A headache was normal. I didn"t need to panic, but dammit, I wanted to know she was OK. Not hearing her voice didn"t sit well with me. "Go check on her. She"s not answering her phone, and I need to know she"s OK. She could be sick."

Jimmy sighed. "I am a.s.suming this command also means you will be staying on the phone with me while I do your bidding."

I didn"t even care that he was being a smart-a.s.s. I just wanted to know that Reese was OK. "Yeah, that"s what it means."

"Fine. But if she"s sleeping, this is going to wake her up."

I"d thought about that, but I couldn"t not know. I kept imagining her sick in the bathroom, too weak to call someone, or pa.s.sed out on the floor. My fears were getting more exaggerated by the second.

"You sure are protective over her. You"d think the two of you were in a serious relationship," he said in an amused tone.

"We are in a serious, very exclusive relationship. Did she not tell you that?"

Jimmy cleared his throat. "She wasn"t sure what you were in. But she did tell me she couldn"t double-date with me because she didn"t think you"d like that."

d.a.m.n right I wouldn"t like it. What did Reese think all that was this weekend? I came to town just to stop her from dating someone else. I made my interest very clear, over and over. "She thought right," was my only response. This wasn"t a conversation I needed to have with Jimmy.

"I guess if you"re not getting any on the side, then-"

"Jimmy, are you trying to find out if I"m f.u.c.king other women while I"m in Texas? Because if that is what this is and you"re trying to protect Reese, then understand something: I don"t want anyone but Reese. Ever. So stop trying to rile me up, and go check on my woman. Now."

Jimmy chuckled. "Well, all right, then. I can do that."

I breathed a sigh of relief. She wasn"t thinking of dating other people. Jimmy just wanted to see if I was. I"d be p.i.s.sed at him if it wasn"t for the fact that he cared about her. He was just trying to watch out for her. I liked that.

I waited while Jimmy walked over to Reese"s apartment and knocked on the door. "Reese, honey. If you"re awake, could you open up? I got an angry cowboy on my phone interrupting my soaps."

I waited while I listened to Jimmy knock again.

"I hear the latch," Jimmy said, and the panic slowly started to ebb.

"Hey," her soft voice said from inside her apartment.

"You wanna talk to him?" Jimmy asked.

I heard the m.u.f.fled sound of them whispering with a hand over the receiver. I hated it. Something was wrong. I was going to have to leave s.h.i.t here again and go back to Rosemary Beach.

"Hey, sorry. I was asleep. It was a long day." Reese"s voice came over the phone, thick with sleep. She wasn"t lying. She"d been in bed. She was OK.

"Do you feel sick? Have Jimmy check your temperature," I said, feeling anxious that something was off.

"I"m fine. No fever, I promise. I"ll call you tomorrow. I just needed to sleep tonight. But I"m not sick. I don"t feel sick."

Something was wrong. I could feel it. "OK. Sleep, then, baby. I"ll want to hear your voice in the morning, though. I won"t be able to focus until I know you"re better."

"I"ll call," she a.s.sured me.

"Good night. Sweet dreams," I whispered, just before ending the call.

f.u.c.k, I wasn"t going to get any sleep now. Something was wrong, and she wasn"t going to tell me what it was. I had sold the quarter horse today, but I had to be here when the buyer came to load it up tomorrow. He was also bringing the check so we could finalize the paperwork. Then I had to go to the stockyards and get some cattle. I should have gone yesterday. As it was, I was behind on s.h.i.t.

But Reese needed me, and I couldn"t be there. Another reason I wanted her here. h.e.l.l, I couldn"t tell her that yet, though. She wasn"t even ready to let me touch her p.u.s.s.y.

Throwing my phone down, I went to the fridge to get a beer. I had a long night ahead of me, and if I started thinking about Reese"s p.u.s.s.y, it was just going to get longer.

Reese.

I hadn"t slept a wink after Jimmy came knocking on my door. Hearing Mase"s voice and his concern had sent me into a fit of tears. Then I"d sat up and thought of every way possible I could make money, and fast. When I got my paycheck this week, it would give me twenty-eight hundred dollars total to my name. I would still need twenty-two hundred more.

I was afraid to try to get a night job waiting tables. When I got stressed or panicky, I still had trouble making out words. And my writing wasn"t so good yet. I doubted I"d even be able to fill out the application. I had watched the sunrise, knowing I was just going to have to see how this played out. If she reported the mirror stolen, then they couldn"t arrest me without proof. And I had proof of a sliced-open hand to hold up my side of the story.

The most a judge would do was make me pay her back, which was what I had already told her I would do. I knew I had to call Mase this morning. He was worried last night, but I just couldn"t talk to him yet.

This whole mess was too upsetting. If I told him about what his sister was threatening to do, I was afraid he"d think I wanted him to pay her back for me. I couldn"t let him do that or think that I would want that. This was my problem to deal with, not his.

I pressed his number, and it barely rang once before he answered.

"Good morning. Are you feeling better?" His voice made all the bad stuff plaguing me fade away. I missed him. I loved our nightly talks. Last night, I had wanted to talk to him, but I knew I couldn"t. He could tell I was upset, and I couldn"t hide it from him.

"Yes. I"m much better. Thank you. Sorry about last night," I replied.

"You being OK is all I"m worried about. Although I won"t lie, I missed your voice reading to me last night. Hard to sleep without that."

I smiled for the first time since the awful meeting with Nan yesterday. He made me happy, even when things sucked. "That normally doesn"t happen to me. But if it ever happens again, I promise to call before I go to sleep. I should have thought of calling you earlier and letting you know." Trying to sound normal was not easy. But I was doing the best I could.

"I"ll let you get to work. Have a good day, baby."

I said good-bye and hung up, letting the warm feeling I got when he called me "baby" stay with me most of the morning.

It was almost noon when I got the call from the cleaning agency I had been fired. Nan had called them, and they wanted no connection with me. I was to come pick up my check and not report for the other two houses I had scheduled for that week. I managed to finish cleaning the rest of the Carters" house that afternoon without breaking down.

I was going to be fine. I would call Blaire Finlay. Two houses would pay the bills. I wouldn"t have any left over for extras or savings, so paying Nan back was going to be difficult. I had to find one more house to clean, at least, or another job.

Before I went home today, I was going to cut Nan a check for two thousand four hundred dollars. That was all I had right now. I wouldn"t think about the rent just yet; I would worry about that next week. Right now, I needed to show that I was trying to pay for the mirror. I didn"t want the cops coming after me.

The idea of facing Nan again was terrifying. However, when I finally got to her house, there were two cars parked outside, Nan"s expensive little sports car and a black SUV. Having company could be a good thing. Surely she wouldn"t be nasty in front of guests.

After giving myself a pep talk, I went up the front steps and rang the doorbell. I would give her the check, apologize again, and promise more money as soon as possible. Then I would leave. I could do this.

The door swung open sooner than I"d expected, and Nan"s expression immediately turned into a disgusted sneer. "What are you doing here? I called the agency and had you fired. Do I need to call the cops, too?"

I went over what I had practiced in my head. "Here is a check with everything I have right now. I"ll get you more as soon as I can. I"m really sorry about the mirror," I said, my voice only cracking once from nerves.

Rush Finlay walked up behind Nan. He wasn"t smiling. What was he doing here?

"Nan? What"s going on? Did you just say you had-" He stopped and looked at me. "It"s Reese, correct?" I nodded. "Did you have Reese fired?"

"She stole a five-thousand-dollar mirror from my house! Yes, I had her fired. This is a check for not even half of it, and she thinks that makes it OK," Nan spat out.

Rush didn"t look like he believed her. He turned back to me. "Reese, did you steal a mirror?"

I shook my head. "No. I did break it, though. I fell. It was an accident. I explained, but-"

"She"s lying! She"s the cleaning lady, Rush! G.o.d! Do you always have to take everyone else"s side over mine? I"ve been gone for months, and this is what I get as a welcome home? A thieving housecleaner and my brother once again taking other people"s sides against me?" She was yelling now. But the fact that she"d called Rush her brother confused me. How was Rush her brother? Mase was her brother, but Rush and Mase weren"t brothers to each other.

"She brought you a check and is promising to bring you more when she can. Does that sound like someone who stole your mirror? No, it doesn"t. Calm the f.u.c.k down, and think about this s.h.i.t before you react. You"re not ten G.o.dd.a.m.n years old anymore, Nan. Grow up." Rush was clearly annoyed.

"I"m going to go. I"ll be back with the rest of the money as soon as I can," I said again, then hurried down the steps.

I probably should have stuck around and continued to defend myself. There was a good chance Rush might start to believe her, and then I wouldn"t get that job working at his house. I would have to wait to call Blaire about the job. At least I had a witness who saw that I"d paid her some for the mirror and promised to pay more soon.

It was an eight-mile walk home from here. I had enough time to think about what I would do the rest of the week since I no longer had houses to clean.

Mase.

My phone rang as I was pulling into the house after a long day at the stockyards.

It was Rush.

"h.e.l.lo," I said, not used to getting calls from him.

"Nan"s back home," he said, not sounding real happy about it. Couldn"t say I blamed him, but then, I thought he loved his sister.

"Yeah," I said, wondering what this s.h.i.t had to do with me.

"You know anything about a mirror at Nan"s house?"

s.h.i.t! I had forgotten about the mirror. And Nan being home. Motherf.u.c.ker. Reese would have gone to clean yesterday. Suddenly, her headache made a h.e.l.l of a lot more sense.

"First morning I met Reese, she fell cleaning the window, and the f.u.c.king mirror crashed down around her. Sliced open her hand. I had to take her to get st.i.tches. I forgot about that d.a.m.n thing. I figured Nan wouldn"t even notice." But I knew she had. Because Rush was calling me. If she"d been cruel to Reese, I"d be paying her a visit, and it wouldn"t be one she f.u.c.king wanted.

"She probably wouldn"t have. Except Reese told her about it and promised to pay her back," Rush said, still sounding annoyed by something.

"s.h.i.t! I should"ve replaced the d.a.m.n thing. I just got . . . busy with stuff and forgot."

"Yeah, you should have. She brought Nan a check for two thousand four hundred dollars today after Nan had her fired from the agency. My guess is she lost all her jobs. And she"s f.u.c.king broke. I was going to take the check away from Nan, but I was afraid she"d press charges against Reese or some stupid s.h.i.t like that. I"m thinking Reese might need a little help right now."

"Two thousand? What the h.e.l.l! How much does Nan want for the d.a.m.n mirror?"

She was the meanest, most vindictive b.i.t.c.h I had ever met. When she"d offered to help Harlow with a blood transfusion after Lila Kate"s birth, I thought for a moment that she"d found a heart. But apparently not.

"She"s claiming it cost five grand and came from Paris. I"m calling bulls.h.i.t on that, but she"s determined to get her money for it. I figured I would stop this if you didn"t. I just know that if it was Blaire being f.u.c.ked with, I"d want to be the one righting the wrong. Not someone else."

"I"ll be there by morning. Don"t let Nan get near Reese again. I"m coming to settle this s.h.i.t and bring Reese back with me. I can"t get things done, because my mind"s always on her. I want her here."

"Nan will stay away for now. I wasn"t happy, and she knows I"m p.i.s.sed. I also informed her that she"d just f.u.c.ked with your girlfriend. She didn"t take that info well. I believe when I left, she was ranting about "not believing this f.u.c.king s.h.i.t." " Rush chuckled. But my mind was already on to the next thing. I had plans to make and a girl to persuade to move to Texas with me.

After ending the call with Rush, I started packing and made phone calls to my stepdad and Major. I told them there was some stuff I needed to handle out of town and left them with the list of things I needed help with while I was gone.

Then I headed to the airport and took the first flight out.

Not going directly to Reese was hard. But I was going to deal with my "dear sister" first. The plane touched down close to midnight. I had arranged for Rush to send the truck I usually borrowed when I was in town to the airport.

It was a little after two in the morning when I pulled up to Nan"s gate after plugging the code into the security box. Lights were still on in the house. She was still awake. Good. I wouldn"t have to wake her up.

I didn"t bother knocking, I just used the code and went on in. I could hear the television and laughter in the media room. I walked through the foyer and headed straight for the noise.

Nan was on the sofa with a gla.s.s of wine in her hand, telling another girl who sat across from her about something that was apparently hilarious. I didn"t see Nan as the funny type. Or a good storyteller.

Her eyes caught mine, and she jolted right before the anger flashed in her eyes. "You can"t barge into my house like this, Mase. I"m calling the cops," she snapped.

"Please, do. I"ll just call our father and let him deal with them, since this is his house. He"s let me know more than once that I"m welcome to use it whenever I want to."

Just like I knew they would, my words stopped her cold. She hated any reason to involve Kiro in her life. And she also knew I was right. This wasn"t her house. She didn"t pay for it or one d.a.m.n thing in it. I found out that last bit when I called Kiro while waiting for my flight. He paid for the house to come furnished. That mirror wasn"t something she"d even bought. b.i.t.c.h.

Mean b.i.t.c.h.

"I can"t believe you"re here because of her. She was my housecleaner, Mase. Surely you can do better than that. It"s kind of low for Kiro"s son. Does Daddy Dearest know you were banging the help while you were here?" There was a bitterness to Nan that I had never seen in anyone her age before. It ate her up. Made her cruel and heartless. And so f.u.c.king shallow.

"This is your only warning, little sister. You say one more negative word about Reese, and I"ll make sure you regret it for years. Do you understand me? Because I swear to G.o.d, I am dead serious."

Her lip drew up in a snarl, and she turned to look at her friend. "I"m sorry about this, Laney. I"m sure he"ll be gone once he"s done b.i.t.c.hing."

I barely glanced at the redhead, but I had seen enough to know she was more interested in me being here than Nan was. "I called Kiro. This place was bought furnished. That d.a.m.n mirror didn"t cost five grand. Furthermore, I did some more research. Reese fell and sliced her hand open in your house on your things while working. She then got fired for it. I"m her witness, because I was here, and I was the one who rushed her to the hospital to get it st.i.tched up. There"s a medical record of the st.i.tches. Way I see it, Reese needs a lawyer, "cause she"s got one h.e.l.l of a case. This whole situation is a f.u.c.king lawsuit just waiting to happen. She was hurt on the job and then fired over it. She can sue the cleaning agency, and she can f.u.c.king sue you. Wouldn"t that make the headlines?"

Nan"s eyes went wide, and I enjoyed every d.a.m.n minute of it as my words sank in.

"I"m even going to suggest that she sue you for the money she"s already given you, plus a million dollars for pain and suffering. You are Kiro Manning"s daughter, after all. She might as well go for a lot. You can afford it."

Nan let out a laugh that sounded forced. "She can"t afford a d.a.m.n lawyer. That"s not going to happen."

"She won"t have to pay for one. I"ve already called mine."

Nan slammed her winegla.s.s down and stood up. "Really, Mase? You, too? The whole d.a.m.n family hates me. Now you"re going to take sides with some girl you"re f.u.c.king?"

I took a step toward her, reminding myself that I didn"t hit women. But dammit, that was hard. I wanted to wring her neck. "Don"t. Ever. Call. Reese. That. Again. She"s more than you could ever imagine. She doesn"t even know I"m here, because she didn"t tell me about this bulls.h.i.t with you. Rush did." I let that sink in. Then I added one more thing. "You bring the hate on yourself, Nan. Stop being a b.i.t.c.h."