by Sarah Hegger
“Gabe.” Ben nodded to him. “This is India, Kelly’s sister. She was a few years behind us in school.”
Gabe didn’t remember her, but India resembled Kelly, only a more muted version. Slimmer, blonder, and more delicately featured, India gave off a fragile air to Kelly’s vibrant one.
That could also have to do with the bruises on India’s face and neck.
Ma bustled through from the house. “I just got off the phone with Poppy.” She wrapped the young woman in a hug. “India.”
Some of the tension drained out of India. Ma’s hugs were like that; they took the bad thing away.
“I’m sorry to be so much trouble,” India whispered.
“You’re not any trouble.” Ma took the baby from her. He immediately snuggled into Ma’s neck. “I have your room ready for you.”
Gabe sipped his coffee and waited for someone to tell him what the hell was going on. Whatever it was looked serious.
“Let’s get you settled.” Kelly guided her sister into the corridor outside the kitchen. The differences between them got more obvious.
India drew closer to Kelly as if sensing Kelly would protect her, and India desperately looked like she needed protecting. She reminded Gabe of a fawn, so heartbreakingly vulnerable to predators. He wanted to pick her up and tuck her away safe. From the way everyone hovered around her, India had that effect on lots of people.
He waited for the women to leave before he turned to Ben. “What’s going on?”
“India needs a place to stay for a few days.” Ben grabbed a mug and helped himself to coffee. He stood with his cup in his hand and scowled out the kitchen window. “I would have taken her to Winters House, but we’re full up until I get our house finished.”
Call him clairvoyant, but Gabe didn’t think Ben was upset about his renovation project. “Are those bruises the reason she needs somewhere to stay?”
“Yup.” Ben’s knuckles whitened against the handle of his coffee mug.
Down the hall, women murmured to each other, the baby cried, and Ma soothed him.
“Can I ask who put those bruises on her?”
Ben shrugged. “That’s not my story to tell.”
Gabe had expected as much. “Then I need to know if whoever put those bruises on her might be coming around to have another go.”
“I don’t know.” Ben’s jaw clenched. “Maybe, but being here should make her harder to find.”
“And if it isn’t?”
“Then she has you living right here.” Ben turned on him with a scowl. “And Finn and I are up the street.”
That didn’t reassure him in the least. “And Ma?”
“What about her?” Ben looked impatient.
“Is she in any danger?”
Ben’s anger darkened on his face. “Jesus, Gabriel. You live halfway across the world for years, and now you come back here and accuse me of putting Ma in danger.”
“I’m not accusing you of anything.”
Ben’s self-righteous prick had escaped its cage. Sure, Ben had stayed and been there for Ma when all the rest of them had fucked off, but that didn’t mean the rest of them had no say in Ma’s safety.
“If whoever did that to India is around, I don’t want him hurting Ma.”
“And I do?” Ben dropped his mug in the sink with a clatter. “You’re in or you’re out, Gabe. You want a say in how we do things around here, then be around. Otherwise, shut the hell up.” He stormed out, throwing over his shoulder, “Tell Ma I’ll been in touch. I need to get some stuff done.”
“Sure.” Not being around didn’t mean he didn’t care about Ma. Gabe would give you even odds on Ben not wanting him around more anyway. The two of them could barely spend ten minutes together without getting into it.
Kelly came back into the kitchen. “Ben gone?”
She looked strung out and Gabe wanted to ease some of that for her.
“He said he had stuff to do but wouldn’t be long.” Gabe took a mug out, filled it and gave it to her. “It’s nothing like your coffee, but you look like you could use it.”
“Thanks.” Kelly’s hand trembled around her mug as she took a seat at the kitchen table. “Ben tell you what’s going on?”
Ben had been too busy being self-important.
“Nope. He said it wasn’t his story to tell.”
“That was good of him.” Kelly sipped her coffee and grimaced. “Got any sugar and cream?”
“Sure.” Gabe brought what she needed to the table and propped his hips on the counter. What was going down looked serious. Ben was doing his job, and he was good at it. Gabe needed to show his grownup and not let childish habits kick in.
Kelly fixed her coffee and took another sip. “It was her husband, Piers.”
Gabe had wondered about that. “He hit her.”
“Yup.” Kelly’s voice shook. “Apparently, it’s not the first time either.” A sob rippled through her.
“Hey.” Gabe pulled her against him and wrapped her tight. “I’m so sorry, Kelly. This is awful for you guys.”
“Ben and your mom have been so wonderful. I don’t know what we’d do without them.” Kelly turned her face into his shoulder and sobbed quietly.
“You won’t have to do this without any of us. We’ve got you.” Not knowing what else to do, Gabe held her until the storm passed then settled her at the table with a box of Kleenex. The primal part of him rejected the idea of Kelly being upset. It wanted to fix the problem and make things right for her.
Ma stepped into the kitchen and took a seat opposite Kelly. “I’ve put them in Mark’s old room. We had a travel crib from when Poppy first arrived. It was all set up anyway.” She rubbed her eyes. “She’s worn to the bone. I hope she can get some rest, poor thing.”
“Kelly said her husband did that.” Gabe jerked his head at India’s bedroom door.
Ma looked like she could do with some comforting as well. “I don’t understand men who do that; I really don’t”
“Me neither.” He put an arm around her shoulders. Ben had been right to bring them there. That bastard wasn’t getting anywhere near Gabe’s women.
Kelly leaned into him. “Ben is trying to find Piers, so he can arrest him.”
“Good.”
Ma nodded. “Works in Denver, makes a lot of money. I met him, Gabe.” She sighed. “I was at their wedding. I would never have suspected he was like this.”
“Nobody ever does. Until it’s too late,” he said. He preferred animals. Animals didn’t beat the shit out of each other just because. If they fought, they did it for a reason, and if they killed, it was to eat or to protect themselves.
Ma pressed her fingers to her eyes. “So true. She said he threatened the baby, and that’s why she left.”
A dangerous rage swept through Gabe. Hitting a woman as delicate and tiny as India and then going after her child was a special kind of evil. “What kind of fucking asshole is he?”
“It makes you wonder.” Ma must have been upset, because she didn’t touch his language. She turned her attention to Kelly. “How are you doing?”
“I’m fine.” Kelly’s chin wobbled, and she took a deep breath. “Nothing happened to me. Nobody did anything to me.”
“Something like this touches all of us.” Dot patted Kelly’s hand. “You did the right thing calling Ben.”
Kelly grimaced. “I’m not sure India is happy about it. She resisted the idea of Piers being arrested.”
“It’s too often the way.” Ma sighed. “Is anybody hungry?”
“Thanks, but no. I should get to work.” She glanced down the passage and sat again. “Do you think I should go? Maybe India will need me.”
“We’re here,” he said. “And while I might be useless, Ma is the best at this sort of thing. Believe me, I know. As a kid I brought all sorts of peop
le and creatures home to her.”
A smile ghosted over Ma’s face. “You certainly kept things interesting.”
“I…” Kelly rubbed her face. “I keep thinking what if she needs me, and I’m not there for her. Again.”
Gabe had heard enough, and he took a gentle grip on her shoulders, enough to make her look at him. “This is not on you. None of this.”
“Yes, but—”
“This is about some sick bastard who makes himself feel like a man by beating on those who can’t fight back.”
Kelly’s shoulders slumped. “Part of me knows that and accepts it, but there’s this other part…”
Gabe knew that feeling well, but he shoved the thought aside. Being in Twin Elks always brought it out of hiding. “I’m here as well, and I promise to call you.” He handed her his phone. “Here, put your number in and I promise you, I will call.”
“Thanks.” Kelly took his phone and added her number. Then she called herself. “Now I have your number as well.” She gave him a small smile, a tiny flash of the Kelly he’d spent the night with. “Now I can call you to firm up our wedding details.”
Ma laughed. “I always like a June wedding.”
“Do that.” Gabe let her take the out from all the heavy. “I’m sure Ma has a couple of color scheme ideas she’d like your input on.”
Kelly bumped him with her shoulder. “I much prefer the circumstances behind my last visit to this kitchen.”
“Me too.” He bumped her back. “Can I walk you to work, or are you driving.”
“Walking.” She hesitated, and then said, “I’d tell you not to bother, but I could use the company.”
He opened the door and motioned her to precede him.
The weather was lulling them with a mild day that made winter seem months away. It would probably change its mind by noon.
Kelly raised her head and took a deep breath of the clear mountain air. “I can’t believe this happened.”
It took some believing all right. Gabe hoped to God Ben got the fucker. “She’s safe now.”
“Thanks to Dot and your brother,” she said. “You know what the worst part is?”
“What?” Dead leaves scattered about their feet as they walked.
Kelly bent and grabbed a fallen yellow leaf. “She says she loves him. How can you love someone who hurts you like that? And even as I say that, I know it’s not that simple.”
Gabe shoved his hands in his pockets. If she needed to talk, he could give her that.
“Ben also told me that so many women change their minds and try and get the charges dropped. They say they love him and don’t want to send him to prison.” She gave a bitter laugh. “I’d like to see them throw away the key on Piers.”
“Ben will get him,” he said. His own childish shit with his brother aside, he meant it. “He won’t stop until he’s made sure that bastard pays for this.”
“Ben is going to put a call in to the Denver PD, see if they can pick him up,” Kelly said.
Gabe wished he could do something, anything. “You leave Piers to Ben. You concentrate on yourself and India and her boy. The best you can do is love and support them and be there for them.”
“You’re right.” She tore bits off her leaf and dropped them. “I know you’re right, but doing nothing has never sat right with me.”
He nodded, because it was another thing he could relate to.
“The logical part of me knows that if he’s been isolating her, telling her that he’s the only one who really cares about her, the best thing I can do is show her that he’s wrong. But…”
He put an arm around her shoulders and hugged her to him. “But it doesn’t feel like enough.”
“Exactly.” She left his arm where it was. “I’m scared I won’t be able to help her.”
Gabe pulled her closer. “You will be, Kelly. You’re a kickass woman, and nobody could ask for a better sister.”
Gabe walked her to her store, accepted a cup of coffee for his trouble and returned home.
Ma was waiting in the kitchen staring at her coffee. “Kelly okay?”
“As good as she can be.”
“It was nice of you to walk her.”
“Just doing what you taught me.” He kept his tone light. Despite yesterday morning, he didn’t want Ma getting a head full of ideas. He liked Kelly, liked her a lot, and the sex had been incredible, but he wasn’t staying. Even if he was, Kelly and Vince had a happily ever after they needed to get started. “I’m sure she’ll call Vince now.”
“Vince?” Ma glanced at him.
If he read that look right, she might already be brewing a half-baked notion. “They’re together.”
“Really?” Ma raised a brow at him. “Then why was she with you?”
Heat spread over his face. This was not the sort of conversation he wanted to have with his mother. “I mean, they’re not together yet, like a thing, but she wants to pick up where they left off in high school.”
“Hmm.” Ma had her thinking face on. “It doesn’t seem to me like she wants Vince all that much. Given the other morning.”
“Ma, I think you’re reading too much into that. We had a few drinks. Things went further than they should have.”
“Okay.” Ma shrugged, but Gabe wasn’t buying it. Ma had only gone quiet for now. “Right now, I’m sure both these girls could do with all the support they can get. They’ve had enough man trouble for one day.”
Chapter Five
About midmorning the following day, Vince walked into Kelly’s coffee shop and gave her his sweet smile. He’d been coming in every morning at around the same time since she opened Kelly’s Koffee Klatch.
Unlike every other morning, he came up to the counter and stood there. “Morning.”
“Morning.” Kelly made his regular coffee. She had barely slept, and she was dragging herself through work.
Vince had gotten even better looking since high school. The slight lines around his eyes and mouth seasoned his face and made him look manlier. Unlike her, he hadn’t gained a pound, or if he had, it had gone to broadening his shoulders.
He looked good. Great even, and it sometimes made her wonder if he still saw her the same way he had in high school. Did he still find her attractive?
“How are you doing today?” Vince took a seat at the counter and nodded his thanks for the coffee. “You look stressed.”
Vince had always noticed stuff. It’s part of what made him so special. Having him there was comforting.
“I’m okay. I—” She was lying, and she didn’t need to lie to Vince. She wasn’t even slightly okay, and if anyone was safe with her secrets it was this man. The boy she’d grown up with, and the man she still respected. “Actually, things really suck this morning.”
Vince stopped with his mug halfway to his mouth and studied her. It was the same look he used to give her in high school. It meant he really cared to hear her answer. “Kelly? What’s going on?”
She teared up, so she ducked her head and concentrated on her orders until it passed. “It’s India.”
Vince had been in and out of her house during high school. He had known exactly how things had stood with her family. He frowned. “Didn’t she get married a couple of years back?”
“Yes. And that’s the problem.”
He winced. “Marriage not working out?”
“In a manner of speaking.” She slammed coffee grounds into the bin. Lowering her voice so it didn’t carry to the rest of the store, she said, “It seems Piers likes to make his points with his fists.”
“Shit.” Vince gaped. “Kelly, that’s horrible. I’m really sorry to hear that.”
“I didn’t know.” She blinked at her coffee machine and tried to get a grip. “I knew Piers was domineering, but you know India; she’s always needed someone to hold her hand
through crap.” Kelly felt stupid for totally missing what and who Piers really was. “I didn’t know until yesterday what she was going through.”
“I’m so sorry, Kelly.” Vince stood and walked around the counter. Taking her by the shoulders, he bent his knees so they were eye to eye. “But this isn’t your fault. You get that right?”
This is why Vince and her made sense. Why there had been nobody like him in her life since they broke up. He got her. She didn’t need to explain things to him. He already understood.
Like Gabe had understood yesterday at Dot’s.
“Kelly?” Vince stared at her. “You’ve always taken responsibility for India, but that doesn’t make this your fault. Hear me?”
Even though her heart wasn’t really there, she nodded. “I suppose I should be glad that she’s out of it.”
“Is she at your place?” Vince slipped back around the counter and took his seat.
Kelly shook her head. “No, she’s staying with Dot Crowe until Ben can arrest Piers.”
“Dot is good people.” Vince sipped his coffee. “India’s in good hands.”
“Yup.” Not in Piers’s hands either. “I called a little while ago, but she was sleeping.” India had looked the sort of bone-deep weary that came from months of not getting enough rest. Kelly’s imagination had been at her all morning. Had India lain in bed beside Piers night after night, too terrified to sleep? “Dot and Gabe said they would call me if she needed anything.”
“Gabe?” Vince raised an eyebrow. “I saw him at Ben’s wedding. Is he still here?”
Guilt took her for a quick twist. “Yup. He’s staying for a while.”
“How about that?” Vince leaned his elbows on the counter. “Gabe Crowe back in town. You used to think he was hot shit in high school.”
Kelly’s face heated, and she turned away to hide it. “Everybody thought he was hot shit in high school.”
She didn’t owe Vince an explanation. Even if she wanted to see if they could pick things up again, he might not feel the same. He’d been divorced for months now, and today was the closest he’d come to her physically.
A few meaningful looks and a couple of texts between them—hers of support through his divorce, and his hinting at them having missed a chance—didn’t make for a whole helluva lot.