Page 18 of A Package Deal

I shoved off the doorframe and marched to the primary bathroom, nearly colliding with Pip as she came out with the shop vacuum.

“All done, Ms. Em.”

I managed a smile despite my wildly beating heart. “Do you know any other women builders, Pip?”

She dipped her head, bun still perfectly in place. “I know some people, yes. I will ask around.” She brushed past me and walked down the hallway.

“For contractors, Pip! Not the other thing!” I shouted after her, suddenly worried there’d been a language barrier problem. She didn’t answer me.

After inspecting the bathroom and assuring myself we were ready for the new cabinet and toilet tomorrow morning, I headed back outside. Warrick had a baseball hat on backwards in the pen with Bessie. The poor thing had wide, terror-filled eyes. I was no farmer, but glancing underneath her belly, she looked ready to burst. If she didn’t let Warrick milk her soon, she was going to need a veterinarian. Warrick talked in low tones, trying to sooth her enough to get close, but she wasn’t having it. She kicked out her back leg and Warrick quickly jumped to the side, narrowly missing a direct hit.

The stuffed animal flashed through my brain and my heart clanged against my ribs. I couldn’t trust the man, but maybe I could help with this one small thing. Without giving it any rational thought, I slipped into the pen and approached Bessie. Warrick’s startled gaze whipped to me, his mouth opening. Probably to warn me to stay back.

But if there was anyone who could understand a skittish female, it was me. I lifted my hands and looked Bessie in the eyes. She didn’t flinch or act distressed, so I placed them on her head and scratched.

“Hey, Bessie girl. It’s alright. I know he’s big and ugly, but he doesn’t want to hurt you.” Warrick made a noise but otherwise kept his trap shut. “I know you miss a woman’s soft hands but you need to be milked, sweetheart. If I stay here with you and keep watch, will you let Warrick do it?”

I swore Bessie understood me because she let out a soft moo and nudged her head further into my palm. I looked up and nodded to Warrick. He moved slowly, coming closer and pausing before putting the bucket under her belly and crouching down.

“Sometimes we get desperate, don’t we, girl?” I scratched across her head and over her thick neck. She stiffened and I knew Warrick had his hands on her. I kept up a soft crooning voice, seeing her visibly relax as I spoke. “Sometimes we have no choice but to need other people. We have to choose who we trust carefully. Warrick won’t hurt you, Bessie.”

I could hear the milk squirting into the bucket and I kept talking nonsense to her until Warrick interrupted, his voice low and soft. “I won’t hurt you either, Em.”

My eyes slid shut and I pressed my face into Bessie’s neck. The thing was, I desperately wanted to believe him. I wanted to sink down into that comforting place that was trust between two humans. Except I knew such a place didn’t exist. You just sank into an abyss of codependency until the other person cut you off at the knees and left you for dead.

Between spurts of milk, Warrick tried again. “Tell me about him so I can help Georgia. A man who would hurt you so deeply doesn’t deserve that girl.”

Pain and fear twisted in my gut so hard it took my breath away. He was right. Without even knowing my history, Warrick knew the very essence of the issue. Cayden would not be getting Georgia, but in this fight I needed an ally. I needed someone other than myself to fight off everything hitting me from all angles. I couldn’t lose my girl.

Pushing back the emotions, I pulled my head off Bessie and decided to do the very thing I’d promised myself never to do. Because I was a desperate mom, backed into a corner. I’d do anything to protect my daughter, including trusting a man again.

“Cayden and I started dating in high school. He was my first boyfriend. Like all young girls, I thought we’d be together forever. We started a company together after we graduated, and I grew it, working beside him and doing all the marketing he didn’t want to do. I kept hinting at getting married and he kept pushing it off, saying we’d get to it after the business took off. Except the business took off and then there wasn’t time. A particularly bad sinus infection led to a round of antibiotics and then a pregnancy test turning positive.”

Tears burned in my eyes. They always did when I thought of how happy I’d been at the news. And how distant Cayden had become. Bessie nudged my hand. I realized I’d quit petting her, lost in my own thoughts.

“I was so sick those first few months. Couldn’t work much. Cayden got more stressed with the workload, probably realizing for the first time how much of the work I’d been doing. Finally, he pulled me aside one day and said he didn’t need me on the jobsite any longer. I thought he wanted me to stay home to protect the growing baby, but it became clear all too soon that he was firing me. That night, while I was crying and throwing up from morning sickness, he asked me to move out of our apartment. Not him. Me and our baby had to leave.”

“I’ll fucking kill him,” came a growl from right beside me.

Startled, I looked up into the thunderous gaze of Warrick, milk pail long forgotten. His jaw clenched so tight the muscle on the side spasmed over and over, in time with my heaving breath. He reached up and swept a thumb across my cheek, wiping away tears I didn’t know I’d shed.

I inhaled sharply and stepped back. I would not lean on another man. I’d accept some temporary help for my daughter’s sake, but this was one princess who was not looking for a knight to sweep in and save her. I was done going down memory lane.

“New business, no family nearby, no home, not even financially stable yet. So basically, I’m screwed. The judge will find me lacking.”

Warrick let his hand drop to his side, his fingers curling into fists. “Cayden abandoned that little girl for five years. No judge on the planet will overlook that.”

I licked my lips and tried not to latch on to his offer of hope. Broke single moms facing a legal battle didn’t have room for hope. I needed to stay realistic and fight like hell.

“I guess we’ll see.”

Warrick studied me for long moments before he finally reached down for the milk pail and spoke. “We’ll definitely fucking see about that.”

And then he stalked off, spilling milk the whole way back to the house.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Warrick

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