That is not necess—”
“It is. Where’s the emergency kit?” he snapped in a deep, rough tone.
She pointed to the top of the refrigerator.
Hailey rolled her eyes when Drew washed her hands not once, but three times.
He proceeded to glob antibiotic ointment all over her palm, not just where she’d been pecked.
She bit her lip to keep from laughing when he started rolling on the gauze.
By the time he was done, it had looked more like a cast than a bandage.
Hailey cleared her throat. “Um, Drew...” She stopped and bit her lip to crush her need to laugh. “This is a bit much, don’t you think?”
Drew continued to press strip after strip of tape onto her hand to secure it. “No. In fact, I’m debating on a doctor’s visit, so they can look for infection.”
Hailey couldn’t hold it in any longer. She burst out laughing.
She glanced over her head and tried to pull back her laughter at the scowl on Drew’s face, but it just made her laugh harder.
It was all too darn funny. She laughed until tears streamed down her face, her stomach hurt, and she was gasping for breath.
Hailey was just gaining control when she heard Drew sigh dramatically behind her. That set her off again. At no time had he let her leave from her position pinned against the cabinet.
It took another minute before she gained control. She took in the air and held it, hoping that would help.
“Are you done yet?” he asked dryly.
A short burst of laughter flew from her mouth before she relaxed.
She sighed, giggled once, and wiped her face with the bandage.
She could tell from his grunt that he wasn’t happy about that.
She luckily held onto her control by biting down hard on her lip to prevent the gurgle of laughter stuck in her throat.
Drew moved to the side and started packing up the first aid kit before placing it back on the refrigerator. He collected all the garbage and threw it in the trash.
Hailey had turned around and watched him. His silence made her nervous. “Um, Drew, are you mad at me for laughing?”
“No,” he said simply.
“Then why are you so quiet?”
He came to stand in front of her with his hands on his hips. “I’ve got conflicting feelings right now.”
Her brows pinched together. “Like what?”
“On one hand, I am happy to see you laugh so hard. I need more of that in my life. On the other hand, I don’t like that you thought I was being foolish. I care about your health, sweetheart.”
“I’m sorry I made you feel that way.” She held out her bandaged hand and pointed at it with her other hand. “But, seriously. Look at this, and it’s for a hen peck. I know they need to be cleaned well, but I take care of them. I’ve never had a hint of infection.”
Drew wiped a hand down his face, then smiled. “Yeah, I get where you’re coming from. It is overkill, isn’t it? It doesn’t mean you’re doing it any longer.”
“Yeah, maybe a little,” she said with a smirk. “Drew, I’ve been collecting the eggs for over four years now. I’m sure I can still handle it.”
He held both hands up when she smiled. “Sorry, but I’m still planning on taking over the egg chore.”
Hailey rolled her eyes.
Drew bent down until his eyes were level with hers, and her chin cupped in his palm.
“In the future, if you roll your eyes at me, I will take it as a bid for attention, and you can depend on the fact that I’ll give you attention.
Maybe not the attention you really wanted, but I’ll do it every single time. ”
Hailey scowled.
He crossed his arms and smirked. “Nothing to say?”
“No,” she spat out.
“How’d you manage to piss her off already?”
Hailey and Drew turned towards the doorway.
Oh, great, Hailey thought, now I’m in deep trouble. She casually moved her hand behind her.
Drew turned towards her and grinned. “You going to tell him, or am I?”
Adam took a slow step into the kitchen. “Tell me what?” he asked, looking back and forth with his hands on his hips.
“Oh, Lord, it’s nothing. I got a little peck when I was getting the eggs.”
Adam zeroed in on the hand she was trying to hide. “Let me see,” he demanded.
“Now don’t freak out...”
“Hand, now!” he barked.
Hailey pressed her lips together and pulled her arm out in front of her. She watched him pale as he stepped forward in alarm.
“What the hell...”
“Wait,” she said, and took a step towards Adam and laid her unbandaged hand on his chest. “It’s not bad, I promise. Drew cleaned it up and ... well,” she bit back a giggle, “he went a little crazy with the bandages.”
“You think this is funny?” Adam asked, his tone of voice getting lower and rougher.
“Oh, yeah, she does. She laughed herself silly,” Drew added, and grinned when Hailey scowled at him.
“Not about the wound, about how overboard Drew went with this,” she said, disgusted, and lifted her hand out of Adam’s palm.
Adam snatched it back and looked at Drew. “I don’t want to unwrap it, so you tell me how bad it is.”
Drew crossed his arms and shook his head. “It’s not bad. We’ll still have to watch it, of course.”
Adam nodded and then turned his gaze back to her. “We’ll help with dinner later. What did you plan on making, baby?”
Hailey bit back the urge to roll her eyes. “Meatloaf.”
“All right, when do we need to start?”
“I really can do it on m...”
“No, we’ll help. What time do you want us back here?” Adam asked.
“A few hours. I’ll get all the meat out to thaw and the ingredients out, so it won’t take long. The loaf will have to bake for an hour and a half.”
Adam bent and placed a hard kiss on her lips. “Tonight, darlin’, you and I are due to talk.”
“Why?” she cried out.
“You know why. You tried to hide your hand from me. What do I want to happen in these kinds of instances? You being hurt in any way?”
Hailey blew out a frustrated breath. “Come to you,” she mumbled.
“That’s right. But knowing you as well as I do, you tried to take care of it before I came into the house. Right?”
Hailey growled under her breath and kept her eyes on the floor. “Maybe if you wouldn’t freak out over every litt...”
Adam grasped her shoulders. “When it comes to you, love, I take everything seriously, because you and my brother are my whole world. Do you understand that?”
A pain pierced Hailey’s heart. She walked into his arms and hugged him tightly. “I get it. The same goes for me, you know.”
Adam glanced up at Drew and stayed focused on him. “You care about Drew, too?”
“Of course,” she murmured against Adam’s chest.
“Good, because the three of us are a family.”
Hailey caught the undertones of her husband’s words and became uneasy. “Y-y-yes...” she stuttered. “Of course, he’s a part of our family.”
Adam tipped Hailey’s chin up and kissed her again. “I’m taking Drew out to show him some of the changes we made.”
Hailey nodded. “I’ll be in the office if you need me.”
“Are you still illustrating science fiction comics?” Drew asked.
“Yes.”
“Adam showed me your work once. It’s crazy good. I’d like to see more sometime.”
A stain of red covered her cheeks at the compliment as Hailey nodded and shrugged. “Sure, whenever.”
“Good, maybe I’ll be able to see your work before dinner.”
Hailey watched the men move out the door.
She watched them walk together. Besides a slight height difference, they looked the same, walked the same, and, unfortunately, shared the same attitude when it came to her.
She turned, grabbed a glass of water, and strolled into the office.
She pulled up the project she was working on and went to work.
Fortunately, she had her work to keep her mind off the men. If she hadn’t had a distraction, she knew she would have gone bat ass crazy eventually.