Captain Heartbreaker (Havenbrook Book 4)

by Brighton Walsh

  “Am I able to see him?” Momma’s voice wobbled the slightest bit, and Mac wanted nothing more than to wrap an arm around her.

  He nodded. “He can have visitors, but only in pairs for the time being. He’s still very much out of it, and I expect him to remain so for the rest of the evening.”

  “Thank you, Dr. Harris.” Momma threw her arms around the surgeon and squeezed him tight. “Thank you so much for savin’ his life.”

  He patted her on the back while accepting her exuberant embrace. “It was my pleasure. If he does as he’s supposed to, he’ll be causing trouble for you ladies for many years to come.”

  After Dr. Harris walked away, Rory squeezed Momma’s hand. “Why don’t you and Gran go in first?”

  With a shaky nod, Momma reached for Gran’s arm, linked it through hers, and the two of them walked down the hallway.

  It was quiet for long moments while Mac and her sisters watched their mom and grandma until they turned a corner and slipped out of sight.

  “Okay.” Rory turned around to face them, wiping under her eyes. “We need a game plan and to figure out how we’re gonna get Momma out of this hospital. She needs to rest, but she won’t leave Daddy alone.”

  “I’d stay, but I think that may cause Daddy more harm than good.” Nat shrugged.

  No one bothered to disagree because there was little doubt in Mac’s mind that was true. Nat had a way of riling their father up that none of the other sisters could manage.

  Rory glanced at her watch, her brow furrowed. “I’ve gotta get back and pick up the girls. Marie was so sweet to take them, but they’ve already been there so long.”

  She turned to Will. “What about you? Can y’all stay?”

  Will’s eyes were bloodshot, and she had more baggage beneath them than a luggage rack. She was actually swaying on her feet. “Yeah. Of course. I can stay.”

  Mac huffed out a breath. She should’ve been used to this by now, but she wasn’t. She wanted to scream, hellooooo! at the top of her lungs just to get a reaction.

  “I can stay,” Mac said, trying not to let the irritation seep into her tone. “Y’all have been here the longest. It only makes sense that I’m the one to stick around.”

  “Oh!” Rory’s tone belied her surprise, as if the thought had never even crossed her mind. “Of course. That’d be great, Mac. Thank you.”

  Nat shifted on her feet. “Asher and I can take Gran and Momma ho—”

  “I hope you weren’t about to say home, Natalie.” Momma strode up behind Nat. Her eyes were red-rimmed, but she seemed more relaxed than when she’d gone in.

  Nat’s eyes grew wide, and she mouthed Oh shit. Momma didn’t use their full names unless she really wanted to drive a point home. Or she was mad as hell. Hopefully this was the former.

  “How is he, Momma?” Rory asked. “Can we go back?”

  “He’s fine. But Dr. Harris was right—he’s completely out of it. It doesn’t make sense for y’all to stick around tonight when he won’t even know y’all’re here. Everyone should go on home and get a good night’s rest. Y’all can come back in the mornin’ when he’ll be coherent and y’all’ve had some sleep.”

  Rory shot Mac, Nat, and Will a look before stepping up to their mom and resting a hand on her arm. “Momma…we were thinkin’ it’d be—”

  “Aurora Haven, I know you’re not gonna finish that sentence with some nonsense about me goin’ home.”

  Mac’s eyes went wide as she shot a glance at Will to see her doing the same. Two full names meant shit was getting real. Their momma wasn’t messing around.

  Tentatively, Will stepped up. “But, Momma, you’re so tir—”

  “Willow, I’m not gonna hear it.” She held up a hand to stop all conversation and looked to Mac as if challenging her to say something just so she could pull out her full name, too.

  “This is silly, Momma,” Mac said. “You’re exhausted. You said yourself he was out of it, so why not go home and get cleaned up and sleep in your own bed for a night? I’ll stay so he’s not alone.”

  “Mackenna”—annnnnd, there it was—“if any one of y’all thinks you’re gettin’ me anywhere away from this hospital for the next few days, you don’t know me very well. I haven’t spent a single night away from Richard since we got married, and I don’t plan to start tonight. I certainly don’t plan to go home and sleep in our bed without him.” Her voice cracked, and Mac’s chest cracked right along with it.

  “Now, if you don’t mind, I think I’m capable of makin’ my own decisions. And my decision is to stay right here with your father.” She jabbed a finger toward the ground and narrowed her eyes on each of her daughters, daring them to challenge her.

  Considering neither Mac nor her sisters were stupid, they all realized a losing battle when they were up against one. Their momma was right—she could make her own decisions. They just had to hope she was doing what was best for her.

  “All right,” Rory finally said. “But Gran’s comin’ home.” She turned to their grandmother, an accusatory finger pointed in her direction. “And don’t argue with me, old woman. I’ll get Nash to carry you out of here if I have to.”

  Gran raised an eyebrow. “You’re gettin’ awfully feisty over there.” She hooked her arm through Nat’s and dipped her chin. “I like it.”

  “You—” Rory’s shoulders relaxed, and she dropped her finger. “Oh. I thought that’d be a lot harder than it was.”

  “That’s what she said,” Nat mumbled, which caused Gran to hoot with laughter, which, in turn, sent a ripple effect around the group until they were all in stitches.

  Delirious laughter was a real thing, apparently.

  With amusement in her voice, Nat tipped her head toward the main door. “C’mon, Gran. Asher’s stayin’ at the house, so you can ride with us.” Nat squeezed their momma, then guided Gran away, tossing a, “Later, bitches,” over her shoulder to Mac, Rory, and Will.

  “You gonna ride home with Hudson, Mac?” Will asked, resting a hand on Mac’s forearm.

  “Yeah.” She nodded, deciding it was best just not to tell her sisters she planned to send Hud on his way while she stuck around with Momma. They’d make it into a whole big deal, and none of them needed that right now.

  So instead, she just stood next to her momma, waving everyone off, trying valiantly to ignore Hudson’s laser-focused stare that had been pinning her in place for the past five minutes.

  Once everyone else was gone, her momma turned to her. “Y’all gonna head out now?”

  “No.”

  Momma blinked at her for a few seconds, as if stunned by her firm answer. “No?”

  “No,” Mac confirmed, shaking her head. “I’m stayin’ with you. Hud can go home. I wanna make sure you’re okay.”

  “Honey.” Momma’s eyes softened, and she lifted a hand to cup Mac’s cheek. “That’s real sweet, but I’m fine. Your daddy’s fine. We’re all fine. And you need to go home and rest.”

  “But I don’t!” Mac said, surprised by her vehemence. “Because I got to sleep last night and the night before. Because I wasn’t here when I needed to be. Because I was roamin’ around, makin’ everyone worry, when they had other things to concentrate on. So, no.” She stood tall, voice firm as she crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m not leavin’. I’m stayin’ right here with you.” She swallowed hard, attempting to shove down the knot that had formed in her throat. “I need to be—I need to do something.”

  So much for swallowing down all that emotion, because from the way her momma cocked her head to the side, her lips curving down in the corners, she’d caught the slight tremble in Mac’s voice.

  “Oh, sweetheart. Don’t beat yourself up about bein’ gone. You hardly ever leave, and it was good you got away for a while.”

  “But I—”

  “None of that now. It was impossible for any of us to predict this. You got here when you could, and that’s all that matters.”

  Mac nodded, but inside, all she
could think about was the fact that she’d fucked up, and she’d done so when her family needed her the most.

  She hadn’t texted Will when she and Hudson had gotten to the highest point to let her know what was going on. She hadn’t checked in with anyone, too wrapped up in Hudson to see beyond their insane chemistry. And, yeah, she’d finally gotten to the hospital, but her sister—who’d been a literal half a world away—had managed to arrive before her.

  Heat enveloped the length of her back, and she didn’t need to turn around to know Hudson had come up behind her, standing so close, their bodies had to be nearly touching.

  “Get her home for me, will you?” Momma asked, her gaze directed over Mac’s shoulder.

  He settled a hand on Mac’s hip, his thumb brushing up and down along her side. “Yes, ma’am.”

  “I’m not— I can’t—”

  “Mac,” her momma said, tone soft but firm. “I’m stayin’ with your daddy, and I’d like to be alone. If you need something to do, go check on town hall. Daddy was there Saturday mornin’, and we left in such a rush, I don’t even know if I locked up his office or not. Can you do that for me?”

  Mac blew out a frustrated breath. She could go check on things at town hall and then come right back. With drive time, it’d put her back here well into the night, but she didn’t care. She was going to—

  “And then go home, sweetheart.”

  She froze, her eyes snapping to her mom’s. “But, Momma—”

  “Don’t ‘But, Momma’ me, Mackenna. I’m exhausted, and I know you are too. It’s been a long few days, and I need some alone time with your daddy before the slew of visitors starts pouring in. I’m gonna spend the evening tellin’ him all the ways I’m gonna kill him now that we know he’s gonna live.”

  Mac breathed out a laugh, her shoulders slumping in defeat. One thing about being a competitor all her life was that she knew when the fight was over. She knew when to give in or to push harder. And pushing her momma harder would only be cruel at this point.

  “Okay,” she said with a nod. “I’ll check on town hall and go home, if that’s what you need.”

  Her mom’s face softened with a smile, her eyes warming as she stared at Mac. “That’s exactly what I need. Thank you.”

  If that was what her momma needed, then that was what Mac was going to give her. She was sick and tired of being the failure in the family, of being the person no one called, of being the last one everyone thought of.

  And she was willing to sacrifice anything in order to finally prove her worth.

  Hudson kept sneaking glances at Kenna out of the corner of his eye as he drove toward Havenbrook. The sun had long since set, so he only had the headlights of passing cars to illuminate her expressions. Although, it had really only been one expression since they’d left the hospital parking lot—guilt. Pure, undiluted guilt.

  And he fucking hated it for her.

  He’d lived with guilt, and it was exhausting. How it ate away at a person until they believed every single lie they told themselves during one of those spirals. And right now, he’d do just about anything to pull her out of it.

  “You know what drivin’ this way makes me think about?” he asked, breaking the silence. He’d been trying to engage her in conversation the entirety of the ride, but she’d only given one-word answers in between staring out the window.

  Kenna turned her head toward him. “Hmm?”

  He lifted his chin to the turnoff sign for Fort Ridley, Tennessee, a smile quirking his lips. “Remember when Nat and her dumb-ass friends thought it’d be a good idea to steal Philander’s tractor in retaliation for him tellin’ their parents some probably illegal thing they did?”

  Her lips twitched in the corner, but it wasn’t quite the full-blown smile he’d been hoping for, so he continued. “Only the idiots drove it across state lines—because of course they did. Go big, or go home for those three, right? Except—”

  “The tractor died and stranded them in Tennessee.” She chuckled under her breath and shook her head. “It’s really a wonder they’ve only been arrested the once.”

  “Lucky bastards, all of ’em.”

  “Lucky and persuasive. If you and I hadn’t gone to pick ’em up and tow that thing back, they’d’ve probably been sent off to juvie.” She shook her head, a grin quirking up the side of her mouth. “You know he never did find out? I think those three will take that to their graves. And I sorta like havin’ something to hold over Nat’s head.”

  “Like you’d ever tell.”

  She cocked an eyebrow at him. “You don’t think so?”

  “Not in a million years.”

  “What makes you so sure?”

  He brought their clasped hands to his mouth and kissed her knuckles, then darted his eyes to hers before focusing once again on the road. “Because you’re the most loyal person I’ve ever known, Kenna. You might wanna strangle your sisters sometimes, but you’d never give someone else ammunition to do so.”

  “Loyal but not dependable, apparently,” she said so low, he was certain he wasn’t supposed to hear it.

  “Hey.” He tugged her arm to get her attention. “Loyal and depend—”

  “Hud. Can we not?” she said on a sigh. “I’m so exhausted, I just wanna close my eyes for a while.”

  He split glances between her and the road, trying to get a read on her expression, but without any oncoming cars, it was too dark to be able to do so. He could hear the exhaustion in her voice, though that wasn’t all he heard. There was an underlying emotion he couldn’t quite name. But it didn’t matter. If she wanted to rest, then he certainly wasn’t gonna stop her.

  With a nod, he said, “Go ahead and rest, then. I’ll wake you up when we get home.”

  She snapped her head to his, her voice vehement. “No, town hall first. Momma said—”

  “Okay. All right. Town hall.” He squeezed her hand. “But then home.”

  He figured she was too tired to argue—which meant she was really tired—because she hesitated only a moment before she nodded, then settled into the seat, her head turned toward the window, and went silent.

  By the time they pulled into the parking lot at town hall, he wasn’t sure if she’d actually slept or had just pretended to in order to avoid talking. He’d give her some time, but he wasn’t going to let her go around carrying this unnecessary guilt on her shoulders. Not when it was absolutely unfounded.

  He followed behind her into the dark building, their steps echoing in the empty corridor. It was creepy as hell to be here at night when there wasn’t anyone else around, and the thought of her doing this without him made him uneasy as hell. He knew she could take care of herself, but try telling that to the part of him that was desperate to keep her safe.

  “You don’t come here alone at night, do you?”

  “Not usually, no. But I might have to start since Daddy’ll be off for a while now.”

  “I’m not sure that’s—”

  “I’m gonna laugh if you’re about to say safe.” She tossed him a look over her shoulder. “It’s Havenbrook, Hud. Besides, the police station is directly across the street.”

  Logically, he couldn’t argue, but the part of him that was having issues with it didn’t give a fuck about logic.

  “You—”

  “Can take care of myself. Now, drop it. You’re not winnin’ this one.”

  “Maybe not, but you wouldn’t turn down a bet, would you?”

  She stopped dead in her tracks and slid her eyes to his on an exhale. “Terms?”

  “Bet you can’t get out of a choke hold within thirty seconds.”

  “I can get out in fifteen. And the prize you’re never gonna win?” she asked, her eyebrows raised.

  “You don’t come here by yourself at night.”

  “Mhmm, and when I win, you’ll shut the hell up about this and allow me to go on as I’ve been doin’ for the past almost twenty-eight years?” Her tone was drier than a desert.

  �
��I guess so.”

  “Fine.” She stopped in her tracks and spun around to face away from him. “Let’s go.”

  “Now?”

  “Yes, now. I’d like you to get over the notion that I’m incompetent as soon as fucking possible.”

  “I never said—”

  “As soon as fucking possible.”

  He chuckled under his breath, loving that she’d finally gotten some of her fire back, if nothing else. Stepping up behind her, he stopped just before their bodies touched, and that last millimeter of space was killing him.

  He dropped his head so his lips were directly next to her ear. Quietly, he said, “Some might say you have an unfair advantage since you know the attack is comin’.”

  She shrugged as if she were unaffected by their proximity, but the shiver that stole over her shoulders proved otherwise. “And some might do anything to excuse their failure.”

  “Love you feisty…” he murmured in her ear right before he locked his arms around her.

  One minute he had her in a standard choke hold and the next, his arm was twisted behind his back and she was pushing it to just this side of pain.

  She stood on tiptoes and nipped his ear. “Feisty enough for you?”

  Then, without another word, she dropped his arm and raised her eyebrows. He was surprised she didn’t actually bow.

  Goddamn, he wanted to bend her over the nearest desk and fuck her until they both saw stars. Kenna under normal circumstances had him half out of his mind, but a Kenna who could take care of herself and bested him by doing so? Christ.

  He didn’t even try to hide the rasp in his voice when he asked, “Where’d you learn how to do that?”

  She shrugged and continued down the hall. “Took self-defense classes years ago. Loved it so much, I started teachin’ it down at St. Mary’s a few times a year. Taught it to Nat, too, before she went off globe-trottin’ by herself.”

  No matter how much he knew of Kenna, it seemed like there was always something new to unearth. Some facet of her he’d missed out on in the time he’d been gone.