Page 98 of Downpour

“You’re not getting fired today, Sunnyside,” I murmured as I rubbed her back.

Brooke leaned back and wiped her eyes as she crawled off my lap. “Sorry. I probably shouldn’t have done that in front of your mom.”

“She knows.”

“I’m sorry—she knowswhat?”

I shrugged. “Momma knows everything.”

It wasn’t long before cop cars flooded the ranch. Half of the officers combed through my house, while the other half questioned every living being on the ranch.

I wasn’t surprised when my brothers and their women showed up on my lawn. Blue lights had a way of doing that.

Brooke and I were sitting on the deck, finishing up talking to an officer when Christian burst through the back door. “Y’all alright?”

I kept my hand on Brooke’s back. “We’re fine. You didn’t have to come down here.” I could hear Cassandra yelling at people from inside my house. I sighed. “Tell her to leave the cops alone.”

Christian chuckled. “You tell her.”

“Hell no. I’m not stupid.”

His gaze shifted to Brooke. “You okay, sweetheart?”

Brooke leaned closer into my arm. “Just fine. Thanks.”

For Brooke to say she was ‘fine’ was a red flag. Not once in her life had she ever been fine. ‘Fine’ for her was probably close to rock bottom.

“Uncle Ray!” Gracie, Christian’s youngest, darted through the house and threw her arms around me.

Tears welled up in my eyes.

I’d been a dick to them after my accident, and I knew I had some groveling to do. But honestly, I didn’t even know where to start.

“Hey, squirt.” I squeezed her tight. “You came all the way down here just to see me?”

Gracie wiped her eyes. She looked so much older. Like a young lady, rather than the kid I remembered. “We came to see you a lot. You wouldn’t let us in.”

I sighed. “I know, kid. I’m sorry.”

She hugged me again. “Can we hang out when the cops are done?”

I glanced at the time. “I’ve gotta head into town for physical therapy in a little bit. But how about you and Bree come down tomorrow? I’ll be here all day.”

Gracie chewed on her lip. “I don’t know if Bree wants to.”

I peered through the open sliding glass door and spotted Bree pressed to Cassandra’s side as they talked to my mom. “I’ve got some apologizing to do, don’t I?”

Gracie nodded. “Yeah. You should probably apologize with presents.”

I chuckled. “You got it, munchkin.”

She rolled her eyes. “I’m thirteen.”

“Yeah, I need to yell at your management. I specifically told them not to let you become a teenager.”

Gracie hitched her thumb over her shoulder at Christian and Cassandra. “You’ll have to take it up with dad and my evil stepmother.”

Nate, Becks, and their toddler, Charlotte, arrived on my deck.

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