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“And then you took care of his daughter until he was on hisfeet again,” Kim continued. “She would have gone into foster care but Nicoleconvinced the social worker she was the man’s girlfriend and they had appliedfor housing. You had to fill out forms and your picture was taken. Not smart.All I had to do was follow the good deeds. They led me to Willow Fork, and Iknew I was going to find a way to fix this for you.”
“Not smart but incredibly kind,” Ben said, his eyes onNicole. “Ms. Holloway, I apologize for the way we met. I know you might notbelieve me, but we weren’t going to call the police. We were taking you back toour suite to talk to you there.”
“You mean interrogate her,” Harlow corrected.
“And you were going to do what, daughter?” Chase asked, hisbrows rising in challenge.
“I was going to lay it all out to Josh and Grim and let themdecide how to proceed because believe it or not they are grown-ass, competentmen,” Harlow replied. “They know what they want and they get to decide how tohandle the situations they find themselves in. You are treating them likechildren who need Daddy to save them. Like you treat me.”
Chase’s face flushed. “Well, I recently had to save you, soyou’ll forgive me for not wanting you to nearly kill yourself again.” His eyesclosed and when he opened them there was regret stamped on his face. “Harlow,sweetheart, I’m so sorry I said that.”
“No, you’re not.” She looked Nicole’s way. “I’m sorry theygot involved in this. I really did intend to do nothing more than let Josh andGrim know what was going on. I never meant for this to happen. When I gave Rubyyour picture, I thought she and I would be the only ones who would ever knowyour real name. Outside of Josh and Grim, of course. I trust Ruby. But my dadsare overprotective assholes. I’m sorry, Nicole. Look, I’m going home. If youneed me, you know where to find me.”
“Harlow,” Ben began.
She kept walking.
Ben stared at his brother.
Chase threw his hands up in obvious defeat. “I’ll go talk toher. I doubt she means she’s going up to her room. She’ll probably take the jetand leave us bus tickets. I taught that girl far too well.”
“Nat’s going to send your ass to the couch,” Ben grumbled,following his brother. “Mrs. Kent, you’ll take it from here? I’m afraid we’vegot some family issues to deal with.”
“I’ll take care of her,” Kim promised.
“I think we’ll handle it from here, but I do appreciate yourhelp.” Josh stood as the Dawsons left. He turned to Case. “I think I’m going toneed to talk to your brother about security around the ranch until we can getthis sorted out. I’ll talk to my uncle about getting her a legal team. I hopeyou’ll be willing to work with us, Mrs. Kent. My uncle isn’t a criminal defenseattorney, but he’ll know what the next steps are.”
Josh was taking over. It was a good thing. Grim couldconcentrate on taking care of Nicole, and Josh would handle the rest. Hereached out, taking her hand in his. She pulled away and stood.
“What did she mean once she got the photo?” Nicole went toeto toe with Josh. “I’m careful about cameras. I always have been. Did you gothrough my purse? Did you take my driver’s license?”
Josh’s face went stony. “I had to know what was coming afteryou. I love you, Nicole. You can’t expect me to sit back and let whatever iswaiting for you to show up.”
“It wouldn’t have been your license,” Kim said. “It’s welldone, and the tech on it makes it useless for facial recognition.”
“So you took a picture of me without my permission and yougave it to a person who could have called the cops on me and had me hauled backto Oregon,” Nicole deduced.
"I took a picture when you didn’t realize I was doingit. One morning before we took you into the café to work. I was quick and youdidn’t notice,” Josh admitted.
They were screwing this up. Grim stood by Josh, hoping topresent a united front. “You can’t run all your life, Nic. We want the best foryou. We love you.”
“Yeah, that’s what Micah said, too,” she whispered.
The words went straight through Grim’s heart. “That’s notfair.”
“Life isn’t fair,” she shot back. “I want to go back to myroom. I understand I’m basically a prisoner.”
“You certainly are not,” Josh argued.
“Then I can get my things and go?” Nicole asked. “Alone?”
Josh’s face fell. “No. You won’t be allowed out of thebuilding alone. You take me or Grim or the bodyguard I’ll have down here beforemorning. You’re determined to make me the bad guy.”
“If the shoe fits, Josh…” Nicole said. “Can Mrs. Kent walkme to my room?”
“I’ll do it.” Grim had to find a way to soften them both up.He was sure it was a shock for Nicole, but it wasn’t easygoing for Josh,either. Or him. He was still trying to process everything Nic had been through.
Case was looking down at his phone. Mia had slipped off herhusband’s lap and had her own phone to her ear.
