Page 19 of Derecho

“No! No. You can’t be here. He could come back.”

I wasn’t sure how I managed it, but in one single rise and fall of her chest, I closed the distance between us. “Do you need help? Do you need to get away from here? Can I help you get away from here? There’s no shame in needing help, and⁠—”

“No!” she cried. “What I need is for you to go. Why did you have to come here?”

“Because I want you to know that you have someone who will help. Someone who maybe doesn’t carry any pressure of judgment…” Like her sister. It hadn’t made sense to me why Birdie wouldn’t be here helping Lainey if she was in trouble. Unless Lainey was worried about being judged for staying with Greg when Birdie had told her time and again to leave.

Her eyes bounced between mine, back and forth. For a moment, I thought she just might take my outstretched hand. But instead Lainey shook her head and turned back to her laundry.

“This is where I deserve to be, Lach. Go.”

I wasn’t through trying. Because I knew I needed to be louder than the voice in her head was, telling her she deserved whatever Greg had done. “If you can’t do it for yourself, think of the little invader.”

A single tear ran down her face. “Please. Just go back to the ranch.”

Fuck.

I’d been an idiot. An absolutely pathetic idiot. My stomach was in knots, my goddamn fingers cold and aching from gripping the steering wheel so tightly, and I couldn’t breathe past the tightness in my chest.

Despite what I kept trying to tell myself over and over again, it wasn’t getting better the closer I got to home. Peace wasn’t washing over me as I thought about getting back onto the porch, walking through the door, and locking it behind me. I…I wanted to lock out the world, but I’d only been thinking about Lainey being there with me this whole time.

I never thought she’d say no.

Never thought she wouldn’t want my help.

Why would she? Going from one broken man to trusting another to keep her safe? How was I supposed to do that with a mind that hated me and a leg that stopped me from being able to take care of the most basic things most days?

“Just what I need,” I mumbled to myself as I pulled my truck in to its designated spot on my driveway and parked. My entire family was standing on the porch, staring at me.

I opened the door, grabbed my cane, and set to getting back into my house. My hands were shaking the closer I got, but no one tried to speak to me. Sure, Colt’s eyes were wide and locked in on me, Beau was busy shaking his head back and forth, and Hayes…I stopped next to him.

“What the fuck are you smiling about?” I asked.

He didn’t flinch. “You left your house.”

“Yeah. I did. Now I’m going back inside.”

“Can we come in?” Ma whispered.

I nodded, the lump in my throat back as soon as I heard the tears in her voice.

“Why are you guys all here?”

“I came over to see if you wanted to hang this afternoon. Imagine my surprise when your truck wasn’t in the driveway and I couldn’t find you in the house,” Hayes answered, still smiling.

“So you just broke in? You could have called me.”

Beau rolled his eyes. “Check your phone, dip shit. We all called about a hundred goddamn times.”

“Sorry.” I sighed as I sat down on the sofa, my head dropping back as my eyes closed. “It must be on silent.”

“Is your leg bothering you? You could have called us if you needed to go to your doctor. Or urgent care?” Ma’s eyes filled with tears. “Are you in pain, honey?”

“No, Ma. It’s not my damn leg.”

“Then what? You’re miraculously healed from your agoraphobia and decided to just take a drive around town?” Beau asked.

“No. That’s not it. That’s not…” My eyes drifted to Birdie, my niece Juniper in her arms. Damn. She had no clue what was going on with Lainey. If she did, she’d have dragged Beau over there to fix the situation. Maybe Lainey wouldn’t be so goddamn stubborn if someone else tried to help her…