“You let yourself feel too much for him,” I scolded myself. “You broke your own damn rule.”
Somehow, I blinked and another hour had gone by. I got up slowly, half expecting to find West in the living room or waiting on the porch, leaning against the railing like nothing had happened.
But there was nothing. Just Marshal, slouched in the SUV, head tipped back in sleep.
I pulled the door open quietly, ready to tell him to go home, to get some rest.
Then my phone rang.
I ran to grab it, my chest pounding, praying it was West. Or Dad. Someone.
But the screen lit up with a number I didn’t recognize.
From North Dakota.
Chapter Fifty-Two
EASTON
By the timeI got home from Sunday dinner, Jesse and Max were both passed out on the couch. Max was curled into a blanket like a burrito, his little chest rising and falling with the deep kind of sleep that only kids seem to find. I scooped him up first, carried him down the hall, and tucked him into his bed. Then I went back for Jesse.
She stirred when I slid my arms under her, but she didn’t open her eyes, just melted against me like she trusted me to get her anywhere she needed to go. I laid her gently in our bed, brushing a strand of hair from her cheek. She was exhausted, and it wasn’t hard to see why. Somehow, she was running a candle company so successful I half-joked that Yankee Candle would be shaking in their boots soon enough. And behind the scenes, she was the best mom Max could’ve ever dreamed of.
I’d been working on something for her, a surprise that would change everything for us, and if I was honest, it scared me half to death. Because as much as I knew she loved me, as much as I knew we were forever, the future was still a heavy thing when it meant so much.
The whole drive home from dinner, I’d been thinking about ways to make her happier. About how good it felt to prove to her, again and again, how perfect we were together. But just as I lowered her into bed, my phone buzzed in my pocket.
I almost ignored it. I almost tossed it into the bathroom and shut the door. I wanted tonight to just be about her.
The vibration kept going, though, and Jesse cracked one eye open, her hand sliding up to cradle my face. “Answer it. Might be one of your brothers.”
“That’s exactly why I shouldn’t answer it.” I grinned down at her. “The last time I took a late-night call from one of my brothers, he wound up married. What if this time it’s West again, and I say one nice thing about Loxley’s apple pie she brought to dinner? He’ll go propose to it.”
She laughed softly, then reached into my pocket, plucked the phone free, and held it up. West’s name lit the screen.
I backed away like it was infected. “See? My point exactly. Who knows what kind of insanity he’s got for me this time.”
“You and I both know there’s more going on with him and Blue than meets the eye,” she said, her voice gentler now. “Answer the phone, East. If he’s calling this late, he needs you.”
I sighed, knowing she was right, then kissed her forehead, and slipped out of the room.
“What?” I answered, aiming for playful, though I braced myself for whatever problem West’s billions couldn’t solve.
“I need you to come pick me up.” His voice was ragged, distant.
My stomach dropped. “What do you mean? Where are you? Are you okay?”
“Fuck, I don’t know where I am.” He wasn’t yelling out of anger. He sounded afraid. And I’d never heard that from him before.
I grabbed my keys and ran for the door. “Where are you, West? I’m coming right now. Are you drunk?”
“No. I haven’t had anything to drink, although we should change that asap.” His voice snapped sharp, then cracked. “I’ve just been walking. I don’t know where the fuck I am.”
“Send me your location,” I ordered, fumbling with my shoes, heart pounding.
A ping came through, and I glanced at it. “You’re in Pecan Grove. On the main highway. What the fuck are you doing out there?”
“I don’t want to call anybody else,” he whispered. “Don’t want to be around anybody else.”
