Page 77 of The Last Promise You Made

When I entered, Mama and Sadie were sitting at the dining room table, coffees in hand, scones in front of them, untouched. I hugged them both, squeezing tight before letting go and scouring their faces. They were puffy and tear-stained. “I’m sorry I wasn’t at the hospital last night.”

Mama sniffed and dabbed at her eyes with a napkin. “He wouldn’t have known, and you had those precious babies to take care of. It was how it needed to be.”

“What’s next? How can I help?” I asked.

“Your daddy is on his way home from Tulsa. He’s going to meet Sadie and me at the funeral home, and then we’re meeting with Joe O’Halloran at his office.”

O’Halloran was our family lawyer and had handled Uncle Phil’s legal needs as well.

“Gemma coming home?”

“She was going to buy a plane ticket last night, but I told her to wait until we had firmer dates around the funeral. I don’t want her to have to make two trips from LA.”

It would be good for Gemma to be home for a few days and be surrounded by those who loved her after her nasty breakup with that dick of an actor. While her homecoming wouldn’t be for a good reason, at least she’d be here. We’d make sure she really was holding it together like she said she was.

I shifted my hat from one hand to the other. “What can I do?” I repeated.

Mama patted my cheek. “Nothing. Concentrate on the cabins and things at the ranch as you always do. That allows your daddy and me to take care of things with Phil. Where’s Addy?”

“Out with Gia in the barn.” I pointed to the lowrider outside and the dark figure sitting in it. “That’s Enrique. He’s DEA, and he’ll be hovering around for a while. Didn’t want y’all to get spooked when you see him. If anyone outside the family takes notice, I’ll put him to work and say we hired extra help.”

Mama and Sadie exchanged a worried look. “Things getting worse on that end?” my sister asked.

“The man they think killed Ravyn was found dead.”

“Good,” Sadie said, eyes flashing. “Bastard deserved it.”

I didn’t want to add to my family’s burden at the moment, but I also needed to make sure they kept their eyes open. “They say the cartel behind all this might be looking for Addy now.”

Mama inhaled sharply.

Maybe I really did need to take Addy and head out of Willow Creek for a little while to keep everyone safe. But being on the run was all she’d known, and I hated the idea of putting her through it again. Plus, who’d keep things running at the ranch while my parents handled the aftermath of Phil’s death? And even if I did run, there was no saying the cartel wouldn’t come here first and torture my family for information. At least this way, I was here to face what came at us, and we had extra protection. While neither hightailing it out of town nor staying seemed like the perfect answer, surrounding Addy with family felt more right than wrong.

“I’m going out to work on the cabins, but please let me know if you need anything,” I told them.

“Soup is in the crockpot. There’s still bread from yesterday. Make sure everyone eats.” Leave it to my mother to think about feeding others right in the middle of her own loss. I tugged her close, kissing her temple. She squeezed me back and then let go.

We shared a look filled with love and sorrow and gratitude without a single word. I stepped away, ruffling Sadie’s hair as I did, and she ducked with a growl that sounded a bit like mine these days when she used to be all laughter and cheeky smiles. My family had been through so much in the last couple of years. I wasn’t sure what we’d done to bring these rounds of bad luck to our door, and I could only hope it would end soon.

I left the house, slammed my hat back on my head, and made my way to the barn.

Giggles greeted me. Addy’s soft tiny ones instantly lightened my chest.

“Okay, you two lazybones, time to get to work,” I hollered up at them.

Addy’s face appeared over the rail first. She was holding the same gray kitten as yesterday. “Puffball keeps following me.”

The full sentence made me so happy I wanted to do one of Uncle Phil’s Irish jigs.

“Put her in the crate for now. You can come and see her later.”

Addy did as she was told, and when she returned to the rail, Gia was with her. They made their way down the ladder, hopping off the last step. Gia landed within arm’s reach. I brushed a piece of straw from her ponytail at the same time she went to do it herself, and our fingers tangled. Heat thrummed through me, and our eyes locked for the merest of moments before we both stepped back.

“Come on,” I said, taking Addy’s hand and leading them out of the barn.

Shawn and Ramon were already in the first of the two partially built cabins, strapping their tool belts around their waists. I introduced them to Gia and Addy, and their eyes widened.

“They’re going to help me with the siding today while you two finish up the electrical,” I said. We hadn’t planned on the external siding going up yet, but it was something I could do with Gia and Addy tagging along.

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