Page 36 of Derecho

“Take a walk over to their house?”

“Together?” Lach asked.

“Yeah. I mean, I doubt Jessie will slam the door in your face. You can be there to soften the blow. And she’ll be so excited to see you out and about…”

His face fell. God, I was asking the poor guy for too much.

“We don’t have to. Of course, you might need some time to just be home. I know it’s been a lot. I shouldn’t have said⁠—”

“Stop. Ma wants me to go up to the main house for family dinner this week.” He blew out the breath he was holding. “I can make it to Jessie’s, too. It’ll be a good test run for me.”

I knew that was a stretch, but I was grateful for how quickly he was willing to try. For me.

“Oh, there is another rule, and I just thought of it,” Lach said as he sipped his coffee.

“Okay. What is it?”

“Definitely tell me if you think you’re going into labor.”

“I can’t imagine a mechanic being afraid of getting his hands dirty,” I teased, but the way Lach’s face fell nearly had me in tears.

“Yeah, well. I’m not a mechanic anymore.”

No. I wasn’t about to let him get away with that statement. “Tell that to my car. I could probably live in it now with how cold the air conditioning runs⁠—”

“You’re not living in your fucking car.”

Lord, the whiplash… “Of course not. You let me sleep in your guest room, and now I’m spoiled by that mattress. It’s the first time this entire pregnancy I haven’t tossed and turned all night. But that’s probably because you make me feel—” I cut myself short. Jesus. I’d gotten so lost in how connected I felt to him right now, how easy he was to talk to, that I almost said something ridiculous.

“How do I make you feel, Trouble?”

Lachlan’s hand was a hair’s width away from mine on the table, and when his pinky brushed against my wrist, I felt like all the air between us had just vanished.

“Safe,” I let myself admit it. “You make me feel safe.”

“Good,” he said as he leaned back, his eyes never leaving mine. “You are safe here. I’ll keep you both safe.”

“Hey, Trouble? Can you come downstairs with me?” Lachlan’s voice pulled my attention away from my phone. I was trying to get a list of things together that I’d need for the baby, but it was all so overwhelming.

“What’s going on?”

“Colt is here, to take your statement.”

So much for taking my mind off of things. “Okay. Give me one second, and I’ll be down.”

I waited until I heard him head down the stairs to walk out of the room and across the hall. I turned the cold water on, splashing it over my face. Looking in the mirror, I didn’t recognize the woman staring back at me. But I knew that heading downstairs—making sure everything Greg did to me was documented—it was the start of getting myself back.

“Hi, Colt,” I said to Lachlan’s oldest brother as I stepped off the last stair. His arms wrapped around me before I even finished my greeting.

“Hey, Lainey. I’m so glad you’re here. You doing okay?”

He released me from the hug and I turned, finding Lachlan on the sofa and Nate Jones sitting in a chair across from him. Nate was a deputy, like Colt, but he also worked with my sister and her charity to support survivors of domestic violence.

“As okay as I think anyone could be in a situation like this,” I answered Colt. “Nate, I didn’t know you’d be here, too.”

He nodded. “I don’t have to be, if you’d rather it just be family.”

I smiled. “You’re as much a part of this family as I am.”