Page 56 of Sudden Summer

“Baby, I need you to take a deep breath, and then I need you to tell me what that means. You thought you saw him?”

I did exactly what he said. I took a deep breath, forcing myself to swallow and clear my throat before explaining.

“I saw eyes…looking into the kitchen from the window. But then…I…I dropped the glass and he was at the back door, trying to get in. Trying to get to me.”

His arms tightened around my shoulders, giving two quick squeezes before he released me.

“I need to go to the kitchen and grab the first aid kit. I promise, I won’t be more than ten seconds. But we need to get your foot cleaned up.”

I nodded, closing my eyes and letting my head fall against the back of the sofa, counting softly to myself.

…three, four, five…

There was a bang in the kitchen from the cupboard door closing, and I tried not to think about the fact that he hadn’t said anything about checking for the man outside.

…six, seven, eight…

Light filtered through my eyelids at the same time I felt the warmth of Beau’s hand on my ankle. He was back, and the tightness in my stomach eased.

“Alright, beautiful. This is going to sting, and I’m so fucking sorry it’s going to hurt you.”

Beau took tweezers out of the kit and brought them to the underside of my foot. I felt a small sting as he grabbed the first piece of glass. I tried to blink away the tears, but they just kept coming, blurring my vision until I couldn’t even make out Beau any more.

“Please don’t cry,” he whispered. “I’m so sorry it hurts.”

“I’m not crying about that. You don’t believe me,” I said, running my hand under my nose. “You don’t think he was there.”

“What? Yes, I⁠—”

Bright lights flashed across the front of the house, a shadow running across them as footsteps pounded up the porch.

And then, a knock sounded at the door.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m coming.” Beau winked at me as he set the tweezers down and marched to the door.

Hayes came barreling through, clearly sleep rumpled and just as confused as I was about what he was doing here.

“What’s the matter? Why the S.O.S?” Hayes’s eyes bounced between my face—grimacing as he looked at my neck—and Beau’s, before his eyes dropped to my feet. “Jesus, Birdie! You’re bleeding. What the fuck happened?”

Hayes marched over to me, picking up my foot to examine it.

“Quit touching my girl,” Beau grumbled. “I need your help.”

“Clearly. It’s a good thing I just redid my first-aid course.” Hayes winked. “Won’t be as pretty as one of your fancy doctor friends could do, but it’ll be better than Beau trying. He’s used to tough cattle. These are very delicate hooves.”

“Did you just call my feet hooves?” I smiled, ignoring the way his face fell at the hoarseness still so prominent in my voice.

“Not smooth? Damn, I’m trying to work on my flirting. Brothers are dropping like flies to the love voodoo, and no way in hell am I letting Lachlan—who does not leave his house—find love before me.”

“Oh, Romeo.” I laughed. “Maybe Vi could help you come up with some talking points? Her books always have the best banter.”

“Maybe.” His hand squeezed my calf. “You okay? I mean…after what happened⁠—”

“Yeah. I’ll be fine.” I tried to clear my throat. “Thanks.”

“For fuck’s sake. I didn’t send you an S.O.S to rush over here and flirt with my girl. I’ll take care of her fucking feet, and I’ll be goddamn gentle about it.”

Hayes’s eyes sparkled at me as he stood back up. “Fine, fine. What do you need me for, then?”