“Are you pissed because she didn’t come to you sooner?”
I sigh and take a long pull of my beer. “I could be,” I acquiesce. “But I also believe that she was scared and didn’t know what to do.”
“Really?” He challenges me. “If she found you so easily when she was having a crisis, it would have been just as easy when she found out,” he points out.
I look at him sharply, my eyes narrowed as I try to fight back the surge of anger because he’s questioned Avery and the decisions she’s made. “Don’t speak poorly of her. She did the best she could in a scary situation she wasn’t prepared for.”
“It’s not like you were prepared for the situation that dropped into your lap yesterday, but you didn’t hesitate,” he points out in a way which isn’t unkind and is simply factual.
I take a deep breath and let it out slowly. I know what he’s doing. He’s not trying to hurt me or disparage Avery. He’s trying to look out for me.
It’s what family does. Because they care. Because they don’t want to see me get hurt. Because if they don’t, who will?
“I took her over to her parent’s house today to get her stuff,” I tell him, knowing I need to share a little bit in order to put his concerns to rest. I scoff and shake my head, “Her father gave her 48 hours to get her stuff before it was thrown away.”
“That’s shitty,” Wyatt muses.
“Her mom was there, and I could smell the alcohol coming off her from a few feet away. It was barely even 11 am when we arrived.” I shoot him a look, and he grimaces. “She was a piece of work. She told Avery to marry the douchebag her father wants her to marry. There was no love there, not for Avery and not for her grandchild.” I mutter, “It made me think about how my relationship with my mom wasn’t so bad. At least my mom was trying, even though she went about everything the wrong way. My mom was searching for her own stability instead of providing me with some all on her own. She didn’t realize how her actions would traumatize me. Avery’s mom didn’t give a shit and was only interested in how her life is being affected by this, not her daughter’s life.”
“That’s sad,” Wyatt sighs.
“It is.” I shake my head and admit, “My woman’s entire life was reduced down to three suitcases and two duffle bags which included things she had started to collect for our baby. Things she felt the need to hide.”
“Your woman?”
I shrug one shoulder, refusing to be embarrassed by how much I’ve admitted even though I didn’t mean to. After scrubbing a hand down my face, I let out a sigh. “I haven’t been able to stop thinking about her and the night we spent together. That should have been a clue before she showed up at the shop yesterday.” A bark of laughter breaks free from my chest. “Fuck, was it only yesterday? It feels like everything has been moving so damn fast. It’s not a bad thing, but still.”
“I’m sure things will slow down now. Now she’s no longer under the threat of her parents and doesn’t have a clock ticking in the back of her mind to get her stuff. She’s free of them and she’s safe. That’s what matters,” he tries to placate me.
My hand clenches into a fist and the anger I felt earlier at her parents rises up again. “I called Duncan,” I grit out through my teeth. “I’m having him look into her parents and that Eric asshole she was told that she was going to marry.” My words are bitter, “They didn’t even give her a choice in that, like she’s property. What fucking year do they think it is?”
“You think Duncan can use his computer skills to get some dirt on them?”
“Yeah,” I nod slowly and try to calm the fury which is begging to be unleashed. “He let me know that he’d fill Blake in just in case I need Higgins Security to back me up.”
Duncan is their tech wizard, something that came in handy when he met his woman, Savannah. She was pregnant at the time with her ex-husband’s baby. The night they met was the night her divorce went through, and her friends had dragged her very pregnant self out to a bar, which is kind of a wild place to take a pregnant woman, freshly divorced or not.
We’ve all heard stories about how Duncan used his tech expertise to keep an eye on her. He can say it was all to keep her safe, which I’m sure was a huge part of it, but the man is also obsessed with his woman.
Now, with Avery in my life, I understand his reasoning a lot better.
I’m tempted to put a tracker on my woman just so I know where she is. Maybe he can help me with that.
“What do you think he’s going to find?”
“No clue, man, but he’s the kind of man to have skeletons in his closet. I want to know about them. As long as he leaves Avery and our baby alone, I don’t need to expose him. If he doesn’t, then I already warned him. If he doesn’t think I’ll follow through, then that’s on him.”
Wyatt lets out a soft chuckle and shakes his head. When I look at him and narrow my eyes, he holds his beer up like it’ll shield him. “I think this is the most words I’ve heard you say at one time, like ever.”
As much as I try to hold it in, I crack a smile, even though it’s small. He’s sure as fuck not wrong either. I guess I didn’t have much to say before, but if talking keeps Avery safe then I’ll do it. I’ll do anything for her.
He lets out a low whistle, “And you’re smiling.” His face turns serious, and he nods toward the house. “She’s good for you. Don’t let her go.”
“I don’t plan on it.”
“Finding your woman, having a family,” Wyatt muses, something in his voice making me pay attention, as he looks out at my backyard, “it’s special. It’s also scary as fuck. If you needanything, even if it’s just to talk when things feel too heavy or you’re freaking out, know that I’m here for you. Whatever you need.”
“I know.”
